Staff Code of Conduct Policy

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The purpose and aim of the Code of Conduct is to raise awareness and provide guidance regarding the standards of conduct and behaviour that CPO Ltd expects from its staff.

All staff should ensure that they act at all times in such a manner as to justify public trust and confidence. All staff are to uphold and enhance the good standing and reputation of CPO Ltd, in the provision of services to the local community and to safeguard the interests of service users and act in accordance with their relevant professional code of conduct.

 

The Code of Conduct applies to all employees of CPO Ltd.

Implementation of the Code will be supported through a variety of communication mechanisms including team briefing and departmental communications.

 

All new employees will receive a copy of the Code of Conduct within their induction information and further advice will be provided by the Operations Manager.

 

Employees who have questions regarding the Code or require more detailed guidance are advised to contact the Operations Manager. Failure to meet the standards and requirements of the Code may result in disciplinary action.

 

Principles

 

The following principles provide guidance on the standards of conduct expected of staff:-

 

• Act always in such a manner as to promote and safeguard the interests and wellbeing of service users.

• Ensure that no action or omission on your part or within your sphere of work is detrimental to the interests, condition or safety of service users.

• Decline any duties or responsibilities unless able to perform them in a safe manner.

• Adopt a pro-active, responsible and co-operative attitude towards Health and Safety and take every reasonable precaution to avoid personal injury and injury to service users, colleagues and members of the public. (Health & Safety Policy)

• Work in a collaborative and co-operative manner with senior staff and colleagues, recognising and respecting their particular skills, supporting the right of all people to be treated with dignity and respect at work

• Ensure that no employee or member of the public receives less favourable treatment or is victimised or harassed on the grounds of race, creed, colour, ethnic origin, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, age, religion or any other unjustifiable grounds.

 

• Be aware of and respect the customs, values and spiritual beliefs of service user’s and colleagues.

 

• Avoid any abuse of the privileged relationship which exists with service users and of the privileged access allowed to their person, property or residence.

 

• Refuse politely to accept any gift, favour or hospitality from service users or carers which might be interpreted as seeking to exert undue influence to obtain preferential consideration. 

 

• Respect confidential information obtained in the course of practice and refrain from disclosing such information without the consent of the service user or a person entitled to act on his/her behalf, except where a disclosure is required under the terms of the relevant safeguarding procedures or by law or by the order of a court or is a qualifying disclosure made in accordance with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

 

• Dress in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of your job utilising uniforms and/or protective clothing when provided, ensuring safety for service users and other staff and presenting a good public image of yourself and CPO Ltd

 

• Employees may through agreed procedures and without fear of recrimination bring to the attention of the appropriate level of management any deficiency in the provision of service, impropriety or breach of procedure.

 

• Be aware of, and adhere to, current CPO Ltd policies and procedures relevant to your sphere of work.

 

Specific code of conduct policy for staff, volunteers, children and young people

 

The Code of Conduct additional information below applies to all staff; volunteers, children and young people whom all need to uphold and enhance the good standing and reputation of CPO Ltd. It further summarises how staff, volunteers, children, and young people should conduct and behave accordingly to the expectations of CPO Ltd.

 

Employees who have questions regarding the Code or require more detailed guidance are advised to contact the Operations Manager. Failure to meet the standards and requirements of the Code may result in disciplinary action.

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Conduct when working with children or young people

All adults working with children and young people have a responsibility to maintain public confidence in their ability to safeguard the welfare and best interests of the children and young people. It is therefore expected that employees and volunteers will adopt high standards of personal conduct in order to maintain the confidence and respect of the public in general and all those with whom they work. This includes the way in which staff and volunteers speak to children and young people. A positive, respectful and encouraging tone should be used at all times.

 

Where it is necessary to challenge inappropriate behaviour or to get the child/young person’s attention, it is reasonable for staff and volunteers to raise their voices and/or use an authoritative tone. However, it is not appropriate for staff to shout at children/young people habitually or speak to them disrespectfully. Admonishments should focus on behaviour rather than the child/young person’s personality or character and targets for desired behaviour should be described by the member of staff or volunteer.

