Hi Florence, I guess I didn't do a very good job addressing these questions in the earlier thread, so I'll try one more time :-)
Fellowships are temporary roles, so they are not treated as full time staff positions. They do not receive retirement benefits, and generally the paperwork setup and associated benefits is not like staff, its more like contractor, though again the specifics will vary according to fellowship location, duration, and what US regulation dictates based on these variables. I am happily ignorant of the liability/insurance side of things, so perhaps someone from the LCA team can address this if needed.
Is there a particular issue that makes you ask about this, or just generally curious?
Best wishes, Siko
Message: 2 Date: Sun, 20 May 2012 23:29:51 +0200 From: Florence Devouard anthere9@yahoo.com To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcing 2 Community Fellows Message-ID: jpbnof$8vl$2@dough.gmane.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
I can not help (I am optimistic with lot's of faith :))
Does the fellowship status implies that the WMF pays for health or retirement benefits (as it would for a staff member) or does the fellow receive a lump sum and manages by himself to pay for taxes and benefits depending on the country he lives in (as would a contractor) ?
Does the fellowship status implies that, should the fellow get in trouble, he would be considered "staff" (in terms of liability) or is he on his own ? (which in my terms would be "if as staff", he is covered by WMF insurance versus "if as contractor", he has to pay insurance by himself).
Florence
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Siko Bouterse Head of Community Fellowships Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
sbouterse@wikimedia.org