Volunteers not covered by equality legislation

In X v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau the Court of Appeal has decided that an unpaid volunteer was not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The volunteer was not in ’employment’, since she had no contract of service or a contract personally to do any work.

X was a voluntary adviser at the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). She provided her services under a written agreement that described itself as ‘binding in honour only and not a contract of employment or legally binding’. When the CAB asked X to cease attending as a volunteer she suspected that it was because of her disability and brought a claim of disability discrimination.

The tribunal found that X was not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The volunteering arrangements did not amount to ’employment’ within the meaning of S.68, there being no employment under a contract of service or a contract personally to do any work (the same principles apply under the Equality Act 2010).  The EAT endorsed the tribunal’s reasoning.

The Court of Appeal rejected X’s appeal. The tribunal and the EAT had been correct in determining that as a volunteer, X was not in ‘employment’ with the CAB. In addition, contrary to X’s argument, the Court did not find it evident that it is intended to include volunteers within the scope of EU discrimination legislation. When the European Commission proposed an amendment to the Directive specifically covering volunteers, the European Council chose not to introduce it. This gave no scope for a purposive interpretation of EU law and indicated an accepted view that volunteers are not covered.