Volunteers
They're generally not covered

Volunteer involvement in public schools is steadily increasing, yet few local school boards have official policies governing the use of volunteers in their schools. An official volunteer policy reduces the risk of injury to participants in school volunteer programs, reduces a school board's liability exposure, and reduces volunteers' own exposure as well.

As a general rule, an injury is not covered by workers' compensation unless an employer-employee relationship exists. Most volunteers, therefore, are not covered by workers' compensation since they are providing services of their own free will and neither receive nor expect payment or other compensation.

The compensation does not have to be money. Payment in kind—such as free meals—may give rise to an employee-employer relationship, making the recipient eligible for workers' compensation. However, receiving something of value alone does not necessarily make the recipient an employee. For example, the fact that a school lunchroom volunteer receives a free meal does not transform her into an employee for purposes of workers' compensation benefits. The parties must have some understanding that the worker will be compensated for services; a mere gratuity is not enough. Read SFM's Legal Advisory for more specifics.

Exceptions
Certain types of volunteers, even though not paid for their services, are defined by state law as being covered under workers' compensation. Almost all of these situations involve programs administered by state or local government, such as volunteer fire departments.

Before seeking or accepting assistance from volunteers, employers should think about the likelihood and potential legal and financial consequences of a workplace injury. If an injured volunteer is not eligible for workers' compensation benefits, will the employer's general liability or some other insurance policy defend the employer and pay any damages resulting from a claim pursued by the injured volunteer? An employer's potential liability may well exceed the value of the volunteer's services.

Have a legal question? Submit it to a workers' compensation attorney. Or call Lynn, Scharfenberg & Associates at
(952) 838-4450 or (800) 937-1181.

Advice from SFM's print publication

Retirement
It's not necessarily the end of a workers' comp claim

Most people assume that when an employee formally retires any ongoing claim for wage loss benefits cease. But that's not always the case.

Find out more on page 5.