Volunteers status checklist

The following should be considered in order to minimise the risk of the relationship between a volunteer and an organisation being deemed to be one of employment:

1.  Produce volunteer agreements and role descriptions to help clarify intentions and expectations, lowering the chance of a grievance arising.  
2.  State that the individual is volunteering to offer their services and skills as a contribution to the organisation to assist it in meeting its objectives.   
3.  Avoid setting out the volunteer relationship in terms of rights and obligations. Instead, express your goals as intentions, hopes, or policies.  
4.  Steer clear of words with a contractual connotation: instead of words like `contract`, `pay`, `employee`, use words such as `volunteer`, `intention` and `relationship`.