Volunteer Management: Exploring Legal Issues and Managing Risk

While many charities depend on volunteers to carry out their missions, volunteer managers may not understand the legal implications of working with volunteers and unpaid staff. The Lawyers Alliance of New York has just published “The Volunteer Workforce: Legal Issues and Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations” to help nonprofit explore some of these topics. The first section covers the legal difference between volunteers and employees, best practices for screening and compensating volunteers, and how to manage volunteers. The second section deals with legal pitfalls and the consequences of mishandling the volunteer relationship. The guide’s appendix also contains sample forms. Although the book focuses on New York state law, non-New York employers may find it useful since much of the pertinent law is federal.

If you are interested in further managing risk when working with volunteers, consider browsing the Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s latest edition of “No Surprises: Harmonizing Risk and Reward in Volunteer Management.” Topics covered include young and senior volunteers, animals, corporate volunteers, public relations issues, insurance, and volunteer protection laws.

While these guides are not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, they are good publications to help you get conversations started on the legal issues related to working with volunteers.

To find additional readings from the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature on the topic of voluntarism, click HERE.