Volunteer in the workplace

[sailawaysd]

I work as a paid employee for a charity that has several departments in addition to fundraising. There is a volunteer that has been there for years and though not a bad person is not the saintly person so many take her to be. If you say something mildly negative, the reply is something about not likely as she does so much volunteering and helping with fundraising. I feel that she is self-important and entitled. She has no formal responsibility or authority, though you'd be hard pressed to believe it by working with her. She seems to have an "in" with most departments and gatekeeps a connection to donations of equipment of the disposable type, cups and the like. I've seen her generally snooping around when areas are closed. She has the attitude of feeling like she owns the place. I find this odd, that one person has been allowed to become like this, it's as if the several people she deals with haven't got together and realised. Is this out of the ordinary or am I unnecessarily overconcerned? I'm not sure what her reason is for this level of involvement other than a feeling of self-importance and grandeur for her own self-satisfactions in knowing and being able to give the impression of importance to friends and family.

[atticus]

I don't see this as a legal question. If anything, this is something for you to raise with management.

[Lizaza]

It sounds like this situation has been frustrating for you, especially when the boundaries between volunteering and actual responsibility seem unclear.

In any organisation, clear roles and communication are important. It might help to focus on specific behaviours that affect your work rather than the person herself. If something is impacting your ability to do your job, it may be worth having a calm conversation with your manager and explaining the situation with examples.

Hopefully you can find a way to make the working relationship easier.