The Legal Status of Volunteers
Currently, there isn’t any legislation or legal definitions discussing volunteer workers. It is important that organisations be careful of volunteers becoming employees according to the law. Therefore, organisations need to clearly differentiate between volunteers and employees.

Download the full information below, or continue reading.

The Legal Status of Volunteers

The Legal Status of Volunteers

Volunteers vs. Employees
It’s natural for organisations with volunteers to want to treat them as they would paid staff because of their valuable and appreciated services; but in written agreements between the volunteer and the organisation, this cannot occur due to the possibility of legal complications. In a number of recent claims, voluntary workers won the right to be considered employees at their organisation and brought a claim against their employers for both discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Put your agreement in writing
Some organisations avoid written documents for fear that they may inadvertently create legal obligations toward their volunteers. However, recent rulings have shown that tribunals tend to rule on behaviour rather than language. A pattern of behaviour can represent a contract, even if there’s no written document. Despite that, it’s in good practice to put your volunteering agreement in writing for such reasons as:
•    Listing volunteer role descriptions and agreements can be helpful to both parties in clarifying each   party’s intentions and expectations, thereby lowering the chance of a grievance arising.
•    A written agreement can help the organisation ensure that their behaviour or practice in dealing with volunteers doesn’t breech the law or come close to it.

No volunteer ‘contracts’
While organisations want to have detailed, formal contracts for paid staff, it’s actually safer to avoid them when it comes to volunteers. They can lead to false expectations of obligation on both sides. Don’t set up your relationship with your volunteer in terms of rights and obligations; express your intentions, hopes or policies to reflect the voluntary nature of your agreement to work together. This means not offering to train your volunteers with the provision that the volunteer must work a minimum number of hours for the organisation. Nor can you promise to provide recompense such as training or a job offer for the volunteer in return for his or her time.

Remember:
•    Steer clear of words with a contractual connotation. Instead of words like ‘contract’, ‘pat’, ‘employee’ and ‘employer’, use words such as ‘volunteer’, ‘intention’ and ‘relationship’.
•    Safeguard against misinterpretation by including the following sentence : “This agreement reflects the hopes and intentions of the volunteer and the charity, and is not contractually binding in any way on either party”
•    Differentiate between paid staff and volunteers. This does not mean you should not treat volunteers as fairly as employees.  Organisations may wish to have an equal opportunities policy for volunteers, but this should be a separate document from any equal opportunities policy for staff.
•    You cannot ‘require’ anything of your volunteers. They cannot be bound by contractual obligations without being considered employees by employment tribunals. Flexibility should be shown toward volunteers who fail to fulfil their expectations.