You can volunteer while receiving benefits as long as you continue to meet all of the conditions of your benefit.
Volunteering is when you choose to give your time to help others without being paid for it. It can help you to develop new skills and try something new and it can help you prepare for paid work by increasing your confidence and experience.
Here are a few key points:
· Tell the Jobcentre Plus about any volunteering you already do when you start a claim.
· If you’re looking for paid work, you may agree with Jobcentre Plus to do some volunteering as part of your activities to prepare for work but be careful, unpaid work is not the same as volunteering.
· If you’re getting a benefit, you can volunteer for any type of organisation. However, you cannot volunteer for a close relative, for example:
Your parent or parent-in-law; your grandparent; your son or daughter; your son-in-law or daughter-in law; your grandchild; your brother or sister.
· You can volunteer for as many hours as you like, as long you continue to meet the conditions of the specific benefit you get.
✨1. What do I tell the benefits office about my volunteering?
Before you start volunteering:
· How many hours a day you will be volunteering for.
· How many days a week you will be volunteering for.
· Whether you will be volunteering for the same hours/days each week, or whether they change.
· What you will do in your volunteer role.
· Whether you will get any expenses.
· Anything else you will be given – this may not be money.
While volunteering:
· If you change the hours or days you volunteer.
· If you stop volunteering.
✨2. What are expenses?
You are not paid for your time as a volunteer, but you may get money to cover reasonable expenses. These can be things like:
· Food and drink.
· Travel.
· Childcare costs.
· Any specialist equipment needed to complete the voluntary work e.g. Craft supplies or PPE.
Any reasonable expenses you are paid by the organisation you volunteer with will not usually affect the amount of benefit you get.
Any money you are paid that is not to cover a reasonable expense may stop your benefit or reduce the amount you get.
✨3. When is it not volunteering?
Unpaid work
If you choose not be paid for any work you do, this is not the same as volunteering. Any work you do which someone would normally be paid for will be classed as unpaid work, not volunteering. For example, if you’re working in a business which would usually pay someone to do the work.
The money you would normally have been paid for this work may be counted as your earnings. This is called ‘notional earnings’. It may affect the amount of benefit you receive.
✨4. How might it affect conditions of my benefit?
As long as your volunteering doesn’t stop you from completing tasks like those listed below, then you are good to go!
The conditions for your benefit could include things like:
·Attending a job interview with 2 days’ notice.
· Starting work within a week.
· Rearranging or giving up your volunteering to start a job.
Employment and Support Allowance
You can usually work while you are claiming ESA if you work less than 16 hours a week and you do not earn more than £167 a week -
But you can do as many hours of voluntary work as you like!
Universal Credit
If you get Universal Credit, your volunteering can count to up to half the time you agree to spend looking for and preparing for work in your ‘Claimant Commitment’.
Example
You volunteer for an organisation for 20 hours a week. Your Claimant Commitment states you are to undertake 30 hours a week work search and work preparation activities. That means 15 hours of voluntary work will count towards your 30 hours work search requirement (50% of 30).
✨5. What if I am on a health or disability benefit?
If you have a health condition or disability, you can still volunteer. You will not need to have a Work Capability Assessment, just because you start volunteering, and you don’t need to provide evidence from your doctor about your volunteering. You will still need to let Jobcentre Plus know about any volunteering that you are planning to do before you start.
Adapted by Emily Skilton from the DWP advice given online at Volunteering and claiming benefits - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk); accessed 29/01/2024.