Voluntary employment

Introduction

Voluntary work is basically unpaid work/labour. People who do the bulk of housework and child-rearing are voluntary workers. Voluntary workers (volunteers) are required by a number of non-profit organisations because these organisations tend to operate solely for a social or community benefit. In this chapter, we will focus on why people do voluntary or unpaid work in the community and what issues arise when people volunteer their time. See image 1

Why do people volunteer?

There are a number of reasons why people do voluntary work. In general, people volunteer their time to contribute to a social cause to feel good about themselves. High levels of satisfaction come from spending a couple of spare hours helping out at your child's school or planting trees in a local conservation group. You might have heard about the large numbers of people volunteering at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 or the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 and the community spirit this represented. Many people volunteer their time for social causes, like 'Clean up Australia Day', or unpaid assistance to organisations helping the socially disadvantaged. The Smith Family, for example, is a well known charity that uses financial donations and volunteer workers in providing education to financially disadvantaged young people. See image 2

Volunteering for work experience

People often work 'for free' to increase their chances of finding employment. Students and unemployed people often do voluntary work to develop skills and to gain valuable work experience. Prospective employers value voluntary experience, so you can add the skills you developed to your personal resume, the document you use to present your skills, knowledge, education and experience to employers. Voluntary experience improves your chances of finding paid work, because employers judge that you are a highly motivated and hard working individual. See image 3

Issues in voluntary work

There are issues that arise when we work voluntarily on an ongoing, regular basis. Many non-profit and community organisations use large numbers of volunteers, so they need to develop policies for voluntary workers. Voluntary workers need to be covered by insurance in the event of accidents or incidents (generally known as personal injury and indemnity insurance). Sometimes, organisations using voluntary workers ensure that individual volunteers take out their own personal insurance cover so they are not liable for accidents and injuries that may occur. In general, many organisations are developing Voluntary Employment Policies, so that volunteers are managed appropriately. An unfortunate situation occurs when voluntary workers are exploited or taken for granted. This is when unpaid workers are not treated the same as paid workers, because their efforts are not appreciated.