[MUD-Dev] Criminalize Community Volunteers?

[John Buehler]

> Koster, Raph
> Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2000 8:36 PM

> > No matter what, this case will probably clarify what it
> > is to be  an online volunteer is vs. an employee. A
> > company's for-profit status won't be the key factor:
> > it's compensation, commitment, working environment, and
> > job requirements/selection that will more likely
> > be the differences.
>
> As I understand it, there are actually some very specific things in labor
> law already regarding what the definition of an employee is. Among them: are
> you volunteering to do what is already your job? (That's illegal--you can't
> volunteer to put in extra hours at Burger King for free--the empoyer would
> be liable). Are you receving any form of compensation to which monetary
> value can be put? Does said compensation come at regular intervals based on
> time worked? Are you required to keep certain hours? Are you required to
> report on your work or progress? Have you been doing the same job for over
> twelve months?

In speaking to a contractor who worked for Microsoft, the contractors are now
'let go' for a period of time in order to ensure that they don't work beyond a
certain number of hours/days a year.  This is a result of the whole fiasco
with contractors insisting on employee-like benefits from the company.  The
rest of the employees joked about the attitude that theory would suggest we
adopt: treat your contractors like dirt to make sure they know they're only
contractors.  Up to that point, contractors were treated as peer employees
from a humanistic standpoint.  Not so afterwards.  Minor battle lines were
drawn.

Personal experience, your mileage may vary.

Isn't it humorous that the whole problem of 'ideal scenario' versus spoiler
players applies to system design in real life as well?  The contractor
approach worked fine until enough spoiler players insisted on exploiting the
mechanism.  In the end, all contractors at Microsoft lost out.

JB





_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev