CV Legal Framework in CVPLUS Countries en

Index
Introduction: A definition of Corporate Volunteering .............................................. 3
Corporate Volunteering in Europe............................................................................. 4
Corporate Volunteering in CV PLUS partners Countries ........................................ 8
Belgium ....................................................................................................................... 9
Finland ....................................................................................................................... 12
Germany .................................................................................................................... 18
Italy ............................................................................................................................ 26
Poland ....................................................................................................................... 33
Spain .......................................................................................................................... 39
Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 51
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2
Introduction: A definition of Corporate Volunteering.
The concept of Employee Volunteering (EV) or Corporate Volunteering (CV) is

relatively new in many European countries. It refers to volunteering organised and/or
supported by private or public sector employers, be it through financial incentives;
through provisions for special leave; by special rewards or other means of direct
support1. Businesses support their employees to volunteer for non-profit-making
organisations (often during the working hours), aiming at enhancing the visibility of the
companies' corporate commitment as well as developing the employees (social)
skills2.
CV can be seen as one element of Corporate Citizenship or Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR), concept(s) whereby companies integrate social and
environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their
stakeholders on a voluntary basis3.
The International Business Leaders Forum defined CV as The mobilisation by

businesses of the time, talent, energies and resources of their people to contribute to
the community.
In the same line, the Employee Volunteering Working Group of the EYV 2011 Alliance
defined CV as activities of voluntary character and personal commitment, exercised by
employees of sectors - be that profit, non-profit, public or private -, carried out in work
1
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/euaidvolunteers/EUAV_Study_Employee_Volunteering_Europe_FINAL_en.
pdf p.7.
2
(Definition of CV in German language: Gabler Verlag (Herausgeber), Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon).
3
Communication from the Commission: A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social
Responsibility.
3
time/hours in an organised setting and with a structured framework, unpaid, undertaken
for the benefit of other individuals and society as a whole4.
Corporate Volunteering in Europe.
Corporate Volunteering (CV)

is a growing phenomenon in
Europe. Its current state and
evolution is connected with
the evolution of Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR),
mainly among private for-
profit actors, but also
amongst the Public Sector
and some Third Sector
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
institutions.
In implementing CSR, employers normally use a variety of instruments, such as

donations, cash and in-kind gifts, foundations, partnerships with social organisations as
well as Corporate Volunteering5.
The concept of CSR has grown in recent years and it has become fashionable or even
indispensable, at least for big companies, to be able to demonstrate to the wider public
that they are good corporate citizens and do business responsibly6.
CV is a tool for companies to make CSR concrete, contributing locally, nationally and
internationally to alleviating the social issues that affect their stakeholders, including
their staff, customers, suppliers and communities7.
Models of CSR and attitudes toward it significantly differ from country to country in
Europe. The differences reflect each countrys tradition, business system, perception
4
pdf.
5
Ibidem, p. 21.
6
Ibidem, p. 22.
7
Ibidem.
4
and understanding of volunteering8. But there is strong evidence that CV is further
becoming a central component of companies CSR strategies.
Evidence shows that CV delivers a three-in-one benefit: to participating employers, to

individual employees (volunteers) and to the community9.
In fact, the infrastructure to support CV in Europe is one of the most important in the
world. CV relates to and cuts across a wide range of EU policies and Programmes like
The Lisbon Treaty; the Laeken Declaration; the Europe for Citizens Programme; the
Renewed Social Agenda to connect with civil society; The European Year of
Volunteering 2011; Europe 2020; and relevant policy areas such as Social Inclusion,
Regional Cohesion, Active Citizenship, Volunteering, Active Ageing, Corporate Social
Responsibility, Education and Skills Development, Sustainable Development,
Employability, Local Employment Development, Progress, Life Long Learning, Social
Innovation etc.
The European Year of Volunteering (EYV 2011) gave an important boost to CV in

Europe. The Steering Group of the EYV 2011 Alliance (which gathered a large number
of European networks active in volunteering) established 6 Working Groups10 with the
purpose of formulating recommendations in different fields of volunteering and
developing a policy agenda for volunteering in Europe. One of them was the Employee
Volunteering Working Group.
The conclusions of the EYV 2011 Alliance WG on Employee Volunteering showed that
CV was an integral part of wider volunteering activities and could contribute towards
the Europe 2020 strategys goals for skills development and social cohesion through
partnerships with all stakeholders, including community organisations, public sector
and private sector organisations.11
Since then, CV has been included in several EU legislative initiatives. The most
important ones have been:
Communication from the European Commission COM (2011) 568: EU

Policies and Volunteering: Recognising and Promoting Cross-border
8
CEV General Assembly Conference Developing Employee Volunteering. A joint venture between
volunteer organizations and companies: Strategies | Success Stories | Challenges. Prague (2009).
9
pdf p. 21.
10
Ibidem, p.25.
11
Ibidem, p.26-27.
5
Voluntary Activities in the EU12: As an expression of their Corporate Social
Responsibility, both the private and public sectors can play an important role in
promoting voluntary activities. By investing in Employee Volunteering, they not
only do "good" in the local community, but at the same time improve their
reputation and image, help create team spirit, improve job satisfaction, and
raise productivity while allowing employees or officials to develop new skills.
Communication from the European Commission COM (2011) 681: A

renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility13: The
search for synergies with the private sector will become an increasingly
important consideration in EU development cooperation and in EU responses to
natural and man-made disasters. Enterprises can play an important role
through Employee Volunteering in this respect.
Both Communications link CV with CSR in meaning, and highlight CV as a win-win

situation for employers and the community14 and for public and private sectors.
Also the European Parliament recently urged all Member States to promote CV in their
national strategies, highlighting it as a relevant issue in Europe on both European and
national levels:
2013 EP Committee on Employment and Social Affairs report Corporate

Social Responsibility: promoting societys interests and a route to
sustainable and inclusive recovery15: 56. () urges all the Member States
to include Employee Volunteering in their national action plans; calls for a
compact to be signed through the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) with a
view to engaging civil society organisations throughout Europe in pursuit of this
objective.
According to the Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (P.A.V.E.) increasingly,

companies in Europe are focusing their Employee Volunteering on specific priorities
and are leveraging all their resources to increase their impact across a range of social
12
COM (2011) 568.
13
COM (2011) 681.
14
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/euaidvolunteers/EUAV_Study_Employee_Volunteering_Europe_FINAL_en
.pdf p. 23-24.
15
European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2007 on Corporate Social Responsibility: a new
partnership (2012/2097(INI).
6
and environmental problems, such as working with young people to gain greater
literacy and numeracy skills, supporting those furthest from the workplace to increase
their readiness for work and to gain and sustain employment, and educating
communities about energy conservation16.
Europe is also leading the way in developing models for collaborative Employee
Volunteering activities among companies and NGOs.
Some relevant examples are:
ENGAGE17 Key City Programmes: in a dozen cities in Europe and half a dozen
outside Europe, it has developed a model to bring together companies in
targeted cities with strong NGO partners to develop collaborative volunteer
activities.
The Employee Volunteering European Network, EVEN2118: the first

Employee Volunteering Network in Europe, with more than 50 members from
21 different countries, launched by CEV and several European companies. 19
In addition to these networks and collaborative initiatives there are several academic
institutions working with the aim to enable organisations to increase their competencies
in Employee Volunteering by participating in their training courses and research,
especially in the UK and Spain (National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO),
Community Service Volunteers and Business in the Community in the UK; Employee
Volunteering Observatory and University degree on Employee Volunteering.
Universidad de Alcala in Spain).
Nevertheless, the majority of European countries do not have specific legal provisions
governing and encouraging20 CV as we can see from the partners Countries of the CV
PLUS project.
In the next section, we will present the description of the CV legal framework of each
CV PLUS partner country.
16
http://www.eyv2011.eu/images/stories/pdf/EYV2011Alliance_PAVE_copyfriendly.pdf
17
http://www.bitc.org.uk/Programmememes/engage
18
www.cev.be
19
.pdf p.24-25.
20
.pdf p. 23
7
Corporate Volunteering in CV PLUS partner countries.
The development level of Corporate

