Homepage > HOST ORGANIZATION / EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

HOST ORGANIZATION / EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

HOST ORGANIZATION

What makes an internship appealing ?
Can I do an internship with a self-employed person?
Which agreement do I have to use?
What do I have to verify before the arrival of the intern?
What are the possible dates and durations of the internship?
How do I calculate the duration of the internship?
Can I extend the internship of a student?
What are the recommended hours for an intern?
Is it possible to receive several interns consecutively for a same position?
Does the intern have the right to leave or the permission to be absent?
Am I supposed to pay the interns?
Does the intern benefit from income in kind?
Is the intern allowed to participate in the cultural life of the organization?
How do I manage the intern?
How do I monitor the activity of the internship in my organization?
What can I do if I am not satisfied with the intern?
What can I do in case of illness or an accident?
Do I have to give the intern an internship certificate?
If I decide to recruit the intern at the end of the internship, what happens next?

educational institution 

What is the role of the educational institution?
How to promote the international mobility of the interns?
What do I have to check before signing the internship agreement?
Is it compulsory to use the proposed format internship agreement? 
Can I offer the student an alternative to the internship?
What is the role of the academic advisor?
What is the role of the educational institution during the internship?
In case of a problem, what is the role of the institution?
Does the institution have to support contributions?
What is the part of the institution at the end of the internship?

host organization 

What makes an internship appealing ?

For the host organization, having an intern means: they can stay in connection with the educational institutions, and give them feedback on how evolve given the evolution of the professions in a given sector. Moreover, today’s student interns are the employers’ future co-workers.

For the student: the internship represents an opportunity to gain a first real world experience. It allows the student to get an active orientation while still studying and to make him confront his theoretical knowledge with the “real world”.

Can I do an internship with a self-employed person?

Yes, a self-employed person is a potential host organization. Please contact Sciences Po Careers for the formalities.

Which agreement do I have to use?

A model agreement exists to be used by higher education institutions. This model includes the mandatory conditions provided by the law and it is therefore possible to use this model. Sciences Po has its own model, based on the former one, that is the most used.

What do I have to verify before the arrival of the intern?

You have to be sure that a training advisor has been assigned to the intern and that he understands his tasks. Also a civil liability insurance needs to be provided as soon as you welcome interns. You have to be sure as well that the internship agreement is completely filled in and signed by the parties.

What are the possible dates and durations of the internship?

In many cases, the internship turns into a full-time position. But it can also develop in other directions: discontinuously and full-time, continuously or discontinuously and part-time. You may have an intern for a maximal duration of 6 months (i.e. 924 hours) in total in you organization.

How do I calculate the duration of the internship?

The duration of the internship is assessed by taking into account the actual presence of the intern in your organization. Each period of 7 hours, consecutive or not, count as an internship day and each period of 22 days of actual presence, consecutive or not, corresponds to an internship month. This method is valid to calculate the total duration of the internship. It will also calculate whether a stipend is obligatory (if the internship lasts more than two months), and to calculate the total duration of the internship (maximum duration of 6 months).

Can I extend the internship of a student?

 Yes, you can give an offer to the intern to prolong the internship. If he accepts, you can ask for an extension of the internship under the following conditions:

  • The extension must be compatible with the requirements of the student’s course of studies;
  • The total duration of the internship, extension included, must remain within the limit of the maximum legal internship duration (i.e. 924 hours);
  • The proposal takes the form of a written request addressed to the educational institution (e.g. email);
  • You have to obtain the agreement of the academic advisor and the education institution.

The accepted extension has to be mentioned in an annex to the internship agreement signed before the start of the extension period.

What are the recommended hours for an intern?

The presence of the intern in your organization follows the rules applicable to other employees which concern:

  • maximum daily and weekly presence;
  • presence at night;
  • daily, weekly and holiday breaks.

In addition, the specific regulations – work schedules or presence of a minor, for example – also apply to the interns.

Is it possible to receive several interns consecutively for a same position?

No, you have to respect a break which is fixed at one third of the duration of the previous internship.

