Is volunteer work subject to the same labor laws as paid work?

Question

Is volunteer work subject to the same labor laws (only 3 hours during school days + Minor Release form for students, for example) as paid work?

More specific question: can a minor work unlimited hours at a nonprofit?

Answer 1

We can start with a basic federal rule, that under FLSA a volunteer can only be to a non-profit organization for public service, religious or humanitarian objectives. There are exemptions some of which relate to the minimum wage requirements, which I will ignore. Then there are state rules regarding when minors can work. Age 14 is the lower ends of allowed minor labor without a court order. There are two age brackets, 14-15 and 16-17, regarding the number of hours per day and week, whether during a school week or a non-school week. There are also exemptions where minors (16-17) are not restricted e.r.t. "school week hours" depending on whether e.g. then are married, are parents, are taking college courses, or have a high school diploma or GED, but they are otherwise restricted from fully volunteering their labor.

Title 49 has the state laws regarding labor. It is challenging to establish that anyone can legally volunteer their labor under state law, even though it is not prohibited at the federal level. If you turn to Chapter 49.46 RCW which relates to minimum wage, under the definition of "employee" excludes

(d) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, state or local governmental body or agency, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not in fact exist or where the services are rendered to such organizations gratuitously.

There are no further restrictions on volunteer labor, at least w.r.t. to the issue of being paid (insurance is a separate title).

You can now put these two parts together. No minor can work unlimited hours; a minor can work as a volunteer for certain non-profits.