The Essentials
Policies and procedures
Why do you need them?
Developing a volunteer policy
How is volunteering different from staff?
What is essential?
What is useful to have as well?
Policies and procedures
Why do you need them?
In short, policies and procedures are the building blocks for your group or organisation. They are the evidence of what you aim to achieve and how to do it.
Once policies are written it makes life easier. They make things clear for other people in the group or organisation, by establishing guidelines.
Developing a volunteer policy
Developing a volunteer policy doesn't need to be daunting. The document can be short and simple as long as you cover the necessary areas.
To make it sound a bit more approachable think about your volunteer policy as ideas on how your organisation is going to deal with volunteers. Writing it down will help you to make sure that you and the rest of your group are clear about what everyone needs to do and how it will be done.
It also proves that you are serious and value your future volunteers.
What are the elements of the policy?
- Introduction
Why you need volunteers and why you involve them? Is involving volunteers in line with the values and aims of your organisation? If so, why?
- Recruitment
What are you recruitment procedures?
How will you advertise?
What are your recruitment methods?
How and when will you request references and/or CRB checks?
What are your selection processes?
- Induction and training
How are volunteers welcomed into the organisation? What information are they given? What training if any is essential to the role? What opportunities to develop skills will volunteers have?
- Expenses
Are you going to cover expenses (what kind, are there limits)?
- Support and supervision
Who will provide support and supervision?
How and when will it be done?
- Insurance
What is the insurance cover? Are there any restrictions?
- Equal Opportunities
Have you got an equal opportunities policy that covers volunteers? What will it cover?
- Health and Safety
What have you in place to ensure a safe volunteering environment?
- Problem Solving
How, and to whom, can a volunteer raise concerns? How will you address any problems that might occur with volunteers?
- Confidentiality
What have you got in place to protect your clients', volunteers' and organisation's confidentiality?
How is volunteering different from staff?
It is important to remember that volunteers do not replace staff members – but 'add value' and support to your organisation. It is always a good idea to talk through with other staff members the roles of volunteers in your activities. Having all staff 'on board' with the plans will make it much easier to integrate volunteers into your team.
You may have a number of policies already in place. It is important though to remember that, legally, volunteers are different from paid staff. Volunteers, unlike paid staff, are not covered by the same employment legislation. This means that they should not be treated as 'unpaid staff' but as a separate group.
Acording to Volunteering England Information Sheet Volunteering England 2009, Volunteer-Friendly Words, www.volunteering.org.uk:
'There is no clear set of legal rights for volunteers in the UK.Volunteers have some rights as citizens, such as the right
for others to take reasonable care of their safety or the right
for their personal data to be used and stored appropriately.
But volunteers do not have any legal entitlement to the
types of rights enjoyed by paid employees. Therefore it is
misleading to suggest that volunteers have formal rights to
receive expenses or support and supervision.
It can also be unfair to suggest that volunteers have a
formal ‘right to complain’ or a ‘right to be treated fairly’,
when employment laws and anti-discrimination laws do not
legally apply to them'.
Good practice is to draft appropriate policies that relate to volunteers. You can find the list of essential policies and samples in the section below.
There are certain words that relate to paid staff that should be avoided when drafting policies relating to volunteers. We have prepared a list of words that are commonly confused. It is best to avoid the vocabulary associated with employment to clarify the boundaries between the volunteering role and formal employment.
Employment contract whether verbal or written has legal obligations. To avoid creating an employment contract with your volunteers, it's important not to use the word 'contract' and only reimburse out of pocket expenses.
What also helps to create a clear distinction between paid staff and volunteers is to use different vocabulary and tone when writing policies. Avoid words such as 'dismissal' or 'terminate'.
| Employment | Volunteering |
| Volunteer contract | Volunteer agreement |
| Volunteer job description | Volunteer role or task |
| Person specification | Personal qualities or skills |
| Grievance and Disciplinary procedure | Problem-solving procedure or Complaints procedure or Raising concerns policy |
| Rights and responsibilities | Reasonable expectations |
| We are an equal opportunities employer | We are committed to working with volunteers from a diverse range of backgrounds |
| Interview | Informal chat or Informal interview |
| Trial period or Probationary period | Introductory period |
| CRB check | Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure |
| Subsistence allowance | Out-of-pocket expenses |
| We will pay volunteer expenses | Volunteer expenses are reimbursed or We can cover volunteer expenses |
| Honoraria or Honorarium | Thank you gift (for example: for outstanding contribution or long service etc) |
| Placement or Vacancy | Volunteering opportunity |
| Voluntary worker | Volunteer |
| Incentives | Motivations |
What is essential?
- volunteer policy
- volunteer agreement
- expenses form
- support and supervision plan included in the volunteer policy
- insurance that cover volunteers
What is useful to have as well?
If there is a good structure of policies and procedures within which to manage your volunteers, many problems can be averted. It is impossible to pre-empt difficulties, which is why we also are including policies for dealing with problems and resolving disputes.
The following list can be adjusted for your own organisation:
- Role descriptions
- Selection and recruitment
- Supervision record form
- Induction process
- Vetting (if appropriate) and references
- Discipline and grievance
- Health & Safety
- Equal Opportunities
- Ground rules / boundaries
- Code of conduct
- Consultation and feedback
- Training
- Support and supervision for volunteers and the staff who manage them
- Retention and recognition policies and framework
- Volunteer Review form
- In addition, the whole organisation needs to be well managed so that both staff and volunteers can concentrate on delivering the best service possible.
