Volunteer activity is regulated in the “Act on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteering” of April 24, 2003. The agreement concluded between the volunteer and the beneficiary is a civil law contract (volunteer agreement, volunteer arrangement, volunteer contract). To agreements concluded between the beneficiary and the volunteer in matters not regulated by this Act, the provisions of the Act of April 23, 1964 – Civil Code apply.

A volunteer is not treated in the category of an employee because the basis of the assistance provided by them is neither an employment contract nor any of the other contracts regulated in the Labor Code. There is no employment relationship between the volunteer and the beneficiary because the contract connecting the parties is free of charge, while one of the necessary elements for the establishment of an employment relationship is employment for remuneration (Article 22 of the Labor Code). Therefore, the legal solutions and regulations contained in the Labor Code do not apply to volunteering.

The Act on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteering of April 24, 2003, does not specify time limit standards for volunteer activities; only Article 44(1) of the aforementioned Act states that volunteer services are performed in the scope, manner, and time specified in the agreement with the beneficiary.

If the volunteer service is performed for a period longer than 30 days, the agreement should be made in writing.

Furthermore, at the volunteer’s request, the beneficiary is obliged to confirm in writing the content of the agreement, as well as to issue a written certificate of the performance of services by the volunteer, including the scope of services performed.

At the volunteer’s request, the beneficiary may submit a written opinion on the performance of services by the volunteer.

How many hours a day can a volunteer provide assistance?

Due to the fact that the issue of working time has not been regulated in the Act on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteering, it is worth being inspired by and implementing solutions used within good practices.

Certainly, a very good solution is to use labor law provisions regarding the time of performing services by a volunteer (Labor Code – Section – Working Time and Employment of Juveniles). When collaborating with an adult or a juvenile over 16 years of age, the beneficiary should not allow their daily working time to exceed 8 hours. In the case of cooperation with juveniles under 16 years of age, it is worth limiting the working time to 6 hours per day. Such a solution should be treated as a good practice for volunteering.

It is worth remembering that there are additional regulations regarding the working time of juveniles, included in the Labor Code, and it is certainly worth practicing them when working with juvenile volunteers.

The weekly working time of a juvenile during participation in school activities cannot exceed 12 hours. On the day of participating in school activities, the working time of a juvenile cannot exceed 2 hours. On the other hand, the working time of a juvenile during school holidays cannot exceed 7 hours per day and 35 hours per week. The daily working time of a juvenile under 16 years of age, however, cannot exceed 6 hours.

The decision on how much time one wants to devote to volunteering should be made by the interested person – volunteer, coordinator, or activist on their own behalf. There are often situations where people involved in volunteering dedicate as much time as the situation requires. Before important events, this time can be even 12 hours per day? Nevertheless, if the volunteer wants and can devote that much time, they can do so. It is their individual decision. If the beneficiary expects this from the volunteer – they should first ask them about it, and in a situation where they do not agree, respect the decision.

Corporate volunteering

Corporate volunteering involves the employer initiating and supporting the social activities of employees. As volunteers, employees provide various types of work, using their skills or additional abilities, while the employer initiates such activities and supports them in their activities.

The employer usually offers support through:

• funds – when the employer allocates funds for employee-volunteers, and they can use them to implement their activities,
• time – the employer enables the implementation of volunteer activities of employees within working hours,
• resources – the employer enables the use of workplace resources to implement the activities of employee-volunteers, e.g., company cars, equipment.

Support of at least one of the three mentioned areas qualifies the activities as corporate volunteering.

Legal basis

In the case of corporate volunteering, the Act of April 24, 2003, on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteering applies. Generally applicable legal provisions also find appropriate application to corporate volunteering, in particular the provisions contained in the Civil Code, as well as the provisions of the Labor Code – in specific situations. Activities carried out based on the provisions of the Act on the principles of conducting public collections (Journal of Laws of 2014, item 498, as amended), activities related to blood donation can also be included in corporate volunteering.

Corporate volunteering – forms

Corporate volunteering covers a wide range of activities, from activities that are initiated by employers to individual volunteering.

Employee collection – can be implemented as collecting funds or collecting material donations. The employer allows employees to prepare and conduct such a collection on the premises of the workplace – taking a passive form, but the persons organizing are responsible for everything, or an active form, when they use internal communication channels to promote it, actively engaging in the collection.

People organizing the collection, who actively engage in its promotion, collecting donations, storing them, transferring, and accounting for the collection, are volunteers. People donating material goods or funds to the collection are not volunteers. Collections also include blood donation, that is, blood drives.

Skills-Based volunteering – employees use their skills, knowledge, or competencies, the so-called “competency volunteering” – the employee uses their competencies, which may be related to their hobby or passions. This category also includes pro bono activities, i.e., services performed professionally and free of charge by an entity or by professionals, most often associated with liberal professions.

Mentoring and other individual support – this form is gaining increasing popularity in Poland. It may include programs in which an employee works with another person at regular intervals or professional advice.

Personal volunteering – this is any individual, unpaid activity conducted for the benefit of the community, on the employee’s own initiative, but which is somehow supported by the employer. In this form, the employer supports activities undertaken outside working hours by the employee. Employee volunteering becomes part of corporate volunteering when the employer offers support for such employee activities, and the employee decides to use this support.

Secondment – an employee can be seconded to undertake a specific task or even full-time work in a social organization. The execution of such activities can last a day, several months, or even a year or longer. However, secondment for a longer period, such as a year or longer, is encountered in large, usually international programs and is associated with the relocation of an employee to an organization in another country and including them in the long-term activities of the organization. Such activities constitute a form of counteracting professional burnout of employees and the possibility of undertaking new activities in a completely different entity.

Team volunteering – a group of volunteers working together to achieve specific benefits for the community. The employer often initiates such volunteering in the form of a competition supporting the activities of their employees with funds. On this basis, employees have time to create their team, determine what and how they want to do, and arrange cooperation with a social partner. All social actions organized for employees during training or integration trips are included in team volunteering.

Workplace activity (building professional experience) – these are activities carried out for the benefit of the community, which take place in the workplace. For example, visits by school-age children or short internships, allowing them to become familiar with the specifics of a profession. These activities are commonly implemented for various groups, in order to popularize a profession. In most cases, they are implemented as part of the professional duties of the people who have undertaken their implementation – they are not treated as corporate volunteering.

Management teams/trustee boards – usually experienced employees are involved, who sit on management and control bodies to help in the strategic direction of various organizations. Holding such positions in non-governmental organizations, clubs, associations, is social work. The most important principles in this form are the principles counteracting conflicts of interest between the employer and the entity for which the employee works.