Employee vs. Volunteer: Classification of a Work Therapy Program

Nonprofit organizations of all sizes rely heavily on volunteer contributions; by some estimates, about 70 percent of nonprofits in the United States are entirely staffed by volunteers . Even in nonprofits with paid employees, volunteer labor is still crucial to achieving their charitable missions in an affordable manner, helping to ensure that donations go primarily toward services, rather than to employee compensation.

However, the distinction between a volunteer and an employee is often blurry. In a recent decision evaluating a drug rehabilitation work therapy program, a California court of appeal established a two-part standard that nonprofits should use to determine whether a