Do I have to pay employees for volunteering?

THE ARTICLE AT A GLANCE

Key takeaways

Calling a charity event optional or offering bonus PTO does not remove pay obligations when employees are doing work for the business.

Look at the duties, not the volunteer label. Staffing a company booth, promoting the practice, or handling setup and teardown generally benefits the employer and counts as paid work.
Track and pay compensable event time. Optional attendance does not make employer-benefiting tasks unpaid; review the specific event before deciding which time requires compensation.
Do not substitute extra vacation for wages. Private-sector employers cannot replace legally required pay with bonus PTO or comp time for compensable work.
Distinguish true charitable volunteering. Activity solely for a charitable organization can have a different analysis from duties promoting or supporting your own business.

Quick answer: Yes, employees generally must be paid if they are performing work that benefits your business, even at a charity event. If employees are staffing your booth, promoting your business, setting up or tearing down equipment, or performing other work-related duties, that time is typically considered compensable and must be paid, even if attendance is optional.

Question: My office is sponsoring a local charity 5K, and I’d like to encourage employees to volunteer. We’ll have a company booth, and employees who participate will help set up, tear down, and hand out business information. Attendance is optional, and I was thinking of offering bonus vacation hours instead of wages. Do I still have to pay employees for the time they spend volunteering at the event?

When Is Volunteer Time Considered Work?

The legal side: Simply labeling attendance as optional does not automatically make volunteer time unpaid. The legal question is whether employees are truly volunteering or performing compensable work that benefits the employer. You can read more about when training is paid for off-site CE events, and the exact same rules apply in this instance.

In your example, employees are staffing your company’s booth, promoting your business, handing out marketing materials, and setting up and tearing down equipment. Because these activities directly benefit the employer, this time is considered compensable work time that must be tracked and paid. Simply calling it “volunteering” doesn’t change that.

Offering bonus vacation hours or other incentives does not replace an employer’s obligation to pay employees for compensable work time. Private-sector employers cannot substitute comp time or additional PTO for wages owed under wage and hour laws. Remember, you can’t pay people in chicken (or vacation hours). It’s called comp time, and it is not allowed to be applied to private-sector hourly employees.

A good rule of thumb is to ask who primarily benefits from the activity. If employees are volunteering solely for a charitable organization and are not performing work for your business, the analysis may be different. However, if employees are promoting your business, staffing a company booth, or performing duties that directly benefit your organization, the time is considered compensable.

The human side: Community events are a great way to build your practice’s reputation and give your team an opportunity to support a good cause. If you’d like to invite employees to participate, a practical approach is to go all in on the charitable event and promote it as well as your business and team.

Community involvement is a great investment in your team and your community. By understanding when employee volunteer time is considered compensable work, you can confidently organize company-sponsored charity events while staying compliant with wage and hour laws. If you’re unsure whether time spent at a volunteer event must be paid, CEDR’s advisors can help you evaluate your specific situation before your event takes place.

Extra Credit Listening: Episode 306: Team Volunteering Programs – Are They Paid?

Frequently Asked Questions

Do employees have to be paid for volunteering?

If employees are performing work that benefits their employer, such as staffing a booth or promoting the business, the time is generally compensable and must be paid.

Is volunteer time considered work time?

It depends on the circumstances. Volunteer time that directly benefits the employer may be considered compensable work time under wage and hour laws.

Can I offer PTO instead of paying employees?

Generally, no. Private-sector employers cannot replace legally required wages with bonus vacation time or comp time.

Does optional attendance make volunteer time unpaid?

Not necessarily. Whether time must be paid depends on the work being performed—not simply whether attendance was optional.