Zero Tolerance for Staff Abuse

Zero Tolerance For Staff Abuse and Harassment

Whereas we recognize and accept the importance of building a team on the basis of mutual respect and trust among and between employees or contractors that could from time to time be hired by the company to provide services,

Whereas we recognize and accept that it is imperative to create an environment, which results in happy, healthy and productive workers,

But considering that Compassion North America Home Health Services believes that our values are the main reasons why staff should choose us,

Considering that we believe that our staff are the most important people to the success of the company,

Considering that we believe that it is important to have sufficient processes, tools, and training in place to protect the welfare of staff working in the company,

And moreover considering that we are strongly committed to protecting the health and safety of our staff, and promoting a high quality of life for them free from abuse, discrimination, and harassment at the workplace,

Compassion North America Home Health Services condemns and considers the abuse of staff a direct threat to the success of the company and adopts a zero tolerance policy to all kinds of staff abuse, including the semblance thereof.

What is Staff Abuse and Harassment?

The organization believes that staff abuse can occur in the following three ways but the list is by no means intended to be exhaustive. Management would from time to time review the signs of abuse as more understanding is gained on how staff abuse and harassment occurs or could occur within the company :

Through Physical Actions: Such as when a staff is slapped, pushed, looked at in a threatening way, or sexually abused. Staff abuse can also occur, when favors of a sexual or non-sexual nature are exchanged for material and non-material gifts or other privileges. When unwelcome gestures, such as inappropriate touching of a sexual or non-sexual nature but not consistent with the norms of decent behavior, are made towards staff. When staff expressed disapproval with the behavior and attitude of a fellow staff member towards them, that is causing them discomfort , is persistently ignored. When regular necessities required by staff to perform their normal duties such as office supplies, field supplies, are withheld from the staff, without any justifiable cause, for unreasonable periods of time or not provided in the way provided by policy stipulations or established field practice. It can also occur when staff supervisors make unjustifiable use of management interventions for the sole purpose of punishment or avoiding the duty of care, including excessive queries, persistently scheduling a staff member on days when no one wants to work, intentionally scheduling staff on days to solely prevent them from exercising their religious or civic duties, scheduling staff members without respect for their expressed and peculiar personal circumstances, scheduling staff without regard for their priority in human resources decision-making policy for the purpose of punishing them, and any other similar action that is done in bad faith.

Through Non-Physical actions: These actions include using threats, name calling, foul language, aggressive intonations, innuendos and like actions with the intended or unintended consequence of causing fear, anxiety, confusion, depression, and other kinds of mental suffering in the staff.

Through Inaction: Such as refusing to include staff, in the normal manner specified by organizational policies or practice, in routine organizational processes such as staff scheduling, performance evaluations, and group meetings. Refusing to share information or work with other staff members or a specific staff member. Refusing or avoiding to take action on benefits or privileges due to the staff member, which are provided to other staff members or staff members in a similar position. Persistently refusing to take action on complaints or other issues brought to the attention of a supervisor by a particular staff member or any other like actions that are done in bad faith.

We believe that these behaviors and attitudes are inimical to the success of the business. Therefore, Compassion North America Home Health Services takes a proactive approach to monitoring, investigating, and auditing for staff abuse, whenever necessary, to ensure that its work practices, workplaces, and conduct of supervisors and team leaders is free of abuse and harassment of any kind. The company shall take such actions as, but not limited to:

· Investigating, understanding, and documenting risk factors for staff abuse within the company, operational environment, and staffing situation to identify signs that predispose a staff member to abuse.

· Establishing a process to proactively identify staff situations where the staff is at unreasonable risk of abuse. To collaborate with human resources and other managers, to provide adequate training, tools, and protective measures to ensure the health, safety, and security of staff.

· Conducting regular anonymous and confidential interviews with staff focusing on abusive actions or practices and conduct of supervisors in the workplace and their interaction with staff.

· Providing a fair process for reporting all incidents of staff abuse, as well as establishing protection guarantees to prevent recrimination against staff members who report incidents.

· Establishing a mechanism for internally investigating and addressing the outcomes of reviews on staff abuse. Depending on results of preliminary investigations and urgency of the situation several redress mechanisms are possible. For individuals, redress actions could range from the education of suspected offenders, suspension without pay, and separation from the company. For the organization, progressive policy measures shall be adopted to strengthen existing organizational guarantees against staff abuse to address any lapses identified.

· Provide an anti-abuse checklist for completion with all frontline decision-making.

· A copy of this statement shall be displayed in easily visible areas in the office of supervisors and common working areas.

· All staff appointed to supervisory positions are required to sign this statement to demonstrate their understanding and agreement to abide by the requirements implicit in this policy statement during hiring.