Volunteers and paid employees

If thats how you feel, LEAVE!
no one is forcing you to be there. Most of this summer help would gladly listen and learn from someone with more experience. Its all about work ethics, not who is getting paid.

What a privilege to be able to mentor young energetic men and women! I'm sure you have so much to teach them that the campground staff realized what a great opportunity for them. But, if it's too much for you then, yes, you should speak to the staff.

Maybe it's the way you're approaching the volunteer aspect of the job itself. You say you do the painting, maintenance, plumbing, electrical, etc yourself. It could be the park staff is trying to encourage you to tell or show the younger workers how to do this work, i.e. supervise them, rather than doing the work yourself.

When I was working some of my experienced co-workers felt they should do the work themselves rather then mentoring the younger workers because they could do it faster and therefore cheaper. What they didn't understand is if there were multiple projects needing work that they could do they were often the bottleneck on getting things done. Also by not training younger workers they were affecting the future growth of the company, and lastly if they couldn't pass on the knowledge of the jobs they did to other workers they stunted their own career growth opportunities - they couldn't be promoted to newer jobs because there was nobody left to replace them.

As someone else pointed out, working with younger workers and mentoring them is a real opportunity to pass on the knowledge and wisdom you've accumulated over the years. If you can pass this on to others than your work will continue long after you're gone and that's a nice legacy to leave.

halfwright wrote:
The park I am volunteering at hires part-time summer help and has some college interns. They all get a salary. They are in their late teens or early twenties, whereas I am seventy. I am doing maintenance (painting, building repair, minor electrical, plumbing). Often, the kids are assigned to work with me. The full time staff expects me to supervise and lead the team. Therein lies the problem. I do not feel that as a volunteer I should be telling the paid help what to do. I feel that the paid employees should have the responsibility. Am I wrong?

If the full time staff is creating the proper work environment by introducing you and stating that you will be supervising/instructing, then no problem. Otherwise, some of the younger folks may wonder "Who is this guy telling us what to do?"

The other way is let the work commence and when an individual needs help, approach them with "Here, let me show you an easier way."

Paid versus volunteer? Should not make a difference at all, or even enter into the equation.

Personally, I hate the double standard the government somehow allows. A private park cannot legally hire a "volunteer" and provide them with a site. We cannot legally hire someone and pay them a stipend. We have to pay minimum wage and cover that employee with workman's comp insurance. We have to follow reams of rules and regulations. Apparently, if it is the government, those rules and regulations don't apply.
Talk about owning a business that has the toughest competition in the world. A RV park competing with a state or national park has a competitor that doesn't have to pay their employees, doesn't have to pay for their facilities, doesn't have to pay taxes, can operate at a loss forever and doesn't have to follow the rules they created for everyone else. All that and they still have trouble putting out a decent product in many of their parks. As I have said in the past, if government is the answer, it must be a stupid question.

halfwright wrote:
The park I am volunteering at hires part-time summer help and has some college interns. They all get a salary. They are in their late teens or early twenties, whereas I am seventy. I am doing maintenance (painting, building repair, minor electrical, plumbing). Often, the kids are assigned to work with me. The full time staff expects me to supervise and lead the team. Therein lies the problem. I do not feel that as a volunteer I should be telling the paid help what to do. I feel that the paid employees should have the responsibility. Am I wrong?

So your volunteering and paying for your spot?Or your getting paid by your spot fee is your pay

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Personally, I hate the double standard the government somehow allows. A private park cannot legally hire a "volunteer" and provide them with a site. We cannot legally hire someone and pay them a stipend. We have to pay minimum wage and cover that employee with workman's comp insurance. We have to follow reams of rules and regulations. Apparently, if it is the government, those rules and regulations don't apply.
Talk about owning a business that has the toughest competition in the world. A RV park competing with a state or national park has a competitor that doesn't have to pay their employees, doesn't have to pay for their facilities, doesn't have to pay taxes, can operate at a loss forever and doesn't have to follow the rules they created for everyone else. All that and they still have trouble putting out a decent product in many of their parks. As I have said in the past, if government is the answer, it must be a stupid question.

Do you mean to say that all these private parks around the country that have work campers in exchange for the site, are doing do illegally. Sorry I can't buy that.

Jim

I can understand if didn't tell you beforehand the you would be responsible for what and how others do things. That can take a easy, laid back job and turn it into a stressful nightmare. I know because we went from 10 employees to none, I made more money and did less work in the end.

Maybe I did not express myself very well. As a volunteer, I do not think that I am as "high on the totem pole" as paid employees. I am afraid that there is resentment when I tell the kids what to do. I am not a pushy person and have never wanted to be a supervisor. I much prefer working by myself. But, as Don said, I always have the option of leaving.

halfwright wrote:
Maybe I did not express myself very well. As a volunteer, I do not think that I am as "high on the totem pole" as paid employees. I am afraid that there is resentment when I tell the kids what to do. I am not a pushy person and have never wanted to be a supervisor. I much prefer working by myself. But, as Don said, I always have the option of leaving.

Your totem pole is your knowledge and experience these kids do not have. if you think these kids resent you then its time for a talk with them and upper management.