§ 3.04.110. Volunteer workers.

A.

Definition. "Volunteer worker" means a person who performs authorized voluntary service to the County of Riverside or a department, institution or agency thereof, without pay, for the benefit of the county and in aid of a recognized county purpose. The term does not include members of volunteer fire departments or companies. For the purposes of this section, the volunteer worker must be currently enrolled pursuant to this chapter in order to be recognized as a volunteer worker. A volunteer worker is not an employee.

B.

Volunteer organizations. Any agency/department of the county government may establish one or more organizations of volunteer workers in aid of the purposes of the agency/department or may recognize a private civic organization or delegation thereof as the equivalent. No particular form of organization shall be required; it may be an unincorporated association, a committee or subordinate body of an existing organization, a corporation, or merely a series of individuals sponsored by the agency/department.

C.

Enrollment of volunteer workers. In each agency/department having an organization of volunteer workers, the agency/department, or organization with agency/departmental approval, shall keep within the agency/department a current and continuing roster upon which volunteer workers are enrolled. This shall contain at least the name, address and telephone number, the date of enrollment and the date of termination of the enrollment; if the worker may be expected to drive an automobile in the performance of the volunteer function (other than between the worker's home and the workplace) then the roster shall include the number and expiration date of the worker's operator's license, and the name of company, policy number and expiration date of the worker's liability insurance. Records as to each volunteer worker shall be retained for three years after such worker has terminated.

The agency/department, or with its approval, the organization, shall, as a part of the roster or separately, keep a continuing record of the number of hours worked by each volunteer worker. If the services of any worker shall be terminated, or if the worker shall cease to perform voluntary service, entry of the date of termination shall promptly be made on the roster. Unless otherwise specified the termination of enrollment shall be without prejudice to later re-enrollment. The services of any volunteer worker may be refused or terminated by the agency/department at will, and shall be terminated when deemed in the best interest of the agency/departmental function or of the voluntary services program to do so.

If there is no volunteer organization within the agency/department, individual volunteer workers may be enrolled by the agency/department in the manner set forth in this subsection.

D.

Motor vehicle usage. While unnecessary use of automobiles is to be discouraged, it is recognized that in some volunteer activities motor vehicle usage is indispensable. Privately owned vehicles may be used on express authorization of the agency/department head specifying the purpose. County vehicle use may be authorized only by the county executive officer on recommendation of the agency/department head including appropriate justification. No volunteer worker shall be permitted to drive either a private vehicle or a county vehicle for volunteer business until the worker has presented his or her current operator's license and liability insurance policy with minimum limits in the amounts required by the State for bodily injury or death and property damage, and the necessary data therefrom has been placed on the roster.

E.

Reimbursement of expenses. A volunteer worker who drives a private vehicle duly authorized shall be entitled to reimbursement at a mileage rate currently fixed by the county. Other necessary travel expenses shall be reimbursed at actual cost when authorized by the agency/department. Reimbursement shall be conditional upon claim being promptly made, in no event more than one hundred (100) days after the cost was incurred.

F.

County insurance. Such liability insurance as the county may carry shall be excess insurance over any other valid and collectible insurance, including that provided by the volunteer worker. Volunteer workers are not covered by workers compensation insurance or by county self-insurance for injury or accident arising out of volunteer service.

G.

Reports. Each agency/department, not later than the fifteenth (15 ^th ) day of each month, shall make a written report for the preceding month showing the total number of volunteer workers who performed services in that month, the total number of hours of such services, the number of new volunteer workers enrolled during the month and the number whose enrollments were terminated. The report shall be filed with the county executive officer, who may inspect the roster at any time, and shall do so at least quarterly to see that the enrollment of inactive workers has been terminated and that other information on the roster is in current condition.

H.

Resolutions. Further rules or regulations in aid of the county's program of voluntary services, or interpretations or extensions of the provisions of this section may be made by resolution of the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 440.1761, § 11, 9-15-2015; Ord. No. 440.1762, § 11, 1-5-2016)