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SESCO’s Weekly Client Update
REAL AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS DECREASE 0.5% IN APRIL
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.5 percent from March 2026 to April 2026. This result stems from an increase of 0.1 percent in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.6 percent in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
- Real average weekly earnings decreased 0.2 percent over the month due to the change in real average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in the average workweek.
- From April 2025 to April 2026, real average hourly earnings decreased 0.3 percent
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE UNCHANGED AT 4.3% IN APRIL
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 115,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 percent.
- Job gains occurred in health care (+37,000), transportation and warehousing (+30,000), retail trade (+22,000), and social assistance (+17,000). Information employment (-13,000) and federal government employment continued to decline (-9,000).
BEWARE OF FLSA VIOLATIONS WITH UNPAID INTERNS
- With summer approaching, many employers are looking to hire interns to increase staffing during a busy season or to build a pipeline for future full-time hiring. But employers need to be careful about making decisions to allow any work to go unpaid.
- Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers must pay interns in nonexempt positions at least the minimum wage and overtime pay, unless they meet specific criteria that show the internship primarily benefits the intern.
The “primary beneficiary” test is used to evaluate whether an individual is an employee entitled to minimum wage and overtime under the FLSA. The test, described by courts as a flexible one, weighs these seven factors collectively:
- The internship provides training that is similar to what’s given by an educational institution.
- The internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.
- The internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.
- The internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.
- The intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees.
- The intern and the employer understand that there is no expectation of compensation.
- The intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.
No single factor is determinative in this test. An intern may be deemed an employee if he or she performs regular, repetitive, or substantive work that is typical for paid employees and provides an immediate labor advantage for the employer.
If you are not a retainer client, contact us to learn about our services by calling 423-764-4127 or click here.
SESCO FEATURED PRODUCT
2026 WEBINAR SERIES (PART 1)
UPCOMING WEBINAR:
MAY 19: ELIMINATING THE CONFUSION ON FMLA: ADMINISTER WITH CONFIDENCE
1- 2:30 PM EST
TO VIEW ALL WEBINARS AND TO REGISTER CLICK HERE
For more information or registration, contact tonya@sescomgt.com
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