How our free fellowship is structured

The short version

Branchout is a free, self-paced educational program, not a job. Students learn by building their own projects; they never do work for Branchout or for anyone else, so nobody profits from what they build. That is what keeps an unpaid program lawful, and it is the line we hold everywhere.

British Columbia, where Branchout is run

Under B.C.’s Employment Standards Act, anyone who does work that a business would otherwise pay someone to do is an employee, whatever they are called, and must be paid at least minimum wage. The narrow exception for unpaid placements covers practicums that are part of a formal education program, and Branchout isn’t one. So the program is built to keep students out of work altogether:

• Projects are learning briefs. They aren’t Branchout’s product, a client’s project or anything Branchout sells, and no company receives the work.
• Students own what they build. Branchout doesn’t use it, sell it or claim it.
• No duties or required hours. Students choose their own pace and can pause or leave at any time. A pod has a target finish date so teammates can plan together; missing it costs nothing.
• Students never run Branchout. We don’t ask students to do marketing, support, sales or work on the platform itself.
• No promised job. Nobody is promised a job, an interview or an offer at the end of a track, and everyone is told up front that the program is unpaid.

Mentors and pod leads

Mentors are working developers who choose to give students some of their time: answering questions and reviewing code. Mentoring is optional and informal. Mentors decide when and how much to help, they aren’t scheduled or managed, and they don’t run any part of Branchout’s business.

Pod leads are students who choose to lead their own pod’s project, as a way to learn leadership. It is part of their own learning, not a job at Branchout.

How Branchout makes money

For now it doesn’t: everything on Branchout is free, and nothing is for sale. If it charges for anything later, it will be optional services, such as recruiter access for employers or a resume review by a person, and never students’ project work.

Ontario and other provinces

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the “trainee” test. In Ontario, unpaid work is presumed to be employment unless it meets all six conditions for trainees. Branchout is built to meet each of them:

1. The training resembles what a student would receive in a classroom or vocational program, not production work on the job.
2. The training exists for the student’s benefit, not the organisation’s.
3. Branchout and any partner organisation derive little or no commercial benefit from the student’s work.
4. Students never fill a role that would otherwise belong to a paid employee.
5. No student is promised a job or an offer at the end of their track.
6. Every student is told in writing, before starting, that the program is unpaid.

We do not claim to be a school-approved co-op placement: we are not affiliated with any college, university or school board. If you need an internship to satisfy a course requirement or earn academic credit, your institution must review and approve it directly. We are glad to provide documentation, but the decision is theirs.

United States

Fair Labor Standards Act and the Department of Labor “primary beneficiary” test. U.S. students and mentors are evaluated against the seven-factor primary beneficiary test described in the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #71. We aim to satisfy each factor, including that:

• Both sides understand in writing, up front, that there is no expectation of pay.
• Training mirrors an educational environment rather than day-to-day operational work.
• The program lasts only as long as it provides genuine learning value — it is not open-ended labour.
• Learning and mentorship, not the organisation’s output, are the main product of the relationship.
• There is no entitlement to a paid position once a track is complete.

State and local rules can add requirements on top of the federal test. We recommend checking your own state’s labour department guidance as well as the federal standard.

Everywhere else

Elsewhere, internship law varies widely by country, and sometimes by region within a country. We apply the same standard everywhere:

• Training-focused, and never a substitute for paid staff.
• Limited in scope to what provides genuine learning value.
• Never conditional on a promised job at the end.
• Always disclosed in writing before a student starts.

If your local law is stricter than this standard, your local law applies.

What this means for you

• Branchout is an educational, self-paced learning program — not a job offer, and not a guarantee of employment, income or academic credit.
• Every project simulates a real-world brief for training purposes. It is not paid or commercial work performed for a company.
• Participation is voluntary and unpaid. There is no expectation of wages, and no one has to work to a fixed schedule.
• You can pause, resume or leave at any time without penalty, and you keep full ownership of your completed project work.
• Mentors volunteer their time to support learning. Mentorship is educational guidance, not supervision of employment.

Academic credit

Students seeking academic credit must confirm the requirements with their own school before relying on Branchout to satisfy them. Credit rules and approval processes vary by institution and country. If your school needs documentation of your participation, contact us.

Not legal advice

See also: Terms of service and questions about legality.