Wage and Hour Division says nonprofit exempt employees may volunteer to raise service dog puppies when the work differs from their jobs
As of our last check on November 2, 2026, this is agency guidance, not a rule. It explains how the agency reads the law and does not create a legal requirement on its own.
In short
- What changed
- The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued an opinion letter on when a nonprofit's employees can volunteer for their own employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It says volunteer puppy raising is not work if it is freely chosen, unpaid, and different from the employee's job. If it is the same type of work, it counts as work time.
- Who's affected
- The letter answers one private nonprofit that trains service dogs. WHD says it applies the same volunteer limits to religious, charitable and nonprofit employers generally, for both exempt and non-exempt employees.
- What to do
- This guidance creates no new legal requirement. Nonprofits that let employees volunteer should check that volunteer tasks differ from job duties, and should pay non-exempt employees for any same-type "volunteer" hours, as existing FLSA rules require.
What changed
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From the sourceIntroduction
whether, to what extent, and under what circumstances exempt employees of a nonprofit organization that breeds and trains service dogs may volunteer outside of their normal work hours
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued opinion letter FLSA2026-12 answering whether a nonprofit's exempt employees may volunteer outside work hours to raise and socialize young service dogs for their employer.
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From the sourceIntroduction
your nonprofit organization’s exempt employees may volunteer for the organization to provide juvenile canine socialization services at home so long as they do so freely and without coercion, with no contemplation of pay for the volunteer services rendered
Also: Introduction
and the volunteer services are not the same type of services you employ the employees to perform.
WHD says the employees may volunteer if they do so freely and without coercion, with no expectation of pay, and the volunteer tasks are not the same type of work they are employed to do.
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, B. Volunteering by Employees for Their Employer
a nonprofit employee cannot be both a paid employee and a non-paid volunteer while performing the same type of work for the same employer.
Also: Opinion, A. Volunteering by Employees
the volunteer hours are part of the employment relationship and must be counted as hours worked for FLSA purposes as long as they qualify as compensable worktime under the FLSA.
WHD says a nonprofit employee cannot be both a paid employee and an unpaid volunteer while doing the same type of work for the same employer. When the volunteer work is the same type as the job, the hours count as hours worked.
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From the sourceOpinion, A. Volunteering by Employees
the veterinarians’ and directors’ duties would be sufficiently different from the routine care, socialization, and early training involved in raising juvenile canines, and veterinarians and directors could volunteer to provide these services in their homes.
Also: Opinion, A. Volunteering by Employees
those duties would likely be the same or sufficiently similar to the services performed by juvenile canine caretakers, such that the trainers may not volunteer for your organization to care for or train canines at home
Assuming veterinarians provide medical care and directors supervise staff, WHD says both could volunteer to raise puppies at home. Trainers who care for, socialize or train the dogs likely could not, because that is the same or similar work.
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From the sourceOpinion, A. Volunteering by Employees
whether an employee may serve as a volunteer does not depend on his or her exempt status
Also: Introduction
an employee who is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements under section 13(a)(1) may perform additional juvenile canine socialization work without additional compensation if the employee’s primary duty remains the performance of exempt work
WHD says whether an employee can volunteer does not depend on exempt status. But where the work is the same type as the job, an exempt employee's salary can cover the extra hours with no added pay, if the employee's primary duty stays exempt work and salary requirements are met.
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From the sourceConclusion
This interpretation may be relied upon in accordance with section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act
WHD describes the letter as an official interpretation that employers may rely on under section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act.
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, B. Volunteering by Employees for Their Employer
the Division has consistently applied the same requirements to employees of religious, charitable, or nonprofit organizations who volunteer their services to their employing organization
The letter does not withdraw earlier guidance. WHD says it has consistently applied these volunteer limits to employees of religious, charitable and nonprofit organizations.
Who is affected
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From the sourceBackground
You inquire on behalf of a private, nonprofit organization that breeds, raises, and trains service dogs to assist individuals with visual impairments and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The letter answers a request made on behalf of a private nonprofit that breeds, raises and trains service dogs.
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From the sourceClosing note
This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request
WHD says the opinion rests only on the facts the requester described, and other facts could lead to a different conclusion.
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Our analysisGeneral Legal Principles, B. Volunteering by Employees for Their Employer
the Division has consistently applied the same requirements to employees of religious, charitable, or nonprofit organizations who volunteer their services to their employing organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons.
The volunteer reasoning reaches religious, charitable and nonprofit employers generally whose employees volunteer for them, not only service dog organizations.
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From the sourceOpinion, A. Volunteering by Employees
Exempt and non-exempt nonprofit employees alike may volunteer to be juvenile canine caretakers
The volunteer rules apply to exempt and non-exempt nonprofit employees alike.
What it means in practice
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From the sourceConclusion
nonprofit employers should exercise caution when engaging employees as volunteers to ensure they are not inadvertently misclassified under the Act.
Also: Conclusion
a nonprofit could face potential liability, including back wages and overtime, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, among other things.
WHD warns nonprofits to take care when using employees as volunteers. Misclassifying the time can bring back wages and overtime, liquidated damages and attorneys' fees.
