Volunteer Selection, Screening and Training*

For the purpose of this document, volunteers may be considered to be in two broad general categories:

• Governance Volunteers – These are volunteers who work in a leadership capacity, such as directors and officers, or in an advisory capacity.
• Operational Volunteers – These are volunteers who work directly in operating the organization, such as fundraisers, and anyone else involved in a non-governing way.

Volunteers are essential to many organizations, whether used on a day-to-day basis, for special events or some other purpose. Organizations have a duty to protect staff, volunteers, members, patrons, clients, etc. from harm. The proper screening and training of volunteers is essential to meeting that required standard of care. Governance and Operational Volunteers can be a source of liability to your organization if they:

• are criminals, such as sex offenders, or could be harmful to persons who receive volunteer services;
• damage property belonging to your organization or a third party;
• cause injury to a third party. This includes more than just physical injury; sexual harassment and slander are also forms of injury;
• injure themselves; and/or
• commit a criminal offense.

Risk Management

1. Seek legal advice regarding the rights and obligations that your organization and your volunteers have (see also ). Rights and obligations may vary depending on what province(s) you operate in, the type of organization, the operations being conducted, etc. Consider such issues as:

• Will your organization be liable for the actions of volunteers, whether they are governance or operational?
• What steps can you take or are you taking to protect against these liabilities?
• Do you carry the appropriate insurance for these liabilities? Ask your insurance representative.

2. Develop a policy for screening (click here for a sample), including:

• Who will be responsible for screening.
• What/how much training is required for screening.
• How information obtained in the screening process will be maintained and used.
• How the privacy of volunteers will be maintained.

3. Create a description for each available volunteer position that identifies preferred qualifications and responsibilities and screening requirements.

4. Determine the amount of screening required for each position by considering:

• Will the volunteer interact with vulnerable persons (i.e., children, elderly persons, handicapped persons)? If yes, is more screening required?
• Will the volunteer have supervision and/or be working with a large group? Is more screening required if he/she is working under little supervision or by him/herself?