Cass Ballenger: “H.R. 3152 is intended to address a very narrow issue under the Fair Labor Standards Act but a very important issue for…”

“H.R. 3152 is intended to address a very narrow issue under the Fair Labor Standards Act but a very important issue for many of our Nation's food banks. H.R. 3152 clarifies that persons who help at food banks on a volunteer basis and receive groceries from the food bank are not employees of the food bank. The legislation is necessary because of the inconsistent and conflicting interpretations given in the past by the Department of Labor. In 1992 in response to questions from the Congressional Homelessness Task Force, Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin wrote, ``It does not appear that volunteers at nonprofit food distribution centers would be considered employees of the centers.'' Five years later, in May of 1997, in response to a request by food bank centers for a formal advisory letter on the status of such volunteers, the Office of the Solicitor of the Department of Labor said it appears that distributing organizations would be compensating needy individuals in the form of benefits, that is, food or other products, for services that the individuals performed for organizations and that the individuals, if they meet the indigence requirements, would expect to receive the products in return for their services. Under this scenario we would consider these individuals employees of the distributing organizations.”