Firstly, would it matter if there is no pay or mileage attached. You’ve got to trust the volunteer to a certain amount.
Secondly, you could have it so the Sqn commander just ticks a select all box then confirm but once’s it in it can then been seen how it works & tweak accordingly.
Oversight by your one up would help that. Obviously need to reduce other admin burdens first but in an ideal world everyone would have a volunteer review once a year with their boss. Not an appraisal per se but a chance to discuss what they’ve done and what they would like to do so that relevant opportunities canbe found for them. I know as a section commander being able to pull this data, including the different types of hours being put in, would really help with that. I could also check the claimed hours at that point to make sure there was nothing out of the usual there.
What would this bring apart from recrimination to those deemed not to be doing enough, a urinating up wall exercise for others and a general so what from those left. We don’t get paid or any other sort of
reward for that matter for what we do, so it is a pointless exercise and because we can, doesn’t mean we should. But some will get off on it.
The one thing that would be certain, no one (other than your OC if they’re worth their salt) would even begin to suggest you are doing too much and take a break.
Doesn’t this happen anyway? It just makes it a bit easier to quantify some volunteers will record everything and others only the main things that they do but it would be more accurate
I don’t think it would just be your OC who would notice but currently people only say you’re doing too much when you’ve broken or about to break.
Mapping it would allow a quick flag up on any issues any make the welfare management of staff more structured & easier as opposed to the current system of what our gut thinks of when someone has a nervous breakdown.
Just to pick a arbitrary number anything above 100hours a month should trigger a welfare check-in. That’s average 25hrs a week + 40hrs day job.
This aspect around recording hours may deserve a topic spilt but it would mean that when someone submitted their promotion matrix, consideration can be given to the hours they are currently doing - are they doing the bear minimum or are they overworked as it is. Are their hours only in one topic area (e.g. admin or as a student on training courses) or are they volunteering in a variety of roles.
Yes we will need to be sensible about monitoring & implementing recording of hours but the information it provides to help welfare & assess progression would be invaluable.
It would be an interesting one, my employer requires me to register being a CFAV as a Business interest and I’ve also been told that if I’m doing more than a certain numbers for hours volunteering that I need to opt out of the working time directive.
I was told this too. Apparently it’s cumulative, isn’t per job, and includes all volunteering time too!
That’s sounds like a police force as I know that Special Constables have to opt out of Working Time Regulations. The listing of a volunteer organisation as a business interest (particularly that of the crown) has always struck me as odd particularly if they differ regarding reserve forces.
If there is a legal obligation regarding WRT then HQAC needs to get on it & clarify as soon as possible.
I remember going around the buoy on this scenario in the early 2000s, and nothing happened. 
The RMT Union doesn’t think that volunteering counts as work
There are some very interesting issues raised in this article regarding what is volunteering, what is work, what is a contract and what is reimbursement.
Q&A: legal obligations and volunteers, The guardian.
As volunteers and adults aren’t we capable of being big and ugly enough to say I feel I’m doing too much and easing back, rather than keep doing things and tallying the hours to justify our existence.
At work we manage our time so why is this seen as a problem in the Air Cadets. Just because we elect to do this, doesn’t mean we can’t say not this time or just not do something or take some time out. We don’t get paid or rewarded for effectively messing up our private lives and as I’ve said no one in Wings, Regions and HQAC gives a monkey’s that we do. There are those who due to personal circumstances do a lot, but that’s their decision and I would never try and replicate this, as my personal circumstances don’t permit it.
Some like to think they are indispensable but I refer these to old adage about putting your hand in a bucket of water, taking it out and see how big a hole you leave when you take it out is. A mate stopped doing Air Cadets during lockdown and his old sqn has carried on without him and someone replaced him as OC. He rarely missed a parade or event in his 15 years in charge.
No one person is indispensable. However to carry your analogy over every time you take your hand out some of the water comes out with it. It may not be noticeable at first but if lots of people do it then eventually you’ll see the reduction
Likewise is great that your friend was replaced, but there are other units that fold because they can’t get anyone in.
And yes, in an ideal world you would just say no to things. But this organisation is good at manipulating people into doing stuff because they don’t understand how much work goes on behind the scenes. Having some clear evidence of what you’re doing might make them think twice
my employer doesn’t even know I’m a CFAV (and I’ve never seen anything to say I need to declare volunteering, but maybe I should check! 
)
I have to inform my employer of any work, paid or voluntary and sign a declaration that I won’t do any of my other employment in works time and comply with the Working Time Directive. However, a positive is that I can request unpaid holiday as long as the volunteering meets one of the employers ‘values’ - which it does and I can also claim 15 hours paid leave for volunteering per year. My employer isn’t very generous, but there is someone on my Sqn that gets 2 weeks paid leave per year for volunteering - it’s well worth a check!
I get one (paid) day of volunteering per year, but I don’t have to declare what exactly it is I’m doing (and it’s normally a DofE exped anyway) - so in that respect I guess my line manager knows I do some form of volunteering but I don’t talk about it at work
I get 6 days paid volunteering leave and an extra week for a cadet camp. But I’ve not had to sign anything about WTR or inform them of the hours I do. Luckily I’ve also not had to sign anything to say I won’t do cadet admin during the working day, or won’t use their printer.
First hour of most days for me is cadet shizz
I love my corner desk… I can look busy thrashing out emails and clicking away… a lot of it is for cadets 
I wish I had time to do that. I’m actually more likely to do actual work at the Sqn than cdt admin at work…
I don’t do actual work outside of work, Cadet work however lol