to think that if you volunteer for something, is is...

[JumpingThroughHoops]

... no less of a commitment than if you are paid to do it?

DH is a Games Maker. We are 4 days into the Olympics, and he just text and said today, a lot of the other games makers are either absent or turning up late. The first day, they wanted to go home early, the next day it was constant need to have a break and so on.

They've all been asked if they can do extra shifts (he can't as he has taken annual leave to do this and there isn't enough time to juggle more days off).

I can't believe some people; you get the opportunity of a life time, and they just CBA to turn up.

I think the games organisers should have expected this. I applied and didn't get a position. I would have been delighted to have a place. The organisers should have 'hired' more people.

There is that to it, I assume they did over recruit slightly. Ok so some of the not-so-mainstream sports won't appeal to volunteers, but nonetheless, there is no excuse for letting people down.

Ah, he's just text again, he has someone on his team who has a need for religious observance and keeps going off to the multi-faith room. Im not altogether sure that people need to have a quick word with the almighty on such a regular basis, surely that is preference as opposed to need ?

YANBU. If you've made a commitment and have people counting on you it's really bad behaviour to just not turn up.

They should definitely have over recruited to allow for attrition.

I can imagine those who volunteered thinking they would get to meet loads of athletes, but ended up on car park duty, might get fed up pretty quickly and not take it so seriously because they're not getting paid.

If you are pious then it is a "need".
How many are off on ciggie breaks how often?

What is a gamesmaker. Yadnbu.

Games Maker = volunteer helpers, orange and purple suits ghastly

"Games Maker" - evidence if such were ever needed that Ronald McDonald clearly played a significant role in the planning of the circus event.

But yes, YANBU, OP. Volunteering is as much a commitment as if you were paid. Unfortunately, one of the big problems when you manage a team of volunteers is that some of them will not share that view.

I know someone who is also doing similar Olympic duties. Half of his team has been sent home for a week. Which came as a surprise to him, it has to be said since he didn't already thought they were rather thin on the ground.

YABU. Unless you're paid, commitment is bound to be lower (in organisational situations). For that very reason, they should have over-hired and under-allocated.

YANBU although I do think there is still a slight difference, eg illness - you may be more likely to drag yourself in to a paid job than volunteering. But of course people just not turning up is never ok. Unfortunately you get a lot of that in all volunteering - from my experience anyway.

My only hope is that there is some kind of absence record if people get references from this Olympic volunteering - my DSS is a games maker and frankly I want him (he is totally dedicated to it and is picking up lots of extra shifts) to come out of it with a better 'report' than those who are being late or absent. He's earning it - others aren't.

For some religions there is a religious (pardon the pun) prayer schedule - every couple of hours.

If that is your faith then you should be allowed to pray to Mecca and I believe that it is regarded as a human right to do so.

For everything else yanbu.

Im not altogether sure that people need to have a quick word with the almighty on such a regular basis, surely that is preference as opposed to need?

What's unreasonable about asking that?

Or are all questions about religion suddenly unreasonable/bitching now?

Thing is about the prayers etc, this person is doing the organisers a favour why should they sacrifice their prayer schedule (which they might do in a paid job) for a favour? This isn't a 'privillage' it's a hassle and people doing it are doing it for free. If they needed a set number of people to cover various things that are important, pay them. If you want to get that for free, then as others have said, assume 'good will' will start to disappear along with the sunshine and over recruit.

YANBU

If an adult has said they will do something, they should (barring emergencies) do it.

Why is it RichTeas?
I volunteer with a big organisation, and you won't find more dedicated people (indeed, off to do my 6 hr+ shift in a few minutes - many people are there for 24hours, for the whole of this week).

You're all assuming shes Islamic. I never said she was.

FWIW: (google is always your friend in these instances) Islamic prayer times today, in London are:

2:45am 5:23am 1:07pm 5:17pm 8:50pm 11:13pm
www.islamicfinder.org/cityPrayerNew.php?country=united_kingdom

Like anything else, he's just miffed with non attenders and the late comers, voluntary or not, it's always the few who pick up the pieces of the many.

My purpose wasn't to set of an Islamic debate.

I think it depends what the 'hiring' situation was. I would imagine lots of people who were looking for jobs might volunteer (I would), but then if they got an actual job or an interview, they'd cancel. I think unless I were told otherwise, if I were volunteering for something of this size, with hundreds of volunteers and some people turned down, it wouldn't occur to me there was a problem with me cancelling. Maybe that's wrong of me, but I had assumed that was how it would work.

It's bad to just not turn up, though.

They only need to pray at one thirty, and at six thirty,

Then at nine.

It is not exactly that often? But the volunteers should be able to fit it in their breaks, assuming they have breaks?

But yes yanbu people should stick to their commitments.