The law of July 22, 2013, relating to higher education amended company internships. A decree of August 19 specifies their content, implementation, and approval procedures. The main new feature for companies: exceptions to the maximum six-month duration are limited.
The terms and conditions for welcoming interns into companies were modified this summer. The internship program, in particular, was defined. A decree of August 19 provides some clarifications.

Development of a standard agreement by the educational establishment

The decree provides that institutions providing higher education, whether diploma-granting or non-diploma-granting, whose students undertake internships, whether compulsory or optional, continue to establish a standard agreement. These standard agreements are approved by the competent authorities of these institutions and are made public. This publicity may be done electronically on the institutions' websites. Internship agreements are drawn up, in consultation with the companies concerned, on the basis of these standard agreements.

The cases of derogation from the maximum duration of 6 months are limited

The duration of the internship(s) completed by the same intern in the same company cannot exceed six months per year of training. The law provides for limiting the exceptions, taking into account the specificities of professions requiring a longer period of practice, for which these training courses prepare. A decree is expected to determine the training courses for which this internship duration may be waived.

Obligation of a tripartite agreement

Student internships also continue to be the subject of a tripartite agreement between:
– the intern;
– the host organization;
– and the educational establishment.

The terms of this agreement are specified by the decree. They are the same as before. Internship agreements must include 11 clauses, including: the definition of the activities assigned to the intern, the start and end dates of the internship, the maximum weekly duration of the intern's presence in the company, compensation, etc. In the absence of a standard agreement, internship agreements include these clauses. The internship agreement remains signed by the representative of the establishment in which the intern is registered, the representative of the company and the intern, as well as their legal representative if the latter is a minor. The company establishes and maintains the list of internships it has concluded.

The internship agreement must now also specify a minimum pedagogical volume of training as well as the terms of supervision of the internship by the home institution and the host organization. These should be clarified by a future decree.

The internship must be part of an educational program

Internships are part of an educational curriculum. The terms of this integration are determined by decree. Their purpose and terms are defined in the training organization and they are subject to restitution by the student, giving rise to an evaluation by the establishment. The inclusion of internships in an educational curriculum excludes their use for the performance of a regular task corresponding to a permanent job position in the company. The decree adds that no internship agreement may also be concluded to replace an employee in the event of absence, suspension of their employment contract or dismissal, to cope with an increase in the company or to occupy a seasonal job.

Extension of compulsory gratuity

The obligation to pay a gratuity for any internship of more than two consecutive months carried out within a company is now extended to internships carried out in a public administration, a parliamentary assembly, a consultative assembly, an association or within any other host organization. This obligation also applies when, during the same school or university year, the duration of the internship is more than 2 non-consecutive months. As today, the decree specifies that the gratuity is due to the intern from the first day of the first month of the internship, that it is paid monthly and that in the event of suspension or termination of the internship, the gratuity due is prorated according to the duration of the internship carried out. Its amount is also unchanged . In the absence of a branch agreement or extended professional agreement, the intern in a company must receive, per hour of work, a remuneration at least equal to 12.5% ​​of the hourly ceiling of social security (hourly ceiling equal, in 2013, to €23). So, for example, for a full month of 151.67 hours (i.e. 35 hours per week), the bonus will be equal, in 2013, to €436.05.

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Source: L'Express, article published on 09/13/2013, http://lentreprise.lexpress.fr/recrutement/stage-en-entreprise-ce-que-la-nouvelle-loi-change_42982.html