User:Abd/Landmark Education/Abd/Company/Labor issues


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The information on this page is misleading, purporting to be reliably sourced, when it is not, and the /Commentary/ subpage should be reviewed for balance --Abd (discuss • contribs) 03:57, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Historical description of government responses to Landmark use of unpaid labor.

Use of unpaid labor
Landmark Education makes use of unpaid laborers which it refers to as volunteers, or "Assistants". These volunteers are instructed by Landmark that they receive benefit from the act of volunteering itself.

Two governmental agencies have determined that these volunteers constitute employees that should legally be paid.

Commentary
This subpage provides for commentary on the above section.

France
In June 2004 labor inspectors from the French government determined that volunteers were exploited and ruled that Landmark had unreported workers. A month later employees came to the Landmark building in France to find the doors locked and they moved operations and recruitment to a location in London.

Commentary
This subpage is for commentary on the above section.

United States
Landmark has faced investigations from the United States Department of Labor in Colorado, California, and Texas.

In the most recent investigation in Texas in 2006, the report from the U.S. Department of Labor determined that:

"Minimum wage violation found. Volunteers (Assistants) are not paid any wages for hours worked while performing the major duties of the firm. The assistants set up rooms, call registrants, collect fees, keep stats of classroom data/participants, file, they also are answering phones, training and leading seminars.

The assistants hours are delegated by an employee of the firm, the work is directed and managed by the site manager, the duties performed are vital to the employer’s business. The assistants are not given credit for the hours worked which vary from 10 per week to 60 and up. The assistants are keeping records of attendees, stats on classroom attendance, assisting the instructor with the classes, and also an integral part of the seminars. The employer could not conduct the seminars at the level it has been doing without the enormous amount of assistants (20-40) per seminar. The assistants perform primary functions of the employer such as finance conversations with potential attendees, purchasing, and facility management.

A heavy emphasis is put on volunteering at the initial Landmark Forum attended by newcomers."

The U.S. Department of Labor pointed out, "By volunteering at these seminars and in the business office the assistants are convinced that they are acquiring skills and knowledge required to improve their social and mental skills that they can use in their full-time employment and personal lives. The assistants displace regular employees that would have to be hired. The employer could not operate with the 2-3 full-time employees per site."

In a conference with Landmark, the U.S. Department of Labor noted Landmark's position, "The firm denies that the assistants/volunteers are employees. Interviews reveal that the employees are taking payments, registering clients, billing, training, recruiting, setting up locations, cleaning, and other duties that would have to be performed by staff if the assistants did not perform them."

Commentary
This subpage is for commentary on the above section.