Raising funds via volunteer work

OPINION: I had an interesting situation a short while back, writes Brian Richardson in this week's Work to Rule.

A client was looking at fundraising for a group of young sportspeople and needed something other than the ubiquitous cheese rolls or chocolate-bar fundraisers.

They found their solution in a group fundraiser for a local firm.

The firm needed 20 fit people to spend about three to four hours packing firewood.

Their view was that they were happy to support community involvement through a sports club but wanted to get something in return. They obviously decided that a win-win situation was to get groups in to undertake, on a volunteer basis, work for which they would otherwise have to pay a group of employees or contractors to do.

The company was quite professional in how it went about engaging the young people and their parents.

There was the health and safety briefing, which covered all of the hazards they were likely to encounter. This was hammered home to the workers because some had not previously worked in a place where there was moving machinery. This briefing was a requirement under the applicable legislation, whether the people doing the work were employees or volunteers.

Next, it was made very clear that the people were there as volunteers and they could not be expected to be paid nor be regarded in any way as employees.

There is specific provision for this under the Employment Relations Act. It has to be made very clear that the people are there as volunteers, otherwise you can get people claiming they are employees and entitled to all the benefits of being an employee. This is extremely important, especially where the work may be ongoing and repeated periodically.

The group then undertook the work, with periodic breaks from the organiser to see that everyone was coping and that the tally of work done was up to scratch.

Overall, the business and the group were happy with the outcome; the business got the work done in a relatively short time and the group was very happy with the funds raised.

This type of community involvement by businesses is becoming more prevalent for short bursts of quite labour-intensive activities such as stocktakes or one-off filling of orders, or cleaning of venues after big events. It creates a win- win situation for the businesses and the community groups, but certain rules must be adhered to.

It is absolutely imperative that health and safety regulations are complied with, because these are obligations that cannot be contracted out of by either the company or the community group.

It is also important that the business and the community group understand what their relationship is.

In most cases the people doing the work will be regarded as volunteers and as such will be able to contract out of the provisions of the Employment Relations Act, and other employment legislation such as the Holidays Act. This would be best achieved by having a simple written agreement between the business and the community group, rather than the community group's members individually.

There is a win-win situation for everyone but the basics must be taken care of and this is best done by the written agreement between the company and the community group.

Happy fundraising everyone.

» Brian Richardson is an HR adviser at Preston Russell Law.

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