If a volunteer organisation employs a paid worker, then the volunteer organisation has work health and safety (WHS) duties to all its workers, including the volunteers.
Duty of care owed to volunteers
A volunteer organisation that employs a paid person is regarded as a ‘person conducting a business or undertaking' (PCBU - the new term that includes employers).
As a PCBU, the organisation has responsibilities under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), including a primary duty of care to ensure the health and safety of volunteers and other workers.
For example, if a local council uses a volunteer to take frail aged residents on an outing, the volunteer is considered a ‘worker’ for that council because the council is a PCBU with responsibilities for all their workers (including employees, volunteers and work experience students) under the WHS Act.
A volunteer in these circumstances is a worker and has the same duties as a worker.
Volunteer duties
A volunteer has the same WHS duties as a worker. This includes:
- taking reasonable care for their own health and safety
- taking reasonable care for the health and safety of others
- complying with any reasonable instruction by the PCBU
- cooperating with any reasonable policies and procedures of the PCBU.
Payments for direct out of pocket expenses, such as travel, meals and incidentals incurred directly when carrying out volunteer work are not regarded as wages or salary.
However, payments for carrying out volunteer work would constitute a wage or salary and mean that the person is not a volunteer.
Call 13 10 50 for more information about the WHS responsibilities of volunteer associations.