Being Paid to Volunteer, Is it Legit or Not?

So I had a recent debate about this and it stalemated, so I wanted to see what everyone elses feedback is on this. Obviously there are different levels of volunteering, and different ways, you can volunteer time, money, effort, donations of food/money/clothing etc.

So the particular scenario is one of my part time jobs. I work as an EMT for the local ambulance service, anyone in healthcare will recognize I'm a PRN employee or an as-needed/volunteer kind of slot. I volunteer time outside my normal 40hrs to work on the ambulance service (mostly night shifts lately) responding as the 2nd out rig. There is no way to volunteer for this position its a paid position no matter what, so yes I get paid for it(which helps pay some of the bills off faster atm). But I would easily do it without pay any day of the week(I do it for my 2nd emt job on the weekends that is purely volunteer no pay).

So the debate is, even if your volunteering time, and still getting paid, is it truly volunteer or not? What if you were only getting compensation pay for gas? What's everyone's thoughts? One argument is your volunteering time end of story, the other is, your getting paid for your time its not truly volunteering?

Let's be honest about one other thing, people who work mcdonalds make more then what I make as an emt-i, my 40hs a week job pays twice as much per hour then what I make as an emt, so its not like I'm doing it to live off of.

Not going to lie, when I saw the thread title I thought it might be about somehow being paid to just go around to different places that take volunteers and volunteering. Like you might work for a non-profit that pays people to just volunteer all the time. (Great idea alert! :woohoo: New calling has been found. Thank you.)

As to your actual situation, at this point it's semantics. You volunteered to do it but got paid to do it. I can see how both sides could have validity. I believe that intent is a big part of these sorts of things, so I'd say you get paid to volunteer. If someone else says that it doesn't count as volunteering because you get paid they can certainly think that way.

One could also argue that everything is voluntary in the sense that we choose to do it. I volunteered to work at a bank. Every day I volunteer to show up at that job that pays me. If I didn't show up they wouldn't pay me, but I still made the choice to do it. The reason I do it is that they pay me. You're reason for being an EMT is to help people, they just happen to also pay you.

The biggest question is, does it change the good you're doing? Whether it's a job or volunteering you're doing something great and that is the truely important part. The fact that you get paid is secondary to that. Plus, as you pointed out, you would gladly do it without pay which you in fact do on weekends.

What if volunteering is the act of stealing someone else's job?

I don't have a problem with people being paid, but I do think that transparency is an issue. A few months ago I got on the wrong train from London and, to cut a boring story short, got stuck for 40 minutes on a train platform in the middle of nowhere. A charity worker convinced me (who was feeling particularly generous at the time) to sign up to give money, (which I am completely happy with by the way) and she told me outright she was being paid. That's fine.

A few years ago though I found out that some of those people who wave collection buckets at you are actually taking a cut from the money that gets donated (a brother of a friend made money doing it). That what I don't like, because there's an implied thing that you're donating money specifically for that charity, with it all going straight to the charity; nobody tells you they're getting some of it, and no doubt fewer people would give money if they found out. Since we found that out, my fiance refuses point blank to give to 'bucket wavers', he gives straight to the charities' themselves (as do I mostly).

ren wrote: What if volunteering is the act of stealing someone else's job?

If you're being paid for it, can it be called stealing someone's job? Is it not your job?

imo being paid to volunteer is the only good career choice for anyone

i volunteer to do the things i think are important or even just that i really like to do - things i think are worth doing to the extent that i would do them even if i didnt receive any reward other than the doing of the activity itself

what a great way to make a living

I am a volunteer firefighter, so I get where you are coming from. The honorarium system we have set in place is a $/hr (I do not recall what that amount is but it is close to our minimum wage). Anyways, I get one cheque in dec. I too would do this volunteer job for free. Even when I was a volunteer football and baseball official I got a small honorarium. Same when I was an on-air DJ at our local volunteer radio station. The reason I did it was to help out and make a difference in the world, not for money. That's the true measure of a volunteer.

Tellahane wrote: So the debate is, even if your volunteering time, and still getting paid, is it truly volunteer or not?

Yes. It's still volunteer. The proof is in the heart, not the cash.

Edan wrote: If you're being paid for it, can it be called stealing someone's job? Is it not your job?

"If the chinese factory worker is being paid for it, can it be called stealing someone's job? Is it not their job?" Said no western factory worker ever.

That's a pretty different situation to the one we're discussing.

I've been thinking about this. It's been recently changed now but the Air Force use to very nearly require volunteer work. We call it 'voluntold'. You need to do two different events every year. When you do, you get to fill in two lines of the Enlisted Performance Report (think report cards) and then that gets factored into your score.

This is a form of payment. And long term, the scores gain points for rank (so eventually monetary)

The work still gets done, although not always with the best of intentions (just checking off a box)

I know some volunteer pet shuttle services who get compensated for milage. Other foster animal homes who are comped for food and vet care. I don't think this diminishes the work.

What I think may diminish is what the volunteer gets out of it. The Airmen sometimes get out of work, or they 'waste' their time off. And sometimes they really believe in what they are doing and get a stronger sense of self.