I know of two distilleries, each in a different state, neither of which is Calif, that still send me emails for volunteer ops. If I come help them bottle their whiskey one night, I get a free bottle. Mostly looking for people to shrink wrap the plastic cover, apply labels, put into boxes, etc.
Most wineries in my area are offering wine payment for various temporary work tasks. Picking grapes is the most common assistance seen here. It seems to me that there is something else in the story of this winery that has triggered them to be singled out. How did it get triggered? I will double back to written articles.
I agree Gary, it seems they must have done something to get this attention, but that’s all speculation on my part.
According to California labor laws, to volunteer legally, an individual must offer his or her services to a public agency or nonprofit organization. Businesses may not legally utilize volunteers. > Government > and nonprofits are > exempt from the law> .
Of course.
I know of several local wineries that in the past have traded wine for labor during bottling. A colleague who has participated regularly told me that the winery now pays for the labor with a paycheck and withholding. Then the temp workers are allowed to buy wine at the maximum discount allowable.
P Hickner
$115,000 fine for hiring volunteers…
Wonder how that works for getting people to pay for the privilege of picking grapes?
Also, pouring at special events is often volunteer or in trade for wine.
Looks like the can of worms is opened.
Be careful if your neighbor comes over and helps you with some yard work. Might end up costing you a few bucks for not providing a fair wage and not giving the state their cut of taxes.
If you extend the logic on this…seems like the state will jump on anyone who uses volunteers for anything. Charities who depend on volunteers come to mind.
Aren’t charities a non-profit organization?
What a horrible horrible excuse for a human being that woman is! After the fact, after volunteering for seventeen years, she thinks she shouldn’t have been allowed to.
+1.
An unbelievable .
If someone volunteers at a winery and is then injured in the course of their work there, should they recieve workman’s comp? Should the winery pay for their medical costs, disability, etc? There are some real issues here in an industry where mistakes in production can be very serious, even fatal. How many volunteers would think nothing about jumping into a fermentation tank full of CO2?
Compensation may be one thing, but I can see the value of making sure people are somehow registered as actual employees so they’re covered in case of any mishaps. And for the record I think that volunteers should absolutely be covered, and wineries who use them should be on the hook for accidents. I say that having worked as an intern for room & board and having made wine with the volunteer help of a few friends. It’s a basic cost of doing business.
I agree completely. That was why I said at the top of this thread that you’d be crazy to have someone without worker’s comp volunteering.