53G-7-904. Internship programs — Criminal background checks.
| (1) |
Terms Used In Utah Code 53G-7-904- Cooperating employer: means a public or private entity which, as part of a work experience or career exploration program offered through a school, provides interns with educational resources, training, and work experience in activities related to the entity's ongoing business activities. See Utah Code 53G-7-901
- Intern: means a student enrolled in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program under Section 53G-7-902 involving both classroom instruction and work experience with a cooperating employer, regardless of whether the student receives compensation. See Utah Code 53G-7-901
- Internship: means the work experience segment of an intern's school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program, performed under the direct supervision of a cooperating employer. See Utah Code 53G-7-901
- Internship safety agreement: means the agreement between a public or private school and a cooperating employer in accordance with Section 53G-7-904. See Utah Code 53G-7-901
- Private school: means a school serving any of grades 7 through 12 which is not part of the public education system. See Utah Code 53G-7-901
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
| (a) |
A public or private school may enter into an internship safety agreement with a cooperating employer. |
| (b) |
The public or private school described in Subsection (1)(a) shall ensure that the internship safety agreement requires a cooperating employer to:
| (i) |
ensure that an adult officer or employee of the cooperating employer is not intentionally alone with an intern for any significant amount of time during the intern’s activities; |
| (ii) |
maintain compliance with all applicable state and federal laws relating to workplace and student safety, privacy, and welfare; and |
| (iii) |
provide a safe, educational, courteous, and welcoming professional environment that is free of harassment or discriminatory conduct that may result in a hostile, intimidating, abusive, offensive, or oppressive learning environment. |
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| (2) |
| (a) |
If a public or private school has not entered into an internship safety agreement with a cooperating employer, officers and employees of the cooperating employer who will be given significant unsupervised access to a student in connection with the student’s activities as an intern shall submit to criminal background checks under Section 53G-11-402. |
| (b) |
If a public or private school has entered into an internship safety agreement with a cooperating employer, officers and employees of the cooperating employer are exempt from the criminal background check requirement described in Section 53G-11-402. |
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Amended by Chapter 374, 2020 General Session