Volunteering (CV) in Europe differ
greatly. There is a group of countries
where CV is more commonly included
in the CSR policies of the employers
(UK, Germany and Netherlands as well
as Spain, where the phenomenon is
more recent but has grown rapidly); in
other European countries the concept
of CV and companies support for NGOs are quite recent and less common.
In the following pages you will find a description of the CV trend and legal framework
in the CV PLUS partner countries.
The objective of this study is to offer the necessary information about local background
and legal conditions in order to plan and implement quality CV programmes and
activities.
None of the partner countries have laws that refer directly to CV; most of them refer to
laws on volunteering, which define its subjects, activities, financial and insurance
aspects. Germany has the most consolidated CV tradition, while in the other countries
the phenomenon is still emerging, and this is reflected in low rates of employee
volunteering (although volunteering in itself was very common). The growth of CV has
been fastest in Spain, which has now one of the most developed infrastructures in
Europe to support CV.
Most of the European countries legislative frameworks on Volunteering act as a

general support or serve to establish a positive environment for CV but there are some
Countries where they limit some types of Employee Volunteering (for example free
secondment cannot be considered volunteering in Poland and according to Belgian law
of volunteering, an organisation cannot be a volunteer).
When starting to plan a CV project, it is really important to be aware of the local legal
borders, opportunities and support. This report, realized in the framework of the CV
PLUS project, will provide detailed information about the CV legal framework in your
country.
8
Belgium
Legal framework
In the Belgian legislation there are no laws that would refer directly to the phenomenon
of Corporate Volunteering (CV). That is why different provisions are applied to this
practice. First of all, we have the Wet betreffende de rechten van vrijwilligers, which
gives detailed information on who can become a volunteer and about some rules of
insurance and liability of volunteering.
From the legal definition derived from the above mentioned act we can say that a
volunteer is a natural person (so no legal person) providing benefits voluntarily and
without remuneration. So according to this law, an organization cannot be a volunteer.
Other sources
We have to make the distinction between 2 types of volunteering. First of all there is
Eemployee Volunteering for a personal belief in the nonworking time of the employee.
The Wet betreffende de rechten van vrijwilligers regulates this category. This law
does not mention Corporate Volunteering.
Secondly, we have volunteering in the frame of a CV programme from a company that

is socially evolved.
The term Corporate Volunteering (in Belgium called werknemersvrijwilligerswerk) is

the type of volunteering that is done as an employee. At the moment, there is no legal
framework for this in Belgium, so we have to consult other sources.
According to HIVA-K.U.LEUVEN study, there are different types of Corporate

Volunteering:
1. Corporate Colunteering in the narrowest sense of the word is the effort by

employees for social objectives and in a work-related context. It can be
organized on the initiative of a(n) (group of) employee(s) or by the employer
with involvement of the employees. Examples:
9
Collective voluntary commitment (e.g. employees who take collectively
part in an action or campaign of a non-profit organization or a charity).
To make the expertise of certain employees available for a non-profit
organization.
The volunteering can be temporary (e.g. one-time advice) or recurring (e.g.

partnerships).
2. The support and stimulation of Corporate Volunteering concerns all deeds of

employers who support or stimulate the CV.
This support can be:
Employers who grant their employees working time to do voluntary work
for their personal voluntary commitment (they can do it during the
working hours, they can start and stop working early, or they can take
extra days off to do voluntary work).
Employers who give material or financial support for the personal and
voluntary commitment of their employees (e.g. employees take copies at
work for the organization where they volunteer, the organization where
they volunteer can use the companys working space or conference
room, or the organization receives financial support from the employer).
Employers who stimulate the voluntary work of their employees by
awarding a trophy, gift or reward or by organizing an event for the
employers who commit to voluntary work.
Legal relationships in Corporate Volunteering
In Corporate Volunteering there are three types of legal and factual relationships:
1) between the employee-volunteer and the employer (company),

2) between the employee-volunteer and the beneficiary,
3) and between the beneficiary and the employer (company).
The relationship between the employee-volunteer and the employer (company) is a

type of employment relationship, be it in the strict sense when the employee is hired
under employment contract, or civil-law relationship based on a type of a Civil Law
contract. In both cases the factual relationship is based on a type of employment.
10
The relationship between the employee-volunteer and the beneficiary cannot be
treated as an employment relationship, although the volunteers services are relevant
to the work for the beneficiary. In this case, the provisions of the Labour Code are not
implemented, but those of the Civil Code are. We can call this a civil-law relationship.
Usually, the relationship between the beneficiary and the employer (company) is not a
legal relationship, but a factual relationship not regulated by the law. However, on the
basis of a civil law contract, they can establish a legal relationship.
Sources
- C. Gijselinckx, A. De Coninck (2011). Werknemersvrijwilligerswerk in Vlaanderen:

Een exploratief onderzoek. K.U. Leuven, Leuven.
- Wet betreffende de rechten van vrijwilligers.
11
Finland
General about volunteering and legislation in Finland
Volunteering on different levels is very common in Finland. According to different

reports 50-80% of Finnish people engage in volunteering in some form, mostly through
different associations or organisations but also on an individual level (neighbourly help
etc.).
There is no one public organisation that regulates the voluntary movement in Finland; a
number of government bodies support volunteering as part of their wider
responsibilities, and mainly by funding third sector organisations.
(http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/national_report_fi_en.pdf)
There is no specific Act regarding volunteering in Finland, but legislation and

regulations concerning volunteering are under several different Acts. Some laws
regarding volunteering are also lacking or unclear, and in many cases the interpretation
of the law is left to the authorities processing each particular case.
In Finland, volunteers do not have a specific legal status. Volunteers are sometimes
regarded as equivalent to employees, and voluntary service can be treated according
to the taxation practices of the Employment Contracts Act. However, Employment
Contracts Act defines an employment contract as working for remuneration.
Neighbourly help, for example, is outside contract legislation.
The Unemployment Security Act (Tyttmyysturvalaki 30.12.2002/1290) can be

regarded as limiting the possibilities of unemployed people to engage in volunteer
work, and its regulations can be seen as barriers to developing volunteering.
Support and benefits for volunteers
Individual volunteers do not gain income tax exemptions or financial benefits from
volunteering and there are no other financial support schemes in place to encourage
people to volunteer. At the same time people are not penalised for volunteering either.
Volunteer work is unpaid, and it is usually performed to advance a charitable cause.

The most important issue in volunteer work is advancing common good and helping
12
others. Volunteers can, for example, help troubled youth, provide care for the elderly,
organise festivities or start a football club for school children.
Reimbursements
Volunteers do not receive salary, but organisations can compensate for their expenses
and provide some small benefits as encouragement. E.g. costs for transport can be
compensated to up to EUR 2,000 per year, and in addition volunteers may receive a
daily allowance for a maximum of 20 days per calendar year. Tax legislation defines
which benefits can be offered without payment.
Volunteers can be reimbursed for the expenses that occur as a result of volunteering
and there are a couple of groups of volunteers in the field of child protection who get
their expenses reimbursed automatically. Normally the arrangements concerning
reimbursements depend on the rules and practices of each sector and/or individual
organisation.
Reimbursement of expenses is tax-free up to a certain figure (around EUR 2,000). In

practice, this is not really an issue as the expenses are low-cost items (travel costs,
etc.).
Furthermore, tax rules are rather unclear with regards to this matter tax offices tend
to deal with the matter in different ways.
The rule is that benefits that are taxable for employees are also taxable for volunteers.
In the Income Tax Act (30.12.1992/1535), there are some specifications that concern
volunteering. Some volunteers receive a nominal payment for the voluntary work, and
this must be declared and it is taxable income.
Bees
The law does not define precisely what kind of tasks volunteers can do, but tax
administration has prepared separate guidelines on the kind of voluntary work that
Finns call talkoot a bee. This concerns events where anyone can participate in
construction or yard work or other small projects at a certain time that do not require
any specialised skills. Most work at bees is seen as non-taxable, but there may be
13
cases where any fees received may be taxable income to the registered association for
performing the work, or taxable income to a private person who is performing the work.
Tax law regarding bees here (in Finnish): https://www.vero.fi/fi-
FI/Syventavat_veroohjeet/Arvonlisaverotus/Talkootyon_verotus%2810116%29.
Volunteering for unemployed persons
The Unemployment Security Act (Tyttmyysturvalaki) 30.12.2002/1290 regulates the

volunteer work that unemployed people are allowed to do. According to the Act,
unemployed people can participate in common charitable volunteer work or common
bee work. With this regulation, the law wishes to support the opportunity of the
unemployed to participate in activity that maintains vibrancy and work capacity.
However, there is also a limitation mentioned in the Act that states that a jobseeker,
who works for a company without salary or in such tasks that are generally performed
in an employment relationship or as a contractor, is not entitled to unemployment
benefit.
Therefore, as the law regarding Corporate Volunteering for an unemployed person was
not entirely clear, and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy provided new
guidelines for the interpretation of the law in 2013 (TEM/1298/00.11.03/2013). This
clarified, in particular, the part of the Act that stated that the volunteer is not allowed to
perform such tasks that are generally performed in an employment relationship or as a
contractor. The new guidelines state that it does not matter if the volunteering tasks
are performed in some organisation in Finland in an employment relationship, as long
as they are not performed in the same organisation in an employment relationship.
According to the guidelines, volunteers and employees can, however, perform the
same tasks temporarily, for example in events and public occasions.
The guidelines also specify that the TE Services (Public employment and business
services) may set a time limit for the volunteer work (limited number of hours, days or
otherwise). When engaging in volunteer work, an unemployed jobseeker must
constantly be available to the job market, so they must apply for work and accept the
measures offered by TE Services. It is also stated that the volunteer work for the
unemployed does not have to be limited to associations, but the unemployed can
14
perform volunteer work also in charitable companies, parishes or the municipality as
long as they do not participate in business activity.
The unemployed can also participate in trainings related to volunteer activity.
Occupational Safety and Health
Section 55 in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (23.8.2002/738) specifically

mentions volunteering. According to the Act, the party organizing the volunteer work
must make sure that the safety and health of the volunteer is not at risk during the
volunteer work.
The Young Workers Act (19.11.1993/998) defines what kind of work persons under 18
can do. For certain parts, the Act also concerns under-aged people engaging in
volunteer work, but it is unclear how the Act should be applied.
Contract
The Occupational Safety and Health Act must be observed in volunteering to a certain
extent. In volunteer work, the employee has not signed an employment or contracting
contract with the employer, and is not in an employment relationship with the employer.
However, a contract must exist between the employer and the volunteer also in
volunteer work. The contract obligates both parties to take care of their duties. The
contract shall be personal and it can be written or oral.
15
Laws regarding volunteering
There is no specific law for volunteering, but volunteering is regulated by a number of

