§558e Consideration as Federal Employee

Summary

Volunteers are usually not treated as federal employees. They do not get rules or benefits that apply to federal workers, like set hours, pay, leave, unemployment, or federal employee benefits. But there are three exceptions: for tort claims they are treated as federal employees under title 28; for work-injury compensation they are treated as employees under subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5; and for claims about damage or loss of a volunteer’s personal property during service they are treated as federal employees and section 3721 of title 31 applies. The word “volunteer” also covers a person who meets two conditions: they are recruited, trained, and supported by a cooperator under a mutual benefit or cooperative agreement with one of the Secretaries, and they do the volunteer work under the cooperator’s supervision as directed by that agreement. The agreement must describe seven things, including the work and its location and supervision, safety rules, any on-site checks, allowed equipment, required training, allowed actions, and any other needed terms.