help please re any laws/regs on dismissal of volunteer

Haarlem

I work for an organisation that supports charities and voluntary organisations.

Over the last 12 months we have carried out a lot of training on the recruitment of staff, including volunteers. It is strogly recommended that the process to recruit volunteers should follow the lines of recruiting paid staff.

Job descriptions are required, person specifications and a structured interview with notes kept on the interview. Checks should be made to ensure the person can perform the role, including checks that they can be employed as a volunteer in the UK. (The same nationality checks as paid emploees)

It is advisable that the volunteer has a written descrition of their role.

The organisation should have a grievance procedure to be followed if diputes occur.

I have come across examples where things have gone wrong, and the reation is "Well they are only volunteer". The Third Sector is gradually realising that it has to move to a more professional approach to the running of their organisation

shelovestobuystuff

Haarlem wrote: »

I work for an organisation that supports charities and voluntary organisations.

Over the last 12 months we have carried out a lot of training on the recruitment of staff, including volunteers. It is strogly recommended that the process to recruit volunteers should follow the lines of recruiting paid staff.

Job descriptions are required, person specifications and a structured interview with notes kept on the interview. Checks should be made to ensure the person can perform the role, including checks that they can be employed as a volunteer in the UK. (The same nationality checks as paid emploees)

It is advisable that the volunteer has a written descrition of their role.

The organisation should have a grievance procedure to be followed if diputes occur.

I have come across examples where things have gone wrong, and the reation is "Well they are only volunteer". The Third Sector is gradually realising that it has to move to a more professional approach to the running of their organisation

I agree that volunteers should have more employment rights.I am a volunteer myself and put my heart and soul into what I do,as well as a lot of time.
If the volunteer sign up process was more like a proper job interview with proper checks carried out then we would be less likely to have problem volunteers like this in the first place.
Currently there are no police checks carried out for volunteers which I think is daft especially when volunteers will be handling cash and could also have a violent history which they are of course not going to freely give info about.No need for them to disclose medical info either which may affect their ability to work or their needs in the workplace and I am not sure thats allowed either with paid employees.

shelovestobuystuff

The volunteer has now searched out some of my family members on the internet and is sending them messages in which they threaten me.

Horace

In that case - you speak to the police now - it isnt normal behaviour and harassment is a criminal offence.

Blackpool_Saver

flaming heck, talk to the police now.............

jexygirl

Speak to the police immediately with regards to your own personal safety and that of your family. They need to be aware of the situation and it should be prevented from escalating.

This is no longer just an issue with a volunteer, this has gone beyond that and certain others need to be involved, not least the charity, the carer, etc. You cannot be expected to deal with this alone.

Write everything down as has been suggested.

Hope you manage to sort things out.
Jex

paulwf

Did they get the info from Facebook? If so it might be worth doing what you can to get your account info deleted. Make sure everyone in the shop knows not to give out personal details under any circumstances and generally secure your data both in the shop and on social networking sites.

Hope the police sort it for you.

shelovestobuystuff

Thanks,
I removed all links to my business website so she cant possibly get my home address and my family have done the same.My social pages were set to private anyway and I have blocked them as far as I can.I found out today she has been posting nasty comments on the social pages of any staff member she can find and access.In the shop today one of the women had been crying over this and another couple said they didnt feel safe at work anymore incase this person comes into the shop.
Also found out she was caught going through someones bag and through the tin where we keep possible valuables for valuation by our expert.When confronted by the handbag owner she apparantly said ,"I,m just looking" as if there was nothing wrong at all with going through someones handbag?I only found this out this afternoon and this alone I would assume would have entitled me to ask her to leave immediately.
The area manager and HR are now involved and I will just have to wait and see what happens now but I hope this comes to an end quickly as its actually quite stressfull for a number of the staff.

Savvy_Sue

Oh my life what a nightmare!

I presume area staff are aware of the threats, and that you have now phoned the police? They may already be aware of him, if they are they may be ready to have a 'quiet word'. If this is a 'first offence' it may be more difficult.

If he does come back to the shop you should definitely be able to get out a restraining order, I'd have thought, preventing him from coming near the place. Ask area staff for assistance with this, and stress how many volunteers they stand to lose if they seem reluctant.

I agree you now have to be really professional in recruiting volunteers these days - people are surprised to learn that it can take up to 6 months to volunteer for us, but we've learned from experience!

Whether you would be able to do a CRB check is debatable, however you should DEFINITELY be taking up written references before anyone starts, and have a 'proper' application form on which details of recent volunteering is requested. If that recent spell of volunteering isn't being used as a reference, you'd want to ask why.

Keep hanging in there ...

Haarlem

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Oh my life what a nightmare!

Whether you would be able to do a CRB check is debatable, however you should DEFINITELY be taking up written references before anyone starts, and have a 'proper' application form on which details of recent volunteering is requested. If that recent spell of volunteering isn't being used as a reference, you'd want to ask why.

Keep hanging in there ...

You can only get a CRB check where the employee or volunteer comes into contact with chidren or vunerable adults.