Does the intern have the right to leave or the permission to be absent?

Legal leave and permissions to be absent in case of pregnancy, paternity or adoption can be obtained. Apart from legal leave listed above, after two internship months (i.e. more than 308 hours) and within the limit of 6 months at most (i.e. 924 hours), the internship agreement has to provide the possibility of leave and permissions to be absent for the benefit of the intern.

Am I supposed to pay the interns?

If the internship duration is less than or equal to two months (i.e. 308 hours) during the same academic year, you may pay a stipend to the intern, although this is not mandatory.

Does the intern benefit from income in kind?

The intern must be given access to the restaurant of the organization or the meal vouchers at the same conditions as the employees of your organization. Moreover, the intern benefits from the reimbursement of his transport expenses. Exemption limits regarding the incomes in kind exist. If you do not exceed these limits, these incomes in kind will not be charged.

Is the intern allowed to participate in the cultural life of the organization?

Yes, insofar as the intern is welcomed in your organization, he has the possibility to benefit from social and cultural activities. It is also a way to let him discover the different aspects of the workplace.

How do I manage the intern?

You have to assign a training advisor in your organization who will be responsible for the welcoming and supervision of the intern. He ensures that the internship agreements and its pedagogical stipulations are respected.

How do I monitor the activity of the internship in my organization?

When an intern arrives to start his internship and the internship agreement is signed, the training supervisor has to register the following:

  • intern’s name;
  • internship’s start and end dates;
  • training supervisor’s name;
  • the place where internship takes place.

This way, it will include all information for interns considering their order of arrival. In addition, you have to establish, according to all means to your agreement, a counting of the durations of presence of the intern.

What can I do if I am not satisfied with the intern?

You have to talk about it with him and contact his academic advisor in order to solve the problem or, possibly, decide together to modify the internship agreement (activities, missions, etc.). After that, if the problem persists, the internship agreement might be interrupted.

What can I do in case of illness or an accident?

In case of illness, the intern is covered by his or her own medical insurance. In case of industrial accidents, it is up to the welcoming organisation to declare the accident.

  • If the stipend is less than or equal to the legal limit:

a) In France: it is the educational institution (or training organization) that is responsible and considered to be the employer in the eyes of the social security. Still, you have to send the industrial accident declaration;
b) If the internship takes place abroad, you immediately have to contact the educational institution or the training organization that will send the industrial accident declaration.
In case of an accident which gives rise to a dispute of responsibility, the educational institution has to call the host organization of the internship so that the accident is treated in a unique procedure on the request of the intern and on the guarantee of the financial consequences of a possible recognition of an inexcusable fault.

  • If the stipend is higher than the limit, you are responsible for the accidents and considered to be an employer in the eyes of the social security. If the internship takes place abroad, you have to take the steps yourself, the educational institution is not responsible anymore.

Do I have to give the intern an internship certificate?

Yes, you have to give the intern an internship certificate which mentions the actual total duration of the internship and the total amount of the stipend paid.

If I decide to recruit the intern at the end of the internship, what happens next?

If you recruit the intern within the 3 months following the internship, the duration of the internship is deducted from the trial period, without resulting in the reduction of the trial period by more than the half, except if a collective agreement provides more favourable stipulations. When the intern is recruited and is given tasks which correspond to the activities entrusted to him, the internship duration is fully deducted from the trial period. When the intern is recruited by the organization at the end of an internship for a period exceeding two months, the duration of this internship is taken into account for the opening and the calculation of seniority rights.

Educational institution 

What is the role of the educational institution?

  • Communicate the internship offers that are connected with the suggested training to the students.
  • Guide and assist students in their search for internships.
  • Keep track of the organizations that are likely to offer the students a professional experience in connection with their major field of training.
  • If necessary start partnerships with these organizations in order to access internships and opportunities.
  • Support the students in their research: help with the construction of the professional project and with the determination of potential internship places in connection with the project, help with the design of a folder, update the internship offers on a platform, etc.).

