Being a supportive employer

A growing number of employers are committed to giving their employees time off work to volunteer. We think that supporting employees to volunteer for their local community makes good business sense – and we hope you agree. Many of the skills gained from being a volunteer with us are transferable into the workplace, such as:

• Leadership
• Team working
• Effective communication
• Influencing and negotiating
• Analytical thinking
• Decision making
• Managing conflict

Time off for volunteering

Our volunteers are entitled to reasonable time off work to carry out their duties, as set out in Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. For example, children’s hearings normally take place during the day on a weekday and Panel Members will sit on one or two half-day sessions per month.

We know that giving employees time off to volunteer is a big commitment and a supportive partnership between volunteers and employers is essential.

Volunteers can claim travel and other reasonable expenses back from us. A loss of earnings allowance, in accordance with Children’s Hearings Scotland’s expenses policy, is also available if paid time off is not. This rarely fully compensates for employees’ actual loss of earnings, so many volunteers hope for the full support of their employers in these circumstances.