Internship Stipend Concerns: What Legal Steps and Documents Are Needed?

Dear All,

I have a query regarding the stipend for an internship.

1) Are there any legal consequences or labor laws associated with this?
2) Please let me know which documents need to be collected if we are providing a stipend to an intern.

Kindly suggest to me how to proceed with this.

Thanks & Regards,
Akhila GR

Legally, 'stipend' is paid only to apprentices engaged under the Apprentices Act. Any other payment is not legally considered as a stipend. If you are paying at least the minimum wages, then you may term it as a stipend.

Dear Akhila, The appointment of interns is different from the appointment of apprentices. The former are on par with the employees, and all labor laws are applicable to them. In contrast, apprentices are governed by the provisions of the Apprentice Act. The money paid to apprentices per month is called a stipend.

It is a common mistake that HR professionals make. They often use their own definitions without verifying the legal terms. Recently, I provided two clarifying posts. You can refer to that thread by clicking the following link: https://www.citehr.com/582730-employ...ml#post2350697

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar