California Governor Edmund G. Brown recently signed Assembly Bill No. 587 (AB 587) into effect, one of two recent amendments to the California Labor Code. Before AB 587, volunteer workers were exempted from the Code’s requirement that all workers employed on public works projects be paid not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, but only until January 1, 2012. AB 587 extends the exemption by five years, to January 1, 2017.

When the exemption was first introduced in 2004, proponents argued that a public works exemption for volunteers was needed due to the “importance of volunteers in building community support for local projects,” many of which included environmental projects such as restoration of streams and wetlands. AB 587’s proponents claim that the exemption has since proven successful and thus its extension is necessary to allow volunteers, many of whom are students, to continue participating in preservation activities on public lands.

Photo credit: Mangostock