 

Staff and volunteers should refer to children/young people by name. Disrespectful nicknames, words and terms should be avoided. Staff and volunteers should exercise caution in referring to children/young people by affectionate nicknames and more general terms of endearment or familiarity such as ‘Dear, Love, Petal, Mate, Dude’. Staff and volunteers should be aware that use of such terms might cause some children/young people to feel confused and/or uncomfortable, could be construed as being part of a 'grooming' process and as such will give rise to concerns about their behaviour. If members of staff or volunteers choose to speak to children/young people using such informal language, they should ensure it is not reserved for particular individuals in order to avoid any allegations of favouritism or concern about grooming behaviour.

 

Staff and volunteers should be particularly careful not to refer to children/young people using words that are specifically associated with grooming such as ‘Sweetheart, Princess, Angel, Darling’. There may be times when an employee or volunteer’s behaviour or actions in their personal life come under scrutiny from local communities, the media or public authorities. This could be because their behaviour is considered to compromise their position or indicates an unsuitability to work with children or young people. Misuse of drugs, alcohol or acts of violence would be examples of such behaviour. Employees and volunteers should therefore understand and be aware that safe practice also involves using judgement and integrity about behaviours in places other than the work setting.

 

The behaviour of a member of staff or volunteer’s partner or other family members may raise similar concerns and require careful consideration by the Managing Director, Operations Manager or Chair of the Board as to whether there may be a potential risk to children and young people.

 

This does mean that employees and volunteers should not:

• Behave in a manner which would lead any reasonable person to question their suitability to work with children or act as a role model.

• Make, or encourage others to make, unprofessional personal comments which scapegoat, demean or humiliate, or which might be interpreted as such.

 

This does mean that employees and volunteers should:

• Be aware that behaviour in their personal lives including online behaviours may impact upon their work with children and young people

• Understand that the behaviour and actions of their partner (or other family members) may raise questions about their suitability to work with children and young people

 

No children or young person should be in or invited into the home of an employee or volunteer unless the reason for that has been firmly established and agreed with parents/ carers and Managing Director or Chair of the Board.

CPO does not expect or require that employees or volunteers use their home or private living space for work with children.

Under no circumstances should children assist with chores or tasks in the home of an employee or volunteer. Neither should they be asked to do so by friends or family of any employee or volunteer.

 

Staff training for working with children

All members of staff undertake safeguarding and child protection training (including online safety) at induction. The training should be regularly updated.

 

All staff should receive regular safeguarding and child protection updates (for example, via email, e-bulletins, staff meetings) as required, and at least annually, to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.

CPO recognise the expertise staff build by undertaking safeguarding training and managing safeguarding concerns on a daily basis. Opportunities are therefore provided for staff to contribute to and shape safeguarding arrangements and child protection policy.

 

Online safety

It is essential that all children are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material. As such, CPO ensure appropriate filters and appropriate monitoring systems are in place.

 

Staff and volunteers need to ensure that children are taught about safeguarding, including online safety and built into any delivery to the young people as part of providing a broad and balanced program.

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Specific advice to staff and volunteers regarding working with children

 

• Any allegations or concerns about staff or volunteers must be reported immediately to the Managing Director or Operations Manager.

• The member of the workforce will be removed immediately and social services contacted.

• The member of the workforce will be removed immediately from the situation and informed in private that a complaint has been made.

• A child at risk of significant harm will be referred to the social services.

• If the child is not regarded at risk of significant harm, the concerns should be logged and the child’s well being observed, monitored and recorded on a regular basis.

• In all situations the safety and the welfare of the child is paramount.

• If a child makes a disclosure, staff should remain calm and reassuring.

• The child should not be interrogated and staff should listen carefully and patiently. They must not stop a child who is freely recalling significant events. At this point a written record of the meeting should be made as soon after the meeting as possible.

• Staff need to be honest with the child and explain that they cannot promise confidentiality.

• The child will be kept informed of what is happening if he/she is of an age to understand what is happening.

