[salawat]

Is he volunteering?

Unpaid internship is in my opinion something vastly different from an amateur taking on a task on a volunteer basis. The unpaid internship is an arrangement where you (whether true or not) are putting off the vibe that the experience or notoriety of the position is it's own reward in the form of social capital. I don't offer those, nor do I encourage it.

Volunteer opportunities are different. You take on the risk for delivery of the product, and you give an amateur a shot at building skills. You're still on the hook for ultimate success. That's just between you and them.

If you are even considering doing something like tracking hours, you should be paying something, anything, even if under the table. We as a society need to value each other's time, or what does the sacrfice of one's time at no financial restitution even stand for or symbolize?

You can argue the difference is a matter of quibbles semantics, but my moral compass pegs unethical unpaid internships, and volunteering a healthy investment of an individual's time in building their skills and employability.

[throwaway088]

Thanks. Thats an interesting perspective. How do distinguish between a guy volunteering vs me finding a guy willing to come and work with me? Is the latter what you call an internship while the former is volunteering?

[salawat]

If he's doing work for you, and you still accept you may not get what you want at no lasting repercussions to him, it does degenerate to how you feel about it and present it. It really only gets into the nailed down semantics in my model when you're producing something for someone else. He volunteers to do work, you sink the risk of letting him, knowing you may still be on the hook for delivery if it goes bad. If things work out well, good business. If they don't you took a gamble, and got bit.

In your case it really comes down to intent. If you're out for free labor, no bueno. If you're out for helping him and maybe getting something you can work with at the end of it? Bueno.

I just know that even if it started with the understanding you wouldn't pay them, I'd still put aside something for them in the end, especially if the Quality is good.

[throwaway088]

Thanks. I will make sure to pay him a small amount.