HR0446-K - Volunteer Activity Procedure

Objective

Eligible employees may use up to 8 paid work hours each calendar year to participate in volunteer activities. Examples of community volunteer activities can be found at Volunteer East Tennessee (https://www.volunteeretn.org/) and at the Jones Center for Leadership and Service (https://leadserve.utk.edu/).

Scope

All regular employees are eligible to participate, providing they have at least one-year of continuous employment with the University and have scored a minimum of 15, “Fully Achieved Expectations,” on the most recent Performance Review. Eligible hours will be pro-rated for part- time staff employees.

The volunteer hours described in this policy can only be utilized at organizations that do not unlawfully discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, or parental status.

Volunteer hours do not count as hours worked for purposes of overtime. Volunteer work during scheduled work hours is not considered work time for worker’s compensation purposes and any volunteer work done by an employee during scheduled work hours is at the employee’s own risk.

Roles

Supervisors should review requests to use work hours for volunteer activities in advance to avoid conflicts with peak work schedule and other work-related responsibilities, or cause conflicts with other employees’ schedules.

Definitions

Regular Employee: Employment for a period expected to be 12 months or more. Includes academic year (9 months) and flex-year appointments paid over a 12-month period to satisfy the 12-month requirement. A Limited Duration Appointment (LDA) is a form of regular employment for a specific project or for a limited period of time.

Procedure

Requesting Volunteer Hours

Volunteer time must be requested and approved in advance by the supervisor, and proof of attendance may be required.
Recording Time

Time may be taken in the following increments:

All 8 hours at once;
Two 4-hour increments; or
Four 2-hour increments.

Penalties/Disciplinary Action for Non-Compliance

Employees who do not comply with this policy will not be eligible to participate in the program.

Responsible Official & Additional Contacts

Subject Matter	Office Name	Telephone Number	Email/Web Address
Policy Clarification and Interpretation	UTK Human Resources	865-974-6642	hr@utk.edu
Policy Training	UTK Human Resources	865-974-6642	hr@utk.edu