A volunteer nurse’s aide for a nonprofit hospital injures her back lifting a patient. The injury is:

• A. Not compensable
• B. Not compensable due to volunteer status
• C. Compensable because the volunteer receives free lunches
• D. Compensable if the Board of Directors declares volunteers be deemed employees in writing prior to the injury

Answer: (D)

In California workers’ compensation, volunteers aren’t automatically covered like regular employees. They become compensable only if the nonprofit’s Board of Directors issues a written declaration before the injury that volunteers are to be deemed employees for workers’ comp purposes. That pre-injury designation is what makes a volunteer’s injury compensable; without it, the injury isn’t covered. Fringe benefits such as free lunches don’t create eligibility on their own, and simply being a volunteer doesn’t confer coverage. So the only situation that would make the injury compensable is if there’s a pre‑injury, written board declaration that volunteers are to be treated as employees.