Internship Agreement
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Word
The internship agreement template ensures transparency and sets clear guidelines before the internship begins. This is a helpful tool for HR departments and businesses across the U.S.
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What is an internship agreement template?
An internship agreement template is a simple legal document used to outline the terms, responsibilities, and expectations between a company and an intern. The main purpose of the document is to define conditions of the internship, including role, duration, reporting structure, confidentiality obligations, and intellectual property rights.
The parties involved in an internship agreement are a company or business and an intern. The internship is meant to allow graduates, students, and young professionals to gain new skills, knowledge, or expertise for their future careers for free. For companies it is a good tool to recruit potential candidates for employment.
This document shall not be confused with an employment agreement. In the case of employment relations, an individual is being hired for a specific job or work in exchange for remuneration. Being an employee is a protected legal status, which means that a company that hires has to meet minimum standards—safety of workplace, regular compensation, insurance, unemployment benefits, vacation, etc.
An internship agreement sample cannot be used for voluntary work in non-government organizations.
Who should use this internship agreement template?
An internship contract agreement template is a popular contract that many individuals and businesses across the U.S. use on a daily basis.
- HR Departments. Having a customizable internship contract for HR departments is a quick and easy solution to engage lots of young professionals and students. This is especially important for big companies that run various internal internship programs.
- Startups and SMEs. Many growing companies, especially in tech-related industries, are keen to solicit the young generation to participate in various projects. Thus, having a simple internship agreement template can facilitate the onboarding process.
- Nonprofit Organizations. Lots of charitable, religious, or scientific institutions may need time to engage students or recent graduates to participate in NGOs’ activities and events.
What does the internship agreement template cover?
Effective legislation does not provide any specific internship agreement format. Basically, parties may include any clauses they deem necessary. At the same time, inclusion of certain elements is mandatory to ensure that the final document is complete. Below we prepared the list of key elements every internship agreement template must have.
Internship Details
The first and the most important section is the internship’s details. This is where the company lists all the conditions of the internship a student or a graduate must be aware of. Those conditions include:
- location (e.g., company’s office, courtroom);
- list of duties;
- duration of the internship (e.g., until a specific date, until an intern graduates from the college or university, etc.);
- supervisor (i.e., a person to whom an intern must directly report);
- list of equipment an intern shall get to participate in the internship (e.g., laptop, mobile phone, etc.).
Non-Employment Status
It is crucial that the internship contract agreement template clearly reflects a non-employment status of an intern. It means that:
- An internship agreement excludes any employment relations between a company and an intern.
- An intern will not get any position or job within a company after the completion of the internship; and
- An intern will not get any benefits associated with employment (e.g., insurance, vacation, etc.).
Compensation Package
The internship could be of two types—paid and unpaid. For an unpaid internship agreement template, it is crucial to include a short statement emphasizing that the internship is unpaid. In the case of a paid internship, the following details should be additionally included in the contract:
- the amount of compensation and its frequency (e.g., one-time payment, annual, weekly, or monthly);
- acceptable payment method (e.g., bank transfer, cash);
- additional non-cash benefits (e.g., compensation of travel expenses, mobile expenses).
Termination
The internship agreement format is quite flexible and allows either party to end it any time with or without cause. If either party wants to terminate this contract, a prior written notice should be sent to the other party. The notice period could be between 3 and 30 days depending on the initial duration of the internship.
It is common for the internship agreement template to include a company’s unilateral right to end the contract immediately once certain circumstances occur. Amongst those circumstances could be the following:
- An intern does not attend the internship for several days in a row without any formal explanation.
- An intern violates the company’s internal policy (e.g., non-discrimination, harassment policy, etc.);
- A company starts insolvency or liquidation procedure.
How to customize an internship agreement sample at FasterDraft?
To get a downloadable internship agreement template for companies, follow a few easy steps below:
- Click the “Create Document” button.
- Answer simple questions in the form.
- Select a template’s format—internship agreement PDF or Word.
- Make a payment.
- E-sign, download, print out, and use the document.
Table of content
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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1. Do I need a contract for an intern?
Yes, having a written internship agreement form provides clarity of the main terms and conditions of the internship.
This document helps to define intern responsibilities and confidentiality agreements in case an intern will have access to a company’s sensitive information.
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2. Is this template suitable for both paid and unpaid internships?
Yes, the template offered by FasterDraft is an internship agreement template for paid and unpaid internships.
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3. Does this contract include confidentiality and IP clauses?
Yes, the internship agreement format requires inclusion of standard confidentiality and IP protection clauses. Usually an intern undertakes to keep confidential all information received during the internship for the period of one year after the internship ends.
If, however, parties wish a more solid protection of confidential information, it is always better to sign a separate NDA agreement.
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4. Can I use this template for remote or virtual internships?
Yes, this editable internship agreement form for employers allows them to engage interns for both offline and online internships.
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5. Is this agreement legally binding once signed?
Yes, once both parties sign this internship agreement template, the document becomes legally binding. It means that parties have mutual rights and obligations towards each other. Moreover, once the contract becomes effective, it could be used in a court as written evidence in case of a dispute.
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6. Do both the employer and intern need to sign the agreement?
Yes, both the company and intern must put their signatures at the end of the document. It does not make a difference if either party inserts their digital signature or signs a document by hand. Both methods of signing are acceptable.
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