Staff and Volunteers – Managing the Tension JOANNE O’BRIEN CRH Law Level 10, 193 North Quay...
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Transcript of Staff and Volunteers – Managing the Tension JOANNE O’BRIEN CRH Law Level 10, 193 North Quay...
Staff and Volunteers – Managing the Tension
JOANNE O’BRIENCRH LawLevel 10, 193 North QuayBrisbane Qld 4000
P: 07 3236 2900E:[email protected]
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
unte
erin
g is
not j
ust
som
eone
doi
ng
som
ethi
ng fo
r fre
e –
its
abou
t mee
ting
com
mun
ity
need
s in
an
orga
nize
d,
coor
dina
ted
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:[email protected]