What is the relationship between the board and volunteers?
- Most board members are volunteers. Some organisations choose to pay their board members, but care must be taken (especially for charitable organisations) that the inherent conflict of interests is authorised and managed appropriately. Volunteers are the life blood for many charities, both large and small.
- If the organisation has a management team, the board would normally delegate all volunteer liaison to its managers but where there is none, the responsibility may fall to the board.
- In any event, the organisation will have duties to its volunteers to make sure they operate within a safe environment, free from abuse, and generally in line with all other Health and Safety rules and regulations. Even when a volunteer does not have workers’ or employment rights, the organisation will owe them a duty of care. Note that data protection regulations will apply to the personal data of volunteers in much the same way as any other person.
- Also note that, since a volunteer will not be an employee, any literature or graphics they produce will be subject to copyright, and (in the absence of any other agreement), the volunteer will retain the rights over those works. Special care will be needed if any volunteers are under 16 years of age.
- Although it is not a legal requirement to do so, it is good practice and strongly recommended that an organisation takes out (or extends) its insurances to cover its volunteers. It will need to discuss any special cases with its insurers in case there are circumstances which affect the insurance cover, for example where a volunteer is elderly, a minor, or an ex-offender.
- A ‘volunteer agreement’ is not intended to be legally binding, but rather a set of guidelines. While there is no legal obligation to use one, the recommended and safest course is to use a written agreement, signed by the organisaton and the volunteer. This helps clarify expectations, serves as a useful management tool, and minimises the risk that the volunteer could be classed as an employee in law.
- A court has recently decided that, in some situations, a volunteer will be classed as a worker when attending activities for which they are entitled to remuneration.
For more information about volunteers and volunteering please visit Reach Volunteering and The Royal Voluntary Service’s new digital volunteering platform, GoVo
