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How do I onboard an intern?

Interns fill the same onboarding form as everyone else. Only four things differ — their ID series, an engagement end date, a stipend instead of a salary, and no appraisals.

~4 min read · For admin · Updated 19 Aug 2026

Quick answer

Add them under Employees → Add employee and pick Intern as the workforce type, then set their engagement end date. They receive the same welcome email and fill the same 10-step onboarding form as any employee. Afterwards, only pay is different: give them a stipend structure in Payroll if you are paying one, or leave it and they stay off payroll.

Is onboarding an intern actually different?

Barely. The joining experience is identical — same invite email, same form, same HR review. ASHR.work treats Intern as a workforce type, not a different kind of person, so everything you already know still applies.

These are the only four differences:

1. Employee ID   → uses the INT series (for example DM-INT-2026-0042)
2. End date      → you set an engagement end date instead of a probation date
3. Pay           → a stipend, and only if you pay one
4. Appraisals    → interns sit out appraisals and the 9-box talent matrix

Adding the intern

  1. Go to Employees → Add employee

    Fill in name, email, department, designation and joining date as usual.

  2. Choose Intern as the workforce type

    The form changes to ask for what an intern actually needs.

  3. Set the engagement end date

    This is the last day of the internship. You will be reminded before it arrives.

  4. Save

    They get the welcome email with a link to set their password, same as any new hire.

Their employee ID is created straight away. If you have turned on type-based ID series, it looks like this:

DM-INT-2026-0042

The INT part marks them as an intern at a glance, and interns are numbered in their own series — so your regular employee numbers are not used up by them.

The form they fill in

The intern opens /get-started and works through the same 10 steps: welcome, personal, contact, ID proofs, education, work experience, references, banking, documents, declaration. Nothing is hidden or skipped.

References stay on for interns on purpose. A student's referee is usually a professor or a college placement head, and a post-graduate joining a new field often has real work references too. Those are worth collecting.

You review and approve the submission from the same Get Started review table you use for everyone else.

Paying a stipend

Interns are stipend-only, and paying is optional. What you do depends on the internship:

Unpaid internship  → do nothing. They stay off payroll runs entirely.
Paid internship    → add a stipend structure in Payroll.

If you pay nothing, there is no payslip, no ₹0 entry, and no "missing salary structure" warning cluttering your payroll screen. The intern is simply not part of the run.

If you do pay, go to Payroll → Salary Structure, open the intern, and the builder already suggests Stipend mode. Enter one monthly amount and save. ASHR.work marks that structure as statutory-free, so PF, ESI, PT and gratuity are all skipped — and from that month, the intern is in your payroll run and gets a payslip like anyone else.

What interns take part in

Interns are part of your team, so most things stay switched on:

On  → Time off, check-ins, surveys, birthdays and celebrations
Off → Appraisals, 9-box talent matrix

The reasoning is simple: an intern on a 6-month stint is not on an annual appraisal cycle, and does not belong in a succession grid. Everything else — a manager check-in, a leave request, a birthday wish — applies to them exactly as it does to a full-time employee.

Sending the offer letter

Documents has a ready Internship Offer Letter template. It fills itself in with the intern's name, designation, department, stipend, mentor and the engagement end date you entered, and already states that the internship is not an offer of employment.

When the internship ends

You are reminded 30 days, 14 days and 7 days before the engagement end date. Each reminder gives you the choice: start the exit, or extend the engagement if they are staying on.

If they leave, the notice period defaults to 15 days instead of the usual 30, and Documents has an Internship Completion Certificate template waiting.

If they convert to a full-time employee, just change their workforce type to Full-time. Their onboarding form, documents and history all stay with them.

Changing any of this

Every default above is yours to edit at Admin → Settings → Workforce types. Rename "Intern" to whatever your company calls them, change the 6-month default duration, change the 15-day notice, or switch appraisals back on. Your changes apply to your organisation only.

Frequently asked questions

Do interns fill a shorter onboarding form?
No. Interns complete all 10 steps, References included — an intern's referee is often a professor or a college placement head, which is exactly the check you want.
What if the internship is unpaid?
Then do nothing extra. An intern with no salary structure stays off payroll runs completely — no payslip, no zero-value entry, no "missing structure" warning.
Does a stipend attract PF and ESI?
Not when you save it as a stipend structure. ASHR.work marks it statutory-free, so PF, ESI, PT and gratuity are all skipped for that person.
Will I forget when the internship ends?
No. You are reminded 30 days, 14 days and 7 days before the engagement end date you set, so you can close the internship or extend it.

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