It seems as if beginning in October every year we are all encouraged to give generously to many worthy charities whose work we support. Budget season and government grant decisions are being made at this time and there is stress on many non-profit organizations to get out there and fundraise. So how does this tie in to the "law of work?"
If you are involved with a non-profit organization - whether as an employee or as a board member or volunteer - you must be wary of the same wage and hour laws that affect for-profit employers. Unfortunately, many non-profits do not fully understand their liabilities and can find themselves in trouble for accepting legitimately offered "volunteer" hours from their employees. How does this work?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that all employees be paid for the work they perform - that's basic and never in dispute as a proposition. It gets tricky when employees want to work more hours than they are expected to work or are paid for in their normal salary. This can be an issue for for-profit employers ( e.g. the extremely dedicated employee who wants to work extra hours to help the team and who repeatedly states he or she does not want any extra pay for the extra time - just remember Clare Booth Luce's words "no good deed goes unpunished") but is especially confusing in the non-profit world. It seems contrary to the mission of many non-profits that their employees, most if not all of whom are extremely dedicated to the cause at issue, cannot volunteer their time for the fundraising events that are so crucial to the survival of their organization. This is a hard lesson to get across. However, the FLSA applies to all employees. In an effort to protect employees from being pressured to work "off the clock", the Department of Labor (the enforcing agency for the FLSA) states that "when employees volunteer to do the same type of work that they perform as a part of their normal work duties, the volunteer work must be included in the employees' hours worked calculations...the employer must compensate employees for the hours spent volunteering during their normal working hours or when the volunteer work performed is similar to their regular duties." DOL Opinion letter: FLSA2005-33
The employer, with sound advice, must then make the call - what is similar to regular duties? There is no clear guidance but I would advise caution - especially if the employee's supervisor is organizing the volunteer/fund-raising efforts and can direct that employee's "work". And, if the non-profit employer decides to pay their employees to help support the fund-raising efforts, there is the additional issue of whether that employee's salary is grant-funded and whether the grant allows for fund-raising activities.
Simply put - charitable activity does not get a free pass from the government. Don't get "Scrooged" this holiday season by failing to consider the laws of work.
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