5 ms·

I'd be interested to see a comparison of the contrasts between YouTube's new "Heroes" program and the disgraced AOL "Community Leader" program that was successf

• spacehome 10y ago
  I never quite understood that lawsuit. The volunteers understood that they weren't being paid when they signed up for the gig, right?
  • veridies 10y ago
    To enforce a minimum wage, you have to guarantee that people actually get paid at all. So in general, unless you're running a non-profit, you will have a really hard time legally with unpaid volunteers. If you don't mandate wages for employees, you have companies exploiting weaker people for their work, often under misleading pretenses.
  • fenomas 10y ago
    Did you read the link? They were compensated (with free internet access) in return for which they had to undergo training, work for a set number of hours, fill in timecards, etc. It sounds like it was a part-time job in all but name.
    • fwn 10y ago
      Except they knew it upfront. ...which I would argue would be the relevant criteria. Signing up for unpaid community duties and then trying to pressure myself into a job does not feel honest to me, at all.
      • fenomas 10y ago
        It wasn't unpaid community duties, it was compensated work that provided value to a corporation. IANAL, but I think the premise is that, as far as employment law is concerned, they were already in a job.
      • ddoran 10y ago
        Competitor Group are being sued in a class action lawsuit [0] by a road race volunteer claiming that volunteers were actually laborers being exploited by the defendant and in breach of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Competitor Group argued for dismissal but their arguments were denied and the case is moving forward. So the courts will decide if, despite "knowing upfront" that they were volunteering, such "work" constitutes "labor". This could have a huge impact at (for-profit) races all over the country that rely on unpaid volunteers, not to mention other for-profit entities use of "volunteers", including YouTube/Google. [0] http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1849&context=historical http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl...
  • aikah 10y ago
    > I never quite understood that lawsuit. The volunteers understood that they weren't being paid when they signed up for the gig, right? You don't understand people fighting for their rights? but I'm sure you do understand corporation exploiting them. There is no "signing up" when the deal is both illegal and unfair. Marx theories didn't go away because some people deemed them irrelevant. Ironically, in this era of political correctness where people apply Marxism to culture and speech instead of economy and workers rights, they should better remember what it is all about at first place and how they are being tricked into fighting useless fights. Your comment can't be more relevant, actually...
    • fwn 10y ago
      Not an expert, but I am pretty sure that the idea to make non-paid, voluntary work that is inspired by a sense of community illegal to strengthen some 21. century understanding of workers rights is the straight up opposite of a Marxist utopia. I think the key is > There is no "signing up" when the deal is both illegal and unfair. If behaviour does conflict with lawyers or philosophers opinion, individual autonomy is to be stripped. (Therefore no agreeing, signing up, etc.) If those people disagree, people are just exploited socketpuppets for a political agenda. Maybe that's Marxist cynicism.
    • spacehome 10y ago
      Can I volunteer to coach my son's little league team and then after the fact argue that I should get paid?
    • RaleyField 10y ago
      > You don't understand people fighting for their rights? Are or should those be their rights? If I _voluntarily_ step into a volcano should that volcano be liable for my actions?
      • falcolas 10y ago
        It's hard to sue a volcano, but you can be arrested for attempted manslaughter if you fail... Suicide is not legal.