My 16 yo has taken a job that has turned out to voluntary!

There are thousands of paramedics and ambulance crew volunteers supporting the NHS via orgs like St John Ambulance.

There is absolutely nothing the OP has said that suggests this could not be considered a volunteering role (presumably his role differs in responsibility to those being paid).

My DC used to go to a swimming club and it was run by volunteers, despite all DC having to pay subs and amateur swimming association membership so they could enter galas.
It may be a genuine misunderstanding.
But it is very upsetting for your DS especially as the club do pay their coaches.
My friend had a similar issue when her DD coached football for the younger age group.
It is a piss take if they usually pay their coaches, it's only not a piss take if everyone is a volunteer like at guides or scouts etc.
Your DS has 2 choices, suck it up or leave.
Probably depends how much he really wants/needs the experience.
Can he find another club that will pay for his time?
There is an increasing number of formerly paid jobs that are now volunteer roles, such as national trust, museums, zoos, conservation projects etc
A wildlife park near us was looking for VOLUNTEER cleaners for their very very expensive holiday lodges ffs!!
But young people are so desperate to get a foothold in their field they will do it for free or retired people will do it for fun/social interaction.

Will the training for his coaching qualification be free

That’s a piss take! In 6 months they’ll let him go and replace him for more free labour.

I'm a bit confused; Did he get the "role" through the swim club or by the leisure centre (you can tell by who oversaw the DBS check if DS is vague).

If he approached the club for the role it is very unlikely that he will get paid; at a push maybe a fee reduction (but I think you said he isn't swimming). At DD's old club it is the sort of role the teens do for their DofE volunteering.

DD went on to become a lifeguard (Leisure Centre paid). Maybe this experience helped her get the role, I'm not sure. She has said that it was really valuable experience to get her used to chatting to anybody and also to be a voice of authority when required to.

If there was an advert and a recruitment process, I think you might have a valid point but it sounds to me as if your DS might have had the wrong end of the stick.

I am chair of a swimming club and none of our poolside helpers are paid. Only one coaching position is paid. Everyone else involved in the club is a volunteer. I would imagine this is a similar model across the country tbh. Pool hire is astronomical and we would be unaffordable for families if everyone was paid to help poolside. However the issue is that your child didn't know that and expected it to be paid. I think he needs to look elsewhere for a job.

I've worked as a swim teacher at a leisure centre where there is also a swim club. There does seem to be a lot of volunteers at the swim clubs. I'd recommend contacting the local leisure centre and they will pay for the swim assistant / teacher course with a contract to work for them.

They are taking advantage. My son works as pool side assistant and gets min wage for his age. If he is good enough they will pay for his teaching qualification.

I must add he also gets paid very well but he’s had to demonstrate a commitment/sign a contract for them to fund his qualifications

My DS is a PT swim instructor. The leisure centre paid for his training which cost thousands I believe, and he’s tied in through a contract to deliver lessons. This was agreed whilst he was at uni. One thing I would ask is about insurance. Is he covered for himself and others? Training staff up is a big commitment but it doesn’t have to be exploitative.

Standard approach.

@PinkFrogss I’m just trying to work out in legal terms what can be done. Surely what you @MooseFlower says isn’t the case otherwise people who volunteer regularly could say they’ve done work and then therefore claim to be paid for it. But there would be clearly stated that it was voluntary - this is what is missing here - any clear communication.

Perhaps I’m giving this swimming club too much credit but these are the facts from the OP.

.Her son used to swim at the club but they could no longer meet his needs so he left
.The club used to have an arrangement where there were unpaid volunteers as part of D of E programme some of whom later were paid (perhaps after they had been there for a 6 month period of time - although this is just an assumption and I could be wrong)
. Her son reaches out to the club he has previously worked at to ask to be a pool side assistant with a view to getting his coaching qualification
.The club agree . Not clear what the agreement is although there is no contract, OP has not mentioned them ever mentioning pay, bank details etc and son only asked about pay after 1 month of 2.5hr / week sessions.
. On questioning swim team report misunderstanding and it is a 6 month voluntary post after which he may be paid if they keep him on.
. They have paid for the DBS

To me, they have offered OPs son the same deal they give the D of E Students, I doubt they have said anywhere this is paid work but equally haven’t been expressly clear that it is voluntary.

