Third-year student Mantas completed an internship at a marketing agency for three months. During the first weeks, he mostly observed his colleagues’ work and performed minor tasks. Later, his responsibilities increased.
Read more Officers: a very large group of Somali citizens rushed into Lithuania
“At first, I mostly observed my colleagues’ work and performed minor tasks. Later, I started preparing social media content, planning advertising campaigns, communicating with clients, and preparing activity reports,” he says.
According to Mantas, over time, the tasks he performed differed little from those of other team members.
“At first, I thought it was a sign of trust. But after a while, I realized that I was doing almost the same as full-time employees, just without pay,” says the student.
“Students’ experiences vary depending on their field of study, internship location, and other circumstances. Available national and European Youth Forum data show that during internships, students often have to perform functions for which regular employees receive a salary,” says LSS Vice President for Representation Gabija Juzėnaitė.
When does an internship become a job?
Mantas’s experience is not the only one raising the question of where the internship ends and work begins. EU rules could help clarify when a person is doing an internship for learning purposes and when they are actually working. These include learning opportunities, mentorship, intern progress evaluation, and remuneration in cases provided by national law.
Member of the European Parliament, Professor Dainius Žalimas, says that the content of the internship is more important than its formal definition.
“When assessing whether an internship has become work, the most important thing is not to look at the contract’s title but at what is actually happening. It should be evaluated whether the person has a real opportunity to learn, whether they are supervised by a mentor, and whether they acquire new skills. If the intern’s tasks, responsibilities, and work intensity do not essentially differ from those of regular employees, a justified question arises whether the internship has become a substitute for an employment relationship,” says D. Žalimas.
However, internship organization models in Lithuania are not uniform. Eglė Makselytė, founder and director of the NGO “Personnel Internship Services,” explains that the intern’s rights and duties depend on the chosen form of internship.
“There are usually two types of internships. In the first case, the internship is conducted under a tripartite agreement between the educational institution, the student, and the company. In this case, the main goal is learning, and the intern’s responsibilities are usually limited. In the second case, a practical training contract is concluded based on the Labor Code. Then the intern has clearly defined duties, learns and works in the company, and the relationship is fixed-term,” she says.
According to E. Makselytė, the intern’s functions are usually defined not only in the internship contract. They can be detailed in the job description, internal work regulations, and other organizational documents.
Not every unpaid internship is automatically illegal
Even unpaid internships can cost students extra. According to LSS data, in 2021, 92% of students reported incurring additional expenses during mandatory internships. These include travel, housing, food, special clothing, or materials needed for the internship.
According to the EUROSTUDENT VIII analysis, about one-third of student internships are paid. Unpaid internships are common in education, healthcare, and social services fields of study.
“Students from lower-income families often cannot afford several months of unpaid internships. In such cases, professional experience depends not on motivation or abilities but on financial means,” says G. Juzėnaitė.
According to the European Youth Forum study “The Costs of Unpaid Internships,” a six-month unpaid internship costs a young person on average about 6,169 euros in basic living expenses. Choosing an unpaid internship instead of paid work results in an average loss of about 7,218 euros in potential income over the same period.
D. Žalimas points out that the mere fact of unpaid internships does not automatically mean that employee rights are violated.
“I would not want to simplify this issue to the statement that every unpaid internship is automatically illegal. Lithuanian law provides for the possibility of unpaid voluntary internships. Therefore, the main question is not only whether the intern is paid. It is important why the person is actually in the company – to learn or to work as an employee,” says the MEP.
Safeguards work quite well in Lithuania
Former Minister of Social Security and Labour Vytautas Šilinskas believes that internships are already strictly regulated in Lithuania, so additional EU regulation is not necessary.
“The problems indicated by the EU are not so relevant in Lithuania because internships are already quite strictly regulated. In one case, it is carried out under a tripartite agreement between the student, the university, and the company. In another case, the voluntary internship model provided for in the Employment Act is applied, with specific restrictions set,” says V. Šilinskas.
According to him, voluntary internships can only be for youth up to 29 years old, one contract cannot last longer than two months, and the total internship duration cannot exceed six months. The number of interns in companies is also limited.
“Lithuania already has safeguards that prevent interns from being used continuously to replace employees. In my opinion, additional regulation in this area is not necessary for Lithuania,” says V. Šilinskas.
Dainius Žalimas points out that internships are already regulated by laws in Lithuania, but EU rules could help more clearly distinguish where internships end and employment relationships begin.
“In Lithuania, we have the characteristics of employment relationships set out in the Labor Code, we have voluntary internships regulated in the Employment Act, and quite specific safeguards,” he says.
Aiming to draw even clearer boundaries
In March 2024, the European Commission presented a directive proposal aimed at addressing cases where employment relationships are disguised as internships.
According to D. Žalimas, the new rules would make it easier to distinguish genuine internships from cases where the intern is effectively doing an employee’s work.
“They are needed not because we have no regulation today, but because they can provide much clearer practical criteria to help distinguish genuine internships from employment relationships disguised as such,” says D. Žalimas.
The European Parliament proposes assessing whether the internship truly provides learning opportunities, whether the student has a mentor, and receives feedback on their progress.
“It would be a mistake to shift all responsibility onto the intern. If we are talking about study internships, the responsibility must also be taken by the university that sends the student to the internship and must ensure its quality. If a person is effectively doing an employee’s work, the fact that they are called an intern does not change the situation,” says the MEP.
According to D. Žalimas, if there are suspicions of labor law violations, the situation must be assessed based on the actual circumstances. The quality of study internships should also be cared for by the university, and the intern should clearly know where to turn in case of possible violations.
New decisions regulating internships are being considered
Mantas’s story is not the only case raising questions about the content of internships and the responsibilities of interns. Student representatives call for strengthening mentorship and ensuring greater protection for interns, while some politicians emphasize that Lithuania already has many safeguards in place.
While new decisions regulating internships are being considered in the European Union, the discussion continues in Lithuania. Some speak about greater student protection, others about the existing rules.
According to D. Žalimas, it is still unclear when a final agreement on the Internship Directive will be reached in the European Union. The European Parliament and the EU Council have already confirmed their negotiating positions, but the final text of the legal act has not yet been agreed upon. Negotiations are expected to continue in the autumn.
“The most important thing is not the date of the directive’s adoption itself. Its result may reopen the question in Lithuania about what a student internship should be in general. After all, an internship should be a place where the student learns, gains experience, and is accompanied by a mentor, not just become cheaper labor and take on responsibilities they are not yet ready to assume,” says D. Žalimas.
Read more Shocking incident in Spain: you won’t believe how the fired waitress tried to poison the vacationers
