Volunteer Time Off (VTO): Definition, Benefits & Importance

According to a survey conducted in 2017, 75% of Millennials want their company to contribute to social good through donations or volunteering. Furthermore, 51% of workers want their companies to make time and resources available for their employees to volunteer for social causes.

While most businesses have some form of paid time off policy, there is a different sort of PTO on the market these days: volunteer time off, sometimes known as VTO.

Why would a company pay employees while not at their workstations? There are several possibilities for this. For example, VTO rules, like many other changes impacting business culture these days, are encouraged mainly by millennial employees, who are increasingly becoming a force in the modern workplace.

Second, just because volunteering while vacation is a new trend doesn’t imply it’s unusual. Volunteering has become increasingly common in new benefits packages.

Encouraging workers to leave the workplace and assist the community promotes your business in a very good light in your community, among your target audience, and even beyond. However, before implementing a VTO strategy, you must first establish the program’s objectives.

This blog will be a guide for you on everything to consider when developing a VTO policy, if it is appropriate for your company, and how to quickly apply it.

Volunteer Time Off Meaning

Volunteer time off and voluntary time off are also abbreviated as VTO. These are two distinct leave policies provided by companies to assist employees in giving back to the firm while also saving terrible scheduling expenditures.

HR must appreciate the difficulties of both in order to develop leave policies that include a variety of various leave kinds.

What is Volunteer Time Off?

Volunteer time off is a type of unpaid vacation in which employees can take a certain number of days off without losing their work performance or incentives. The most prominent reason for taking unpaid voluntary time off is to resolve overstaffing concerns. VTO Amazon, for example, is a policy that allows warehouse employees to leave early from work or arrive late without affecting their time and attendance or total work hours. When the processing center’s targets are fulfilled early, employees can also take unpaid time off without consequence.

Volunteer time off, on the other hand, is a policy that allows workers to take time off during business hours to volunteer for an established nonprofit or communal group. This enables employees to contribute to their surroundings without wanting to sacrifice a whole day’s pay. Let’s discuss this today.

Benefits of Volunteer Time Off

Offering VTO at your organization has more benefits than just attracting top employees. In addition to assisting your company in giving back to the community, it may also benefit the physical and emotional health of your employees.

Here are some of the most significant advantages of providing volunteer time off.

1. Recruiting

If you work in marketing or human resources, you’re undoubtedly aware that we’re in a participant’s market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employees quitting their employment willingly is higher than ever. Because there are more positions available than individuals to fill them, businesses must fight to attract top talent.

The good news is that VTO can assist in attracting young, fresh talent. According to some research, Millennials are more willing to work for a firm with a demonstrated history of social action and corporate volunteerism.

2. It has the potential to educate employees on new skills.

Volunteering is a great way to acquire and practice new skills outside of the job. Your workers can obtain hands-on experience in a new sector or gain experience that will benefit them in their quality and suitability at your company. 

Volunteering to maintain a dog rescue’s social media profiles, for example, might teach a marketer how to develop a social media strategy and maintain an online community. Another option is for an employee to polish their communication and leadership abilities by supervising a soup restaurant’s volunteer training program.

3. It promotes a sense of purpose

Volunteering may be extremely satisfying since it allows you to experience personally how your efforts can improve the lives of others. 

It can help you connect with people and boost your emotions of accomplishment, belonging, and confidence. That feel-good emotional boost may help people live full lives and arrive at work enthusiastically, involved, and encouraged.

4. Employee Development

The increase in employees hunting for possibilities for advancement has produced a shift in firms wanting to promote and develop young talent. Volunteering is a popular approach to developing your CV and sharpening your abilities, which is why many employees value VTO days.

According to the source, 92% of questioned Human resource professionals believe that volunteering business skills and experience to a charity may be an effective approach to strengthen workers’ leadership and wider professional key competencies.

Encouraging your colleagues to find out opportunities for development through VTO will help them to communicate more productively and learn new skills, a combination that will make them more successful leaders in your organization.

Disadvantages of Volunteer Time Off

There are a few disadvantages to implementing a volunteer time off policy for your employees that you should be aware of:

1. Irrelevance

It is necessary to establish a clear policy and to highlight that this is a voluntary program rather than a compulsory one. Employees should be able to choose whether or not to seek VTO. If not, they might feel it’s necessary to volunteer or risk having their reputation harmed.

