10 U.S.C. § 1588 — Authority to accept certain voluntary services

(a) Subject to subsection (b) and despite 31 U.S.C. 1342, the Secretary concerned^* may accept from any person the following services: (1) voluntary medical, dental, nursing, or other health-care-related services; (2) voluntary services for a museum or natural-resources program; (3) voluntary services for programs serving members of the uniformed services^* and their families, including family support, child development and youth services, library and education, religious, housing referral, spouse employment assistance, and morale, welfare, and recreation programs to the extent another subparagraph does not cover them; (4) voluntary service as a member of a funeral honors detail under section 1491; (5) voluntary legal services provided as legal assistance under section 1044; (6) voluntary service as a proctor for administering the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to secondary school students; (7) voluntary translation or interpretation of a foreign language by a person registered for that language on the National Foreign Language Skills Registry under section 1596b, or otherwise approved by the Secretary of Defense to provide those services for national security; (8) voluntary services supporting programs of an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve committee as authorized by the Secretary of Defense; (9) voluntary services to help account for missing persons; and (10) voluntary legal support services provided by law students through internship or externship programs approved by the Secretary concerned.

(b) (1) The Secretary concerned must tell the person the scope of the services accepted. (2) For a person providing accepted voluntary services, the Secretary concerned must supervise the person to the same extent as a compensated employee providing similar services and must ensure that the person is licensed, privileged, has appropriate credentials, or is otherwise qualified under applicable law or regulations to provide the services. (3) The Secretary concerned may not put the person in a policy-making position or, except as subsection (e) provides, compensate the person for providing the services.

(c) The Secretary concerned may recruit and train people to provide voluntary services accepted under subsection (a).

(d) (1) Subject to paragraph (3), while providing voluntary services accepted under subsection (a) or receiving training under subsection (c), a person other than a person described in paragraph (2) is considered an employee of the Federal Government only for these purposes: work-related-injury compensation under subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5; claims for damages or loss under section 2733 of this title, chapter 171 of title 28, and chapters 309 and 311 of title 46; maintenance of records on individuals under section 552a of title 5; conflicts of interest under chapter 11 of title 18; and legal malpractice under section 1054 of this title for a person voluntarily providing legal services accepted under subsection (a)(5), as if that person were providing the services as an attorney on a Department of Defense legal staff. (2) Subject to paragraph (3), while providing a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States with voluntary services accepted under subsection (a), or receiving training under subsection (c) to provide that instrumentality with services accepted under subsection (a), a person is considered an employee of that instrumentality only for work-related-injury compensation under subchapter II of chapter 81 of title 5 and claims for damages or loss under section 2733 of this title and chapter 171 of title 28. (3) A person providing accepted voluntary services is considered an employee under paragraph (1) or (2) only for services within the scope of the services accepted. (4) To determine work-related-injury compensation payable under chapter 81 of title 5 under this subsection, the person’s monthly pay^* for the services is deemed to equal the average monthly number of hours the person provided the services multiplied by the minimum wage determined under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)).

(e) The Secretary concerned may reimburse a person for incidental expenses incurred while providing voluntary services accepted under subsection (a). The Secretary decides which expenses qualify. The reimbursement may come from appropriated or nonappropriated funds.

(f) (1) The Secretary concerned may install telephone lines and necessary telecommunications equipment in the private residences of people designated under regulations prescribed under paragraph (4) who provide voluntary services accepted under paragraph (3) or (8) of subsection (a). (2) For equipment installed under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned may pay charges incurred for its authorized use. (3) To carry out this subsection, the Secretary concerned may use appropriated funds, despite 31 U.S.C. 1348, or nonappropriated funds of the military department under the Secretary’s jurisdiction or, for the Coast Guard, of the department in which the Coast Guard operates. (4) The Secretary of Defense and, for the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, the Secretary of Homeland Security must issue regulations to carry out this subsection.

(g) For accepting services described in subsection (a)(3), “Secretary concerned” in subsection (a) includes the Secretary of Commerce for members of the commissioned officer^* corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This section does not otherwise define the quoted term “Secretary concerned.”