Employing family members and voluntary staff

Voluntary staff - points to consider

Many not-for-profit organisations benefit from taking on volunteers, eg to serve on committees, raise funds, create websites or databases and deliver mailshots.

Other businesses may offer work experience or secondment opportunities to help build links with local communities or within their industry, or to help attract potential recruits.

Considerations prior to taking on volunteers

Volunteers can be motivated and flexible. It's also cost-efficient to use volunteers providing they are suitable for the task or role.

However, before taking on volunteers you should consider:

• Whether the organisation has a suitable vacancy for the volunteer.
• The need for inductions and, possibly, task-specific training.
• What workspace the volunteer will need. Try to minimise disruption and demands on paid staff.
• In the absence of pay/benefits, the need to make volunteers feel recognised, involved and appreciated.
• The need for supervision, and personal and professional support. Consider the additional demands on staff time.
• Flexible working arrangements required by volunteers. Think about the needs of paid staff and whether you can adopt across-the-board flexibility.
• The fact that, as an employer, you have a similar duty of care on health and safety issues to volunteer workers as to paid workers - see the page of this guide on health and safety issues.

Managing volunteers

It is a good idea to give a paid member of staff responsibility for coordinating volunteers and their training and supervision. This will help avoid friction between volunteers and paid workers. You should consult volunteers on the level of involvement they would like, eg in meetings or discussion groups.

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Checks

You do not have to get a CRB check for volunteers unless they are working in a 'regulated' setting such as a care home or a school. Even then you only have to get a CRB check for them if the volunteer is going to have regular contact with either children or vulnerable adults.

Download guidance on CRB checks for volunteers from the Cabinet Office website (PDF) - Opens in a new window.

State benefits for volunteers

Volunteers who receive Jobseeker's Allowance may continue to be eligible providing they are actively seeking work and available to start work at short notice.

Read advice on the voluntary sector at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) website - Opens in a new window.

You can also get details of volunteering and state benefits at the Volunteering England website - Opens in a new window.

Subjects covered in this guide

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

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