laws, including:
Unemployment Security Act (Tyttmyysturvalaki, 30.12.2002/1290)

http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2002/20021290 (Finnish).
Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration (Laki kotoutumisen
edistmisest, 30.12.2010/1386).
http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2010/en20101386.pdf (English)
Income Tax Act (Tuloverolaki, 30.12.1992/1535)
Occupational Safety and Health Act (Tyturvallisuuslaki, 23.8.2002/738)
http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2002/en20020738 (English).
Young Workers Act (Laki nuorista tyntekijist, 19.11.1993/998)
http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1993/en19930998.pdf (English).
Personal Data Act, (Henkiltietolaki, 22.4.1999/523)
http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1999/19990523 (English).
Associations Act (Yhdistyslaki, 894/2002, 26.5.1989/503)
https://www.prh.fi/en/yhdistysrekisteri/act.html).
Co-operatives Act (Osuuskuntalaki, 1488/2001)
Foundations Act (Stilaki, 248/2001 )
Accounting Act (Kirjanpitolaki, 300/1998)
Lotteries Act (Arpajaislaki, 23.11.2001/1047)
Youth Act (Nuorisolaki, 27.1.2006/72)
http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Nuoriso/lait_ja_saeaedoekset/Yo
uth_act_Nuorisolaki_amend_2010_en.pdf (English).
Sport Act (Liikuntalaki, 18.12.1998/1054)
http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1998/en19981054 (English).
Rescue Act (Pelastuslaki, 379/2011)
16
Other sources
- Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Guidelines on the labour market premises
for unemployment security (TEM/1298/00.11.03/2013)
http://www.finlex.fi/fi/viranomaiset/normi/540001/41206 (Finnish).
- Occupational safety in volunteer work http://www.tyosuojelu.fi/fi/vapaaehtois-talkootyo

(Finnish)
- http://www.tyosuojelu.fi/tyosuojelu-tyopaikalla/vapaaehtoistyo (Finnish).
- Citizen Arena (Kansalaisareena) report on volunteering laws.
http://www.kansalaisareena.fi/Vapaaehtoistyohon_liittyvat_lait_suomessa_VETY_verkk
o.pdf (Finnish).
- National Report on volunteering in Finland

http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/national_report_fi_en.pdf (English).
- Aspa Foundation report http://www.aspasaatio.fi/suuntaaja/suuntaaja-12010/yritykset-

ja-vapaaehtoisty%C3%B6-%E2%80%93-yhteinen-yhteiskuntavastuu.
- Nettinappi http://www.nettinappi.fi/tietoalue/vapaa-aika/vapaaehtoistyo/.
- Finnish laws www.finlex.fi.
- Taxation for bees https://www.vero.fi/fi-

FI/Syventavat_veroohjeet/Henkiloasiakkaan_tuloverotus/Verovapaat_suoritukset/Talko
otyon_verotus(10116) (Finnish).
- Taxable benefits at vero.fi http://www.vero.fi/fi

FI/Yritys_ja_yhteisoasiakkaat/Yhdistys_ja_saatio.
- Business taxation
https://www.vero.fi/fiFI/Syventavat_veroohjeet/Elinkeinoverotus/Tyonantajan_ottamien_
vapaaehtoisten_risk%2835592.
17
Germany
Introduction
Corporate Volunteering (CV) has become an important issue in Germany in the past 20
years, even though a national common terminology does not exist and its activities are
often mixed up with Corporate Social Responsibility or corporate citizenship. The latest
report from 2012 shows that 64% of all companies contribute to social objectives. The
contributions achieved a total value of EUR 11 billion, the vast majority coming from
direct cash donations (8.5 Billion)21. This indicates that Corporate Volunteering is less
popular, but has a huge potential.
Within the Federal Government various ministries and bodies promote CSR. The lead
management lies with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. However, the
CSR activities of the federal government are not "only political ", but closely linked to
the work of business and civil society.
The National CSR Forum22, which was initiated by the Ministry of Labour, was
launched in 2009 and is of particular importance. It is composed of 41 high-ranking
experts from business, trade unions, NGOs, academia and representatives of the
Federal Ministries involved. Membership is based on institutions and groups, less on
individuals.
The main tasks of the National CSR Forum include advising the Federal Government in
the development of national CSR strategy and the development of recommendations
on specific topics. The starting point was the recommendation report in 2010, which the
Federal Government adopted into the National Action Plan CSR of the same year in
the federal cabinet. The Forum meets about twice a year. There are also different
private umbrella organisations, bringing businesses, civil society organizations and
public authorities together, for example since 1996 the registered association UPJ23.
So far, it is mainly used by large or major companies. Even tough 99.2% of all
companies in Germany are so called SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) with
less than 250 employees - most small and micro companies with less than 10
21
http://www.bmfsfj.de/BMFSFJ/freiwilliges-engagement,did=187960.html
22
www.csr-in-deutschland.de/
23
http://www.upj.de/About-UPJ.17.0.html or www.cccdeutschland.org/
18
employees this important economic and social pillar is less familiar with the concept
of CV and could benefit from more information.
Like in many western countries, the German population is growing fast and the older
employees and retirees are seen as an interesting potential group for CV (Pagani-
Tousignant 2011).
Since Germany is facing a challenge to integrate many refugees, the topic is getting
quite popular in this context and different organisations, like chambers of commerce,
are currently providing information about Corporate Volunteering to support refugees.
Typical Forms of CV in Germany
a) Secondment
Secondment is the allocation of workforce for a certain period of time to an

organisation. The employee starts to work for some weeks or even months in the
organisation. Non-profit organisations in particular can benefit from this, as they often
lack managerial experience and their leadership could be improved (Wolf 2013).
b) Social Days
Social days are events that take place once. For example, employees help construct a
building or paint a class room. These activities are of simple nature, and they are often
implemented with teams of employees. Companies like this kind of engagement, since
it is also beneficial for internal teambuilding and does not require much administrative
preparation.
c) Social Internship
Social internships usually take place for a shorter time than secondments, often only
some days. In this time, the employee will get some insight into the work of a social
organisation. This is often part of leadership programmes for future managers to enrich
their personnel capacities and understanding so-called managerial development
(Bartsch 2011).
19
d) Mentoring
Mentoring agreements are made between employees and socially challenged

participants. Often these are young trainees that are weaker as learners or need
support in the integration process. Mentoring promotes different vocational and social
competencies.
e) Pro Bono
Pro bono work means that working time is spent on a particular subject or topic. This is
often the case for lawyers, who spend time consulting for organisations without billing
for the hours. Also web designers might create a webpage for a non-profit organisation,
etc.
f) Sponsoring
Some companies support charity events with financial donations or in-kind

contributions, such as renting a conference room for free, which is called sponsoring.
Some consider this a part of corporate social volunteering, but this is questionable,
since there is no deployment of human resources and therefore it is rather part of the
wider understanding of corporate citizenship.
Legal context
At the moment, there is no specific legal code for CV in Germany. A survey on the legal
situation of CSR in Germany (Centre for Corporate Citizenship 2004) revealed that the
existing German laws do not really present a hindrance to CSR activities.
Companies that are willing and determined to take CSR measures are not hindered by
tax and financial incentives. On the other hand, incentives are not so high that
companies make CSR depend on them, which means that these activities are not
strongly promoted by the government. The situation can be characterised by a climate
of non-appreciation, which has a negative effect on the development of CSR.
Compared with other EU member states, where reforms for CSR legislation are more
advanced, Germany lags behind in this context (Habisch 2005) or simply believes that
the existing regulations are sufficient.
20
a) Accident insurance
Generally, all people doing charity work are covered by the public accident insurance.
However, it can be complicated, in which cases this also applies to CV, since the
contributing parties get paid by their company, even though they contribute to charity-
like organisations. Sometimes the companies insurances cover the activities,
sometimes not. The ministry for labour and social affairs has started a phone service,
where interested parties can get information about whether their planned charity
activity is covered by the accident insurance (+49 30 221 911 002).
Often it is not clear, if the person contributing working time is fully insured. Normally,
the employee is insured via the company, but sometimes activities not related to work
are not covered. Therefore the ministry asks employees and companies interested in
CV to clarify the specific planned activity beforehand with the insurance company. It is
recommended to negotiate this in writing with the insurer. An important criteria is
whether the work benefits the company and can be considered as part of the
employment.
b) Liability
In legal disputes, the possible liabilities and damages are often the prominent topic. A
simple example: an employee is allocated to work for a refugee camp for four weeks. In
this time he also builds simple furniture, for example bunkbeds. Three months after he
completed his secondment, one of the bunkbeds collapse and the person lying in the
lower bed is injured. In this case, the employee could be liable as a private person, but
since he is deployed officially by his workplace, it could be considered as a part of his
work, and therefore his company must pay the damages. The liable party could also be
the authority running the refugee camp.
c) Foreigners
Voluntary service is therefore considered as work defined by law, so that all

