As an employer, if you have student workers or volunteers, are there circumstances under which you treat them as actual employees, meaning that they should be paid accordingly? Here are guidelines for determining when students or volunteers should be given employee status—and paid at least minimum wage plus overtime beyond 40 hours a week.

Check the duties and compensation of students at your college or university:

• Are they conducting research that is tied to the school’s educational mission? If so, they are students even if they are paid a stipend or given a break on room and board or a tuition reduction.
• The less an undergraduate or graduate assistant’s work has to do with his or her education, the more likely the work should be paid at minimum wage and the student qualify for overtime.
• If they are paid to do research through a grant or contract, they are probably still students.
• Students who participate in such extracurricular activities as drama, musical groups, radio stations, or athletics do not qualify as employees, according to DOL.
• Students who serve as residence hall assistants or dorm counselors in exchange for reduced charges or tuition credits are generally not employees.
• But students who work at food service counters, or wait on tables or wash dishes, or sell programs or usher at athletic events are generally seen as employees under FLSA.   
  

Check your volunteers:

• Are they doing altruistic work that is typically associated with volunteers?
• They shouldn’t be working the equivalent of full time.
• They shouldn’t displace any of the organization’s employees or reduce the need to hire.
• They should be only minimally controlled by the organization.
• They should typically volunteer at times that are convenient for them.
• If they are also employees, they shouldn’t volunteer during normal work hours.
• If they perform services for a for-profit company, they are not volunteers.