This article aims to problematize the ways in which volunteering is presently conceptualized, theorized, and studied by positioning it as a form of unpaid labor. Over six focal points, the article highlights areas that deserve closer scrutiny: the question of when volunteering is work; the formal–informal and paid–unpaid distinctions of work; the notion of “choice,” especially volunteering as the lack of paid work choices; the assumption that volunteer work is similar to informal work; and a recognition that volunteering consists of many different forms of activities, not just one.

This paper explores the manner in which two hospices--one located in Denmark and one in Australia--negotiate and determine the boundaries of volunteer workers vis-à-vis paid staff. A comparative case study approach was used to juxtapose organisations with similar activity fields located in different welfare state systems, i.e. a social democratic welfare state and a liberal welfare state. This study involved non-participant observation of volunteers at work and unstructured interviews with volunteers, staff and management in the hospices (n = 41). Data were collected between August 2012 and February 2013. Data were managed using NVivo and analysed thematically. A key finding is that volunteers in the Danish hospice were excluded from all direct care work due to the effective monopoly of the professional care providers, whereas the Australian volunteers participated in the provision of care to the extent that risk could be eliminated or mitigated to an acceptable level. The findings suggest two different models of the roles of volunteers in tension with professional care providers. Both models recognise that volunteers add to the level of care delivered by the organisations and allow for a discussion that moves away from the normative discussions of 'not taking somebody's job', while also recognising that volunteers must be more than just the 'nice extra' if they are to be of any real value to the organisation and to care receivers.

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This article seeks to understand two puzzling findings from a comparative study of volunteer care work: that volunteers in Denmark are perceived to be cost-adding, while volunteers in Australia are perceived to be cost-saving; and that volunteers in Australia are perceived to be better than paid workers, while volunteers in Denmark are considered second-best to paid workers. Using a ‘cultures of care’ framework, this article explores whether these articulations reflect on culturally determined care ideals. The findings suggest that different cultures of care exist. Differences are explained by the development of the two welfare states.

This paper explores the links between volunteers care workers' current unpaid work and their own present or former paid work with the objective of analysing the ways welfare states influence volunteer care work. Data were collected between

Migrant workers comprise a significant and growing segment of Australia's non-professional frontline care workforce. In this article, we offer a scoping study of existing research to investigate what is known about the experiences of migrant workers employed in nonprofessional care occupations in Australia. Through a systematic approach, which includes six discrete stages (Arksey and O'Malley, 2005), we find a growing and substantial literature on migrants working in nonprofessional care occupations in Australia. However, we also find that only a small number of studies are concerned with the experiences of migrant workers themselves. This article thematically maps out existing knowledge about these workers-including pathways in and out of paid care work, (under)utilisation of skills, cultural meanings attached to paid care work, experiences at work such as racism and language barriers, and finally how care work is situated in relation to workers' private lives. We conclude by identifying major gaps in the literature and outlining important avenues for future research.

This article presents a definition of volunteering that will help organizations and workers, especially those engaged in commercial activity for a social purpose, determine when U.S. organizations can legally draw on volunteer labor. By drawing on recent U.S. court cases, the intentions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to protect vulnerable workers and the wider framing literature on organizational logics, work, and volunteering, we outline under which circumstances workers are considered employees rather than volunteers and therefore covered by the FLSA and entitled to minimum pay. We show that in order to determine the legalities of work under current law, it is necessary, but not sufficient, to consider whether activities are carried out for commercial purposes. What matters most for a legally-informed definition is the role performed within organizations and the promises made to individual workers in terms of compensation.

This study of existing research maps out what is known about the work environment of migrant workers employed in the construction sector in Denmark. Through the systematic approach offered by a scoping study and using two conceptual models identifying determinants of worker health and safety as analytical frameworks, we identify an overall paucity of research concerned specifically with the health and safety of migrants. A broader literature shows that migrants are vulnerable workers who are channeled into 3D jobs and face job insecurity. Migrants also face poor treatment and segregation. We conclude by identifying 10 gaps in the current literature, including a lack of valid evidence concerning accidents and risks.