employment laws apply. Such foreigners, who are prohibited to work, are not allowed
to participate in corporate voluntary services, because the engagement in voluntary
work is also bound by the employers instructions, who can assign certain tasks or the
location of the work (Weisungsrecht).
21
Work is prohibited for tolerated foreigners ( 60a AufenthG) and asylum-seekers with
residence permit ( 55 Asylverfahrensgesetz [Asylum Procedure Act]) during the first
year of residence on German territory. In certain cases, a prohibition to work exists for
tolerated foreigners also after one year of residence, if the department announces a
prohibition to work as a sanction according to 11
Beschftigungsverfahrensverordnung. After one year of residence, the Department
can allow employment for the above mentioned persons, which also allows for
participation in voluntary services24.
d) Intellectual property
Compared to most other EU member states, the German law on intellectual property is
rather strict. This can also affect the implementation of Corporate Volunteering, i.e. if a
prominent employee of a company is posing for a picture for an organisation, for
example at the end of his internship, the company may not be happy with this
engagement. Vice versa, and even more importantly, the organisation must clarify if
they are allowed to take pictures of the people that support them as part of CV.
e) CSR Directive
Like for all EU member states, the CSR directive 2014/95/EU (so called CSR
Directive)25 is binding for Germany. The European Parliament passed the directive
requiring major business to report on social, environmental and human rights impact on
24th of October 2014. It needs to be adopted by national law until 6th of December
2016. It is envisaged that this new law will have quite some impact on the existing trade
law26. The new regulations will results in quite extensive administrative work and
reporting. It is foreseen that the new reporting duties will affect companies with more
than 250 employees, but some institutions - like the chamber of auditors - recommend
setting the number to more than 500 employees to spare medium-sized companies the
extra documentation duties.
In general, the legal recommendations for CV are quite clear: It is important to setup a
bilateral agreement between the company and the receiving organisations, clarifying all
possible issues to avoid any later misunderstandings and reduce the risks.
24
From http://www.bundes-freiwilligendienst.de/volunteering-germany/
25
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32014L0095&from=DE
26
https://germanwatch.org/de/download/11813.pdf
22
Tax Law and Donations
In case of pro bono work, i.e. the employee gets paid by his company but spends part
of his working time on it, this is considered a donation and can be declared as such
according to 10b of the income tax code (Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG). Such a
donation must be of charitable, benevolent or religious purposes according to 52 to
54 Abgabenordnung (tax code) and not be connected to any economic activity of the
receiver.
In cases of sponsoring, the financial contributions can be declared as expenditure if

they are strongly linked to the company.
Activities of CV can decrease the company earnings and they can be declared as
operational expenditure, if it fits the overall aim of the company and thus can be
considered a part of their ongoing operations. This is often the case, since the
companies can argue that the CV activities of their employee increases the personnel
competencies or motivates their staff. Also, it can be a part of the PR work that helps to
promote the image of the company.
23
Sources
- Bartsch, G. (2011), Emotional learning: managerial development by Corporate

Volunteering, available at:
http://www.agenturmehrwert.de/fileadmin/storage/pdf/Unternehmen/Bartsch_Article_Jo
unal_ManagDev_4-2012.pdf.
- Bundesministerium fr Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (2012). Monitor

Engagement, Brgerschaftliches Engagement von Unternehmen in Deutschland -
Zwischen Tradition und Innovation.
- Available at http://www.bmfsfj.de/RedaktionBMFSFJ/Broschuerenstelle/Pdf-
Anlagen/Monitor-Engagement
Nr.3,property=pdf,bereich=bmfsfj,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf.
- Center for Corporate Citizenship , Habisch, A. et al (2004), Gesetze und

Anreizstrukturen fr CSR in Deutschland, available at
http://www.corporatecitizen.de/documents/GesetzeAnreizstrukturen.pdf.
- Habisch, A. et al (2005) CSR across Europe, available at www.untag-

smd.ac.id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_1/CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate_social_responsibility_across_europe.pdf.
- Herzig, C. (2004) Corporate Volunteering in Germany , Survey and Empirical

Evidence available at http://nemac.ufsc.br/files/2012/12/5-corporate.pdf.
- Lang, R. (2012) Presentation : Steuern, Versicherung und Haftung in Corporate

Volunteering Projekten available at
https://www.muenchen.ihk.de/de/standortpolitik/Anhaenge/Vortrag_Dr._Lang_UPJ_rec
htliche_Rahmenbedingungen.pdf.
- Pagani-Tousignant, C. (2011), Older Workers and Retirees: An Untapped Resource

for Corporate Volunteer Programs, available at
http://www.cccdeutschland.org/sites/default/files/PaganiTousignant_Older%20Workers
%20and%20Retirees_Corporate%20Volunteering_2011.pdf.
- Wolf, P. et al. (2013). Corporate volunteering: Benefits and challenges for non-profits.
Non-profit Management and Leadership, available at
24
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patricia_Wolf3/publication/259540924_Corporate_
Volunteering_Benefits_and_Challenges_for_Nonprofits/links/0deec53708ec726ced000
000.pdf.
25
Italy
Introduction
The strong and effective cooperation for the benefit of the local community between
Third Sector organizations, enterprises and institutions in their own territory, is the
basis of the concept of Corporate Volunteering (CV). As a business practice involving
companies / enterprises in participating in initiatives for the society in which they
operate, CV is one of the most important strategies of Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR).
That being said, it is important to clarify that if at European level and internationally, for
some years now, they have been circulating recommendations on CSR (Green paper -
Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility/COM/2001/0366
final/) and multiplying initiatives and platforms for CV (Give and Gain Day, IMPACT
2030, ENGAGE Campaign, www.volunteermatch.org, etc.), in Italy it is a phenomenon
still emerging and developing. There is no legislation that directly relates to the practice
of CV, but only some reference regulations, best practices or guidelines, that attempt to
delimit the concept itself.
Definition
Therefore, the first step is defining what Corporate Volunteering means.
It is based on an agreement between the enterprise and the community in which the
enterprise operates and depends on a convergence between the economic and social
goals of the enterprise and those of the organizations and/or social community
involved. It is realized through the activities of volunteering and personal engagement
and it is exercised by employees of an enterprise within a specific project, in order to
benefit the community.
Therefore, Corporate Volunteering is: a project in which the enterprise encourages,

supports and organizes the active and effective participation of its staff, during the
26
working hours, to the life of the local community or in support of non-profit
organizations.27
In projects of CV, the actors involved are well defined and each one covers a specific
role:
1. The Enterprise is able to deploy a network of virtuous relationships channelled to

the initiative of social partnership, in addition to their economic resources, design
capability and staff skills, through:
The strong involvement of top management;
The selection of a project compatible with the values of the enterprise;
Staff involvement.
2. Non-profit Organizations are responsible for:

Highlighting the social relevance of the project;
Deploying their knowledge and technical/organizational skills;
Ensuring the effectiveness and the success of the initiative.
3. The Institutions involved, are responsible for:

Creating an environment for facilitating the activation of partnership;
Reporting and targeting the emerging needs of the territory;
Acting as coordinator when the project requires it.
Ways of intervention, activities and approaches
Enterprises carry out volunteering within the Community through various and different
ways of intervention and involvement:
1. Sponsorship and cash support - e.g. Liberal Supply;

2. Provision of skills and time of the corporate staff;
3. Donations and/or provision of tangible properties/material goods.
The enterprise can implement these ways of intervention through various activities,
particularly with respect to the second way of intervention:
27
Volontariato dimpresa: una guida pratica per la collaborazione tra profit e no profit - Fondazione
Sodalitas in collaborazione con CSV, Cergas, Universit Bocconi, 2013, p 6.
http://www.sodalitas.it/public/allegati/QUADERNO-VOLONTARIATO-D'IMPRESA-WEB-
DEF_2015315134410363.pdf
27
It provides expertise and transfer of know-how;
It allows a temporary detachment of personnel to support non-profit
organizations;
It directly participates in local events and projects for social entertainment
addressed to citizens;
It organizes "Corporate Volunteering Day" in support of non-profit organizations;
It supports educational programs in schools, the so-called educational
volunteering".
The enterprises approach can be:
1. The bottom-up approach (employee-driven), in which the enterprise recognizes

volunteering actions already undertaken by its employees or the needs expressed by
these, enhancing them with financial support or in different manners: the request
comes from the community.
2. The top-down approach (employer-led): the organization of projects and ad-hoc

activities is promoted by the enterprise to foster cooperation between the employees
and the community.
Working Steps: the agreement
Considering the nature of Corporate Volunteering, that primarily defines it as an

agreement, a partnership between the enterprise and the community in achieving a
shared benefit through the efforts of people, it follows the importance of the design and
the Agreement for the realization of successful actions.
Within the enterprise the volunteering activities are defined by the policies of CSR,
requiring cost/benefit assessment and mainly involving Management/Leadership,
Communication and Marketing and Human Resources (volunteers).
Usually the idea comes from the enterprise as a request to the non-profit sector.
Certain work tables held as a result of investigations on the state of the art of the
practice of CV in Italy, led to the identification of the Guidelines for CV28:
28
Ibid. p. 8
28
1. Planning: fixed inclusion in strategic planning and CSR - validation of the initiative -
coherence with the mission;
2. Scheduling: coherence of activities with the goals of both parties and staff involved
agreement on the definition of success arrangement of resources (human and
financing);
3. Realization: respecting deadlines and budget - monitoring/possible redefinition of
activities;
4. Evaluation: identification of beneficiaries - measuring of "success" and generated
value;
5. Project management and communication: shared management communication
coherent with the objectives of the organization and of the enterprise.
Legal References
From a regulatory standpoint, as already stated, there is no specific legislation in Italy

regulating CV.
Therefore, reference is made by different regulations that regulate respectively the

relations between workers and the enterprise, between the volunteer and the
organization in which the action is carried out, between the enterprise and the
beneficiary organization, and so on.
The starting point is Law No. 266/91, the Framework Law on Volunteering and the
following DDL (draft law) of 09th of April 2015, which adds the recognition of social
value and the function of volunteering (Article 1) to the definition of principles and
criteria which institutions and organizations involved in voluntary activities must refer to,
either insurance and fiscal, legal, ethical, etc.
Particularly, the Article 2 of Law 266/91 defines the volunteers activity as:
- Personal, spontaneous, free, non-profit,

- Unremunerated, but possibility of refunds,
- Not compatible with any other forms of employment or balance.
It regulates the insurance obligations (Art. 4) from the organization that hosts the
volunteer, also regulating the time limits for the volunteer activity (Art. 17) and applying
different measures for safety in the workplace.
29
Moreover, Law No. 266/91 specifies the nature of the volunteer organization as (Art. 3)
each organization freely constituted, in order to carry out the activities listed in Art. 2,
which avails itself in a decisive and prevalent way of personal, voluntary and free
performances of its members. It requires, in particular:
- Different legal forms,

- Absence of profit,
- Democratic nature, electiveness and gratuitousness of charges,
- Limitations and possibilities to avail independent work benefits,
- Obligations and relationships towards their volunteers (see above).
Other legal references
The financial aspect is particularly interesting for companies which undertake

Corporate Volunteering.
In Italy, the following are considered deductible charges: the amounts incurred by
enterprises for the Liberal Supply (see 1st way of intervention) in cash or in kind and
the various donations that legal entities freely decide to support on behalf of ONLUS or
other association recorded in specific registers29.
Therefore, the following donations / grants, as well as forms of CV, are among these
types of charges:
Liberal Supply30;
Donation of time and performances: temporary detachment of personnel to support

the performing of a specific working activity (D. Lgs 276/2003) on behalf of ONLUS;
Donation of goods: objects of any type providing that these are in good condition and
supported by a receipt showing the value of the asset. Giving the possibility of two
benefits to be chosen alternatively: deductibility of the amounts donated by the
declared business income for an amount not exceeding Euro 2.065,83 (or 2% of same
29
Guida al Volontariato dImpresa - Laboratorio Imprese per la Responsabilit Sociale dImpresa,
Reggio Emilia.
30
Per la normativa cfr. D.L. n. 35 del 2005 e sgg. in EROGAZIONI LIBERALI: le agevolazioni fiscali,
Agenzia delle Entrate.
30
income), or, according to Law 80/2005, an enterprise could count on a deductibility
with a maximum limit of 10% of total income and up to a maximum of 70.000 Euros;
Donation of non-luxury goods: other than pharmaceutical or alimentary, which present

imperfections, alteration, damage or defects that do not allow the marketing or sale of
the goods, while still suitable for use. The goods sold are considered destroyed; this
means that there is not obligation to invoice, combining these operations with those
exempted under Article 10 of Presidential Decree 633/1972;
Donation of pharmaceutical or alimentary goods: if they have defects which do not

prevent commercial use. The company is obligated to file a report to the Inland
Revenue bearing the cost of each assignment (not exceeding 5.164,57 Euros), issuing
special packing slip and noting in VAT registers the goods supplied free of charge.
Relations between the different actors involved
The different kinds of relationships that may exist in an action of Corporate

Volunteering are between these three actors:
1. the enterprise (or the employer),

2. the employee-volunteer,
3. the Organization hosting the action of volunteering.
The different relationships have to be regulated in this way:
a) Enterprise and employee volunteer: employment relationship;

b) Volunteer and hosting organization: volunteering relationship and respective
charges;
c) Enterprise and organization: definition of the agreement for the project of
Corporate Volunteering.
31
Sources
- Legge 266/91 Legge Quadro sul Volontariato e DDL del 09.04.2015
http://www.lavoro.gov.it/areasociale/agenziaterzosettore/documents/leqqe_266_91.pdf.
- CEV EVEN Workbook - Quaderno sul Volontariato dImpresa.
- Comunicazione della Commissione europea al Parlamento europeo e al Consiglio

COM (2011) 681 definitivo.
- EROGAZIONI LIBERALI: le agevolazioni fiscali, Agenzia delle Entrate.
- Give and Gain Day Business in the Community www.bitc.org.uk/programmes/give-

gain-day.
- Guida al Volontariato dImpresa - Laboratorio Imprese per la Responsabilit Sociale

dImpresa, Reggio Emilia.
- Piano Nazionale della Responsabilit sociale d'impresa 2012-2014

http://www.csvnet.it/.
- http://www.impact2030.com/.
- Responsabilit & Regole: insieme per la coesione sociale - Fondazione Sodalitas.
http://www.sodalitas.it/public/allegati/_Quaderno_web_2015211151534680_20153151
22140990.pdf.
- Volontariato dimpresa: una guida pratica per la collaborazione tra profit e no profit -
Fondazione Sodalitas CSV, Cergas, Universit Bocconi, 2013
http://www.sodalitas.it/public/allegati/QUADERNO-VOLONTARIATO-D'IMPRESA-
WEB-DEF_2015315134410363.pdf.
- Volontari per un giorno Sodalitas www.volontariperungiorno.it.
32
Poland
Basic Information31
In the Polish legislation there are, at present no laws that would refer directly to the
phenomenon of employee, or Corporate Volunteering (CV). That is why different
provisions are applied to this practice. First of all, the Act of 24 April 2003 on Public
Benefit and Volunteer Work gives detailed information on who can become a volunteer,
and some basic rules of cooperation between volunteers and beneficiaries recipients
of their work.
From the legal definition derived from the above-mentioned act, we can say that a
volunteer is a person providing benefits voluntarily and without remuneration. The act
also specifies who can be the beneficiary of the volunteers services. The examples
are: non-governmental organizations, public administration authorities and units
reporting to, or supervised by the same, associations of local government authorities or
ecclesiastical entities engaging in public benefit work. There are a few exemptions in
the scope of volunteers work: the services of the volunteers cannot be used by entities
within their business activity. What is more, volunteers should not substitute employees
of the beneficiary, but only support their work.
The beneficiaries are obliged to:
- establish a co-operation agreement with the volunteer,

- inform the volunteer about and provide safe and hygienic conditions for the
volunteers work,
- provide insurance for the volunteer against accidents,
- cover the costs of business travel and per diems,
- issue certificates confirming the provision of benefits by the volunteer, when
s/he requires them,
- provide personal safety measures for the performance of the volunteers work.
From the CV practice in Poland we can say that the companies usually carry it out
through their corporate foundations or establish co-operation with social partners, such
as the Volunteer Centre.
31
This part is mostly based on: Volunteer Centre Association. The Law. Available at:
http://en.wolontariatpracowniczy.org.pl/the-law/.
33
Because employee volunteers can be either persons hired under employment
contracts (regulated by the Labour Code) or as persons with whom the employer
(company) co-operates on the grounds of agreements concluded under the Civil Law
(contracts of mandate and specific work contracts, freelancing work contracts),
generally binding legal provisions can apply to Employee Volunteering.
What is more, different special provisions apply to volunteer work as such. It depends
on specific situations related to the place where volunteer work is carried out (schools,
hospitals or Social Welfare Centres) or certain legal issues, for example connected with
insurance. In specific institutions, such as education and care institutions as well as
psychological-pedagogical clinics, specific requirements for volunteers apply, which
include majority and non-punishment for crimes32.
Other Legal Sources
Some of several detailed acts referring to volunteering itself could be implemented in

certain situations and legal issues in case of Corporate Volunteering. The examples
are:
- Act of 28 July 1983 on Inheritance and Donations Tax;

- Act of 7 September 1991 on the Education System;
- Act of 26 July 1991 on Natural Persons Income Tax;
- Act of 15 April 2011 on Medical Activity;
- Act of 15 February 1992 on Legal Persons Income Tax;
- Act of 13 October 1998 on Social Insurance System;
- Act of 17 December 1998 on Old-Age and Disability Pensions from the Social
Insurance Fund;
- Act of 30 October 2002 on social insurance benefits in employment injuries and
occupational diseases;
- Law of 12 March 2004 on Social Assistance;
- Act of 20 April 2004 on Employment Promotion and Labour Market Institutions;
- Act of 27 August 2004 on Publicly Funded Healthcare Benefits; and its
executive acts (in particular on childcare centres, psycho-pedagogical clinics,
etc.).
32
Study on Volunteering in the European Union. Country Report Poland. Available at:
http://www.pozytek.gov.pl/files/Biblioteka/National%20report%20PL.pdf.
34
Legal relationships in Corporate Volunteering
In CV initiatives there are three types of legal and factual relationships:
1) between the employee-volunteer and the employer (company),

