Most people who work are considered employees and must be paid at minimum wage or higher for all the time that they work. Volunteers and some interns may work without pay.
Who can be a volunteer?
Volunteers provide services to not-for-profit or charitable organizations. The Department of Labor Standards (DLS) determines who can work as an unpaid volunteer. DLS considers the following in determining whether an individual may be classified as volunteer:
- The nature of the entity receiving the services
- The receipt by the worker of any benefits, or expectation of any benefits, from their work
- Whether the activity is less than a full-time occupation
- Whether regular employees are displaced by the "volunteer"
- Whether the services are offered freely without pressure or coercion
- Whether the services are of the kind typically associated with volunteer work
If you have questions about volunteers, contact DLS.
Additional Resources
Who can be an unpaid intern?
Interns usually must be paid, but there are limited circumstances when they may be unpaid. The Department of Labor Standards (DLS) determines who can work as an unpaid intern.
Workers who are getting school or academic credit
Generally, an intern who receives school or academic credit may be an unpaid intern.
Workers who are not getting school or academic credit
If an intern is not receiving school credits, then the intern must be paid at least minimum wage, unless the intern is a “trainee” under state law. This is a narrow exemption. To determine whether a program in an educational or charitable institution qualifies as a “training program” within the meaning of G.L. c. 151, § 2, DLS has adopted the Primary Beneficiary Test. (see, DLS Opinion Letter MW 04-14-23, April 14, 2023.) The Primary Beneficiary Test is a totality of the circumstances approach considering the following seven factors:
- The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee—and vice versa.
- The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands on training provided by educational institutions.
- The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.
- The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.
- The extent to which the internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.
- The extent to which the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.
- The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.
If you have questions about volunteers, contact DLS.
Additional Resources
Contact for Volunteers and interns
Online
Phone
Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.