Employee volunteering and the Special Constabulary: a review of employer policies

The research conducted for this study had three broad aims. The first of these was to examine the attitudes of large employers in the private sector to staff participation in voluntary work. Thus, the study was concerned with the various ways in which employers actively encourage employee volunteering, the extent to which employee volunteering is treated as an integral component of ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR), and the kinds of rationales for supporting voluntary work to which employers subscribe. The second aim of the research was to look more specifically at whether employers have provisions for or actively encourage staff involvement in the Special Constabulary: that is, the voluntary section of the local police force. Hence the research looked at the extent to which volunteering for the Special Constabulary is included within wider voluntary work policies, is specified as a particular goal, or is not covered by such policies. The third aim of the study built on the first and second: that is, the study has sought to use the research findings on volunteering to identify opportunities for the Special Constabulary to widen employer support for the organisation. By reviewing existing policies on employee volunteering, and attitudes of employers to the Special Constabulary, the intention was to consider ways in which employer support for the Special Constabulary might relate to other CSR goals, and to explore the scope for raising awareness of the Specials among both employers and employees.