Employing family members and voluntary staff

Voluntary staff - contract rights, benefits and allowances

If you intend to take on voluntary workers, you need to be aware of the implications of giving them contract rights, benefits and allowances.

Contracts

• Avoid creating a contract or an agreement with contractual connotations, rights, obligations, or any form of consideration for work done. It does, however, make sense to have a volunteer agreement and role description in writing. See a sample volunteer agreement on the Volunteering England website.
• Make sure the agreement you use is different from the contract or written statement of terms and conditions you use for paid staff.
• Do not promise anything in return for the volunteer's work.
• You can agree to give a volunteer relevant training.
• You may reimburse actual expenses a volunteer incurs when volunteering, eg travel. Be careful though, as meal vouchers for example, count as payment in kind for the purposes of Jobseeker's Allowance.
• Don't give a volunteer a gift or reward other than in an isolated case.

Check the legal status of volunteers on the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) website.

You can also read about volunteers, the National Minimum Wage, expenses and the legal status of volunteers on the Volunteering England website.

Benefits and allowances
Voluntary workers may continue to be eligible for benefits and allowances such as Job Seeker's Allowance or Disability Living Allowance. You can get leaflet JSAL7 (Rev) Jobseeker's Allowance from your local Social Security or Jobcentre Plus Office. Find your local Social Security or Jobcentre Plus office on the Jobcentre Plus website.

Those receiving Jobseeker's Allowance will need to attend meetings at their Job Centre, and your organisation will need to accommodate these visits.

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

Read about volunteering and state benefits on the Volunteering England website.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Family employees - consider your motives
• Family employees - minimising business risks
• Preventing communication breakdowns
• Employing your spouse
• Employing younger family members or volunteers
• Voluntary staff - points to consider
• Voluntary staff - contract rights, benefits and allowances
• Health and safety issues
• Tax reporting requirements - young, old or voluntary staff
• Here's how our business overcame the pitfalls of employing family members