What if the “employees” are volunteers?

[Yikes]

When considering what qualifies as an employee workstation, must it be a formally paid employee to qualify?

Hypothetical example:
At a dentist’s office, the dental equipment is part of the employee workstation. The light above the chair is out of the normal 48” reach range, but it doesn’t matter because the dentist is an employee.
But what if a not-for-profit builds a dental clinic? It is staffed by dentists who volunteer part of their time to serve the clinic. Must that light now be accessible, solely because there was no paycheck involved for the professional using the equipment?

 

[arwat23]

Volunteers are typically not protected under the ADA (example, see Pastor v. Partnership for Children’s Rights).

The dictionary definition of "employee" includes the need for a salary, so a volunteer isn't an employee.

For CA, I don't believe it's been definitively stated if "volunteer workstations" need to be accessible or if they can follow the typical "workstation" requirements. I usually err on the side of caution when designing a space because codes can change, and more accessibility is rarely a bad thing. That said, I think there's a solid argument for considering it an "employee workstation", at least for the exception in 11B-203.9.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

This is really a question for the Access Board.

I would view it as "employee" meaning "worker" as opposed to customer or client, so I would treat volunteer dentists and volunteer technicians as employees for purposes of accessibility.

 

[Joe.B]

Would "employee" vs. "volunteer" matter for insurance coverage?

 

[bill1952]

Would "employee" vs. "volunteer" matter for insurance coverage?

No workers comp for volunteer.

But I think there is a blurry line between volunteer and public accomodations. I've worked on community theatres and some areas, like a control room, are not clear. If it's all paid staff, employee work station. But if the activity is open to anyone who wants to volunteer, I believe it's a public accomodation and the control room and it's equipment would have to be accessible. And if course no different in an educational setting. Orchesters pits fall into this. I won't even get into organ consoles in churches, of course not ADA but is IBC.

I think you have to be careful discriminating between who can volunteer.

 

[Yikes]

No workers comp for volunteer.

But I think there is a blurry line between volunteer and public accomodations. I've worked on community theatres and some areas, like a control room, are not clear. If it's all paid staff, employee work station. But if the activity is open to anyone who wants to volunteer, I believe it's a public accomodation and the control room and it's equipment would have to be accessible. And if course no different in an educational setting. Orchesters pits fall into this. I won't even get into organ consoles in churches, of course not ADA but is IBC.

I think you have to be careful discriminating between who can volunteer.

A non-hypothetical situation is a church that is building a commercial-grade kitchen to serve meals to their congregation. Use of the cooking equipment is limited to either outside caterers, in-house employees, or in-house volunteers who are specially trained on the equipment. This is not your Aunt Betsy's KeffeeKlasch. Commercial equipment is quite specialized and is not designed for accessibility: deep 3-bowl wash sinks, giant food grinder/disposers, Ansul hoods, etc. Though ADA generally does not apply to religious organizations, CBC 11B-244 and 212 normally does apply. We are hoping the building official will recognize the church volunteers are essentially specialty equipment workers at the equivalent of an employee workstation.

 

[bill1952]

So some equipment would meet ADAS or ICC A117.1, but what about an accessible route, one lowered section of counter, and a sink - like the hand wash sink - that is accessible, as a start?

 

[Yikes]

So some equipment would meet ADAS or ICC A117.1, but what about an accessible route, one lowered section of counter, and a sink - like the hand wash sink - that is accessible, as a start?

In CBC 11B-206.2.8 common use circulation paths within employee work areas need to be accessible. However, the workstation itself (including equipment) does not need to be accessible.

 

[Inspector Gadget]

I'd treat the two as identical.

 

[tmurray]

I'd treat the two as identical.

In Canada, you'd be correct. We treat everyone who is acting on instructions from someone in authority as an employee, regardless of compensation.

I'm not sure if this holds true for the US though.

 

[Inspector Gadget]

In Canada, you'd be correct. We treat everyone who is acting on instructions from someone in authority as an employee, regardless of compensation.

I'm not sure if this holds true for the US though.

It *seems* like common sense. Yeah, I know where I went wrong ....