2. Abuse

Similarly, unless you specify clear rules, create recognized charities, and describe the methodology for seeking and approving VTO, your policy might well be vulnerable to abuse in the hands of the wrong people. 

Employees, for example, can seek paid VTO for an unpredictable workday or volunteer at a for-profit group despite your understanding, which contradicts the VTO policy’s main objective.

3. Productivity has suffered

Although overall productivity might increase as a result of a higher involvement, you will almost certainly see a short-term decline in productivity on days when employees are gone from the office unless you prepare ahead and reassign duties.

How Should You Create A Volunteer Time Off Policy?

There are several factors that organizations should examine before implementing a Volunteer Time Off policy.

1. What kind of organizations are eligible?

Can employees choose their own organization? For example, perhaps they spend the day helping at their children’s school. Will the organization instead provide a list of authorized organizations? Can workers participate in political groups as volunteers? 

It’s important to contemplate what, if any, requirements there will be for selecting an organization. After all, if an employee chooses an organization that is not in line with company principles, or that is exceptionally provocative or a source of disagreement, this has the possibility of causing a series of issues.

2. Who qualifies?

Will this advantage be available to both part-time and full-time employees? Will organizational rank and experience be taken into account? Is there any achievement or other criteria for receiving this benefit? For example, how would an employee on a Performance Improvement Plan be able to take this type of leave?

3. How many vacation days do employees get?

How is Volunteer Time Off handled? How does Volunteer Time Off differ from regular Paid Time Off?” Is it necessary to retain it? Can they acquire more in the future?

4. What kinds of volunteer work are eligible?

Is it necessary for employees to volunteer for a special event, or may assistance with ordinary, everyday organizing activities qualify them for Volunteer Time Off? As an example, at a local food pantry, you can assist with the distribution of food. Can workers volunteer in areas related to their regular job? 

As an example, you could help with marketing, accounting, human resources, or other organizational activities. If the volunteer activity is directly related to the employee’s function at the organization, it might establish a conflict of interest – especially if the person or organization delivers such paid services to customers.

What Are Some Success Factors for Volunteer Time Off?

What factors should businesses consider before implementing Volunteer Time Off? The following are a few examples of recommended practices:

1. Budget and Plan Coverage

How many paid volunteer days would you give your employees? Will you need to think about coverage for employees who take Volunteer Time Off? 

Volunteer Time Off has a broader budget than conventional paid time off, therefore you’ll need to think properly with your Finance department and Human Resources.

2. Think about Volunteer Management Tools

You’ll need a solution to maintain time off requests and track employee volunteer hours. Make sure you have the right equipment in place, such as specialist corporate volunteer management software, to guarantee that your volunteer program operates smoothly from beginning to end.

3. Promote Your Volunteer Program for Employees

If you want your employees to participate and take full advantage of your company’s Volunteer Time Off advantage, you must highlight your program. 

Reach out to volunteers using your company’s standard channels of communication, and choose volunteer ambassadors to promote your initiative among employees.

4. Create a Volunteer Time Off policy

A volunteer time off policy gives workers the knowledge they need to become involved—and get compensated for it! 

Importance of Volunteer Time Off Policy

1. The sense of belonging to a community

Furthermore, when their organization’s ideals fit with their objectives, the employees experience a feeling of pride. Volunteer Time Off is also important for employees since it attracts people who are enthusiastic about the company’s social beliefs and responsibilities.

Employees who have a feeling of purpose are more likely to be comfortable with their jobs, which improves their health dramatically. Volunteer Time Off instills in employees a favorable attitude towards work-life balance and fosters strong ties with colleagues and supervisors.

The firm that starts the Volunteer Time Off program benefits as well, since its brand appeal and reputation grow in the community.

2. Empaths are in an ideal situation.

Around the world, increasing technology innovation has revolutionized how people connect with one another. As a result, people’s empathy has decreased because most talks are restricted to cell phones and video conferences. There is, nonetheless, no shortage of those who desire to assist the poor and disadvantaged communities to thrive and live satisfying lives.

The presence of caring individuals among coworkers is the primary reason for the rising prominence of Volunteer Time Off incentives in recent years. Companies’ Volunteer Time Off possibilities encourages employees to contribute to the prosperity of their environment.

3. Improved employer branding

In a competitive labor market, being able to attract and recruit people who seek out purpose-driven businesses may make or break your company. 

