Cherry Kids� Club
Staff Procedures
An attempt should first be made to resolve the problem informally, with another member of staff or a member of the committee.
If the matter cannot be resolved informally, the employee should write to the chair of the committee.� This may resolve the matter.
If the employee continues to feel aggrieved he or she has the right to raise the matter with the management committee at the next meeting, or if this is more than four weeks away, to call an extraordinary meeting.� At the discretion of the management committee any individual may be called upon to assist in the discussion.� The employee has the right to attend the meeting.� If not present at the meeting the committee must inform the employee of the decision from which time the employee may choose, within 15 days, to appeal.
This can happen for a number of reasons.� It can be a deliberate attempt to defraud, by any person with access to the Club�s funds.� On the other hand it may simply be a matter of poor book keeping; or, it may be that a personal debt causes an employee to �dip� into group funds with the intention of paying it back, which then does not occur.
The normal course of action will be to ask the person to return the money.� If this is unsuccessful, a letter from a solicitor should be sent demanding the repayment.� If both these attempts fail the management committee will decide whether or not to contact the police.� Such a decision is never easy � there may be sympathy for the person who took the money, concern about the impact on the children of involving the police, the risk of adverse publicity, and the serious effect on the person�s future job prospects.
Cherry Kids� Club money is money given to the Club for the provision of high quality childcare and the public, funders and parents have to have confidence that such money will be handled safely and responsibly.� Every effort will therefore be made to recover misappropriated funds.
These procedures exist to ensure that problems at work are dealt with as fairly and promptly as possible.
This includes sexual harassment, physical assault, major theft and maliciously discriminatory activity.� An employee will be dismissed without warning, pending an enquiry.
The chairman of the Club�s management committee must give full details of the allegation to the employee, in writing. Within one week of the misconduct coming to the chairman�s attention, the committee must meet to decide if there is a case to be answered.� The employee is invited to be present, and to be accompanied by a friend or other representative.
If, after investigation, in the view of the committee, there is clear and tangible evidence that confirms the allegation, and there are not other factors to take into account, the employee will be dismissed without notice and will be given no pay in lieu of notice.
The notice of dismissal must be given in writing and must include the reasons for dismissal.
This includes absenteeism, bad time keeping, poor work record, breach of confidentiality etc.� Every effort will be made to resolve the problem informally before the following formal procedures are enacted.
Any allegations about an employee�s work or conduct should be given to the chairman of the management committee. The chairman should discuss the complaint informally with the plaintiff and with the employee to verify the situation and also to find ways of dealing with any other background difficulties such as those arising from the home, travelling or personalities.
If the problem can not be resolved informally the misconduct should be referred to the management committee. The committee may choose to invite the employee, or other witnesses, to all or part of the meeting at which the issue is considered. If the committee finds evidence that misconduct has taken place the committee must consider whether:
The latter course of action should normally be considered only if there are no extenuating circumstances and a related letter of warning has already been sent.
The letter of warning may include a time limited requirement to be fulfilled (for example, to carry out a constructive programme of improvement) if future dismissal is to be avoided.
The action taken should be documented (e.g. in the minutes of the meeting) and made available to the plaintiff.
The employee has the right to appeal against dismissal for reasons of misconduct.� Such an appeal should be given, in writing, within 28 days of dismissal, to the chairman of the management committee.� The chairman is obliged to set up an appeals panel within 14 days of the appeal being received.
The panel should include at least three people who have not previously been involved.� The employee has the right to be present at this meeting and to be represented.� The panel�s decision will be final and binding.
Ratified in committee: 1998