2) between the employee-volunteer and the beneficiary,
3) and between the beneficiary and the employer (company).
Ad. 1) The relationship between the employee-volunteer and the employer (company)
is a type of employment relationship, be it in the strict sense when the employee is
hired under employment contract, or civil-law relationship based on the Civil Law
contract. In both cases the factual relationship is based on a type of employment.
Ad. 2) The relationship between the employee-volunteer and the beneficiary cannot be
treated as an employment relationship, although the volunteers services are relevant
to the work of the beneficiary. In this case, the provisions of the Labour Code are not
implemented whereas those of the Civil Code are. This can be called a civil-law
relationship.
Ad. 3) Usually, the relationship between the beneficiary and the employer (company) is
not a legal relationship, but a factual relationship not regulated by the law. However, on
the basis of the civil law contract, they can establish a legal relationship.
Free Secondment
Free secondment refers to the employer (company) delegating the employee to do

work that differs from their normal work. In Polish Labour Code, the employer
(company) is allowed to delegate the employee to perform activities different than
stated in the employment contract, in cases where this is justified by the needs of the
employer (company), for a period no longer than 3 months, unless this causes the
lowering of the employees remuneration or requires qualifications that the employee
does not have.
In reflection of the definition of volunteering in Polish law (the Act on Public Benefit and
Volunteer Work), free secondment is not volunteering, because it does not involve the
premises of the voluntariness of the employee (s/he is delegated by the boss) or the
lack of salary (s/he is paid by the employer). Therefore, from the legal point of view,
35
free secondment is not Corporate Volunteering, but it could be an
alternative/complimentary activity for this. In this case, there is no legal relationship
between the delegated employee and the beneficiary. There might be a legal
relationship between the beneficiary and the employer (company), and it is advisable to
establish such on the basis of a contract. In the contract concluded under Civil Law,
they can establish the rules of cooperation, its modalities and terms of the free
secondment of the entrepreneurs employees. The employees do not have the status
of a volunteer, so the provisions of the Act on Public Benefit and Volunteer Work are
not in place here.
The agreement on volunteering
The agreement on volunteering in case of Corporate Volunteering regulates the

cooperation between the employee-volunteer and the beneficiary. The parties to this
agreement are these two, not the employer (company).
The format of this agreement, according to the Act on Public Benefit and Volunteer
Work, depends on the duration of the volunteering activity. If it is shorter than 30 days,
it could be an oral agreement, but the volunteer could at any time ask for confirmation
of this agreement in writing. For longer volunteering periods, a written agreement is
required.
The above mentioned Act requires the following to be included in the agreement on
volunteering:
- the scope of the employee-volunteers services for the beneficiary,

- the manner of performing the employee-volunteers services for the beneficiary,
- the time limits of the employee-volunteers services for the beneficiary,
- the conditions of termination of the agreement.
Besides those obligatory elements of the agreement, it could also include other issues,
such as provision of the reimbursement of the costs of business travels or of the
associated food or accommodation allowances. It could also describe other rights and
responsibilities of the parties, in particular related to confidentiality.
Because the employer (company) is not a party to the agreement, sometimes an

additional contract should be established between the employer (company) and the
36
beneficiary and/or between the employer (company) and the employee-volunteer, on
the basis of Civil Law. The former could regulate whether the employer (company)
grants the employee a day off to be dedicated to volunteering activities, whether the
employer (company) provides a transport to the location where the volunteering
activities take place, and which party (the employer or the beneficiary) covers the
insurance against accidents and, if needed, the liability insurance.
An additional agreement between the employer (company) and the employee-volunteer

may be needed in the format of the civil-law contract for example when the
volunteering takes place outside the employees working hours. Some provisions, like
granting a day off dedicated to the volunteering activities, could be included in the
enterprises (company) internal documents, like Work Regulations (Statutes).
37
Sources:
- Act of law of April 24th 2003 on Public Benefit and Volunteer Work. Consolidated
text, last amended on 22 January 2010. Available at:
http://www.pozytek.gov.pl/Public,Benefit,and,Volunteer,Work,Act,567.html. (Accessed:
29.12.2015).
- Dorska, D., Komosa, P. Wybrane aspekty prawne wolontariatu pracowniczego.

Available at: http://bibliotekawolontariatu.pl/wp-
content/uploads/aspekty_prawne_WP.pdf. (Accessed: 29.12.2015).
- Labour Office in Gdask. Regulacje prawne dotyczce wolontariatu. Available at:

http://www.centrumpracy.pup.gda.pl/wolontariat_gdansk/regulacje_prawne_dotyczace_
wolontariatu.html. (Accessed: 29.12.2015).
- Study on Volunteering in the European Union. Country Report Poland. Available at:
http://www.pozytek.gov.pl/files/Biblioteka/National%20report%20PL.pdf. (Accessed:
29.12.2015).
- Volunteer Centre Association. The Law. Available at:

http://en.wolontariatpracowniczy.org.pl/the-law/. (Accessed: 29.12.2015).
38
Spain
Introduction
When we talk about Corporate Volunteering (CV) we are talking about a fairly new
phenomenon in Spain.
In fact, it is only in the last 10/12 years when we actually started using this concept, for
a group of activities included in the so-called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
actions.
The Spanish CSR Strategy 2014-2020, elaborated by the Corporate Social

Responsibility State Council (CERSE) includes, as a specific action line, the facilitation
and provision of employees Corporate Volunteering opportunities.
However, the concept of "voluntary" in general, is not new in our Country.
In 1996, the first State law of social volunteering was drawn up (Law 6/1996 of January
15th), in which the concept of volunteering was defined.
On October 15th, 2015 a new Law of Volunteering (Law 45/2015, of 14th of October)
replaced the previous one. The legal standard itself recognizes that the previous law
has been overtaken in reality. In the new law we can read about new phenomenon as
Corporate Volunteering or cyber volunteering, which were not considered in 1996.
CSR Strategy 2014-2020 fully explains the importance of Corporate Volunteering and,
more generally, of investment in Social Responsibility for a company, of any size and
category.
At the same time, the new Law of Volunteering sets the conditions under which
companies can promote and participate in volunteering programs.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Royal Decree 221/2008 creates and regulates the Corporate Social Responsibility
State Council (CERSE) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and defines
39
SCR as The voluntary enterprises integration of social and environmental concerns in
their business operations and relationships33.
CERSE is composed of: a president, who is the Labour and Social Affairs minister, 14
delegates of the more representative business organizations, 14 delegates from the
representatives union organizations, 14 delegates from renowned organizations in the
field of Corporate Social Responsibility (NGOs, organizations in the fields of consumer,
environment, disability and social economy, academic institutions etc.)34.
Its main objectives are35:
a) Providing a forum for debate on Corporate Social Responsibility between Union and
Business Organizations, public Administrations and other renowned organizations and
institutions in this field;
b) Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, proposing to the Government
measures for implementing this, with special attention to the special situation of SMEs;
c) Informing about the regulations affecting companies strategies and actions in the
field of Social Responsibility;
d) Promoting standards and tools for monitoring and reporting about companies Social
Responsibility.
e) Analysing the development of companies Social Responsibility in Spain and in the
European Union.
In order to reach these goals, CERSEs main activities are: issuing reports and
realizing studies, forming the Corporate Social Responsibility Observatory, promoting
social responsibility in companies, cooperating with other similar institutions in
Europe36.
CERSE has been responsible drafting the CSR Strategy 2014-2020. This document is
based on the recognition of the great role played by companies in the development of
the society in which they operate. It considers CSR as a vehicle of competitiveness,
sustainability and social cohesion. Not only business results are important, but also
how companies get them.
33
ROYAL DECREE 221/2008.
34
Ibidem, art.5; Order ESS/2360/2013.
35
Ibidem, art.3.
36
Ibidem, art.4.
40
The Spanish CSR Strategy is based on 6 principles: voluntariness, creation of shared
value, competitiveness, social cohesion, transparency, sustainability37.
Its vision is to support the development of the responsible practices of public and
private organizations, in order to transform them into a driver of the country's
competitiveness and to create a more productive, sustainable and inclusive economy
and society.
According to this vision, the Spanish CSR Strategy pursues 4 main objectives38:
1. Fostering and promoting CSR both in companies, including SMEs, and in other
public and private organizations in the various geographical areas in which they
operate;
2. Promoting CSR as an attribute of competitiveness, sustainability and social
cohesion;
3. Disseminating the value of CSR in the whole society;
4. Creating a common CSR frame of reference for the whole Spanish territory.
In order to reach these four main goals, the strategy document describes 10 measures
and actions39:
1. Promotion of CSR as a driver of organizations to increase sustainability;

