{"id":1946,"date":"2018-06-05T11:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/?p=1946"},"modified":"2018-10-11T11:31:54","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T10:31:54","slug":"if-your-organisation-or-charity-benefits-from-the-assistance-of-volunteers-youll-know-how-gratefully-received-their-help-can-be-giving-up-their-time-and-effort-to-work-for-you-volunteers-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/blog\/if-your-organisation-or-charity-benefits-from-the-assistance-of-volunteers-youll-know-how-gratefully-received-their-help-can-be-giving-up-their-time-and-effort-to-work-for-you-volunteers-c\/","title":{"rendered":"All work and no pay: volunteering law"},"content":{"rendered":"

If your organisation or charity benefits from the assistance of volunteers, you\u2019ll know how gratefully received their help can be. Giving up their time and effort to work for you, volunteers can gain experience and personal gratification \u2013 but without pay, they are not classed as employees.<\/p>\n

Badly worded volunteer agreements can inadvertently act as employment contracts, turning your volunteer into a worker \u2013 which would give them entitlements such as minimum wage, paid holiday, sick pay, maternity leave and protection from unlawful discrimination. The denial of these rights could then land you in an employment tribunal, or even court.<\/p>\n

What does your business need to do to avoid unwittingly breaking employment law and regulations?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The main difference between an employee and worker is a\u00a0contract of employment<\/strong>. A contract doesn\u2019t have to be written down in order to exist \u2013 it simply needs \u2018consideration\u2019 (exchanging something of material value, e.g. work and salary), and \u2018intention\u2019 (that both parties intend to enter into a legally binding contract). To sum up, if it looks and feels like a binding agreement then it would probably be treated as one by the courts \u2013 something to be avoided if you want your arrangement to remain voluntary.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. However, you\u00a0can\u00a0<\/em>put a\u00a0volunteer agreement<\/strong>\u00a0in place \u2013 a document which sets out the relationship between both parties and acts as a reference point for the standards which should be met in all dealings \u2013 but this is not mandatory. Words are powerful, so watch out \u2013 make sure you call it a \u2018volunteer agreement\u2019 rather than \u2018contract\u2019, use terminology like \u2018volunteer role description\u2019 in place of \u2018job description\u2019, and say \u2018reimbursement\u2019 rather than \u2018payment\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Avoid\u00a0workplace procedures<\/strong>\u00a0such as holiday booking forms and absence procedures, as these ring true of a paid employee. Keep the basis of your arrangement voluntary and casual.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Depending on the nature of your organisation,\u00a0training<\/strong>\u00a0can be important for volunteers. You can provide or organise the training, but ensure that it is relevant to the volunteer\u2019s role and is open to all volunteers who might do the same work \u2013 otherwise it could be considered a \u2018benefit in kind\u2019, or perk of employment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Whilst volunteers are not employed by you, by carrying out activities on your behalf or being present on your property as volunteers makes them a little different to the general public. Having the right\u00a0liability insurance<\/strong>\u00a0in place can protect both you and your volunteers in the event of any incident which occurs in the line of volunteering. Talk to us at ThirdSectorProtect<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>today about arranging dedicated charity insurance and other covers which could benefit your organisation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            If your organisation or charity benefits from the assistance of volunteers, you\u2019ll know how gratefully received their help can be. Giving up their time and effort to work for you, volunteers can gain experience and personal gratification \u2013 but without pay, they are not classed as employees. Badly worded volunteer agreements can inadvertently act as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[55,62,71],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5506,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions\/5506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkportfolio.co.uk\/ncinsurance.co.uk\/thirdsectorprotect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}