Any charity's aim is to do good, and because of this they often attract people to work with them as volunteers. You can see this in charity shops, hospices, schools and so on; numerous volunteers who dedicate their time to help others.
It has now come to light that such volunteers are not covered by discrimination law. In the case of X v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau the Court of Appeal decided that an unpaid volunteer was not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The claimant was an HIV infected part–time unpaid volunteer who was asked to cease work on what she believed were on the grounds of her HIV status. As she was not in 'employment' and had no contract nor a 'work placement' as defined by the DDA, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) declined her appeal, holding that the term 'occupation' does not cover volunteers under the European equal treatment legislation.
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What this means is that a charity - probably strapped for cash - may be excused the necessity to amend their premises or working practices to take account of a volunteer's disability. It also means that the volunteer would not be protected against discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender reassignment.
What is critical in this case was that there was no contract. With a contract - any kind of contract - it is likely that the person would be a 'worker' who would be protected under discrimination legislation.
If you feel that your charity should be exempt from onerous discrimination law and would like to explore this way of protecting yourself from it, or alternatively if you would like to discuss this new development or the possibility of introducing a 'Volunteers' Guidance Note' do please contact us, we would be pleased to help.
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