Volunteering and Welfare Benefits

Claimants of welfare benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Disability Allowance are entitled to volunteer without losing their benefits. There are some important provisos though, which potential volunteers should be aware of before going ahead with their voluntary work.

What qualifies as voluntary work?

This is work undertaken without payment. This can be helping out a neighbour, or volunteering with a not-for-profit organisation. Te work should not be something that an organisation should have paid you to do, nor should it be for a close relative.

How much voluntary work can you do?

As much as you like. If you are claiming Job Seekers Allowance though, you still need to be actively seeking, and available for work.

Claiming expenses vs, being paid

Volunteers should not be out of pocket for the contribution they make to the community, so they can usually claim expenses. These can cover the costs of travel, food and specialist equipment required to carry out the voluntary work. Expense claims should not exceed actual expenses incurred. If a volunteer is paid in excess of their expenses, this will be interpreted as payment for work done, and the volunteer’s benefit could be affected. The volunteer could be liable to pay tax on the money, and the organisation could fall foul of minimum wage legislation.

Notifying the benefits office

Potential volunteers should notify the benefits office where they make their claim before they start voluntary work. The benefits office can stop benefits if they find that a volunteer has started volunteering without sending them proper notification.

Note: if you are claiming Incapacity Benefit / Disability Living Allowance this should NOT trigger an extraordinary fitness for work test. The benefits office should not require a doctor’s letter about volunteering.

Duties of Claimant

• Volunteers must tell the office at which they make their claim that they are about to start voluntary work.
• Volunteers claiming Job Seekers Allowance should be actively seeking work.
• Volunteers claiming Job Seekers Allowance should be available to work within one week.

More information

More information can be had from the Job Centre Plus leaflet WK4 ‘Financial help if you work or are doing voluntary work’.