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Employee Volunteering

Paid time off to volunteer for a cause that matters.

Employee volunteering — paid time off to give back

Employee volunteering (sometimes called volunteer time off or VTO) is paid leave specifically for charitable or community work. It is the time half of workplace giving — the natural pair to Payroll Giving and matched donations.

For UK businesses under 250 staff, a 1–3 day allowance is the sweet spot: enough to be meaningful, small enough not to dent operations. The hard part is not the policy — it is tracking the days cleanly so leave admin stays sane and so you can actually report on uptake.

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Frequently asked questions

How many paid volunteer days do UK companies typically offer?▾

In UK SMBs, the most common offering is 1–3 paid volunteer days per employee per year. Larger employers (Salesforce, Unilever, Deloitte) offer 5–7. There is no statutory entitlement — it is fully employer-discretionary.

Is paid volunteer leave taxable?▾

No — for the employee, paid volunteer leave is treated like normal paid working time, so it is processed as ordinary salary through PAYE. It is not a benefit-in-kind.

Do you have to track volunteer leave separately from annual leave?▾

Yes — best practice is to track it as a distinct leave type so reporting is clean, the entitlement does not get burned through accidentally, and unused balance can be reported in CSR/ESG metrics.