Among other things, the FLSA requires that unpaid internships adhere to the following guidelines: Unpaid internships must be educational – To be legal, the primary purpose of the internship must be to provide the intern with educational and vocational training. The experience must be similar to what they would encounter in an educational environment. The unpaid intern must be the primary beneficiary – Unpaid internships are only lawful if the intern receives significant educational value from the experience, gaining practical skills and knowledge related to their field of study. Unpaid internships cannot displace regular employees – The intern's work should not replace or displace that of paid employees, nor should the intern be used as a substitute for hiring additional staff. Employers cannot derive any immediate advantage from unpaid internships – The employer should not derive an immediate advantage from the intern's work. In some cases, the intern's activities may even impede the employer's operations or require supervision and training.