How unclear they have been we won’t know unless we see documentation between them. I don’t think this is an attempt at malicious exploitation of a 16 year old but poor communication from frankly both sides.

I don’t think it’s a case of “they gave a verbal agreement and work has been done so it’s legally binding” as we don’t know what the verbal or written agreements were. It is unfortunate and a shame for the young adult. And the swim club need to sort themselves out so they don’t get themselves into situations like this again but I don’t think taking all things into account that this is an attempt at exploiting this boy

As Iron Maiden once said (or, sang) "Run to the hills! Run for your life!"

This is their way of getting free labour out of young people, "promising" them a paying job by the end of it, only to fob them off and hire new free labour at the end of the 6 months

I think what muddies the water in this situation are some are paid and some are not. It’s either a voluntary role or it’s not. Seems odd if 2 people are sling the exact same role that some get paid and some don’t.

Lots of 16 year olds are doing voluntary work as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme - or just for the experience, so I don't find this odd particularly with the role Pool Side Helper. The DBS and safeguarding is taken by all volunteers dealing with children, so again not strange. I would just back out quietly on the grounds of a misunderstanding.

In terms of a DBS certificate being transferable for another position - usually it would not be, if sponsored by the voluntary organisation for a particular role that's for them. (Just so that he is prepared to say he has gone through this and had a clear result, if needing to repeat for a different role with someone else).

It is possible to register for the update service as the holder of a valid certificate, which would make it transferable in many cases, for similar roles, and you pay a small amount for this each year. That said, it depends whether this means it could only transfer for other volunteer roles, not employment (as this is how it's been applied for); and it could depends on the policies of his new organisation as they could stipulate their people have a DBS check sponsored by them, matched to their own role.

Honestly I'd advise him to cut his losses and leave and find somewhere else. My husband took a voluntary job a long time initially with a trial period of 1 month, this soon turned to 3 months and then 6 months and then it was "sorry theres no job here but if you relocate to Northern Ireland there's a job there" and that's when my husband cut his losses and got a different job. There won't be a job at end of it for him they're just looking for free labour.

Correct - he’s done work for them, a verbal contract + work done = a legally binding contract.

I have no doubt that these situations regularly happen, but voluntary for 6 MONTHS is taking the piss.

This sounds pretty standard for a swimming club in our area. My DD volunteered for hers from age 14 until she went to uni, in return they paid for her life guarding and coaching qualifications when she reached 16. She really did it because she wanted to give something back to the club she had been in since the age of 5 though, and because it is an excellent addition to her CV.

Did they just assume that he would know it was voluntary? We didn’t ask when dd started at hers because we wouldn’t have imagined she’d be paid.

Could you pay for him to do his lifeguarding qualification?

Our local swimming club has a handful of paid coaches but most of the squad coaches are volunteers as are the myriad of other roles needed to run an effective swim club. The club runs a programme of unpaid poolside helpers for swimmers - it’s great experience, can be used on CVs, DoE, Uni applications and the club will fund training courses. I think he was naive to think this would be paid without a contract of employment. Many kids at swimming club (mine included) did a lifeguarding course once they were 16 and were then employed by the leisure centre on a zero hours contract - it paid more than minimum wage.

He'd probably have a good employment tribunal claim for unpaid wages, although it may not be worth bringing for just a few hours' pay. A contract doesn't have to be in writing.

This depends on the club set up, my ds swims for two clubs and one the coaches get paid and the other is all volunteers.

Our swimming club has some older swimmers who volunteer as poolside helpers and if they are interested/show aptitiude are supported and to do coaching training and qualifications (paid for by the club) and progress to paid roles as and when these become available.
Lifeguard roles have been mentioned a few times - qualifications are essential for these roles and are self funded, not something you can just walk into.

So a 16 year old 'reached out' to a former swimming club and has been offered a volunteer role rather than the paid job they imagined. This sounds like a misunderstanding based on different expectations rather than exploitation to me.

And you don't pay for a DBS if the role is voluntary (it specifically asks on the application) so don't let them fool you into thinking they've been investing in your DS