Before long, school will be back in session, and Friday nights
will be spent attending high school football games. As we enter the
gates at the games, a question that often comes to mind is how the
gate keepers/ticket takers are paid? Can the high school athletic
director just give the gate keeper/ticket taker $20.00 from the
gate receipts? Can the principal issue a check from the
school's general account? Fortunately, many high schools are
able to find volunteers and do not have to answer these questions.
But even if a volunteer is found, such as a service personnel
employee, can the high school allow such employees to volunteer for
free?
West Virginia Board of Education Policy 1224.1
provides guidance on the first issue; should a high school be
unable to find volunteers. In particular, Policy 1224.1 provides
that "ticket takers . . . regardless of whether the individual
is a full-time employee of the board or not . . . are to be paid
through the normal payroll process of the central board office . .
.". Policy 1224.1 goes on to state that "this includes
payment for part-time or temporary help for . . . concession stand
workers, ticket takers, or other workers at athletic events,
carnivals, or other activities, regardless of whether the
individual is a full-time employee of the board or not." And,
"County boards are to establish by local policy the procedures
to be used by the individual schools in the county for the
reporting and payment of wages to all individuals who perform
services for the schools."
In fact, sometimes when a county board of education is unable to
locate volunteers to serve as gate keepers/ticket takers, it will
post an extracurricular position in order to obtain an employee to
provide the service (see example.)
As to the second question, whether service personnel are able to
volunteer, the Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act for West
Virginia School Districts, issued by the West Virginia
Department of Education Office of School Finance, provides
guidance. For example, the Guide provides several questions and
answers as it relates to when payment (and overtime) are required
to be paid to non-exempt employees (i.e., service personnel).
In particular, non-exempt employees who stay after
scheduled hours to perform school related work such as take tickets
at an athletic event, attend parent-teacher conferences, work at
open house, go to staff meetings, set up or close functions,
etc. Employees would have to be compensated for such
activities, unless they are bona fide volunteers. However, if the
activities are infrequent, irregular, or occurring in scattered
instances, the hours spent doing them do not have to be added to
the employee's regular work hours for overtime purposes. An
activity is "occasional and sporadic" if it is:
- not a regular assignment
- solely at the employee's option (no coercion, implied or explicit)
- in a different capacity than the employee's regular work. (An example of this could be taking up tickets at home football games.)
As the high school football season quickly approaches, it might be helpful to remind your building administrators and athletic directors of Policy 1224.1 should they be unable to locate volunteers.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.