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A Volunteer Role Description communicates details about a volunteer role you are looking to fill to prospective volunteers. It is an informative document only: it is not a contract or an agreement. Volunteer Role Descriptions tend to be used to advertise volunteering roles or to provide more details about volunteering opportunities to prospective volunteers.
Use this Volunteer Role Description:
for a business, charity or another organisation that wants to take on either a volunteer (or multiple volunteers) or somebody for a work experience placement
if you do not want the person you’re taking on to be a paid, regular employee
for organisations based in England, Wales or Scotland
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Role: .
This role is.
Our contact details:
Role summary: .
Department or service area: .
Number of volunteer roles available: .
We accept the volunteering services and would like the volunteers to begin volunteering:.
Time commitment: we hope that the volunteers in this role will be able to volunteer.
This role will be primarily based:.
The volunteers undertaking this may claim reimbursement for their expenses, including:
Key requirements for this volunteer role:
To apply for this role, please submit your CV.
Please do not hesitate to let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments during the application process or to enable you to perform this role. We will be happy to make any reasonable adjustments that are necessary.
We are committed to providing equal opportunities and treatment for everybody involved in our organisation. Therefore, we will deal with all applications and prospective volunteers in a manner that is consistent with equal opportunities and discrimination laws.
This Volunteer Role Description template covers:
an overview of your organisation and its activities
links to further information about your organisation (eg social media channels)
the key contact information for your organisation
a description of the volunteer role and the key tasks that it involves
an explanation of which expenses the volunteer(s) may be reimbursed for (eg travel expenses)
the key skills requirements for the volunteer role
optional details of other skills, qualifications, and attributes that you would like the volunteer(s) taking on the role to possess
an outline of the process you’re using to take on the new volunteer(s)
how people can apply for the volunteer role, including (optional) details about the cover letter
information about equal opportunities and equal treatment
If you decide to take on a volunteer, it is a good idea to immediately be as clear and honest as possible about the role you want the volunteer to fill. This makes you more likely to find a volunteer who truly wants to be involved with your organisation and who’s more likely to make a difference to your customers or beneficiaries.
Having a Volunteer Role Description in place before taking on a volunteer can also help you to avoid misunderstandings as to the nature of the volunteer’s relationship with your organisation. This Volunteer Role Description helps you to establish that you are looking for an unpaid volunteer, not an employee.
You should also create a Volunteer Role Description if you’re taking on people for a voluntary (unpaid) work experience placement with your organisation. Work experience placements can blur the lines between volunteering and working. If you want to ensure that people undertaking work experience are legally classified as volunteers (and so not granted employee rights - see below for more information), you can set out these parameters in this Volunteer Role Description.
The Volunteer Role Description can also serve as a reminder of important information for volunteers once they have taken on the role.
Genuine volunteers are not employees and they do not have the employment rights that a paid worker would have (eg the right to minimum wage or holiday pay). You must, however, uphold a volunteer’s rights as you would an employee’s rights in relation to:
health and safety (eg by providing a safe place of work)
data protection (eg by ensuring you use volunteers’ information in a safe and transparent manner)
equal opportunities and discrimination (eg by treating everyone equally during the volunteer recruitment process)
workplace bullying and harassment (eg by ensuring these things don’t take place and by dealing adequately with any complaints)
Genuine volunteers are not employees, however, somebody you call a volunteer may be legally considered an employee if certain conditions are met. This would mean that your organisation has an employment relationship with the volunteer (ie there is an implied contract of employment). There are various factors that determine whether there is an employment relationship. Two of the most important factors are:
whether the person is paid for the work they do - this is one of the strongest indicators that a relationship is an employment relationship. Therefore, when reimbursing volunteers for any expenses that they incur whilst volunteering for you, you should be careful not to pay them any more than the amount necessary to reimburse them for their expenses. Reimbursing volunteers for expenses that they have genuinely incurred by volunteering with you will not be considered ‘pay’.
whether there is mutual obligation between the parties - this can indicate an employment relationship if, for example, the volunteer is required to accept and perform work (eg if the volunteer must volunteer at certain set times) or if you are required to provide such work for the volunteer
Being sure that your volunteers really are volunteers (ie there is no employment relationship) is important if you don’t want to be obliged to pay them and to provide all of the benefits and rights (eg rights regarding dismissal) that employees are entitled to. This Volunteer Role Description template helps you to avoid creating an employment relationship. However, these situations can be complex. You should consider creating a Volunteer agreement to further clarify your relationship with your volunteers, or you can Ask a lawyer for help navigating the situation.
For more information, read Working as a volunteer.
When taking on a volunteer, it’s a good idea to formalise and record your process. You can do this by using a Volunteer Role Description to advertise the role and a Volunteer agreement to clarify the arrangement when you find somebody. This can help you to avoid any disputes, for instance, if a volunteer argues that they have an employment relationship with you.
Sometimes, you also need to perform checks when taking on a volunteer. For example:
immigration checks, if you’re taking on a volunteer who requires a visa to volunteer in the UK
criminal record checks (eg DBS checks), if your volunteer will be working with vulnerable people or similar
For more information, read the Government guidance.
You should also always adhere to equal opportunities and discrimination laws when taking on volunteers. Having an Equal opportunities policy in place can help you to do this.
Making a Volunteer Role Description online is simple. Just answer a few questions and Rocket Lawyer will build your document for you. When you have all of the details prepared in advance, making your document is a quick and easy process.
To make your Volunteer Role Description you will need the following information:
Organisation
What are the details of the organisation taking on the volunteer (eg its legal structure, name and address)?
