Volunteers
[ch 7: pages 230-231]Genuine volunteers are not protected by the Work provisions of the EA 10 (X v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau [2012] UKSC 59). This is because there is no binding contract personally to do work. Only genuine volunteers are excluded. Anyone working for nothing who is really a “worker” will qualify for protection (see Chapter 2: Volunteers).
A consultation by the May government on protecting volunteers from harassment closed in October 2019. In their technical guidance on harassment, published in January 2020 (see below: Harassment), the EHRC suggest that volunteers “may be protected under the services provisions of the EA 10 if the organisation providing the volunteering opportunity is providing a service to the volunteer. This has not yet been tested in the courts.”
Some volunteers may qualify for separate protection from discrimination as recipients of vocational training or work experience (section 56(6), EA 10).