[Wikimedia-l] Announcing 2 Community Fellow

[Richard Symonds]

I must admit to being curious, as do at least two others i've spoken to
about this. With no benefits and no pensions, and what seems like hazy
employment rights that vary from state to state (not to mention fellows
from overseas) and person to person, this does seem a little odd. How much
notice are they given, and what support they are entitled to from the WMF,
would be very helpful.

I'd  appreciate a more technical explanation so I can understand how the
WMF deals with people on these short term contracts. :-)

Richard Symonds
On May 21, 2012 6:35 PM, "Siko Bouterse" <sbouterse at wikimedia.org> wrote:

> 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 at yahoo.com>
> > To: wikimedia-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcing 2
> >        Community       Fellows
> > Message-ID: <jpbnof$8vl$2 at 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
> >
> > --
> Siko Bouterse
> Head of Community Fellowships
> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
>
> sbouterse at wikimedia.org
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