United States Department of Labor

“ Volunteers (Assistants) are not paid any wages for hours worked while performing the major duties of the firm. The assistants set up rooms, call registrants, collect fees, keep stats of classroom data/participants, file, they also are answering phones, training and leading seminars
The assistants hours are delegated by an employee of the firm, the work is directed and managed by the site manager, the duties performed are vital to the employer’s business. ”

“ The assistants are not given credit for the hours worked which vary from 10 per week to 60 and up. The assistants are keeping records of attendees, stats on classroom attendance, assisting the instructor with the classes, and also an integral part of the seminars. The employer could not conduct the seminars at the level it has been doing without the enormous amount of assistants (20-40) per seminar. The assistants perform primary functions of the employer such as finance conversations with potential attendees, purchasing, and facility management. ”

“ The duties performed by these unpaid workers or ‘volunteers’ include office, clerical, telephone work, enrolling people into courses and assisting with courses for the benefit of Landmark Education.
‘Volunteers’ are required to sign agreements committing to amount of time to be worked, a copy of which is enclosed.
There is no compensation for enrolling others into courses but, according to a former participant in the organization, some ‘volunteers’ are given paid positions on staff and/or the opportunity to lead courses based on the number of people they enroll. ”

“ Overtime violations occurred because the employer did not pay the non exempt hourly employees for all hours in excess of 40 hours per week at time and an half. Employees only received a fixed salary for all hours worked. ”

“ The assistants displace regular employees that would have to be hired. The employer could not operate with the 2-3 full-time employees per site.
Section 7: An overtime violation resulting from the firm not paying the additional half time to non-exempt salaried employees [Exemption 5 to Freedom of Information Act: Internal forms and memoranda]
The firm did agree to comply and pay backwages throughout the United States via the MODO’s investigation [Exemption 5 to Freedom of Information Act: Internal forms and memoranda]
but did not include the non-exempt salaried employee in Dallas. ”

“ She has been fully in charge of the Audio and Visual Production Department, and she is responsible for all the centers' production within the United States. She does the annual budget proposal for her department, and she could make purchase without prior approval. ”

“ Subject is a for profit corporation engaged in the presentation of a series of seminars on ontological conversation and inquiry, i.e., the series promotes self-help and self-improvement techniques for personal development. ”

“ By volunteering at these seminars and in the business office the assistants are convinced that they are acquiring skills and knowledge required to improve their social and mental skills that they can use in their full-time employment and personal lives. ”

“ Furthermore, during the course of the April 12, 1996 discussion, Schreiber admitted that enrollment customer relations, performed, pursuant to the interviews, as a primary function by these employees, follows an involved application form which was originally constructed by Schreiber. This application form is used to weed out applicants who have had any mental or emotional problems from attending the seminars. ”

“ Action Works
Action WORKS
November 10, 1994
Ms. Bea Gather
District Director
Department of Labor
P.O. Box 3505
Denver, CO 80294
RE: FSLA complaint regarding the use of ‘volunteers’ by Landmark Education, a for-profit company
Dear Ms. Gather:
Landmark Education Corporation is privately held, for-profit corporation that sells new-age, ‘self-help’ courses. ”

“ U.S. Department of Labor investigation of Landmark Education in Dallas, Texas (2006) [NOTE: Information in brackets pertains to information withheld from public by United States Department of Labor, due to exemptions to Freedom of Information Act.] ”