Amsterdam civil servants are given space to do volunteer work

Recently, the Municipality of Amsterdam has decided to continue the Volunteer Work during working hours pilot. It will no longer be a pilot but a structural opportunity under the name Social Impact Amsterdam. This means that the Municipality of Amsterdam will continue to offer all employees the opportunity to do 32 hours of volunteer work during working hours per year.Deputy Mayor Hester van Buren (Personnel & Organization): “Employees of the Municipality of Amsterdam work tirelessly every day for our city and its residents. By assisting social organizations, they can learn even more about the issues at hand. These experiences they bring back to their work, allowing us to improve the municipal organization.”

Another motivation for giving employees space for volunteering is its positive impact on mental and physical health. Research consistently shows that volunteering makes people healthier and happier.

As Volunteer Center Amsterdam, we were closely involved in setting up the pilot and are pleased that the Municipality is continuing it. We hope it will set an example for other companies. We see a high demand for volunteers in social organizations and are convinced that civil servants can make a valuable contribution as volunteers. We also believe that if more civil servants engage in volunteering, it will have a positive effect on the relationship between the social sector and the municipality, fostering greater mutual understanding.

Find Volunteer Work

Are you an employee of the municipality of Amsterdam and are you interested in doing volunteer work during working hours?Read how you can tackle that.Non-breaking space