Staff and Volunteers – Managing the Tension

JOANNE O’BRIENCRH LawLevel 10, 193 North QuayBrisbane Qld 4000

P: 07 3236 2900E:jobrien@crhlaw.com.au

Workshop Schedule

• Background to the issues

• Scenarios for discussion

• Develop a Charter of Relationship for Staff & Volunteers

What’s Happening?

• Challenges facing ‘Civil Society’– Declining government funding & competitive

purchasing of services– Increasing costs of regulatory compliance– GFC & negative impacts on fundraising– Increase in demand for services during

economic downturn– Shortage of skilled staff in the sector

• Deloitte Survey into the Not for Profit Sector 2012

The Effect

• Confidence levels are negative for NFP organisations

• Those with funding under $250K are least confident

• Struggling to find good quality employees – Cannot offer attractive wages & career

paths• In survival mode

• PwC-CSI Community Index June 2013

The Statistics

• ABS - Participation in voluntary work– 1995 – 3.2M or 24% of over 18s

– 2000 – 4.4M or 32% of over 18s

– 2006 – 5.2M or 34% of over 18s

– 2010 – 6.1M or 36% of over 18s

• The changing nature of volunteering– Virtual volunteering;

– Corporate & school volunteer programs; National Student Volunteer Week 4-10 August 2014

– Growing demand for skilled volunteering

The Other Side of the Equation

• People living longer in retirement & looking for meaningful engagement – In the economy & community

• Unemployment amongst young people is high

• Employers look for workers with experience (but not too much)

• Volunteering provides opportunities for personal development, recreation & expansion of social networks

What is Volunteering?

• Formal volunteering is an activity which takes place through not-for-profit organisations or projects & is undertaken: To be of benefit to the community & volunteer; Of the volunteer’s own free will & without coercion; For no financial payment; and In designated volunteer positions only.

Volunteering Australia

• Unpaid non compulsory work; that is, time individuals give without pay to activities performed either through an organisation or directly for others outside their own household

International Labour Organisation

What is Employment?

• Employment Relationship– Legal link between a person, called the

‘employee’ with another person, called the ‘employer’ to whom she or he provides labour or services under certain conditions in return for remuneration

International Labour Organisation

• Paid Work– Any activity that is undertaken at the direction of

an employer & is financially compensable

Differences in the “Workplace”

Employee Volunteer

Remuneration (tax & superannuation) Optional: Reimburse expenses, vouchers, honorariums

Vicarious liability Vicarious liability but protected by Civil Liability legislation

Work Health & Safety laws Work Health & Safety laws

Industrial laws Not Applicable

Anti-bullying laws (FWA) Anti-bullying laws (FWA)

Police checks for working with vulnerable people

Police checks for working with vulnerable people

Equal Opportunity & Anti-Discrimination Laws apply

Inconsistency across the states

Potential Union Representation No Union Representation

What Creates Tension?

• Employees’ Perspective:– Jobs are threatened

concerned they are being: Displaced; or Replaced

– Volunteers are a burden rather than a helpDon’t have the skills or knowledge for the role

– Volunteers aren’t reliableThey don’t have to be here

– Difficulty in managing volunteersRole of the Volunteer Manager

What Creates Tension?

• Volunteers’ Perspective:– Not valued – lack of recognition– No clear management

– Lack of engagement/feedback– Participating can involve cost– Lack of relevant training– Desire to volunteer for more than one

organisation

What Creates Tension

• Organisational Perspective– How to value volunteer contribution

Is it best measured by hours contributed & dollars saved

– Cost of managing volunteers– Cost of protecting volunteers

Insurance

– Success of volunteer programs may justify reduced fundingSupport for volunteering does not imply support for

government downsizing or replacing paid work

What about the Board?

• Most are still volunteers– Highest paid employee reports to volunteers

– Volunteer Directors are ultimately responsible

– The CEO Director

• One way to attract experience & quality is to pay Directors– What happens when some are paid & others are

not?– Or, some are paid more than others?