2. Integration of CSR into education, training and investigation;
3. Good governance and transparency as a means to increase confidence;
4. Responsible management of human resources and employment promotion;
5. Socially responsible investment and Research-Development-Innovation;
6. Relationship with suppliers (ensuring compliance with CSR principles in all
the supply chain);
7. Responsible Consumption;
8. Respect for the environment;
9. Development Cooperation;
10. Coordination and participation (inside and outside Spain, also promoting good
practices exchange).
37
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Spanish CSR Strategy 2014-2020.
38
Ibidem, p. 30.
39
Ibidem, p. 31.
41
Corporate Volunteering is one of the actions included in responsible management of
human resources. Spanish CSR strategy 2014-2020 includes the promotion of
volunteering opportunities for companies and public administration employees.
Definition of volunteer work
Based on Article 3 of Volunteering Law 45/2015, volunteer work is the set of voluntary
activities for public interest - that is "that help in improving peoples quality of life and
society in general and in protecting and preserving environment" (art.3) - developed by
individuals and provided they meet the following requirements:
a) To have purpose of solidarity;

b) To be free and voluntarily assumed, not having their reason in a personal obligation
or legal duty;
c) To be carried out without financial or material remuneration, except for the payment
of reimbursable costs incurred to the volunteers from the voluntary activity;
d) To be developed with voluntary organizations under specific programs.
These are considered the fundamental principles of voluntary work, assuming the
gratuitousness of the service provided and the free commitment of both the volunteers
and the beneficiaries of the voluntary action.
Companies can promote and participate in volunteer programs provided that the
actions taken can be considered as of general interest, included within one of the areas
of volunteer work described hereinafter and inspired by the values and principles
volunteer work (art. 21).
Companies voluntary actions can be carried out by incorporating workers that freely
and voluntarily choose to participate in programs promoted by voluntary organizations
working with the company (art. 22).
CV activities must always be voluntary. This means that the company can never force
or pressure their employees to perform these kinds of activities if they dont want to.
Likewise, we cannot speak of Corporate Volunteering when it is paid or the employee
does it in his leisure time.
42
Areas of volunteer activity
The law describes areas of voluntary activity in detail (art. 6):
A) Social volunteering, which consists of intervention with individuals and social reality
in situations of vulnerability, deprivation or lack of rights or opportunities, in order to
achieve a better quality of life and greater social cohesion and justice.
B) International volunteering linked both to education for development and to promoting

development through humanitarian action and international solidarity, in our country, in
countries that are beneficiaries of development cooperation or in any country where a
humanitarian necessity is established.
C) Environmental volunteering, which aims to reduce the negative human impact on

the environment and to enhance the existing natural heritage, as well as to help in
protecting, preserving and improving the environment.
D) Cultural volunteering, which promotes and defends the right to universal access to
culture and cultural integration of all people; it also promotes and protects cultural
identity, cultural heritage and participation in the cultural life of the community.
E) Sport volunteering, that contributes to social cohesion by adding volunteering values

to those inherent to sports; it consists of promoting sports events on a community
dimension scale, including sports activities practiced by people with disabilities.
F) Educational volunteering, that are planned actions, integrated into the educational
community system, aimed at increase extracurricular and complementary activities that
help in reducing personal, social or economic inequalities among students.
G) Social-health volunteering which combines health promotion, disease prevention,

health care, rehabilitation and social care, directed to the whole of society or to
vulnerable collectives.
H) Leisure volunteering, by developing activities in the field of non-formal education, to

promote personal and group growth and development, skills improvement, solidarity
and inclusion, social commitment and participation.
I) Community volunteering, that promotes the improvement of the community and

participation in decision-making and in initiatives to solve community problems and to
reach a more active, critical, committed society.
43
J) Civil defence volunteering based on the regular collaboration in emergency
management according to the rules of the National Civil Defence System.
Volunteering programs
In the Spanish system, volunteering programs must contain:
a) Name of the program;

b) Name of the program manager;
c) Aims and objectives;
d) Description of the activities;
e) Territorial covering;
f) Duration;
g) Number and profile of needed volunteers;
h) Criteria for determining the profile of program targeted;
i) Means and resources;
j) Monitoring and evaluation system (art. 7).
Volunteers have the right to actively participate in the development, design,

implementation and evaluation of programs or projects, according with the statutes or
regulations of the beneficiary organization.
They also have the right to "obtain recognition by the volunteering organization, of the
social value of their contribution and of the skills acquired by means of their volunteer
work" (art. 10).
Jurisdiction
Volunteering Law 6/1996, of January 15th, collected and respected the panorama of
existing regulations in Spanish autonomous communities. The new Law from 2015
does not alter the distribution of powers, but calls for a cooperation framework between
different public administrations.
To achieve this goal, it regulates two public bodies: an Inter-departmental

Volunteering Commission, whose function is, while respecting the powers of
autonomous communities, to coordinate the actions of ministerial departments with
44
competence on volunteering, and the National Observatory of Volunteering with
functions of collection, analysis, dissemination of information on volunteering in Spain.
The autonomous communities have jurisdiction over:
Raising social awareness about the value of voluntary work and the importance
of its contribution in the construction of social capital;
Promoting and encouraging citizens social participation in volunteering
organizations;
The design and development of volunteering plans and strategies;
The promotion of networking and the creation of local spaces and tools for
collaboration between social organizations, business, and any other public or
private institutions that can have an impact on volunteering;
The establishment of effective mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of
volunteering projects and programs (art. 17).
State jurisdiction is responsible for:
The establishment of general lines of public policies on volunteering;

The establishment, according to other public administrations, of the cooperation
mechanisms in voluntary work and of the common criteria for evaluation and
monitoring of volunteering programs;
Cooperating with the competent authorities in the field to improve volunteers
training;
Promoting trainings in volunteering principles and values at all stages and
levels of education;
Promoting research and studies that contribute to better understanding the
needs, resources and actions in the field of voluntary work;
Promoting training and good practice exchanges;
Promoting volunteering events in collaboration with voluntary organizations;
Providing rules and means in order to guarantee safety and health of volunteers
as well as the inclusion and gender equality in voluntary organizations plans
and regulations" (art. 18).
45
The diffusion of Corporate Volunteering in Spain
Volunteering is a fairly recent phenomenon in Spain compared to other European

Countries. Even though volunteering has been growing in our country since the 90s,
Spain is one of the last among the Member States in terms of the percentage of the
population engaged in volunteering (according to the Eurobarometer survey).
We have the same situation of relative regression in the area of Corporate Volunteering
(CV). We can find the first experiences from a decade ago, mainly promoted by the
branches of international groups, especially banks and professional services
companies. Britain's Barclays Bank was a pioneer in developing Corporate
Volunteering in Spain. Barclays implemented good practices consisting of involving
employees in activities promoted and facilitated by the bank. Through these activities,
employees had the opportunity to participate as volunteers in social projects, improving
their personal satisfaction, a sense of community and self-esteem.
Among the first cases of CV in Spain, we can also mention Telefnica, with projects
involving employees and benefiting their branches in Latin America.
Caixa bank published a Guide to promote volunteering from the company (VV. AA.) in
2006, and many publications followed: from the Reports of Corporate Volunteering in
Spain (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013) by the Observatory on Corporate
Volunteering, to the study Corporate Volunteering in Spain and Latin America.
Common and distinctive features, by Forum Company and Founding, or the Study on
Corporate Volunteering situation in Spain (2010), promoted by the Club for Excellence
in Sustainability.
In addition to these publications, in recent years there have been many conferences
and events held around CV.
According to the survey conducted by Business and Society Foundation (Corporate

Volunteering in Spain. Models and perspectives of social impact, 2012), 85% of
working citizens would like to participate in social action through their company; about
50% of citizens prefer companies that devote resources to social welfare activities or to
organizations that support people with terminal illnesses, education, research, etc.;
more than half of the workers are in favour of their companies cooperation with social
projects.
46
The recent report "Corporate Volunteering in Spain", published by the Observatory of
Corporate Volunteering in 2013, provides the results of the survey between 117
Spanish companies, 73,4% of them with more than 500 workers.
The main conclusions collected in this report are:
69% of surveyed companies are involved in Corporate Volunteer programs (a

