At the place where I work, the company was willing to do this with the brother of an employee. The brother was willing (actually he was eager) to do "whatever" to gain experience, and to do it without any remuneration other than the experience. It lasted two weeks - the "gummit" came in and said the arrangement was not legal and had to stop Right Now. I don't know offhand how they knew.

The federal minimum wage is set by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and attorneys say that it is the most violated of all federal employment laws. Non-exempt employees paid on an hourly basis must receive at least the federal minimum wage for every hour worked. For employees paid on a non-hourly basis (salary, commission, piece work) pay must generate at least the federal minimum wage when divided by the total hours worked during the week. As a general rule, non-exempt employees must be paid for all hours worked that management knows of or has reason to know of, whether or not the employer requested the time or type of work performed, or even if the work performed was against company policy or a specific directive.

Computer professionals are exempt if: 1. Hourly pay is at least $27.63 or weekly salary is at least $170 2. You receive less than $27.63 but fall under exemptions within another job category -and- 3. Your primary duties involve application of systems analysis techniques, computer system design, or programming 4. Your work requires the constant use of independent judgment -and- 5. You are considered highly trained and skilled

Various states may have stiffer requirements - the federal rules are a floor, not a ceiling. I'm not a lawyer, still less a labor lawyer, but the legality of doing what you're describing sounds at least questionable to me.

On a purely personal level, anyone wishing to acquire a good or service should be willing to pay for it - that includes companies as well as individuals. I wouldn't shoplift at the supermarket, and I won't work for free either.

"Charles Patridge" <charles_s_patridge@PRODIGY.NET> wrote in message news:200407141253.i6ECr6h28014@listserv.cc.uga.edu... > I beg to differ. > > Yes, it maybe illegal to "hire" someone for no wages. > > However, "pro-bono" or volunteerism is not illegal. I have done this a > number of times in order to gain some very special experience I might not > be able to acquire elsewhere. > > That is, my benefit was to acquire some special training/experience in lieu > of monetary payments for the time I spent doing some SAS development. > > And there is nothing to prevent nor illegal for a company to acquire some > services for "free" (pro-bono). As for accepting such work on a critical > project - I would not expect this to happen. If so, I would question the > professionalism / integrity of those in charge. > > However, allowing a back burner project or program to be developed by a non- > employee on a "free/pro-bono" is not a bad decision. Of course, the > project leader needs to verify that this completed application/code does in > fact work as intended. > > If so, then a written evaluation of this work completed could/should be > initiated for the benefit of that person seeking future employment > opportunities. > > My 2.25 cents worth to this issue. > > Charles Patridge