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 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. ”

“ 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. ”