significant increase from the 57% of 2011).
31% of companies surveyed do not have a CV plan. One third of them have not
thought about it, even though they do not leave out the possibility. Only 12% of
companies without CV do not intend to enter this field. The difficulties
encountered and delaying the decision are various, ranging from lack of money
to lack of time.
The objectives pursued by Spanish companies when they start these activities
are mostly related to having a positive impact on the solution of social needs
(social dimension), promoting the sense of belonging (internal reputation),
improving and strengthening its image (external reputation) and improving the
climate of the organization (sometimes deteriorated by the crisis situation).
56% of companies surveyed use CV as a human resources tool. It aims to
develop employees skills such as leadership, initiative, creativity and decision-
making in complex situations.
33% of companies engaged in Corporate Volunteering have been developing
the activities for 3 - 6 years and nearly 50% have been spending more than six
years with this activity. The company with the longest CV experience has been
committed to it 14 years.
In most cases these are activities carried out in a group (86%) rather than
individually. Corporate volunteering group activities have a greater impact on
the internal dimension and generate more confidence and commitment. 80% of
companies open their CV programs also to the employees families and to the
companys retirees (38%).
Frequency of volunteer activities has similar proportions: 20.4% said they are
performed occasionally while 29.6% said they are regular activities. 50% have
both situations.
The data show that 27% of companies develop CV activities outside of working
time, while 24% do them during working hours. 50% offer both alternatives.
47
The most common option is that CV activity does not require professional
knowledge or skills (general activities) but 45% of companies offer their
employees to perform both professional (which does require specific
competences) and general voluntary work.
Only 7.7% of the surveyed companies do exclusively international Corporate
Volunteering. The most common is CV on local scale (61.5%) or a combination
of both options (32.3%). As for the scope, all surveyed companies realize their
CV in the social area and 56.7% of them include environmental matters.
Beneficiaries of CV activities are mostly children and youth (87% of companies
carry out any activity for this group), followed by people with disability (72% of
companies perform some activity in this field), seniors and immigration (43% of
companies operate for these two groups). 20% of companies are specialized
in a single target group, and 16% turn their voluntary work to all groups.
Regarding the origin of the initiatives, most often they derive from a joint
management of NGOs and business, or from the employees proposals. Only in
6% of the cases CV initiatives and management are carried out exclusively by
NGOs and 95% of the companies takes into account the suggestions of their
employees when they start a CV program.
54% of companies have a volunteer or social action committee, which is
responsible for organizing and managing activities. In most cases, the
responsible for CV programs is the Corporate Social Responsibility department:
36% of surveyed companies still do not have this department, and therefore the
HR department is responsible for CV programs (35%).
58% of companies have from 1 to 4 people dedicated to CV activities and 25%
of companies have from 5 to 10 people.
42% of companies realize employee training. As for the kind of training
provided, 32% of the cases are awareness days, followed by online training
(16%), conferences and practical classes (16%). These trainings are often
provided by external trainers (46%) even though 33% of companies use internal
resources.
Corporate Volunteering is not expensive or, at least, it is not necessary to
spend a lot of economic resources on it. Most of the surveyed companies spend
less than 30.000 euros per year for CV. 31.1% of companies spend less than
10.000 euros. Only 16.7% spend more than 100.000 euros.
48
The vast majority of companies claim on assess the achievement of objectives,
NGO satisfaction and, above all, employee satisfaction. The companies
evaluation of Corporate Volunteering is mostly good (63%).
Finally, the Observatory of Corporate Volunteer scores three main challenges for the
future of CV in Spain (and possibly in Europe):
1. On behalf of companies, to better understand the motivations that drive their

employees to become volunteers, in order to break the psychological barrier of
10% employee participation.
2. Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Corporate Volunteering activities.
Social needs are growing faster than resources (both financial and human) do;
consequently it is necessary to do more with less.
3. We have to create tools that reveal the real impact of CV activities in order to
continuously improve them.
49
Sources:
- Boletn Oficial del Estado, Law 6/1996, of 15th of January, on Volunteering (1996).
- Boletn Oficial del Estado, Law 45/2015, of 14th of October, on Volunteering (2015).
- Paloma Lemonche, Corporate Volunteering. A cooperation bridge between

Companies and society, Fortica (2011).
- Beatriz Sanz, Mar Cordobs, Adri Calvet, Corporate Volunteering in Spain. Models
and perspectives of social impact, ESADE (2012).
- AA.VV., Voluntariado Corporativo en Espaa, Corporate Volunteering Observatory

(2013).
- Royal Decree 221/2008 of 15th of February, on the Corporate Social Responsibility

State Council (CERSE) creation and regulation.
- Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Spanish CSR Strategy 2014-2020.
50
Conclusion
Corporate Volunteering is a growing phenomenon in Europe and a valuable source of

contribution towards the Europe 2020 Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive
Growth.
For this reason European institutions and the EU member states should foster an
enabling environment for CV and include it as an integral part of their CSR policies and
programmes40.
It must be recognised that, like the public and civil society sector, business is part of
the community and not a sector outside of it. CV is a tool for employers to contribute
locally, nationally and internationally to make an impact and contribute to alleviating the
social issues that affect their stakeholders, including their people, customers, suppliers
and communities.
At the same time, when employees use their skills to support the local community, they
also develop core competencies and specialist skills (for example, personal
effectiveness in their work role, communication skills, coaching, adaptability,
influencing and negotiating). Both benefits are equally important.
The Working Group 6 on Employee Volunteering of the EYV 2011 Alliance Policy
Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (P.A.V.E.)41 scores some main challenges for the
quality and quantity of the growth of CV, which can be summarised as follows:
a) Maximising the impact of CV programs both for beneficiaries, companies and
volunteers;
b) Increasing multi-sector partnerships through CV;
c) Drawing guidelines and measurement frameworks to constantly evaluate and
improve the impact of CV programs. Only what is measured can be managed.
Moreover, measurement helps volunteering practitioners advance their
understanding of what their employers community involvement implies, and this
can really motivate further investments in it.
d) Communication and sharing best practices: communicating the impact of a
volunteering programme encourages others to participate and share best
practices.
The CV PLUS project is expected to contribute solving these big challenges by offering
information, guidelines and practical examples to promote CV in the educational field,
40
Policy Agenda on Volunteering in Europe P.A.V.E - Working towards a true legacy for EYV 2011.
41
Ibidem.
51
to motivate companies, employers and employees to invest time and energies in these
kind of programs, to build quality and effective cooperation between business and
educational worlds.
The present guide is the first tool that the CV PLUS team proposes, and it is aimed at
offering a panorama of European and local legal framework that need to be taken into
account when planning a CV program/activity.
The other tools produced under the CV PLUS project are:
- The CV Good Practices Collection;
- The training itineraries for the empowerment and assessment of staff
volunteers skills;
- The Methodological Guides for Companies and Schools.
All these tools can be found on the CV PLUS Platform.
52
www.cebek.es
www.cooss.it www.inveslan.com
www.hanse-parlament.org www.kczia.eu
www.learnmera.com
http://www.voka.be/eng
53

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Index

Introduction: A definition of Corporate Volunteering .............................................. 3

Corporate Volunteering in Europe............................................................................. 4

Corporate Volunteering in CV PLUS partners Countries ........................................ 8

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-

The concept of Employee Volunteering (EV) or Corporate Volunteering (CV) is

CV can be seen as one element of Corporate Citizenship or Corporate Social

The International Business Leaders Forum defined CV as The mobilisation by

Corporate Volunteering in Europe.

Corporate Volunteering (CV)

In implementing CSR, employers normally use a variety of instruments, such as

Evidence shows that CV delivers a three-in-one benefit: to participating employers, to

The European Year of Volunteering (EYV 2011) gave an important boost to CV in

Communication from the European Commission COM (2011) 568: EU

Communication from the European Commission COM (2011) 681: A

Both Communications link CV with CSR in meaning, and highlight CV as a win-win

2013 EP Committee on Employment and Social Affairs report Corporate

According to the Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (P.A.V.E.) increasingly,

Some relevant examples are:

The Employee Volunteering European Network, EVEN2118: the first

The development level of Corporate

Most of the European countries legislative frameworks on Volunteering act as a

Secondly, we have volunteering in the frame of a CV programme from a company that

The term Corporate Volunteering (in Belgium called werknemersvrijwilligerswerk) is

According to HIVA-K.U.LEUVEN study, there are different types of Corporate

1. Corporate Colunteering in the narrowest sense of the word is the effort by

The volunteering can be temporary (e.g. one-time advice) or recurring (e.g.

2. The support and stimulation of Corporate Volunteering concerns all deeds of

Legal relationships in Corporate Volunteering

1) between the employee-volunteer and the employer (company),

The relationship between the employee-volunteer and the employer (company) is a

- C. Gijselinckx, A. De Coninck (2011). Werknemersvrijwilligerswerk in Vlaanderen:

- Wet betreffende de rechten van vrijwilligers.

General about volunteering and legislation in Finland

Volunteering on different levels is very common in Finland. According to different

There is no specific Act regarding volunteering in Finland, but legislation and

The Unemployment Security Act (Tyttmyysturvalaki 30.12.2002/1290) can be

Support and benefits for volunteers

Volunteer work is unpaid, and it is usually performed to advance a charitable cause.

Reimbursement of expenses is tax-free up to a certain figure (around EUR 2,000). In

Volunteering for unemployed persons

The Unemployment Security Act (Tyttmyysturvalaki) 30.12.2002/1290 regulates the

The unemployed can also participate in trainings related to volunteer activity.

Occupational Safety and Health

Section 55 in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (23.8.2002/738) specifically

There is no specific law for volunteering, but volunteering is regulated by a number of

Unemployment Security Act (Tyttmyysturvalaki, 30.12.2002/1290)

- Occupational safety in volunteer work http://www.tyosuojelu.fi/fi/vapaaehtois-talkootyo

- Citizen Arena (Kansalaisareena) report on volunteering laws.

- National Report on volunteering in Finland

- Aspa Foundation report http://www.aspasaatio.fi/suuntaaja/suuntaaja-12010/yritykset-

- Finnish laws www.finlex.fi.

- Taxation for bees https://www.vero.fi/fi-

- Taxable benefits at vero.fi http://www.vero.fi/fi

Typical Forms of CV in Germany

Secondment is the allocation of workforce for a certain period of time to an

Mentoring agreements are made between employees and socially challenged

Some companies support charity events with financial donations or in-kind

Voluntary service is therefore considered as work defined by law, so that all

In cases of sponsoring, the financial contributions can be declared as expenditure if

- Bartsch, G. (2011), Emotional learning: managerial development by Corporate

- Bundesministerium fr Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (2012). Monitor

- Center for Corporate Citizenship , Habisch, A. et al (2004), Gesetze und