Particular case: the training organization in which the students in social work are enrolled is responsible to determine the qualifying sites in connection with the professional project of the student.

How to promote the international mobility of the interns?

By offering students internship offers abroad and ensuring a support to draft a folder for an internship application abroad (visa, certificate etc.).

What do I have to check before signing the internship agreement?

  • That the training programme includes a pedagogical volume of education accomplished in the presence of the student of at least 200 hours per academic year.
  • That an academic advisor is chosen from the pedagogical staff of the institution: he is also a signatory of the internship agreement.
  • That a training supervisor is chosen in the host organization: he is also a signatory of the internship agreement.
  • That the mandatory stipulations of the internship agreement are clearly mentioned: the student will complete the agreement and he will sign it, but you can guide him in his steps and remind him of the required time.

Is it compulsory to use the proposed format internship agreement?

No. The decree of 29 December 2014 indicates that the educational institutions and organizations providing training of levels 3 to 1 can draft their own internship agreement, though based on the suggested agreement-type. This must happen in consultation with the host organizations. Sciences Po has its own internship agreement (available in French and English).

Can I offer the student an alternative to the internship?

There are alternatives to a classic internship for the student to satisfy his mandatory internship requirements:

  • A fixed-term employment contract or a permanent employment contract
  • French International Volunteers in Business (VIE) or French International Volunteers in Administration (VIA)
  • Student or entrepreneurship

Do not hesitate to contact Sciences Po Careers for details.

What is the role of the academic advisor?

The academic advisor must:

  • ensure that the internship happens according to plan and that the agreement’s stipulations are respected.
  • keep contact with the training supervisor in the host organization in order to ensure a satisfying internship.
  • follow up with the intern regularly (appointment, mail, face-to-face).

He/she can suggest a redefinition of the intern’s missions.

In particular cases of an interruption of the internship or a breach of the internship agreement provided by law, the academic advisor will, together with the educational institution, decide whether internship is validated or to suggest an alternative validation condition. The cases provided by law are the following:

  • The intern interrupts his internship for a reason related to illness, an accident, pregnancy, paternity, adoption;
  • After the agreement of the educational institution (academic advisor and service in charge of the internships), the intern interrupts his or her internship because the stipulations of the internship agreement are not respected by the host organization.
  • The host organization takes the initiative to breach the internship agreement.

In these same cases, and after the agreement of the parties, the internship could also be postponed.

What is the role of the educational institution during the internship?

The institution is a relief of the academic advisor, the intern and the host organization for any question relating to the internship agreement, to the good development of the internship and to solve the problems that could arise.

In case of a problem, what is the role of the institution?

The student has to contact Science Po as soon as possible (his or her academic advisor or/and Sciences Po Careers). Any problems raised by the intern of the training supervisor has to be the subject of a careful study by the institution (academic advisor and service in charge of the internships) to find an appropriate solution. If necessary, it will be necessary to change the internship mission or the terms of the internship agreement. In this case, an annex will have to be added to the agreement and signed by the same parties as in the original agreement.

In particular cases of an interruption of the internship or a breach of the internship agreement provided by law, the academic advisor intervenes with the educational institution to decide about the validation of the internship or to suggest an alternative validation stipulation.

The cases provided by law are the following:

  • The intern interrupts his internship for a reason related to illness, an accident, pregnancy, paternity, adoption;
  • After the agreement of the educational institution (academic advisor and service in charge of the internships), the intern interrupts his or her internship because the stipulations of the internship agreement are not respected by the host organization.
  • The host organization takes the initiative to breach the internship agreement.
Last modified 2019-07-19
03.02.2025
Vous vous sentez intéressé par la fonction publique mais vous manquez d'information sur ses voies d'accès ? Retrouvez les conseils de recruteurs du MEAE, de la DGAFP et du Ministère de la Transition Écologique
03.02.2025
Do you wish to work in management consulting after your studies at Sciences Po? CaseCoach offers courses, interview analyses, and case studies to help you prepare.
Read more news