The people involved
Not-for-profit community organisations often involve a unique combination of people. These could include volunteers, employees, members, directors or committee of management members, executive or management team members, independent contractors or consultants or clients.
Many of the legal issues that community organisations face relate to the various legal rights, roles, responsibilities, safety and liability of these different groups of people. Ensuring entitlements are provided and ensuring people are safe are two important elements for a functional organisation.
This section provides community organisations with information about the legal issues that may arise for the following groups:
Often, groups can struggle to determine whether a person involved is a volunteer, office holder, employee or contractor. We have developed a guide to assist groups to identify the relationship an individual has with their group - as this will affect their entitlements and obligations owed by your group.
PilchConnect has produced a Guide which includes information on:
- the importance of correctly classifying different working relationships
- the basic legal differences between employees, independent contractors and volunteers, and
- an overview of some of the main legal obligations an organisation owes to its employees, independent contractors and volunteers.
If you currently hold or are thinking of taking on a position or 'office' on the board or committee of management of a community organisation there are a number of legal responsibilities that come with these roles. For information about holding a position in a community organisation go to:
If your organisation wants more information about working with children, go to our Guide:
If your organisation is concerned about its relationship with a problematic member go to our pages on handling conflict within your organisation.
If you are a member and want to know more about your rights, go to our fact sheet on members' rights: