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Glossary

Voluntary unpaid work

Usually, all work, whether paid or unpaid and whether during or outside normal hours or on public national holidays, will be deducted from the benefits. However, unpaid volunteer work for voluntary organizations etc. will not be deducted.

Inform CA of your voluntary unpaid work

It's important to inform CA of your volunteer work so we can approve it and tell you how it will affect your benefits.

You must fill in and submit the volunteer work form.

Please also remember to state the number of volunteer hours worked when you fill in your benefits form each month.

You may volunteer in an organisation or association without limitation and without any deduction from your benefits. Only, you are not allowed to engage in any activities which are usually carried out as paid work or require special education or training.

Permitted activities include:

  • Helping/supportive acitivities at social cafés, community centres, social drop-in centres, etc.
  • Involvement in general association activities in church or cultural associations, tenants' associations or various hobby clubs
  • Sports activities; e.g. as a coach in associations which do not usually employ paid coaches
  • Voluntary visitor for elderly people or others in need or neighbourhood watching
  • Fundraiser for relief agencies, cashier at charity shops or activities in humanitarian organisations.

If the activities you perform may also be carried out as paid work or require special education or training, other rules apply. Read more in the section ”Unpaid volunteer work – up to 44 hours a month without deduction”.

You are allowed to work up to 44 hours a month without deduction from your benefits if:

  • The voluntary unpaid work you are doing for voluntary organizations etc. could not be carried out as paid work or
  • The activities you perform are not related to the primary operation or maintenance (further elaborated below)

If you have retired early, you are allowed 65 hours of unpaid volunteer work without deduction.

For example, this could be:

  • Advisory work which requires special education or training in, for instance, welfare and social rights or legal and financial issues
  • A clergyman etc. or psychologist volunteering at crisis centres or shelters and in social or humanitarian organisations

Maintenance or operations activities

All of your hours worked will be deducted if the work is related to the organisation's main activities or is maintenance-related. However, this does not apply if the work has always been performed by unpaid manpower and this is also the case in other similar organisations. Read more in the sections below.

If you do volunteer work which relates to the main activities of an organisation or association, all hours worked must usually be deducted from your benefits.

This applies, for instance, to HR management and financial and organisation management. It also applies to work or other duties which a public authority would otherwise be required to perform, e.g. food delivery services to elderly people.

Exception:

No deductions will be made from your benefits if the following two conditions are both met:

  • the duties relating to the main activities have always been performed by unpaid manpower, and
  • the work is performed by unpaid manpower in similar organisations

The work in question could be administrative duties (e.g. filing work or reception) as well as small-scale coordination work (e.g. in connection with fundraising activities, staff duty scheduling, bookkeeping in small associations and clubs).

You should always contact CA to enable us to determine whether the volunteer work should be deducted from your benefits.

If you do volunteer maintenance-related work for an organisation or association, all hours worked must usually be deducted from your benefits.

Maintenance should be understood as the functions which contribute to ensuring that the physical framework conditions are in place. Maintenance includes, among other things, daily cleaning, paintwork or the supply of water, heating or electricity which requires that you are licensed to perform the work.

Exception:

No deductions for maintenance-related work will be made from the benefits if the unpaid work you perform meets all of the following five conditions:

  1. It is comparable with usual home maintenance and repairs
  2. The work is occasional
  3. The work has always been performed by unpaid manpower in the organisation etc.
  4. The work is performed by unpaid manpower in similar organisations etc.; and
  5. The work can be performed without a licence being required

You are allowed to help out with occasional cleaning or the annual spring-cleaning of the club house without any deductions being made. This also applies to refreshing the paintwork on the club house or the scout cabin, line striping playing fields, etc.

You should always contact CA to enable us to determine whether the volunteer work should be deducted from your benefits.

A number of special rules apply, depending on where you live.

Therefore, please find out which special rules apply in your local municipality before you ask us to approve voluntary unpaid work.