Volunteering allowed?

[Anna C. 4]

Hi guys,

I just saw today that our Petsmart looks for a person who would like to care for their cats twice a week (moral support, cleaning the litterbox, feed them, play with them, ...) and I'd really like to do that.

They look for somebody who wants to volunteer.... So it is not paid even if an American would do it, it wouldn't be paid.

Am I allowed to volunteer there or is that against the rules?

Thanks, Anna.

Oh I forgot:

I have to say that the cats are in the Petsmart, but it is the County Pound of York County who asks for the volunteer-helper. And I assume they are not commercial.

Edited August 30, 2006 by Anna C.

[I'm Gone 60]

As long as it's truelly a volunteer position and not one that is nomally a paid position or you are doing it to later be paid you should be OK.

[YuAndDan 153]

Volunteering is not considered a job and not paid, so there should be no problem about that. What you do in your spare time is not considered in violation. Consider it a recreational activity!

Have fun!

[Anna C. 4]

Cool thanks. No I am sure nobody would be paid for this "job". If they don't have anybody the poor cats just don't get any attention and poor care. And it really makes me happy to help animals, especially cats. And there is this one Maine Coone mixture cat, a black baby, who I loved from the first moment. Maybe Paul and I want to adopt him. He is so cuddely... Anyway, it breaks my heart to see cats in cages and if I can't work, at least I want to help those unlucky cats to get through the time until they will be adopted....

[Dr_LHA 3]

Its kind of odd that the volunteer job is in Petsmart, I would have thought they would pay for someone to look after their cats! Although to be honest after seeing the state of the poor critters in my local Petsmart, they clearly need all the help they can get.

[Anna C. 4]

Yeah it's horrible how they live there. Anyway, the cats "belong" to the local pound, they kind of "exhibit" the cats in the Petsmart because they hope that pet-lovers fall in love with their animals and adopt them. To adopt them they still have to go to the pound and fill out some papers. Never seen cats in a petshop in Germany, only in France. Guess it's against German laws to put them in cages so small....

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Good for you! Yes, volunteering to help care for the cats at Petsmart - which are there as a public service of local pet adoption agencies - definitely qualifies as a volunteer and not a paid position. I regularly visit the cats up for adoption at our Petsmart - and wish we were in the position to adopt more - but we have 5 already. I have seen some of the volunteers cleaning up the cages and cuddling and playing with the cats at our local Petsmart and was grateful to see the care they offered. Now I can think of you being one of the helpers.

Edited August 30, 2006 by Kathryn41

[Adam M 0]

Hi Guys,

I asked something similar a few weeks ago, but have lost the thread! *d'oh!*

Anyway, a few offers of voluntary positions have rolled in recently, and some people have offered to re-imburse expenses etc. I'm probably being paranoid, but is it ok to accept expenses back for a voluntary position? I'm sure it is.... I'm just being paranoid, right?!!

Adz.

xx

[Dr_LHA 3]

A bit of a grey area that, but expenses are not taxable so you should probably be OK. The issue with voluntary positions is that they cannot be "a job without pay", i.e. a company saying "well we'll hire you as a volunteer as you don't have your EAD, but when you get your EAD/GC we'll start paying you".

Edited September 18, 2006 by dr_lha