Volunteers

Genuine volunteers are not employees or workers because there is no mutuality of obligation. There is no legal obligation on the volunteer to do work or on the employer to pay for it.

A legal contract requires “consideration” — something paid in return for something else. In an employment context, this is usually work in return for wages. Although consideration does not have to be money, in Melhuish v Redbridge CAB [2005] IRLR 419, the EAT said that the opportunity to attend training courses was not consideration. Volunteers will not become employees or workers just because they are reimbursed their expenses.

Voluntary workers are specifically excluded from the National Minimum Wage Regulations (see Chapter 4) and are not covered by the employment provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (X (Appellant) v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau [2012] UKSC 59). See Chapter 6: Discrimination — Volunteers, page 160.