A volunteer or employee? What’s the difference?
California has a two-part test that nonprofits must meet to be exempt from compensating their volunteers.
San Diegans volunteer in various nonprofit enterprises. In Spilman v. The Salvation Army, a San Francisco-based panel of the California Court of Appeal announced a two-part test that nonprofits must meet to be exempt from compensating their volunteers.
Background
John Spilman participated in a six-month Salvation Army drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Program participants receive dormitory housing, three meals per day, clothing, gratuities, and one-on-one counseling and other rehabilitation services.
Participants must participate in what the Salvation Army calls “work therapy,” generally full-time work in the Salvation Army’s warehouse and thrift stores performing such tasks as loading trucks and sorting donations. The Salvation Army maintains that work therapy teaches participants life skills needed to reenter the workforce.
Upon enrollment, participants sign documents saying they are not Salvation Army employees.
Spilman sued, claiming he and other program participants were Salvation Army employees entitled to the minimum wage and related rights under California employment law. The trial judge summarily ruled in the Salvation Army’s favor. The judge concluded program participants could not be Salvation Army employees because there was no express or implied agreement they would be compensated. Spilman appealed.
Click here to read the full article written by SCMV Shareholder Dan Eaton and published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.