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Volunteers at church restaurant not under FLSA

Volunteers at church restaurant not under FLSA

Volunteers at church restaurant not under FLSA

Unpaid members of a church who volunteer to help staff a church restaurant without the expectation of being paid are not considered employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court decision ordering the church to pay more than $388,000 in damages. Grace Cathedral church in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, operates a for-profit restaurant called the Cathedral Buffet on its campus. The restaurant is open to the public and staffed partially by volunteers who frequently proselytized with the patrons who dined there. It has had a checkered history with the federal Department of Labor and was investigated by the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL...

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