Volunteer Alberta embarked on this project with ProBono Students of Canada to develop a legal information resource for Alberta’s volunteers and voluntary organizations. Volunteers and the Law in Alberta is the result.
This resource is intended to give a general overview of the various areas of law and how they relate to organizations with a volunteer program, to the Board of Directors of such organizations, and to the volunteers themselves. It is not intended to provide legal advice or to replace the services of a lawyer.
Instead, the intent of this resource is to increase awareness of the legal issues involved in incorporating volunteers into programs. With this awareness, organizations — their staff and Board Members — may want to develop or incorporate preventative measures to avoid legal problems for their organizations as well as their volunteers. In addition, with increased awareness of legal issues, organizations will be able to better judge when they require the services of a lawyer.
As you read through this document, several general themes will become clear:
- volunteers have rights as well as obligations;
- organizations need to ensure that they have appropriate policies and procedures in place for
volunteers, staff, and directors;
- organizations as well as volunteers should have appropriate insurance coverage, and finally
- all those involved in the voluntary sector need to be aware of the general duty to take reasonable care in all their actions.