Colleague Volunteering and Community Support Policy
Last Updated 30 Jul 2024 in Community
We encourage all colleagues to spend time volunteering with local community groups, and offer colleagues up to 22.5 hours paid time to do this per year. This policy will help you work out how you can use your hours.
Key points covered:
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Colleague Volunteering
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Fundraising
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Community and school partnerships
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Disaster relief
You’ll find more information about volunteering on the Community pages of the intranet.
At its heart, a true co-operative organisation is socially responsible and effectively engaged with the communities it serves.
Colleague volunteering and community support are central to our Society Purpose to build a fairer, more sustainable, and ethical future, represented under the Remarkable Colleagues and Sustainable Impact Trust Pillars.
Our colleagues are committed to doing good together and the Society supports colleagues who undertake volunteering work to support local charities and good causes in their local community.
This policy provides information on the principles and guidelines for colleague volunteering, fundraising, and community support.
This policy primarily applies to all employees (whether employed on a full-time, part-time, fixed term or permanent basis). Failure to comply with this policy is likely to result in disciplinary action.
This policy does not form part of any contract of employment and the Society may amend it at any time.
The policy covers the following core areas of community support
- Colleague volunteering both paid and unpaid
- Fundraising
- Community and School partnerships
- Disaster relief
Paid Volunteering
Colleagues are entitled to a maximum of 22.5 hours of paid volunteering time each year (pro-rata), known as ‘community hours.’ Community hours are carried out within a colleague’s normal contracted hours of work, with Manager approval, to perform volunteer work with local charities and good causes in the areas where we trade. The paid volunteering activity must take place where you are away from your normal operational role, and this can be on or off site.
If the Society request colleagues to volunteer outside of their contracted hours for a fundraising partner that has close links to the Society - our current fundraising partner or legacy fundraising partner - the colleague must agree TOIL with their line manager PRIOR to volunteering and then it may be included in paid volunteering. The toil must be taken in line with the society TOIL policy.
Community activities include, but are not limited to, community care work; environmental work and conservation projects; fundraising for community projects or charities and the administration of public events, giving blood.
The Volunteer Challenge pack must be completed prior to an activity undertaken off-site (e.g. litter picks, painting or gardening challenges), including the risk assessment.
Colleagues are encouraged to perform their community hours by undertaking activities linked to local community partnerships and supported by their site.
Paid volunteering must be for a community group or charity and not for an individual.
Time-off requests related to public duties are covered in the Special Leave Policy and therefore should not be considered under this policy. Please refer to the Special Leave Policy for further details.
Colleagues must discuss the volunteering activity with their line manager, review The Volunteer Challenge pack and agree the dates and times they will be away before undertaking any activity.
If you are unsure about your volunteering activity, please speak to your line manager.
To submit volunteering hours or find out more information on how to volunteer please visit the volunteering page on Colleagues Connect. Colleagues can also use volunteering websites to find local opportunities or talk to the Society customers and members.
Whilst the Society will always encourage colleagues to volunteer in line with this policy where possible, the Society does have the right to limit volunteering hours allocation and the scope of volunteering projects in line with business requirements if necessary.
Unpaid Volunteering
Unpaid volunteering is when a colleague undertakes a volunteering activity outside of their normal (contracted) working hours, and it does not meet the criteria of paid volunteering. Such activities are not covered under the Society’s Insurance Policy.
Examples of unpaid volunteering:
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Brownies, scouts, guides etc done in colleagues' own time
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Volunteering at a charity shop in your own time
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Neighbourly activity including shopping for a neighbour or sick relative. Gardening / painting / decorating for a neighbour or elderly relative. Dog walking (unless part of volunteering for an animal charity)
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Trustees, school governors or committee meetings undertaken outside normal contracted working hours.
Fundraising
All fundraising activity done in normal contracted hours must be agreed in advance with the colleague’s line manager. Fundraising within your normal contracted working hours can be recorded as paid volunteering, and the activity must take you away from your normal work duties.
