Library Worklife

Volume 4, No. 2 • February 2007

HR Law & Regulation

Heard on the Hotline

When May Employees “Volunteer” Services?

By Eric Van Cleven, CCP, SPHR, Director of Compensation and Strategic HR Services

Reprinted with permission from the Management Association of Illinois’ Web site, www.hrsource.org. The article was posted on January 2, 2007.

A member recently posed the following question:

“We are thinking of asking non-exempt employees to come in on a Saturday for 4 hours to organize food and supplies for a local food pantry. We will be serving them breakfast and lunch. If employees volunteer to come in, would we have to pay them for their time?”

Hotline Staff response

No. If the employee volunteers, and your organization does not benefit financially or in any other way, the employer is not required to pay for the employee's time or count those hours as overtime. However, if the employee performs any work-related duties during that time, then all hours become payable and calculable for overtime purposes. Or, if the activity is mandatory, this may also be compensable time.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a worker is “employed” when the employer “suffer[s] or permit[s the employee] to work.” By this definition, a worker is employed when s/he is required to be on the employer's premises, on duty or at a specific workplace. In determining if an activity involves “volunteerism,” the Department of Labor (DOL) considers a variety of factors. They include the nature of the entity receiving the services; whether the employees have an expectation of gaining benefits from their services; whether the service is less than a full-time occupation; whether regular employees are displaced; whether the services are offered without pressure or coercion; and whether the services are typically associated with volunteer work. When “volunteer” work is mixed with compensable work or is of the same type that constitutes an employee's normal work activity, the “volunteer” work becomes compensable for non-exempt employees.

If a non-exempt employee volunteers to go to a conference or training session for personal improvement, and the organization pays for the employee's expenses and fees, the DOL may find that the time is compensable, especially if attendance will permit the employee to perform their current duties more effectively. However, if the attendance prepares the employee for a new position, the time would not be compensable, according to the DOL.

A Clean Bill of Wealth?

Amendments Could Muddy Minimum Wage Legislation

By Tracey Conaty

AFSCME’s Tracey Conaty pleads on behalf of the new minimum wage legislation.

On January 10, as part of the 100 Hours Agenda, the newly‑elected Congress voted overwhelmingly to raise the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years. Thousands of you wrote to your Congressperson to express your support for this measure. Now, we need you to tell your senators to do the same: vote to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, with no anti‑worker amendments.

For 10 years, Republican leaders have blocked a minimum wage increase by tying it to unacceptable anti‑worker proposals like eliminating the 40‑hour workweek, limiting overtime pay and allowing massive tax cuts for the rich. In November, people across our country voted for candidates who pledged to support working families, and the new Congress responded by voting for a “clean bill” to raise the minimum wage. Now we need the Senate to respect the will of the American people and pass a minimum wage bill without these 'poison pills' attached to it.

The vote on the minimum wage is coming soon. Visit www.unionvoice.org/ct/q1_72zS1hcur and tell the Senate to pass a clean minimum wage bill.

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