Volunteer Time

Rockie · June 2001

Have any of you had occasion to hire someone, give them an offer letter, a start date, etc. Then you find out the supervisor had them in the office "observing" what they will be doing before their actual hire date. Do you look at this as time worked and therefore compensable?

I called DOL and they advised if the employee was not performing any "hands on" actual work where the company benefitted then we would not have to consider it time worked. I still have a funny feeling about having anyone coming in on their own time and not being compensated for it. I think this is a fine line we are walking on.

What do you think?

Down_the_Middle · June 2001

I just had two (2) of these recently......... In one case, the offer was made and the employee was clearly informed that a "day of observation" was part of the pre-employment component and therefore was expected to observe only. No work was performed by the person and no payment was made to the individual and our defense was upheld. Scenario #2 was different in that the employee was expected to "do a few things" while the supervisor stepped away and consequently this person was "permitted to work" and entitled to be paid appropriately. The lesson I learned was, unless the new hire clearly understands that a day of observing is required, you are better off to compensate the person for being permitted to work. As one judge pointed out, listening and asking questions is an integral part of working, so I think it's a slippery slope to expect the individual to volunteer their first day.

Rockie · June 2001

Thanks Down the Middle.

Were these DOL cases that individuals filed? I'm surprised if the individual was required to come in (even to just observe) that they weren't entitled to pay. But...I'm with you. I think it's better to just go ahead and pay up front and be done with it. At the very least, even if you win a case, it certainly takes up a lot of time and energy and (your salary expense) to take care of it.

Mikki H · June 2001

We like the "observation day" but we do not do it AFTER an offer, only before an offer. It is not considered time worked since there is not even an offer on the table. We like to let a prospective employees (the ones who are most likely to get an offer from us) observe for a few hours before we make an offer. This gives the prospective employee a chance to see that the job really entails. We have found that some applicants decide that the position is not what they want and it saves us the time and trouble in hiring and then turning right around and terminating. It seems to work well.

Volunteer Time

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