The majority of calls to Volunteering England’s information line touch upon legal issues in one form or another. Many organisations are unclear about the legal status of their volunteers and the responsibilities they have towards them. Worries around issues such as benefits and the reimbursement of expenses are perennial concerns.

Volunteering England decided there was a need for this book because, although there have been books on legal issues for voluntary organisations in the past, it is clear that the time has come for a book that focuses solely on volunteers. Eighteen million people make a gift of their time each year.

There is increasing government attention on volunteering, with growing numbers of people being encouraged to volunteer. It is therefore very important that organisations understand both the good practice and the legal implications of volunteer involvement, in order to ensure that volunteering remains a valuable experience for all.

Volunteers and the Law is not intended to be a textbook or a technical reference guide to legal issues. The aim has been to create a readable overview of legal issues for volunteer managers and anyone who works with volunteers. It was written to cover the law as it applies to England and Wales. Much will be relevant to readers in the rest of the UK, but guidance should be sought from Volunteer Development Scotland (www.vds.org.uk) or, in Northern Ireland, from the Volunteer Development Agency (www.volunteering-ni.org). Recent legislation referred to in the text can be found at www.hmso.gov.uk.

Of course, all the legal issues that the book covers are subject to change. One of the many joys when writing the book was having to revise sections only recently completed. Up-to-date information should be sought from the relevant sources, or from Volunteering England.

Please note that this book does not refer to trustees. Trustees are volunteers, but the context in which they work is very specific and the areas that would need to be covered, such as aspects of charity and company law, would be beyond the scope of this publication.

Volunteers and the Law should not be taken as a statement of law, or as a substitute for legal advice. Readers are encouraged to seek professional legal opinion on specific issues of concern. However, we hope that volunteer managers will find the book a valuable resource in answering most of the legal questions and concerns around the involvement of volunteers that arise in the course of their work.

Lastly, thanks are due to David Mears of Russell-Cooke Solicitors (www.russellcooke.co.uk) and Sandy Adirondack (www.sandy-a.co.uk) for their valuable comments and advice. We are also very grateful to the Law Society Charity for agreeing to support this much-needed publication.

Download Volunteers and the Law

PDF format, 298KB, 64Pages.

CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Volunteers and employment rights 6
- What is a contract? 6
- Worker or employee? 7
- Tribunal decisions 8
- National minimum wage 12
- Reducing risk 14
Chapter 2
Benefits and tax 18
- Volunteering and welfare benefits 18
- Tax and national insurance 24
Chapter 3
Safety and security 28
- Duty of care 28
- Health and safety legislation 28
- Liability and insurance 30
- Working with vulnerable clients 32
Chapter 4
Data protection, copyright and the
Human Rights Act 45
- Data protection 45
- Copyright 50
- Human Rights Act 51
Chapter 5
Specific volunteering situations 54
- Involving young volunteers 54
- Volunteer drivers 55
- Volunteers from overseas 56
- Volunteer fundraisers 58
- Involving paid staff as volunteers 61

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