Volunteer as a paid employee

WARNING: You cannot (by law) assign an RSVP Volunteer to a Station that will use them as a surrogate for a paid employee.

Let's take an example of how this works. The Red Cross tried to get RSVP to find a volunteer to WORK 40 hours per week as the office manager. Nope, no can do! This is a clear and egregious example of attempting to get a free employee.

So, what's the difference between someone who volunteers to do some office management and someone who is a surrogate for a paid employee?

Easy. A volunteer has a flexible schedule and comes and goes according to their own desires. They are not bound by an 8-5 time frame five days a week. They are free to say NO THANK YOU!

Our motto is "Volunteering is Fun." A Volunteer can easily have fun doing a little office management here and there. They just don't want to be bound and/or obligated to have a volunteer position be the same as a paid job--except without the pay part.

As the recession drags on, beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing who tries to trick you into thinking that a volunteer would be volunteering when they would actually be part of a scam to save somebody some wage money.

Let's take the example of running a gift shop. Both a paid employee and/or a volunteer can run a cash register and operate a gift shop. What's the difference? Well, the paid employee generally has a rigid schedule and very specific expectations. The volunteer, meanwhile, generally serves on a very flexible schedule for short periods of time and usually not every single day of the week. Some volunteers really enjoy the socialization of running a gift shop--it's a very fun thing to do as a volunteer. It becomes a real drag when it becomes a job.

Sometimes there's a fine line in these situations. One of the easiest "workarounds" for it is to simply be upfront with the Station manager and point blank ask them, "Are you trying to get a volunteer to do something that a paid employee should be doing?" Most of them will be honest and tell you an honest answer. The other option is to ask the volunteer if they feel like they are being "taken advantage of." If they say "yes," end that assignment ASAP.

It should also go without saying that you can't assign volunteers to a for-profit business. You can only work with non-profits. There are a couple of exceptions you need to be aware of. Hospitals are a good one. Hospitals are trying to make a profit. So how can people volunteer in a hospital? Generally, they volunteer through a non-profit adjunct of the hospital like an auxiliary or some such similar organization. Just be aware of who is volunteering where and how and don't cross that line of facilitating the use of a volunteer as a paid employee.