A Legal Perspective on the Organization–Volunteer Relationship. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mead, Joseph
• Other Names: Brudney Jeffrey L. guest-editor.; Handy Femida guest-editor.; Meijs Lucas C.P.M. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly. Volume 48:Number 2(2019) Supplment
• Page Start: 12S
• Page End: 29S
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: volunteering -- nonprofit law -- volunteer management -- nonprofit management -- nonprofit policy; Nonprofit organizations -- Periodicals; Voluntarism -- Periodicals; Charity organization -- Periodicals; 361.763
• DOI: 10.1177/0899764018762319
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0899-7640

Abstract

How does law view and shape the relationship between nonprofit organization and volunteer? To address this question, I draw on information from statutes, court decisions, and agency guidance from both the federal and state law in the United States. In general, "volunteer" is not a legally defined category in the United States, leaving a volunteer's legal status to depend on whether the volunteering aligns with other, recognized types of relationships, such as employer–employee, principal–agent, or program–participant. By providing a synthesis of these varied legal rules as they apply to volunteers working for a nonprofit organization, this piece identifies different ways of describing the relationship between organization and volunteer, and the legal obligations and benefits that flow as a result.