Scenario 1

• Your organisation, Happy Valley Counselling Ltd provides advocacy & support services to 3 rural towns in Happy Valley

• You & your senior social worker are volunteers for the Rural Fire Brigade

• It is late October, winter has been very dry & the inevitable happens when a cigarette butt is carelessly thrown from a car window

• The fire is threatening 2 of the towns & the 3 is inundated with families needing shelter & support

• The call comes from your brigade unit………….

Scenario 2

• You are CEO of Urban Renewal Inc, which undertakes rehabilitation of industrial sites & campaigns for action on climate change

• Green Petroleum Pty Ltd has an office in the same building as Urban Renewal

• Green Petroleum has obtained drilling permits in a pristine section of reef

• Its manager contacts you about:– The company’s compulsory employee volunteer program –

she has 20 employees who want to work on your project to rehabilitate a petrol station site; &

– A cash donation of $200,000 as part of their social responsibility commitment

Scenario 3

• Your organisation supports women & children affected by family violence

• Past fund raising efforts have made it possible to purchase a house which is used to provide emergency accommodation

• You have just been advised by the Department of Families that you will no longer receive funding for support services

• There is no option but to make staff redundant • How do you keep the refuge operating effectively?

Scenario 4

• You are CEO of Greenacres Care Ltd, an approved provider of residential aged care

• Greenacres is situated in a rural town & has 85 places

• In preparation for the 2014 reforms & with the support of the Chair, you recruited a financial guru onto the Board

• The guru’s time is very valuable & he will be a paid Director

• For many years the Chair has been paid an honorarium of $800 per year but the other 5 Directors are volunteers & have all been doing it tough as a result of the drought

Scenario 5

• You have moved into the capital city in your state & taken a position as CEO of a refugee support service

• The service is located in an inner city suburb

• The demographics of the suburb are such that there are a lot of retirees with time on their hands & students who attend the nearby university

• Volunteers are vital to the service & you have been inundated by:– Students with limited life experience who are looking for work

experience & a way to express their disapproval of government refugee policies; &

– Older Australians of Celtic origins with no foreign language skills

• Discuss

Scenario 6

• Having decided city living is not for you, you have moved to a semi-rural idyll on the outskirts of a major regional centre

• Your new employer provides supports to young people living with a disability

• For clients who have difficulty controlling aggression, the organisation’s policy requires supports to be delivered by 2 people

• Funding cuts have meant that the organisation is increasingly reliant on volunteers & has limited training resources

• Last week, a support worker, Sharon visited John Brown, a 25 year old young man with an acquired brain injury who lives on a farm

Scenario 6 (cont’d)

• Sharon was accompanied by a volunteer; Joe Smith• Joe loves poultry and would dearly love to have a rooster

but he lives in town & local government by-laws prohibit the keeping of roosters

• Joe was distracted by the magnificent rooster in the poultry run and while his back was turned, John hit Sharon across the back with a rake causing significant soft tissue damage and lacerations

• In accordance with your policies, you withdraw services & the client’s family is irate

• Your workers are refusing to use volunteers for client visits

• What happens next?

Charter of Relationship

• Set of principles to underpin good relationships

• Recognise the value of both employees & volunteers

• Guide the development of more detailed policies & procedures

• Ideally developed with input from both employees & volunteers

Charter of Relationship

• Where to begin?– Acknowledgement of respect of rights– Reimbursement of expenses for volunteers– Job protection

– Principles for determining what activities volunteers will be involved in

– How will volunteer contribution be included in grant/funding applications?

– Training & development opportunities– Mechanism for resolution of problems– Development of volunteering policies & procedures

– What happens during industrial disputes

“Volunteering is about the community owning social and economic challenges”

“Vol

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way”

“There is a role in defining volunteering but beyond that there are individual stories, and they will

be a millionfold”

“You can never determine a person’s

motivation. (But) W

e can say that there

has to be a choice in whether they

volunteer”

“..it is a two-way thing. It’s about

what the volunteer gives & what the position offers him/her”

“..it is a two-way thing. It’s about

what the volunteer gives & what the position offers him/her”

Thank You / The End

JOANNE O’BRIENCRH LawLevel 10, 193 North QuayBrisbane Qld 4000

P: 07 3236 2900E:jobrien@crhlaw.com.au