Volountry work & weekly rest

Hi guys,

Been lurking on here for ages & thought I would register & dive right in with a question.

Apologies if this has been done elsewhere but

I have been advised that the volountry work I do on my weekends will reduce my weekly rest and as such must be accounted for.

The weekend work is volountary(Bloodbikes) unpaid & using my own vehicle/fuel then I feel it should be exempt.

Prior to starting I did a Bike safe course & notified my insurance company.

Have been ■■■■■■■ in knots ever since looking here & elsewhere for a definitive answer and am still waiting for other enquiries
to bear fruit so thought I try here as well.

The RMT website says this

Q.4 What about time spent on voluntary activities?
The working time limits do not apply to any additional hours that the worker chooses to do without being required by the employer to do so. This would, therefore, include all voluntary activities such as work undertaken as trade union branch secretaries and local authority councillors.

Meanwhile VOSA says A rest is an uninterrupted period where a driver may freely dispose of his time. Time spent working in other employment or under obligation or instruction, regardless of the occupation type, cannot be counted as rest, including work where you are self-employed.

The key bit being under obligation or instruction…

Any help much appreciated

Thanks

so did some more digging & found this which kind of answers my own question

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=115050

Sorry I never saw your question before, assuming you’re riding a bike and not driving a vehicle with a MAM exceeding 7.5t the voluntary work will be exempt from all HGV drivers regulations.

Though this is a bit late because you’ve already found the answer :wink: