Volunteers are integral to supporting many charities with their services. If you manage a charity, it is important to understand the process involved when hiring volunteers, as well as any legal issues that may arise. Hiring and managing volunteers in the appropriate manner is also a necessary risk management measure, as you may be responsible for the actions of your volunteers in certain circumstances.
Definition of Volunteer and Employment Relationships
When bringing on volunteers, you should consider the type of work the volunteer will be doing, the level of commitment and expected outcomes. Volunteers should not replace the role of an employee but rather enhance and increase the amount of assistance the charity can provide to the community.
If the commitment is very formal and not based on how much time the volunteer wishes to commit, the role may be classified as an employment relationship under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
It is vital that you correctly classify your volunteers. If you misclassify employees as volunteers, you may be liable to pay:
- unpaid wages;
- superannuation; and
- minimum employee entitlements.
After defining the type of work you would like from your volunteers, you need a thorough hiring process. Volunteers are there to assist because they believe in the cause or issue the charity addresses, not to meet the charities’ ongoing needs. The volunteer should gain benefit through the work, rather than the charity itself benefiting from the volunteer’s work.
Internships can also be problematic as organisations can sometimes hire interns whom the law deems as employees. If you hire interns, be sure to understand the legal issues around internships.
Volunteer Agreement and Hiring Process
This process involves finding appropriate volunteers for the opportunities you have available. At this stage, many charities request working with children or police checks depending on the nature of the work the volunteer will be doing.
Charities must develop a clear job description and requirements document so volunteers can determine whether the charity is the right fit for them. Charities that work with volunteers should draft a volunteer agreement clearly setting out the following:
- the volunteer’s role and what it entails;
- the volunteer’s obligations and rights;
- IP issues;
- privacy issues;
- workplace health and safety;
- discrimination legislation; and
- how to terminate the agreement.
The volunteer contract should make it clear that the individual is being engaged as a volunteer and that neither the individual nor the business intends to enter into a legal employment relationship. This can be achieved through a simple statement to this effect in the contract.
The agreement must also include clear clauses around intellectual property (IP) and confidential information. A well-drafted IP clause will clarify that any IP that your volunteers create during their engagement will belong to the business rather than the individual volunteer, and will prohibit your volunteer from misusing your IP. Additionally, a confidential information clause will prohibit a volunteer from using confidential information without your consent.
Continue reading this article below the formVolunteer Rights and Protections
Even though volunteers are not employees, they still have many legal rights. It is critical that you use your workplace, health and safety policies and procedures as you would with any employee. Likewise, ensure you undertake thorough training on workplace, health and safety, so volunteers are prepared in their capacity as volunteers working in your office or out in the field.
Working with Volunteers, Insurance and Liability
When working with volunteers, ensure that you have the correct insurance in place (e.g. personal accident to volunteers insurance). Notably, there are situations where your charity organisation may be liable for the actions of your volunteers. In many states and territories, liability may automatically transfer from the volunteer to the charity.
As discussed above, defining the role of the volunteer is an important risk management step. If the volunteer’s role and obligations are clear and they step outside these obligations, it will be much easier to show that they should have known what they were doing was wrong.
Ending Volunteer Relationships
Your volunteer agreement should set out the termination process. Although the requirements are not the same as an employment relationship regarding notice or reasons for dismissal, it is still best practice to have a process in place. Volunteers still have rights in respect of discrimination, so it is important that you end a volunteer relationship in a structured manner and clearly set out your reasons.
This legal health checklist will help you to identify areas in your NFP that may need further protection or assistance to ensure that you are legally compliant.
Key Takeaways
When relying on and working with volunteers as a charity, it is important to have policies around interviewing, hiring, working with and terminating the relationship. As a volunteer manager, you should take risk management steps around safety and insurance seriously to avoid leaving your charity open to liability for the acts of your volunteers. Even if your volunteers are not receiving payment for their work, your organisation is open to risk for injuries caused by them.
If you have questions about working with volunteers as a charity organisation, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
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