Volunteer cleared to make a stop bullying claim against NFP

In Ryan’s case, the Fair Work Commission opened the door for a veteran’s advocate to bring a stop bullying claim against the Board of Directors of RSL Queensland. The Commission found that because RSL Queensland was a constitutional corporation and Ryan was deemed a worker, the volunteer was free to bring an application for stop bullying. Critically at the time of the alleged incidents Ryan was covered by RSL Queensland’s professional indemnity, accident and sickness insurance used RSL Queensland vehicles and was counted in the statistics of people who voluntarily served in the Queensland RSL.

The Commission accepted this evidence and rejected RSL Queensland’s position that it was merely an overarching governance organisation, because in the words of the Commission, RSL Queensland’s role “went beyond governance to that of a provider…”

The key take aways for all Not For Profit Organisations are:

1. Just because an individual is a volunteer, they are not prevented from bringing an anti-bullying application to the Fair Work Commission;
2. You need to manage your volunteers well to minimise risk to your organisation;
3. You need to ensure that your Board of Management is aware of the risks of volunteers in your organisation and trained accordingly; and
4. You need to consider the risk posed by your structure and whether the head organisation is in fact more then just a governance body.

If you need assistance in risk-proofing your organisation, contact Adam Foster, Head of Workplace Relations at Lewis Holdway Lawyers on (03) 9629 9629 or by email: adamf@lewisholdway.com.au.