Offering Volunteer Time Off is one method to do this since it helps you establish a character as a socially aware organization prepared to extend resources to give back to the community. 90% of firms say that collaborating with respectable nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) improves their brand.

4. Increased retention

Living through a worldwide epidemic has forced nearly two-thirds of US employees to reconsider their passion and purpose. Many employees nowadays want to do more than simply make a livelihood; they want to make a difference while they work. Most 51% of workers expect to be able to utilize their time and resources to promote beneficial social change.

Providing Volunteer Time Off is a great method to enable your organization’s people to have a positive impact, which will enhance employee engagement. Employees that are engaged and motivated are more likely to stay with your company for a longer period of time.

5. More skilled workers

Volunteering extends beyond branding, recruiting, and retention. Volunteering at a food bank or a national park may appear unrelated to your workers’ usual duties, which may be product marketing, employee relations, or IT assistance. However, HR executives see Volunteer Time Off as an important aspect of employee growth.

Employees may use their present abilities and acquire important soft skills like empathy, resilience, leadership, and public speaking through volunteering. As more workers are automated and carried over by Intelligence, these abilities will become increasingly important for people who wish to be future-proof in their professional path.

Examples of Some Organizations offering Volunteer Time Off

1. Google

Google.org, Google’s charitable department, has recently introduced its own volunteer time off program for employees: the Google.org Fellowship. The VTO program compensates workers for doing voluntary community work for charitable organizations for up to six months. Nonprofit organizations that have been approved include the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Girls Who Code, and Amnesty International.

At their host organization, volunteers are allocated a lead mentor. They are also allowed to work with senior members of staff. The goal is to contribute to their organization’s work. They can accomplish this through policy research and analysis, the creation of reports and white papers, and participation in other advocacy initiatives.

This VTO strategy has assisted Google in achieving two objectives: assisting the neighborhood with the organization’s knowledge and inspiring workers to broaden their skills and experience.

2. Thomson Reuters Inc.

Thomson Reuters encourages workers from all departments to volunteer with recognized community-based organizations and charities. To do this, they provide all standard full and part-time employees with paid time for a minimum of least two days or sixteen hours every financial year (pro-rated for part-time staff).

According to the firm:

“By donating time, talents, and money to causes our employees are enthusiastic about, we demonstrate our commitment to the communities in which we live and work.” Our initiatives guarantee that we are committed to issues that our workers are enthusiastic about by donating time, talents, and money.”

Thomson Reuters’ Volunteer Time Off strategy also includes a program called Dollars for Achievers. With this effort, the corporation doubles each employee’s service hours with a $1,000 gift. Additionally, during the pandemic lockdowns, the Thomson Reuters team customized its Volunteer Time Off by giving virtual opportunities for participation to colleagues.

3. Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Entrepreneurial Foundation

The SVCF’s Volunteer Time Off template is an outstanding example of not just how to start a volunteer time off policy but also how to organize it and communicate it to employees. They discuss who is and those who aren’t eligible for the Volunteer Time Off.

4. San Mateo community

While this example Volunteer Time Off policy is a little tough to understand (it includes elements like an information sheet and reference cards), it is extensive and highlights how specific your policy may be.

5. IHS Markit

This Volunteer Time Off policy is an excellent example of a thorough policy, covering every aspect of the program’s aim to time allocation, eligibility, and time off recording, among other things.

Wrapping It Up

Volunteer time off is an excellent method to engage and retain your workers while allowing them to put their talents and time to good use. It strengthens your employees’ benefits and incentives package and you can use it to attract recruits, specifically those searching for meaningful employment.

Volunteer Time Off allows your organization to have a good influence on society in addition to commercial rewards. It is also not the ultimate option. Many organizations donate a percentage of their income to nonprofit projects they believe in. Donation matching, in which corporations match employee donations, is another popular alternative.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why do organizations provide Volunteer Time Off?

Companies who are prepared to spend money and time in implementing corporate social accountability allow their workers to take Volunteer Time Off. Companies do it to allow their workers to engage in community service activities.

2. What exactly is Amazon VTO?

Amazon VTO stands for voluntary time off at the e-commerce powerhouse. Voluntary Time Off Amazon is nothing more than a way for Amazon warehouse workers to finish their shifts early when the general workload is light. Employees are not compensated for their lost hours.