Family Rights Group’s principles of remuneration

We want parents, families, kinship carers and care experienced young people to be at the heart of our work, and welcome whatever level of involvement is right for them individually. We value and respect the contribution from people with lived experience and acknowledge everyone as experts in their own experience.  When appropriate we will offer a thank you payment for their time and input.

This section aims to create a clear, transparent, and equitable framework for remuneration.

These principles apply to all individuals with lived experience who participate in any of Family Rights Group activities, including but not limited to:

• feedback
• consultation
• participation in the design and delivery of projects and services
• campaigning / lobbying
• public speaking or sharing their experiences
• training sessions, or interviews

Prior to being invited to participate, we will make it clear whether any expenses or payments are applicable.

Expenses

Expenses must be agreed in advance by the participation officer. Depending on the situation, expenses may consist of travel, accommodation, childcare, food or costs related to accessing virtual meetings. In relation to travel costs, public transport should be used wherever feasible. Where possible, we will pay for expenses directly and upfront, for example buying travel tickets.

If expenses payments are applicable, we will pay them in line with our Involvement – Payment and Expenses policy . This will include any pre-agreed travel expenses by public transport and any pre-agreed out of pocket expenses. Expenses for voluntary work are not taxable.

Payments

Whilst we like to offer thank you payments for some of the things individuals get involved in, we know that some people prefer to volunteer their time and not be paid.

We will offer a payment of £50 for speaking at a workshop, training course or conference for Family Rights Group, which is up to 3.5 hours. For such events that are more than 3.5 hours e.g. a full day conference, we will offer a payment of £100. This amount will also be offered for participation on an interview panel. If travel time to attend such events (where in person) exceeds 2 hours, we will pay £14.00 per hour for travel time.

We will offer a payment of £30 per meeting for participation in the design and delivery of projects and services at Family Rights Group, this includes attendance in project and other internal meetings.

Involvement with regular parents’ and kinship carers’ panel meetings is currently unpaid. We will pay certain travel costs, childcare costs and/or subsistence costs, if these have been agreed in advance with the participation officer.

There may be participation opportunities that require a lot of planning and preparation, special consideration will be given to the remuneration of these on an individual basis.

When external organisations ask us to engage parents, kinship carers or care experienced young people for workshops or events, we will always try to make sure that those involved receive a thank you payment, the amount and the type of payment (cash/voucher) will vary depending on the organisation and scale of involvement. We will provide clear details of any thank you payments upfront when event invitations or requests are distributed.

Payments and reimbursements may take the form of a bank transfer or vouchers after the meeting/event, depending on the wishes of each person. Individuals do not have to receive payment if they prefer not to, however they cannot nominate other people or organisations to receive the payment on their behalf.

If you are a trustee for Family Rights Group there are certain rules which apply to any remuneration, as set out in the Charity Commission. Our Articles of Association allow for remuneration in specific and pre-agreed circumstances, when trustees are acting in the capacity of beneficiary of the charity. This includes chairing, speaking at, or other involvement in meetings and events which further the aims of the charity. Remuneration at such events is in line with the amounts given above.

Payments (aside from those that are reimbursement for expenses) may be treated as income for tax and benefits purposes. Therefore, individuals require advice from independent specialist advisers so they can make informed decisions. We therefore would cover the costs of enabling individuals to get such advice.

If an individual is paid to work for FRG on an ongoing basis we will issue a contract for this work, which will cover issues of tax, national insurance and expenses. Again, advice from an independent specialist adviser maybe required.

In addition to remuneration, we will offer a brief written reference from a FRG staff member to evidence their participation and the option to be used as a reference for future study or volunteering. We cannot however be used as reference when a previous employer is required.