There is a legal doctrine called Quantum Maruit which is simply Latin for "The amount earned." It simply means that the labourer is worthy of his hire. You may be asked to do voluntary work for the sake of a good cause. This is a good and generous thing to do. Do it with an open heart and as a gift, expecting no reward or else refuse if you cannot do it in that spirit. If you feel you are being exploited, the chances are that you are picking up some subliminal signals that your generosity is indeed being plundered for the benefit of someone else's bank balance. As the anti-drugs campaign says : "Just Say No !"
Exploitation takes many forms but it is usually in the form of low or absent wages. The person who is insisting that you should work for free is usually very well paid on a regular basis themselves. Ask what the monetary value of whatever is being offered in exchange is. You should have some idea of what the hourly rate for your labour is and refuse to work for less. When I was 14 years old, I was offered the princely sum of £5 per week working in a dusty factory. I refused because I already had a job paying me £22.10 per week plus all the adventure I could handle at sea. Indeed you should realise that exchanging your labour for cash is really a poor bargain. It makes much more sense to exchange your labour for assets which will in turn provide you with cash for years to come.
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