• All incidents relating to child protection will be recorded in the child protection Issue Log and may be used as supporting evidence by the authorities at a later date.

• All child protection incidents must be recorded during the event if at all possible or immediately afterwards and should state the date, time, setting, adult/children involved and exactly what was said and/or seen.

• Records must be based on fact only and not assumption.

• Any decision to deny parents access to records must be made only after seeking the advice and agreements of:

• Social Services Department

• The Police

• Chairperson of the Board of Directors/Trustees

• The Head teacher or the Child Protection Liaison teacher.

 

CPO’s behaviour code for children and young people 

 

This code has been developed in order to provide children and young people with advice on the behaviour that is expected of them when attending and using the facilities of CPO It has been shaped by the views of children and young people.

 

Purpose

To ensure children and young people are treated fairly by all adults working with them at (name of group/organisation) and know what is expected of them.

 

Basic principles

This code of behaviour for children and young people is intended to: identify acceptable behaviour for children and young people; promote self-respect and self-control; raise children’s and young people’s self-esteem and self-confidence; encourage individual responsibility for behaviour and outline the consequences of poor behaviour; encourage children and young people to recognise and respect the rights of others; encourage cooperation at all times and in all situations; promote the values of honesty, fairness and respect; anticipate and resolve any conflict that may arise; ensure that children and young people are aware of when sanctions will be put into place.

 

Dealing with bullying Dos and don’ts

• Children and young people are expected to:

• Cooperate with each other be friendly

• Listen to each other

• Be helpful follow this code of behaviour and other rules

• Stick to the e-safety policy and agreement when using the internet, social networking sites, mobile phones etc Have good manners

• Join in and respect each other’s differences

• Treat staff and volunteers with respect report anything that worries or concerns them to Fiona Wilkinson responsibility for hearing concerns from children and young people

Children and young people shouldn’t:

• Pick on or make fun of each other

• Bully each other

• Stare at others

• Yell or shout at others

• Be abusive

• Use equipment to be abusive or to cyberbully – for example, by using mobile phones to send nasty messages, taking and sharing photos without permission, sending nasty emails, or “trolling” (leaving unkind comments on a webpage or social network profile).

 

Breach of this code of conduct

 

This code of conduct is only useful if it forms part of a process for guiding children and young people to receive appropriate support.

 

It is the responsibility of Fiona Wilkinson, Operations Manager at CPO to ensure that all children and young people attending CPO are informed of this code of conduct and to confirm with them that they have seen, understood and agreed to follow it. Children and young people must also be made aware of the consequences if they breach the code.

 

Following the traffic light system

 

1. If a child or young person breaches the code of conduct, the most appropriate sanction for a minor or first time breach will be to remind him or her about the code of conduct and ask him or her to comply with it. Children and young people will be given the opportunity to reflect, enabling them to plan a positive response, with support from either staff or volunteers;

 

2. If, having followed the above step, the child or young person continues to exhibit inappropriate behaviour, she or he should be referred to the appropriate member of staff who will give her or him a formal, green light warning;

 

Supportive interventions may need to be identified at this stage. The action should also be recorded in the discipline book and parents/carers informed;

 

3. Any further persistent inappropriate behaviour will result in a more serious sanction being imposed (eg restriction/suspension from the project facilities). This is the yellow light warning;

 

Again, supportive interventions may need to be identified at this stage. This action should also be recorded

 

4. If these interventions are still not effective in helping the child/young person to change his or her behaviour, a red light warning may be needed, with further sanctions. It may be that at this point, Fiona Wilkinson, Operations Manager will discuss with the child or young person and his or her family a possible removal from the project.

 

If staff at CPO become concerned that a child’s behaviour suggests either that he/she may be at risk of significant harm or that he/she may present a risk of significant harm to other children, (name of group/organisation)’s child protection procedures will be followed.

 

Such a referral would be discussed with the child and his/her family at the earliest possible opportunity, except in situations where this would possibly endanger a child’s safety or interfere with a police investigation.

This information is also available in other formats upon request.

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Staff Code of Conduct Policy
Version 6
Updated 4th February 2022

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