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Hi Chris!

To respond to both parts of your message:

Question 1:  For those of you that cover these in your handbooks, would you be willing to share your dress codes with me?

Yes, I'd be happy to share the volunteer dress code, which is the same as the employee dress code, for OMSI.  Our dress code says "Any visible tattoos, piercings, jewelry and hair color must be appropriate for the work environment."  We also note that "Supervisors are responsible for maintaining the standards of appearance for all staff under their supervision."  So our dress code does vary according to the role of the employee or volunteer, and is ultimately determined by the manager for that area.  If you'd like a copy of the full dress code, just email me separately.

Question 2:  Do you have separate handbooks for each group (employees & volunteers) or one handbook for everyone?  Why?

Yes, we do have separate handbooks for volunteers and employees.  The policies and procedures that apply to all staff, however, are the same in both handbooks (e.g., dress code, social media policy, anti-harassment policy, etc.)  

We keep separate handbooks in part because there are policies and procedures that only apply to employees (e.g., family and medical leave, time off benefits, timekeeping procedures, etc.), and policies and procedures that only apply to volunteers (e.g., volunteer benefits, absence reporting and leave of absence procedures, timekeeping procedures, etc.).

We also keep separate handbooks as a risk management practice for making a clear distinguishing between employees and volunteers.

An excerpt from an article written by the Nonprofit Risk Management Center advises as follows:  

"Document Policies in Separate Manuals – While the Center recognizes the desire to economize in developing policies, we believe it is inappropriate and risky to consolidate policies for employees and volunteers in a single handbook or manual. An Employee Handbook or Personnel Policies Manual should be developed and distributed to employees only. A Volunteer Handbook or Volunteer Policies Manual should be developed for your volunteer workforce. The overlap in policies should be minimal, such as those related to safety matters. Employees who also volunteer should be instructed that their volunteer service is governed by the policies in the Volunteer Handbook, and that their paid service is governed by the policies in the Employee Handbook. An employee who volunteers should have a job description and a Volunteer Agreement."  

The full article about employees vs. volunteers can be found here:  http://www.nonprofitrisk.org/library/articles/employee_or_volunteer.shtml

Also by having separate handbooks, we in Volunteer Services are able to make the language of the volunteer handbook more "volunteer-centric."

I encourage you to join the ASTC Volunteer Managers Community of Practice and post your questions there as well!  To join, you can find us on LinkedIn (you'll need a free account):  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4391511&trk=anet_ug_hm

Carol


Carol Cruzan, CVA
Manager, Volunteer Services
 
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
1945 SE Water Avenue  
Portland Oregon 97214
O 503 797 4693  | F 503 797 4568
E [log in to unmask]  | www.omsi.edu

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