This morning, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rather rare child-labor decision. In it, the Court was required to decide whether students at a vocational school were student-learners or employees due minimum wage for the "work" they performed at the school (in a nursing, farming, maintenance or other workplace setting). The Court rejected the Department of Labor employee-trainee test in favor of one that determines whether the individual or the school primarily benefits from the services performed. In other words, "the proper approach for determining whether an employment relationship exists in the context of a training or learning situation is to ascertain which party derives the primary benefit from the relationship." In particular, the Court agreed that the students primarily benefitted from the work because the students were not displacing regular employees in performing essential services. Indeed, all of the work could be performed by the instructors without the assistance of the students if that were the defendant school's aim. Moreover, the education received by the students was effective at teaching necessary skills. Solis v. Laurelbrook Sanitarium and School, Inc., No. 09-6128.
NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.
