Paid work for co-operative members

Voice of Youth (VOY) is a workers co-operative so all VOY co-operative members are seen as workers, whether they are paid or not. Being a co-op member entitles you to be considered for paid work. At present, because VOY is a very small organisation getting off the ground, being a co-operative member usually involves voluntary as well as paid work from its members. We are working towards this being a choice, but we are not there yet.

To be a paid VOY worker:

You need to register as self-employed and give the co-op your self-employment reference number.

How much do I get paid?

At present, all VOY co-op members are paid £13.50 per hour on a self-employed basis for any paid work. This is a sessional rate and you are responsible for your own tax, NI, etc. All paid work must be agreed in advance by the co-operative.

What will I be paid for?

Paid co-op members can claim 3 hours for each monthly co-op meeting they attend

Sessions with young people, planning work, additional meetings, etc may be paid or unpaid, depending on decisions made at co-op meetings

Decisions on paid work are made at co-op meetings.

Decisions should be made fairly, and every co-operative member and volunteer can ask if they are unsure about how decisions have been made.

The following will be taken into account when deciding what work should be paid:

• What funding do we have? E.g. sometimes we have funding to pay workers for a summer project or a weekly group. Then we can guarantee paid part-time work for a set number of hours over a specific time period. This should be made clear at a meeting.
• Do we have money in our unrestricted funds? Sometimes we can pay workers from our unrestricted funds, if we ensure we leave enough in unrestricted funds for other essential expenses and contingencies.
• Who should be paid if there is not enough money to pay everyone who needs / wants to be paid?

This should be decided at co-op meetings, taking into account factors such as who needs the work, who has been working regularly on this particular project / task, who has been putting work in to the co-op, who will be able to be reliable over a long term and for every session, having a mixture of experience on the team (e.g. it might be good for a more experienced and less experienced youth worker to run a project together), having a diverse team (e.g. a mixture of younger and older workers, as well as thinking about diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, etc.)

How will I be paid?

You need to submit an invoice at the end of each month, and you will be paid by bank transfer. You cannot submit your invoice early or late unless this is agreed. There is a template available for invoices.

What if I am being paid for an upcoming session but I can’t make it?

Inform your colleagues at the session, especially your fellow co-op members and whoever coordinates the project. If you are not ill, please find another co-op member to cover your work. They can claim payment for the session if it is a paid session. If you are ill, the co-op may be able to pay you as well –discuss this with your supervisor or at a co-op meeting –and one of your fellow co-op members will try to find cover for you. Once cover is arranged, please do not change the arrangements, as your colleague might be relying on the money.

Unpaid co-op members

Some co-operative members may be unpaid, which means they currently waive any payment (for example, maybe they do not want to register as self-employed, or maybe they already have enough paid work). Members who have waived payment in the past can change their mind and request at a co-op meeting to be considered for payment again, as long as they are registered self-employed.