What are the organisation’s contact details?
Do you want to include links to your organisation's online accounts? If so, what are the details of the relevant online accounts?
What does the organisation do?
Role
What is the volunteering role?
Does the role have a reference number? If so, what is it?
How many volunteers do you want for this role?
Is this volunteer role an ongoing volunteer position, a temporary volunteer position, or a temporary voluntary work experience placement?
Will the role be based at the organisation’s main address, at another location, or across various locations?
What is the ideal time commitment for this role?
Would you like the volunteer to start as soon as possible or on a specified date?
Within what department or service area does the role sit?
Who is the main point of contact for this role?
What is a summary of the role?
What is the intended purpose and impact of this role?
Further details
Will this Volunteer Role Description cover the following types of information about the role:
The main tasks and responsibilities the volunteer(s) will need to take on? If so, what are they?
The main contacts the volunteer(s) will have? If so, who are they?
The types of training and support that will be available to the volunteer(s)? If so, what are they?
The benefits that the volunteer(s) can gain from this role? If so, what are they?
Will the volunteer(s) be reimbursed for:
Travel expenses? If so, what is the maximum amount that the volunteer(s) will be reimbursed for travel costs?
Food expenses? If so, what is the maximum amount that the volunteer(s) will be reimbursed for food purchased whilst volunteering?
Any other expenses? If so, which other expenses will the volunteer(s) be reimbursed for?
Requirements
What are the most important things that volunteers should bring to this role?
Which other role requirements do you want to include?
Application
How should prospective volunteers apply for this role?
Do prospective volunteers need to submit cover letters? If so, do you want to include details of what cover letters should cover?
Does this role have a closing date? If so, what is the role’s closing date?
Will you respond to applications within a certain period? If so, within what timeframe will you respond to applications?
Do you want to provide more information about the process for taking on volunteers? If so, what steps are involved in the process?
Does your organisation have an equal opportunities policy? If so, is it available online?
Volunteer Role Descriptions are used to set out the specifics of volunteering opportunities. As a result, this Volunteer Role Description template covers:
The role
This section provides a brief summary of the volunteering role and whether it is ongoing or temporary.
The organisation
This section provides a brief introduction to the organisation that is offering the volunteering role. This includes links to any relevant social media accounts and the organisation’s contact details.
Role details
This section provides specific details of the volunteering role. This includes:
a summary of the role
the intended purpose of the role (where relevant)
the role’s department or service area (where relevant)
the number of volunteer roles available
the proposed volunteering start date
the ideal volunteering time commitment
where the role will primarily be based
If the Volunteer Role Description will not include any specific role requirements in the ‘Person specification’ section (eg desirable qualifications or skills), this section will also include the key requirements of this volunteer role.
Person specification
If the Volunteer Role Description does include specific role requirements, these will be set out in this section. This includes the key requirements for this volunteer role and any other necessary requirements (eg specific skills or qualifications).
Volunteer recruitment process
If relevant, this section provides details of the organisation’s recruitment process.
How to apply
This section sets out how prospective volunteers should apply for the volunteering role. It also requests that prospective volunteers should contact the organisation if they require reasonable adjustments during the application process or to enable them to perform the role. This section also details the organisation’s commitment to ensuring equal opportunities and treatment for everybody and, where relevant, links to the organisation's Equal opportunities policy.
If you want your Volunteer Role Description to include further or more detailed provisions, you can edit your document. However, if you do this, you may want a lawyer to review or change the Volunteer Role Description for you, to ensure it complies with all relevant laws and meets your specific needs. Ask a lawyer for assistance.
Consider whether you’re actually taking on a volunteer
Volunteers are unpaid individuals who offer up their time to work with and assist an organisation (often a charity). Volunteers have a different legal status to employees or workers and are, therefore, not awarded the same rights as employees or workers. However, simply saying that someone is a volunteer doesn’t mean that they are in fact a volunteer. Instead, in determining a volunteer’s employment status, a range of factors are taken into account. These include whether the volunteer is under direct supervision, whether they have to accept work, and whether they are paid.
When taking on a volunteer, make sure that you don’t inadvertently create an employment relationship. A good place to start is by making a Volunteer agreement and by familiarising yourself with the differences between volunteers, employees and workers.
For more information, see the FAQ ‘Can volunteers be considered ‘employees’?’. Ask a lawyer if you have any questions or concerns.
Consider what other documents you may need
When taking on a volunteer, make sure to record the details of the volunteering role in a Volunteer agreement. This document will help you to ensure clear communication about the roles. However, in addition to the volunteer agreement, you should consider adopting certain relevant policies for your organisation. For example, you may wish to adopt:
an Equal opportunities policy - detailing how your organisation complies with its duties to ensure equal opportunities and to prevent discrimination under the Equality Act 2010
an Anti-harassment and bullying policy - outlining how your organisation prevents bullying and harassment in the workplace
a Health and safety policy - setting out how your organisation complies with health and safety obligations in the workplace
a Data protection and security policy - detailing your organisation’s policies and procedures for processing (eg handling) personal information and personal data
an Expense policy - outlining which expenses volunteers can recover and how
For more information, read HR policies and procedures.
Understand when to seek advice from a lawyer
Ask a lawyer for advice if:
you want help determining whether somebody is classified as a volunteer or an employee
you want to take your volunteers outside of the UK
you want to take on a volunteer but you may also consider offering them paid employment in the future
this Volunteer Role Description doesn’t meet your specific needs
