The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines employment very broadly,
i.e., to suffer or permit to work. However, the Supreme Court has
made it clear that the FLSA was not intended to stamp all persons as
employees who without any express or implied compensation agreement might work
for their own advantage on the premises of another.
In administering the FLSA, the U.S. Department of Labor follows this
judicial guidance in the case of individuals serving as unpaid volunteers in
various community services. Individuals who volunteer or donate their services,
usually on a part-time basis, for public service, religious or humanitarian
objectives, not as employees and without contemplation of pay, are not
considered employees of the religious, charitable or similar non-profit
organizations that receive their services.
To learn more about how the FLSA employment relationship provisions
apply to volunteer work, please select one of the following:
For more general information about how the FLSA employment provisions
apply to individuals who volunteer to work for any organization, please visit
the FLSA
Advisor.
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FLSA Section 14(c) Advisor |
Wage and Hour Division
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