University Regulations permit students to work for up to 20 hours per week during term time. The time they spend volunteering should be mutually agreed, based on their actual availability, which depends on their individual timetable and commitments (such as skill-enhancing Clubs and Societies, or supporting themselves through their studies).

Volunteers tend to be more focused on personal and skills development, as well as being motivated to contribute to the cause that they are supporting. Volunteers can’t be assigned work that should be undertaken by a member of staff, do not have fixed hours and are free to come and go as they please – they do not have a contract of employment (verbal or otherwise). They should, however, be treated with the same fairness and consistency as other members of your team and should be given appropriate access to training and development linked to their role. Be mindful of offering a “volunteer” role that is an unpaid worker role in disguise, as this puts you at risk… even if the student has proactively approached you to request it, and is perfectly happy to work for free, you are responsible for ensuring that you have paid your workers their legal entitlement see worker testLink opens in a new window and Rights for interns and voluntary workersLink opens in a new window.

Any student could be undertaking volunteering activities alongside their studies as one-off projects, with a clear start and finish, or as an ongoing commitment. They may have accessed this directly, through a volunteering organisation, or through, for example, the University of Warwick’s own Warwick Volunteers - a student-led organisation that works with the local community.

Genuine volunteering opportunities cost you time for the induction, training and supervision of your volunteer as well as any Safeguarding checks (if required see gov.ukLink opens in a new window for information on whether a DBS check is required) and reimbursement of out of pocket expenses, see gov.uk for information on expensesLink opens in a new window. The costs incurred through framing an unpaid worker as a “volunteer” can be substantial! For more information see Volunteers rights. See our vacancy advertising code of practiceLink opens in a new window regarding fee-paying positions.