Rights as a volunteer

Equal opportunities and diversity

While volunteers are generally not covered by equality legislation, it is good practice for organisations to include volunteers in equal opportunities and/or diversity policies, as this demonstrates commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity, fairness of treatment, dignity at work and the elimination of all forms of discrimination.

For more information about the Equality Act 2017, visit the Equality Act website. 

Health and Safety

Volunteers have the right to expect to be safe when they are volunteering for an organisation. Although volunteers are not included in Health and Safety legislation in the same way as paid staff, any organisation involving volunteers has a legal responsibility and a ‘duty of care’ towards their volunteers and this includes having insurance that covers volunteers.

Pay and expenses

Volunteering is generally unpaid work, however, there may be some instances where volunteers receive money to cover expenses. Most organisations should have a policy on volunteer expenses which will set out whether or not expenses are covered. If the policy allows for some expenses to be covered, there should be guidelines that you can follow, if appropriate.

Governance

The Attorney General is the registrar and regulator of charities which are established in the Isle of Man and/or which are carrying out activities here. For more information about the role of the Attorney general concerning charities in the Island, visit the Attorney General's Chambers website.

For guidance notes and a Frequently Asked Questions document, including how to raise a complaint in relation to how a charity operates visit this section of the Attorney General’s Chamber website.

Data protection

The organisation you're volunteering for must keep to rules (“principles”) about collecting and storing your personal information (this could be in electronic communications, such as emails or SMS, computer files or paper files etc). The organisation must also comply with your rights, which include the right to be given information about how the organisation will use your personal data and the right of access to your personal data.

For more information about data protection, including the rules and your rights as an individual, go to the Information Commissioner’s website.

Volunteering whilst in receipt of benefits

You can volunteer while receiving benefits as long as the work is unpaid and you continue to meet all the conditions of your benefit. You will also need to inform the benefits and financial support office of your intention to volunteer. For further information and contact details, visit this section of the Benefits and Financial Support website.