All of the following laws are from Illinois, as those are the laws Skyblock operates under. I don't know how people will react to this or whether people won't give a crap, but oh well. If you moderators move this thread like my last one I swear I will electronically slap you. Moderators are Illegal Volunteers.A volunteer or unpaid intern is, of course, a worker exempt from minimum wage laws. In order to find out whether Skyblock's practices are legal, we need to decide whether mods are unpaid interns or volunteers. Information is from Illinois Legal Aid [1]. Unpaid interns: - May not be benefitting the employer through their internship. Moderators benefit the server. - Must be undergoing education similar to what they would receive in a vocational education. Moderators do not receive much education--certainly not vocational. - Any training is for the benefit of the trainee, not for the company. Moderators benefit the server (again). Trial moderators may have fit this bill a bit closer, but they were still in violation of unpaid internship laws. So, if moderators aren't unpaid interns, are they volunteers? Volunteers: - May not volunteer services to for-profit private sector employers. Pretty confident Skyblock is a business. Well, that was quick. So, as you can see, moderators are not unpaid interns, not volunteers, and are therefore not exempt from minimum wage laws and are entitled to be paid (through tips or wage). So, moving onto our next topic: How much they should be paid, and whether they can be.The minimum amount that the moderators of Skyblock should be paid depends on their age. It is illegal to employ those under 14, so many of our younger moderators would not be able to be legally employed (sorry!). Those between 14 and 16 would require a certificate of employment to be allowed to work. Between the ages of 14 and 18, the employees must be paid minimum wage for youth--$7.75USD per hour[2]. The moderators under the age of 18 are not allowed to work before 7am or after 7pm either (this is hilarious)[3]. Those above 18 would have to be paid $8.25USD per hour[2]. I don't quite think one iron block a week is minimum wage either, Myrmidous. This is all really just for fun: I'm not suggesting that Cyp pays his staff team, as that may not be economically viable for the server. I'm not going to take Skyblock to court, but this might be food for thought for moderators--for Cyp as well. One day a salty player might decide to lawyer the crap out of you, you never know. Sources, though I already linked them. General information::IDOL: Welcome Using unpaid interns and volunteers | Illinois Legal Aid Online Fair Labor Standards Division: Hourly Minimum Wage Rates by Year Fair Labor Standards Division: Child Labor Law
I'm going to put in my two cents. What you said is correct, however, even though skyblock is ran under the laws of Illinois, it is a world-wide server. The moderators aren't all from the United States, meaning that there are differing laws in each country and state/providence. I think this is something very questionable rules/laws wise. However I agree that mods should be payed since this is a for-profit server. My situation with my realm/server is different. My realm isn't for-profit, meaning my mods can be known as volunteers. However Skyblock is much different. Being for-profit mods should be payed, I agree on this. Good point. Edit: with how small this server is, if people were payed as you suggest, the owner would go broke and the server would crash and die. just saying. I guess my final note for everyone, is to consider everything. Great idea, mods should be payed. But also consider the consequences of such actions. As I said earlier, with how small this server is, the owner would go broke and skyblock would die for good. unless the owners find a way to make this a big and popular server, paying mods will destroy the server. Also, on another note, if mods are to get payed, I hope they are more closely watched. I feel as though some mods should have been demoted, but that's just my opinion. However at the moment they aren't getting payed, so I guess it's only a fair trade.
Wtf is this abortion Not even the staff on [Edit], one of the most popular MC servers still running, get paid. If you wanna get paid, then go out into the real world and get an actual job. Staffing over kids on a game doesn't count.. Seriously, you think someone will take "skyblock to the courts" LOL I can imagine that "How dare the owner of this mc game server not pay me for typing commands all day and banning people!"
That's how all small companies work. They can't stay afloat, they have to cut down on employees All the same, volunteer laws don't dinner that much at least within first world countries. I never said I wanted moderators to be paid, simply that that's the legal protocol. Maybe I should make that clearer? >_> I just like researching stuff. Also, it's spelt "paid", just so you know >_>;;; ...Welcome to the joke?
Oh, I can take Skyblock to court eh? ZIRCON! GET YOUR THEORIES READY WERE GOING TO COURT (if you don't know who Zircon is, Zircon is a gem from Steven Universe Wanted Promo! He was the Lawyer for Steven while he was in court and he was SMOKING AND ROASTING PEOPLE LEFT AND RIGHT!) Hes my lawyer now. Which is good. :3 -GingerSpice P.S. Bunny is my best friend now :3
This implies that skyblock is a registered business that the employees or interns had signed a contract with the "employer" or business owner. Skyblock is not a registered business. At the very least it is a project. Moderators may help run the server but by no means are we bound by a contract. The conduct and way we do things are implied. There was no agreement to be paid. Moderators could be seen as mates just helping out fellow minecrafters have a successful server or players with more perms. It is obviously not illegal to give people under the age of 14 a rank higher than another person. This being taken to court would fail miserably. lol
##IMPORTANT## READ NOW !!!! | Skyblock Forums. If I remember correctly he's in jail for some type of fraud now.
