Concòrdia Files Amendments to Andorra's Draft Volunteering Law

Concòrdia has tabled around a dozen amendments to Andorra's draft volunteering law, seeking to reinforce volunteers' rights and protection and to stop volunteering from being used to replace paid jobs, cover permanent staffing needs or cut hiring costs.

The party's parliamentary group presented the proposals in Andorra la Vella, targeting the Projecte de llei del voluntariat d'Andorra, the draft volunteering law now before the parliament.

A central aim of the amendments is to preserve the altruistic character of volunteering by preventing such activities from directly generating profit for a commercial or for-profit operation. The party also wants to make volunteering easier to take up, including through measures to support the participation of people with disabilities and to distinguish regular volunteers from occasional helpers.

On data protection, Concòrdia proposes restricting access to the personal information of both volunteers and the people the programmes assist, and requiring a criminal record certificate for any activity involving contact with minors. The amendments further argue that volunteers should be able to receive psychological or therapeutic support when their work makes it necessary.

For minors, prior authorisation from a legal representative would always be required. The party also proposes guaranteed insurance cover for volunteers taking part in missions abroad and greater flexibility in working hours, so that employees can fit volunteering around their jobs, particularly in emergency or public safety operations.