Research - paying participant expenses and compensating for time: guidance

10. Compensating participants for their time: voucher payment

If you are making voucher payments, it is possible to buy vouchers in bulk in advance and issue individual vouchers when needed. Your ePC (electronic Purchasing Card) holder will be able to make this purchase.

Any payment compensating for time needs to be made after participant involvement has taken place – sometimes participants are unable to attend at short notice and we cannot pay people for involvement that does not take place.

Once participant involvement has taken place, vouchers can be issued using participant email addresses and/or mobile phone numbers. If a participant prefers, physical vouchers can be provided in-person or posted to a suitable address.

You will need to keep a record of voucher payments, for example a spreadsheet or file confirming who payments have been made to and when. You will need to ensure that you have in place appropriate data protection measures to process any personal data. Any personal data should be stored securely and deleted at an appropriate time (generally after payment has been received), in line with any Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) you have in place.

Many retailers provide gift vouchers. There are also a range of vouchers available that can be spent at multiple retailers. Some participants may request vouchers for specific retailers – if it is practical and cost effective to do so, try to accommodate these requests. If participants have accessibility requirements that limit their ability to use certain vouchers (for example visual impairments, restricted or no internet access), you must accommodate their needs.