Colleagues may wish to undertake fundraising activities which are not linked to a Society related charity or community group. In these circumstances you are responsible for ensuring that the money is banked with them directly and the marketing used to promote the activity has been provided by the charity
Examples of fundraising activities that colleagues are undertaking for their Society led fundraising partners, can be formally recorded as paid volunteering, this includes marathons or other such personal challenges. For marathons, only the hours given on the day of the event will be recorded as ‘paid’ volunteer hours’ (up to a maximum of 10 hours for a full marathon and 5 hours for a half marathon plus any travelling time to the events). If the event takes place outside your normal contracted working hours and it is to be included as paid volunteering, colleagues must agree TOIL with their line manager prior to the event within the TOIL Policy. Training for these events can be recorded as unpaid community hours.
Colleagues who undertake marathons, half marathons and other personal challenges to raise funds for non-Society supported fundraising partners cannot record the day of the event as paid volunteering or receive TOIL.
Organised counting of Poppy Appeal Funds or other Society supported charity collections can be formally recorded as community hours if done within the colleagues normal working hours.
Any fundraising done in the colleagues’ own time will not be covered under the Society’s Insurance policy.
Whilst the Society will always encourage fundraising in line with this policy where possible, the Society does have the right to limit fundraising and the scope of fundraising projects in line with business requirements if necessary.
Community and School Partnerships
Our support for local communities, education and developing young people, ensures that we involve members and colleagues in supporting issues that are relevant to where they work, live and learn, and ultimately to help build strong local communities.
We focus on supporting local communities through our Regional Community and Your Community Sites programmes, whilst striving to connect our members and community groups together to provide hyper-local solutions through online and physical networks.
Our community partnerships include working with local schools, colleges, and youth services across our trading area by offering extensive activities to engage and inform young people about the values and benefits of co-operation.
We create our Society community and school partnerships working with colleagues and members primarily through our Regional Community and Your Community Sites networks working closely with the Society’s Member Engagement Committee to agree approved charity and school partnerships, and through our co-operative community grants programme.
We expect all colleagues in contact with our community partners, and therefore representing our Society in the community, to always behave in a professional manner in keeping with our Society’s Values.
We encourage and expect colleagues to support the Society’s community programme and help champion the Society’s co-operative difference in the communities that we serve. In line with this we encourage our colleagues to support our school and education campaigns in the community to help engage and inspire future co-operators.
By the very nature of our community and school partnerships, several activities will involve supporting vulnerable members of the community. Vulnerability can impact everyone in different ways and the required support will vary upon individual circumstances. We ask our colleagues to pay that extra level of care, attention and sensitivity when working with vulnerable members of the community, and to ensure that where applicable any relevant checks and expertise is in place before carrying out any activity with vulnerable groups (suchas DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks where applicable).
Further details around supporting vulnerable people can be found in the Society’s Diversity and Inclusion policy.
Disaster Relief
Whilst the Society’s ongoing focus is to support our agreed local fundraising partnerships, as outlined in this policy, we will adapt our fundraising and support if required in line with any local, national or international emergency appeals. At such times, the Society will review each appeal on a case-by-case basis working closely with our co-operative and business networks, such as Co-ops UK and Business in the Community, to ascertain if and how we can add value to each campaign.
Conduct
Colleagues undertaking volunteering activities approved by the Society are reminded that they will be representing the Society. Colleagues are required to comply with the principles outlined in this policy and all Society policies and procedures for the duration of the activity.
Community hours must take colleagues away from their normal day to day duties – either being conducted during their normal contracted working hours or as agreed time off in lieu.
Additional Support
If you are unsure as to whether a volunteering or fundraising opportunity meets Society guidelines, please speak to your manager, or contact the Community Team on, communityteam@midcounties.coop and a member of the team will be able to advise you.
If you need further assistance or want to confirm whether a colleague’s volunteering is covered under the Society’s Insurance policy, please contact insurance@midcounties.coop
If you are completing a Team Challenge, you will need to complete The Volunteer Challenge Pack. If you need assistance from Health & Safety, please contact: healthandsafetyteam@midcounties.coop
Policy name: |
Colleague Volunteering and Community Support Policy |
Date of last review: |
July 2024 |
Policy owner: |
Community |
Issue number: |
Comm-MP-001 |