We routinely allow county employees to work elections as independent contractors for an hourly wage. They start at about 5:30 PM with the early voting ballots and mail ins, then work until the counting is done. Checks are cut from a special account; FICA and such is not withheld on them any more than it is on the other election workers.

A question has come up about overtime. My view has been that election work is a specialized department, so it is like working part time for another part of the county - and overtime does not apply.

What are other counties doing about this one?

If the county employees who work the elections are normally employed in the County Clerk's office, it could very plausibly be argued that they're performing work within the same scope of duties encompassed by their daily employment. DOL has repeatedly opined that responsility for paying overtime cannot be evaded by claiming employees are "volunteering" to do work during off-hours that they ordinarily would perform in their day-to-day jobs. There may well be a case or a DOL letter ruling directly on point, but that would require me to hit the books. The books have been hitting me enough lately that I'm a little skittish. Anyway, I would be very apprehensive about allowing any employee who works in a department that handles voter registration or elections administration to work elections as a "volunteer" or "independent contractor." The possibility of their entitlement to overtime is very real.