GUEST ENTRY: We asked Contractbook and Bird&Bird to give advice on one of the most critical issues to have in mind when attracting talented interns to startups, namely a professional legal appearance.
By Contractbook and Bird&Bird
Millennials are subject to quite a lot of marketing and management literature these days. That’s no surprise since the generation born between 1980–2000 makes both a powerful group of consumers and the new important part of the work-force. At the same time, more or less every single internship applicant out there is a Millennial. So can we best approach them?
Browsing through the first two or three pages on Google, you will learn that Millennials are:
1. Overprotected by their parents
2. More prone to anxiety
3. Watch less flow TV
4. Smoke less
5. Drink less
6. Have no savings
7. Are more politically correct
8. Prefer access to ownership
9. Spend fortunes on coffee
10. Live healthy lives
11. Care less about brands
12. Look for authenticity
13. Want to work with a purpose
And so on and so on.
All these facts might be statistically true, but also very stereotypical and generalizing. However, one fact seems inevitably true to the Millenial generation:
Millennials are digital natives with an intuitive use of the newest technologies. They expect access to information at anytime, anywhere and anyhow, so you won’t win their respect with a manual and analogue setup.
Making yourself attractive for the most competent interns isn’t just about creating a stimulating working environment with good job opportunities and a noble purpose. It’s about creating an overall feeling of professionalism.
Student interns most likely apply for multiple internships. If they end up with two equally good options, they will quickly choose the company with the most professional setup and the most engaging communication. We know that by experience.
You have to show them that you care for them by wanting to seem attractive and up to speed.
How do you at least seem professional?
Well, we can’t guide you through the whole process of digitalizing and professionalizing your company. But we sure can share some insights on our expertise: Efficient contract management.
Obviously, presenting your business as professional starts with a writing a good bulletin, followed up by smooth communication with the applicants. But it goes further. Sending them an internship contract in a .pdf via Gmail seems old-fashioned as many Millennials even regard e-boks as lame and nem-id as hopelessly analogue.
As a digital contract management platform, we at Contractbook are under the clear impression that Millennials are the best at adapting our overall goal of digitalizing the whole process of creating, signing and storing legal work.
While older generations approach us slowly, with sceptic grimaces and the demand that they can download everything in to pdf’s, the younger generation have no problem in understanding the use of a SaaS-platform. They regard digital management of legal work as the most obvious process imaginable. To sum up: Welcome of the 21. Century — you gotta be digital!
Besides meeting the Millennial interns with a digital setup, you also have to deliver a professional internship contract. We’ve therefore asked the legal firm Bird & Bird to share some of their insights. Here is what they had to say:
We have developed the following two templates for such agreements, one for an (unpaid) internship (for interns) and an actual employment agreement (for trainees). If the employment is established as a part of the person’s education, the main rule is that he/she will be an intern whereas the trainee course as a main rule will be considered as an actual employment.
The templates among other things contain a description of:
- The framework
It is particularly important to establish the framework and the scope of the employment which must be defined distinctly in the contract and for the intern in cooperation with the University and the intern. - Descriptions of mutual responsibilities
Making a well-defined job description is crucial in order to attract the most interesting applicants for the internship/trainee course, but also to make sure the intern/trainee are actually doing something of worth and importance for your company. - Rights concerning intellectual property and know-how
It is very important to protect all intellectual property of any kind that the intern/trainee alone or in cooperation with others may produce, discover or further develop as a part of the internship. - Duties of confidentiality and loyalty
During and after the internship/trainee course you want to make sure that your intern/trainee observes a duty of confidentiality and does not disclose any information to any third parties. Furthermore, the duty of loyalty will ensure that the paid intern/trainee does not perform any competing business during the internship. If the intern/trainee breaches any of these duties it can be considered a material breach and may result in a termination of the internship/traineeship with immediate effect.
Specifically about salary
Bear in mind that it is only possible to pay salary to the intern if the University endorses it. If so, the intern is not entitled to receive Danish SU (study grants) during the internship.
During unpaid internships it is not possible to pay any form of salary to your intern.
However, as of 1th of July 2017 it has been possible to pay a monthly gratuity of not more than DKK 3,000 to your interns if you wish to do so. No other salary than the gratuity can be paid to your interns. This includes payment, compensation etc. that is not a refund of documented expenses related to the internship.
The intern is only entitled to receive Danish SU (study grants) and receive a gratuity at the same time if the following requirements are met:
- The intern cannot be considered a regular part of the company’s manpower/labour
- The intern has to determine — if necessary in cooperation with the University — the framework for the internship
- The intern is not covered by any powers of directions and thereby not an employment relationship and abstains to receive holiday allowance
- The gratuity must not be determined beforehand as a fixed income, but it is optional for the Company to grant the gratuity
- The gratuity cannot exceed more than DKK 3,000 a month.
If the company chooses to pay the gratuity in cash, the intern has to pay tax on the gratuity.
Danish SU and foreign students?
The number of foreign students in Denmark has grown a lot and your new intern or trainee might be from another country than Denmark. In 2013 a decision from The Court of Justice of the European Union established that EU-citizens are entitled to Danish SU (study grants) if they work 10–12 hours besides their studies. An unpaid internship does not fulfil the requirement of a minimum of 10–12 working hours.
Other obligations
Furthermore, it is the Company’s obligation to insure the intern during the internship and the trainee during the trainee course provided that the internship/trainee course is in Denmark.
Concerning credit-bearing internships
The rules regarding internships are not regulated by law. We would advise to make sure the agreement is approved by the specific University, since it is exclusively up to the university to decide whether or not the internship would be qualified as a credit-bearing internship.
Now, go find your Millenial intern!
***************
Interested in more Danish startup news? GET THE #CPHFTW NEWSLETTER