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, B. Volunteering by Employees for Their Employer
employees cannot agree, or be required to “agree,” to waive their rights to compensation under the FLSA under the guise of volunteering.
Employees cannot give up their right to FLSA pay by calling the work volunteering, and cannot be required to agree to do so.
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, B. Volunteering by Employees for Their Employer
requires “consideration of all the facts and circumstances in a particular case, including whether the volunteer service is closely related to the actual duties performed by or responsibilities assigned to the employee.”
Whether volunteer work is the same or similar to the job depends on all the facts, including how closely it relates to the employee's actual duties.
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From the sourceFootnote 3
Volunteers may be “paid expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee.”
Also: Footnote 3
a fee would not be considered nominal if it is, in fact, a substitute for compensation or tied to productivity
Volunteers may receive expenses, reasonable benefits or a nominal fee, but a fee is not nominal if it substitutes for pay or is tied to productivity.
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Our analysisGeneral Legal Principles, C.3. Impact of Volunteering on an Employee’s Exemption Status
In those circumstances, for a non-exempt employee, the employer must pay for all combined hours worked, including any “volunteer” hours, pursuant to the Act.
For non-exempt employees, same-type "volunteer" hours add to paid hours, which can push a workweek into overtime and raise labor costs.
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, C.2. Salary Basis and Level
to be exempt under section 13(a)(1), an employee must be compensated (1) on a salary basis (2) at a rate equaling or exceeding the level specified in the regulations.
Also: Footnote 7
The minimum salary level is $684 per week.
Also: Footnote 8
The salary requirements do not apply, as may be relevant here, to bona fide practitioners of medicine, including Doctors of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or Veterinariae Medicinae Doctoris (VMD) who hold a valid license and are actually engaged in the practice of medicine.
To be exempt, an employee must be paid on a salary basis at or above the regulatory level, which the letter states is $684 per week. The salary requirements do not apply to licensed veterinarians actually practicing medicine.
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From the sourceFootnote 12
we do not opine whether the employees you identify are, in fact, properly exempt in the first instance.
Also: Opinion, B. Effect of Additional Non-Volunteer Work on Exemption Status
Further analysis would be necessary to determine whether the employee’s primary duty, and therefore exemption status, would be affected by serving as a juvenile canine caretaker.
WHD does not decide whether the requester's employees are properly classified as exempt, or whether puppy raising would change an exempt employee's primary duty.
What to do
AmendSignal analysis sorts these by whether this document changes them.
Already required
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, A. The Fair Labor Standards Act
The Act requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay ... for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek.
The letter restates the existing FLSA requirement that covered employers pay at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, and overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
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From the sourceGeneral Legal Principles, C.3. Impact of Volunteering on an Employee’s Exemption Status
In those circumstances, for a non-exempt employee, the employer must pay for all combined hours worked, including any “volunteer” hours, pursuant to the Act.
WHD reads the FLSA to require that when a non-exempt employee's "volunteer" work is the same or similar type as their job, the employer pay for all combined hours worked, including the volunteer hours.
Worth considering
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Our suggestionGeneral Legal Principles, B. Volunteering by Employees for Their Employer
an employee of a nonprofit organization may, freely and without coercion from the employer or its agents, volunteer to perform work that is neither the same nor of similar type as the work that the employee is employed to perform.
Consider listing which employees volunteer for your nonprofit and comparing each person's volunteer tasks with their job duties.
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Our suggestionOpinion, A. Volunteering by Employees
the employees must also offer their volunteer services “freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied” from your organization and “without promise, expectation or receipt of compensation for services rendered.”
Consider making sure employee volunteering is freely chosen, not tied to the job, and carries no promise or expectation of pay.
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Our suggestionGeneral Legal Principles, C.3. Impact of Volunteering on an Employee’s Exemption Status
In those circumstances, for a non-exempt employee, the employer must pay for all combined hours worked, including any “volunteer” hours, pursuant to the Act.
Consider recording and paying the hours non-exempt employees spend on volunteer work that matches their jobs.
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Our suggestionOpinion, B. Effect of Additional Non-Volunteer Work on Exemption Status
Further analysis would be necessary to determine whether the employee’s primary duty, and therefore exemption status, would be affected by serving as a juvenile canine caretaker.
Consider reviewing whether exempt employees who take on same-type extra work still have exempt work as their primary duty and still meet the salary requirements.
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Our suggestionFootnote 3
a fee would not be considered nominal if it is, in fact, a substitute for compensation or tied to productivity
Consider checking that any stipend or fee paid to employee volunteers stays nominal and is not tied to productivity.
Open questions
The source leaves these open. We'll update this record if a later document answers them.
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Would raising puppies at home as part of the job change an exempt employee's primary duty, and so their exempt status?
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Is $684 per week still the minimum salary for the executive, administrative and professional exemption?
Related changes
History
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FLSA2026-12: Whether FLSA-exempt employees of a nonprofit organization may volunteer outside of their normal work hours for their employing organization. Source (opens in a new tab)