Volunteers must be valued and not used as subsitutes for paid staff, says new charter

The role of volunteers should complement the work of staff and not substitute it, says a charter signed by the TUC and Volunteering England, the volunteering development charity, at the end of last year.

This is the principle of guidance from the TUC on agreements between unions and employers, which recognises the value of the UK’s 22 million volunteers and aims to foster good relations between volunteers and staff.

The guidance says that, although volunteers do not have the same rights as employees, such as to the minimum wage and holiday and sickness pay, they should still receive some form of agreement from the organisation they are working with. This should include information about the types of roles they will be doing and the support they can expect to get from the organisation.

www.tuc.org.uk/publicsector/index.cfm?mins=610