Taking on voluntary staff

Individuals who are genuinely volunteers have no employment rights but may still be able to claim state benefits and/or allowances.

Volunteer agreements

There have been cases where volunteers have succeeded in claiming to be a worker or even an employee. It is important to be aware of this because workers benefit from certain statutory employment rights, eg the right to receive the national minimum wage, while employees benefit from the full range of such rights including unlawful discrimination.

Therefore, when you take on a volunteer, any agreement you have with them must be worded so that the volunteer is clear that it is not a contract of employment, eg the agreement must not suggest that you and the volunteer have any obligations towards each other or that it is a contract for services.

Instead, you should:

• Give the individual a volunteer agreement and role description in writing.
• Not promise anything in return for the volunteer's work.

Volunteer expenses

However, as part of the agreement, you may:

• Give a volunteer relevant training.
• Give relevant supervision.
• Reimburse actual expenses a volunteer incurs when volunteering, eg travel, food, drink, or any equipment needed. You may also consider covering out-of-pocket expenses eg phone calls, stationery, or postage necessary for a volunteer to work.

Note that you should never give a volunteer a gift or reward other than in an isolated case.

There are statutory rates of mileage reimbursements that can be paid if you have used your own car for volunteering and/or carrying passengers. Provided there is no profit element (ie no excess is paid), they are not subject to tax or National Insurance Contributions.

See expenses and allowance for volunteers.

Volunteers and the National Minimum Wage (NMW)

For the purposes of the NMW legislation, volunteers are not workers and are therefore not entitled to be paid the NMW.

However, you must ensure that the individual is genuinely a volunteer, ie that it's not possible for them to claim they are - in fact - a worker.

Voluntary workers are a category of worker specifically exempt from being entitled to the NMW. See who should be paid the minimum wage.

State benefits and allowances available to volunteers

Volunteers may continue to be eligible for benefits and allowances such as Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment (PIP). See volunteering while on benefits.

Those receiving Universal Credit will need to attend meetings at their Jobs and Benefits office, and your organisation will need to accommodate these visits.

Find your nearest Jobs and Benefits Office.

You have no duty to inform the benefits office who is volunteering - this is for the individual volunteer to decide.