This is one of the most common questions church and nonprofit leaders ask, and the honest answer is: it depends on how “volunteer” is actually defined for your situation, which is a narrower category than many people assume. In Montana, true volunteers — people who receive no compensation, including in-kind payment, for their service — generally fall outside mandatory workers’ compensation requirements, but the details matter more than that one-line summary suggests.

The gray area shows up when a “volunteer” receives something of value in exchange for their time — a stipend, free housing, a reduced fee for a program, or other in-kind compensation. Depending on the arrangement, that can shift someone from volunteer status toward employee status in the eyes of the law, which has real implications for workers’ comp requirements, tax treatment, and liability. Church staff who also volunteer in additional roles beyond their paid position can create similar ambiguity.

Because true volunteers typically aren’t covered by workers’ comp, an injured volunteer’s medical bills after an on-site injury generally aren’t automatically paid by the church’s insurance the way an employee’s would be. This is exactly the gap that a separate, relatively inexpensive volunteer accident policy is designed to fill, and it’s worth asking your agent about even if your organization has never had a volunteer injury before.

Given how much nuance exists in Montana’s classification rules, and how much is at stake if a classification turns out to be wrong after an injury, this is a good topic to run past both your insurance agent and, for anything involving stipends or in-kind compensation, an employment attorney or your state’s Department of Labor and Industry resources.

Action Items

• List anyone receiving a stipend or in-kind compensation and flag their status for review.
• Confirm any ambiguous classification with an employment attorney or the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

This post is for general informational purposes only and isn’t legal or insurance advice — Montana’s workers’ compensation rules involve real nuance, so please talk with a licensed insurance professional and, for classification questions, an employment attorney or the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.