The Volunteering England information team handle a range of enquiries on volunteering issues. This list covers some of the questions that we are most frequently asked by people with a professional interest in volunteering.
1. What can the information team at Volunteering England offer me?
2. Is there a minimum age for volunteers? What does the law say about children volunteering?
3. How can I persuade my colleagues that our organisation would benefit from taking on volunteers? They say they are too busy.
4.Is there any maximum hours a volunteer on Job Seekers Allowance can volunteer for?
5. Should our organisation be reimbursing care costs to volunteers?
6. Are there any legal implications if our organisation reimburse care costs?
7. How much should we pay in care costs and how do we budget for them?
8. How can we get our volunteers more involved and encourage them to come to meetings with our paid staff?
9. Can we offer a paid job to one of our existing volunteers?
10. Is there an accepted definition of the word ‘volunteer’?
11. How many people volunteer?
12. Who volunteers more, women or men?
13. Who volunteers more, older people or younger people?
14. What are the most popular areas of voluntary activity?
15. Have you any suggestions for volunteers who would like to volunteer from their own home?
16. Who should we accept as a referee for a volunteer?
17. Can Refugees and Asylum Seekers Volunteer for us?
18. We seem to be losing volunteers faster than we recruit them. Where are we going wrong?
19. What kind of Police Checks will we be able to get from the Criminal Records Bureau?
20. How does our organisation register with the Criminal Records Bureau?
21. Will it cost us anything to Police Check our volunteers?
22. Should I take on someone with a criminal record as a volunteer?
23. In terms of the Criminal Records Bureau who is counted as a ‘vulnerable person’?
24. We’re using the same grievance and disciplinary policy for both paid staff and volunteers. Should we be doing this?
25. What questions should we ask on an application form?
26. How do I interview a potential volunteer?
27. Is it always right to involve volunteers?
28. How do I police check volunteers from outside the EU?
29. Which types of insurance policy cover volunteers?
30. Can people on Incapacity Benefit volunteer?
31. Can we pay volunteers expenses in advance for expensive items?
32. One of our volunteers is having problems with the benefits office because of their volunteering; what can we do?
33. Should we inform Benefits Advisers when an individual in receipt of benefits starts volunteering?
34. What is the best way to reimburse expenses?
35. How will the Human Rights Act affect volunteers?
36. Is training a ‘consideration’ and if we give our volunteers training do we risk setting up a contract with them?
37. Is it ok to pay volunteers honoraria?
38. Do I need to provide motor insurance for my volunteer drivers?
39. Should we pay our volunteers expenses?
40. How does the National Minimum Wage Act affect volunteers?
41. Should we have a volunteer agreement?
42. Do we need a volunteer policy?
43. How do we draw up a volunteer policy?
44. How can we retire older volunteers?
45. How does the Data Protection Act affect volunteering?
46. Apart from police checks, what other steps can we take to help safeguard our vulnerable clients?
47. Are volunteers covered by health and safety legislation?
48. Where can I find more volunteers?
49. Can we give our volunteers a flat rate expenses payment? We are finding it time-consuming and difficult to pay out exact expenses against receipts. It’s an administrative nightmare.
50. Is there any way of measuring the economic value of the work our volunteers are doing?
