volunteers

[busybee]

Just wondered whether volunteers are allowed the same rights as paid staff, i was recently working (volunteering) in a preschool where i had been known previously approx 3 yrs as i run the parent/ toddler group at the premises.and worked in afterschool club. Im doing my nvq 3 in ccld and on one particular day child fell over i went to enter in first aid at preschool and was told i was not allowed to even though each child has separate form , (im crb checked and not just someone on work experience),aware of confidentiality etc this was just the start of things i was not able to do which made it very difficult to cover criteria for ccld nvq3 but manager said different as i was volunteer. So changed settings still volunteer but have same rights as the paid staff there. Are very different rules for volunteers or is it the decision of the setting or staff on a power trip??
wots ur views?
Forgot to say i know someone doing a level 2 and volunteering at that setting now and she hasnt had any problems, but then level 2 probably not such a threat to other staff as they are level 3!

hi
we treat volounteers exactely the same as paid staff, have same duties, if they had been trained i would let them fill in an accident report expecially if they had witnessed it
not really sur hwere this stands legally as we have not had a volunteer that permanent for a loong while

our volunteers are just that and we do not allow them to fill in the accident books or give give medications etc, they are able to sign as witnesses but we expect them to get a member of staff to deal with the accident as well. they also do not toilet the children or left on their own with them, even with CRB check, if they are long term we would take up references and in this case we may allow them to toilet as a member of staff but still probably not do other stuff.

it is not a fact of being a threat to staff, more a case of not expecting volunteers to have the responsibility should there be any comeback or problem later. Accident records have to be kept a very long time
just in case in 20 years time someone says but you did ..... when you were 3 and it is a result of that you now have....,and can result in an insurance investigation with claim being made.

No volunteer should have the responsibility of a parent accusing them of hurting their child or not doing something correctly.

we feel that a volunteer is not a member of staff, no matter how long you are there for, qualifications you hold or are working towards and do not have the same responsibility's as the staff do.

don't get me wrong, we encourage training and courses and support all volunteers and students while they are doing them, helping and input where needed, and any jobs which need more responsibility are overseen by a staff member as well.

[busybee]

Originally Posted by noah

our volunteers are just that and we do not allow them to fill in the accident books or give give medications etc, they are able to sign as witnesses but we expect them to get a member of staff to deal with the accident as well. they also do not toilet the children or left on their own with them, even with CRB check, if they are long term we would take up references and in this case we may allow them to toilet as a member of staff but still probably not do other stuff.

it is not a fact of being a threat to staff, more a case of not expecting volunteers to have the responsibility should there be any comeback or problem later. Accident records have to be kept a very long time
just in case in 20 years time someone says but you did ..... when you were 3 and it is a result of that you now have....,and can result in an insurance investigation with claim being made.

No volunteer should have the responsibility of a parent accusing them of hurting their child or not doing something correctly.

we feel that a volunteer is not a member of staff, no matter how long you are there for, qualifications you hold or are working towards and do not have the same responsibility's as the staff do.

don't get me wrong, we encourage training and courses and support all volunteers and students while they are doing them, helping and input where needed, and any jobs which need more responsibility are overseen by a staff member as well.

I understand the fact of records being kept long time etc, but my point is as a volunteer when working in the afterschool club i was actually at some points left unsupervised with the children which i had concerns about and did report this to senior member for that reason of allegations etc no witnesses, and i always filled in accident book etc this is within the same setting as the preschool i worked under same management etc, my point is now that as im training to do nvq3 my assessor agreed that without being able to fill in accident form etc i could not pass. I also now know that the volunteer level 2 is allowed to fill in accident book. in the setting i am in now i am allowed the same responsibilities as paid staff. In my view i was a volunteer when it suited them! Also some staff have no qualifications but are paid staff and had crb andn they toilet children fill out forms etc.

Can anyone answer?
If a Mum is still in the room, is she responsable for her own child?
If a member of staff was alone but with all mums coming in with own children, for 4 mins is that OK or not or is it wrong in a small way ?
Thanks

Hi Noah,

With regards to volunteering: - I work in a voluntarily capacity and have done for the past 15 years. I am actually the manager of the setting and now employ 11 people on a part time basis. Also as I work voluntary I can sit as one of the Trustees of the setting. I have done all the necessary training to meet good practices of early years education through play. At the moment I am doing CCLC level four.
I am a mature woman quite capable of making decisions for myself, not only do I fill in the accident book, take the register, give medication, deal with unacceptable behaviour, change nappies and take children to the toilet, deal with all professional that visit the setting. The only persons who would not be allowed to do the toileting or be left unsupervised with the children are new staff or students who do not have a full, enhanced CRB checks, but there is no reason why to gain experience they can't be accompanied by a member of staff who have the CRB. I also perform one to one sessions for employees and yearly appraisals.
If you look at your equal opportunity and inclusion policy you are actually discriminating against volunteers by not giving the same rights as someone you employ, perhaps your policies need addressing in order to keep up with new legislation.

Hi All

Couldn't have put it better myself. In straightforward terms "there is no such thing as a volunteer in UK Law, they are simply unpaid employees" and as such should be treated in the same way as an employee employed at the same level to do the same kind of work. This applies in terms of all Health and Safety Legislation, Working Time Directive etc etc

Of course it would be easy to set up a Job Role / Job Description specifically for volunteers working within the setting which enables them to do some things and not others - e.g. filling in forms, toileting etc after CRB checks. And in that respect you are not descriminating etc ... simply working within a Volunteers Job Description!

Mark

[DizzyDora]

Wish we could get a volunteer like you. All ours have been on work experience from school and haven't got a clue! it's like having an extra child in the setting.
If you were a volunteer in my setting i'd be quite happy to let you toilet and complete first aid book. You've been known to them for 3 years and crb checked I'd be in heaven to have a volunteer like you.

DizzyDora

hi im new here but i can relate to what u are saying . im a relief staff who works all week ( more than the permanent staff) i do keyworker files, i sometimes open up in the morning basically i do everything the same as permanent staff, we all get paid exactly the same, at the moment there is a big thing going off about having staggered pay. which i think that is good in the way of an incentive to finish coursework. however the only thing that us relief was wondering is how can i get the lowest pay as i am working towards my nvq3 but another relief is nvq3 qualified and the other relief doesnt want to do any college course so its kind of a thing of whatsbest to do for everyone. i would also like to say what a fantstic site it has helped me loads and im witing to get my courework back so i can help others :)