Translation guide
Work done without monetary compensation, including volunteer work, internships, domestic labor, and overtime.
Work done willingly for a cause or organization without pay.
The most common and direct term for volunteer work. Used for both the activity and the person.
週末にボランティアをしています。
I do volunteer work on weekends.
Literally 'unpaid work', a more formal term. Can refer to any work without pay, including volunteer or pro bono work.
彼は無償の仕事を引き受けた。
He took on unpaid work.
Service activities, often with a connotation of community service or altruism. Common in formal contexts.
学生たちは奉仕活動に参加した。
The students participated in community service activities.
Work done to gain experience, often without salary.
Specifically an unpaid internship. '無給' means 'unpaid'.
彼女は無給インターンシップで経験を積んだ。
She gained experience through an unpaid internship.
Another way to say unpaid intern or internship. '無償' also means unpaid/free of charge.
無償インターンとして働いた。
I worked as an unpaid intern.
Work done beyond regular hours without extra pay, often in a corporate setting.
Unpaid overtime, literally 'service overtime'. Very common in Japanese work culture.
サービス残業が常態化している。
Unpaid overtime has become the norm.
Working for free, can refer to unpaid overtime or any work without compensation. Slightly colloquial.
A phrase meaning 'overtime pay is not given'. Describes the situation of unpaid overtime.
この会社は残業代が出ない。
This company doesn't pay overtime.
Work done at home such as cleaning, cooking, childcare, often unrecognized and unpaid.
Unpaid labor, often used in economic or sociological contexts to describe domestic work.
家事は無償労働と見なされがちだ。
Housework tends to be regarded as unpaid labor.
Domestic labor/housework. While not explicitly 'unpaid', it is understood as such in context.
Professional work done for free, typically by lawyers, doctors, etc.
Directly borrowed from Latin 'pro bono'. Used for professional services provided voluntarily without charge.
弁護士がプロボノで相談に乗った。
The lawyer provided pro bono consultation.
Free professional services. A descriptive phrase when 'pro bono' is not understood.
無料の専門サービスを提供している。
We offer free professional services.
無償 (mushō) means 'without compensation' and is formal. 無給 (mukyū) specifically means 'without salary'. ただ (tada) means 'free' and is casual. For unpaid work, 無償 is most common in formal contexts, while ただ働き is colloquial for working for free.
The direct translation '無給の仕事' is understandable but not always natural. Use context-appropriate terms like ボランティア, サービス残業, or 無償労働.
ただ働きはもうこりごりだ。
I'm fed up with working for free.
家事労働の分担について話し合った。
We discussed the division of domestic labor.