From: Paul Poulos <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Monday, 19 April 1999 07:32
Subject: AOL IS FACING CHALLANGE OVER FREE LABOR
April 14, 1999
America Online Is Facing Challenge Over Free Labor
By LISA NAPOLI
For the last 10 years, America Online Inc., the nation's largest
online service, has relied on volunteers to help maintain the virtual
community it offers its members. The volunteers, who are known as
"community leaders," perform tasks like answering questions from
subscribers, supervising chat rooms and enforcing the service's
rules.
The reward has been a free account with the service and, America
Online says, the opportunity to play a more active role in its
community of 16 million members.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
----
Related Articles
Internet Providers' Demands on High-Speed Data Rejected
(April 14, 1999)
America Online Plans to Lay Off Up to 1,000
(March 25, 1999)
AOL-Netscape Deal Won't Be Blocked
(March 12, 1999)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
----
Now at least seven former volunteers are challenging the practice,
and have asked the Labor Department to look into whether the use of
volunteer labor by America Online and its subsidiary, America Online
Communities Inc., violates the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
A Labor Department spokesman would neither confirm nor deny that AOL
was under investigation, but several former volunteers provided
copies of a letter from the department's Employment Standards
Administration saying it would look into the matter.
Information about the investigation was published two weeks ago on
Observers.net, a Web site set up last September by former volunteers.
A spokeswoman for America Online, Ann Brackbill, said on Friday that
she was aware of the Web site and the information about an
investigation, which she said had prompted the company to "initiate
contact" with the Labor Department. But she added, "We do not
elaborate on discussions we have with regulatory agencies."
America Online, which has 12,000 employees, also has more than 10,000
volunteers, Ms. Brackbill said. Volunteers commit to a minimum of
four hours a week of work, in addition to training time and time
spent on required paperwork. Some of the former volunteers said they
devoted much more time to the company.
Marilyn Perkins of Chicago, a co-founder of Observers.net, is one of
at least seven people who have registered separate complaints with
the Labor Department. Ms. Perkins and other volunteers acknowledge
that they signed on to work for AOL in exchange for a free account,
which now costs $21.95 a month. But many volunteers signed up when
the value of a free account was potentially much higher, because the
online service billed users at an hourly rate and charges for heavy
users ran in the hundreds of dollars.
Although their complaints vary, the former volunteers say that AOL
relies on volunteers to do work that should be paid. Ms. Perkins says
the company has dismissed volunteers who have asked for compensation
or complained about the program, and has taken away their free
accounts.
In their complaints to the Labor Department, the former volunteers do
not make explicit demands for back pay. The issue, they said, is to
publicize the situation and to change the way the online service uses
unpaid labor.
"Some are filing for revenge, some are filing to stop AOL from
abusing others, some simply want their AOL accounts returned to
them," said Kelly Hallissey, a former volunteer who lives in
Greensboro, N.C.
"I'm filing to support others' allegations and also to object to how
AOL has treated myself and many others."
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a person must be compensated for
time spent at job-related activities that benefit the employer,
regardless of how the job is classified. There is a difference
between volunteering for a charitable cause and volunteering to
perform work that is critical to a company's business, said Jeffrey
Chamberlain, an employment lawyer based in Albany who is not involved
in the AOL dispute.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
----
How the Internet is redefining the nature of work in the information
age.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
----
In a claim like the one made by the former AOL volunteers,
Chamberlain said: "The more it looks like a real job, the less likely
it is to be deemed volunteer. The kinds of things they are describing
would make lawyers' bells go off."
But Ms. Brackbill defended the volunteer program, saying it was a
formalization of contributions that AOL subscribers have made to the
service since it began in 1985. "It's an organic thing that sprouted
from what people love to do online," she said. "Community and
participation are the DNA of the Internet."
AOL is not the only online company to use volunteers. Many Internet
companies that offer community features rely on members to enforce
standards and to contribute to the community in some fashion.
For instance, Ivillage, an online women's network, uses more than
1,000 volunteers to manage message boards and chat communities.
Michael Rubin, an employment lawyer in San Francisco, says the nature
of work is being redefined because of computer and Internet
connections that are readily available in homes, potentially creating
new legal issues for companies that use remote help.
If found in violation of wage and hour laws, an employer could be
required to pay double the compensation to which the workers should
have been entitled, Rubin said. If it is found that the violations
were willful, the employer could be subject to civil penalties and
possibly criminal prosecution.
A decision against AOL could set a precedent for the online industry
that might force companies to rethink the way they use volunteers,
Rubin said, adding, "If the industry in fact was kept operating
because of volunteer workers, it may have to reconfigure."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
----
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
