A right to paid volunteering leave

16th December 2015

At the end of November 15, it was confirmed that the government will introduce a new statutory right to allow staff to take paid volunteering leave.

Eligible employees will be entitled to three days’s paid volunteering leave per year. It is not clear at this stage which activities will be eligible for this type of leave but it is intended to cover a range of voluntary services such as fundraising activities, acting as a school governor or participation of a charity event.

No exact date has been set yet, but is likely to be introduced by April 2016.

The statutory right will only apply to businesses with 250+ staff and employees in the public sector.