Policy and Procedures Minutes

Policy and = Procedures Minutes

Wed. June 18, 2008

Attendances: Ernie, Kevin, Jen, Julie, Katie, Susan, H= elen, Geraldine, Kyla

Policy Manual revisions – every year Susan compiles all info regarding policies and potential changes. These changes may be suggested at Policy Meetings, be required = by our Funders, or be a result of changes to CARF accreditation standards. The draft pol= icies are reviewed by the Policy Committee and the Board of Directors and th= en the policy= manual is revised every fall. Last year there were not too many change= s to be added so every policy manual had the new information stapled to the front cover of the book.

This year, Susan wants th= e new manuals, which will be reprinted this year in full, to be ready for distribution by October 2008. She would need all input by September 2008. T= his is the final year of accreditation and Spectrum is getting ready for the se= cond CARF survey which will happen May 2009.

By Dec/08 Spectrum will n= eed to show how we have implemented CARF policies, recommendations and regulations= .

Requirements have expanded for all staff members. These include:

- Criminal record search = to be renewed every 5 years for all employees

- Driver’s abstract= to be renewed every 5 years for all employees who drive Spectrum or personal vehi= cles for work

- Current insurance paper= s on file for all employees who drive personal vehicles for work.

Requirements continue to = be:

- = Current first aid to be on file for all employees

- = Current driver’s license, or picture ID equivalent to be on file for all employees; re-submit upon any renewal

- = Attendance at a Spectrum Orientation, one time with= in two months of hire date.

Process for keeping all c= urrent requirements has been linked to the evaluation process. We are looking to f= ind another way to give staff the ability to know current status for all requirements. The pay stubs now have expiry dates and information about requirements on the top of the pay stub. There will be a memo sent out in t= he next pay stub insert explaining what all of this information specifically m= eans along with a sample pay stub to assist in the explanation.

There are new job descrip= tions and evaluations that will be more specific and outline what requirements are necessary for the position and which requirements are still outstanding. HR will talk to the manager of each program with regards to the job descriptio= n to clarify what the requirements are as they differ from position to position. These requirements are also reviewed during the interview process and durin= g the hire package process. It is a CARF requirement that the job descriptions be reviewed once/year, we have met this requirement.

CARF requires that there = is evidence of competency based performance evaluations for all staff. What th= ey want to see is concrete evidence that people understand their jobs. Possible ways to document this during an evaluation are:

- = have staff write a CIR during the evaluation (give staff scenario)

- = have staff write a med error form during the evalua= tion (give staff scenario)

- = have staff look at a filled in CIR, Med error form = or MAR and explain what is incorrect about them

- = identify one goal of the person supported

- = Mock exercise or quiz.

The policy committee feel= s this is a fair and natural shift in the responsibility to the staff member, rath= er than relying only on the managers and HR.

Memo to go out within the= next month regarding these changes, explaining the new process and requesting th= at all requirements be up to date by September 2008.

The last step in this pro= cess would be to issue a final notice with 30 days notice to complete the requirements.

Relief Evaluations – the constant question regarding this is WHO evalua= tes the relief staff? We want all staff to feel they have been given feedb= ack on their performance and it just makes sense to clarify when a staff h= as passed their probationary period if we are telling them they are in th= eir probationary period. The thought is that if a relief staff works in several houses, which is often the case, that whichever house the staff works in the most, the manager would be appointed to do that relief evaluation. Will have a draft relief evaluation for the next policy meeting for review.

Relief Departure – when can we terminate staff that work only relief in= the system? This is about those staff who are only working relief and then either do not respond to calls, are not available for any shifts, or j= ust have no shifts worked.

HR can send out a general memo/letter to the staff to contact HR: “We notice you have not worke= d in the previous 30 days. Please call HR in two weeks to update your status with Spectrum. If HR does not receive contact from you by _ (insert date) __ the= n we will end your employment with Spectrum.

Mileage – current rate since June 2007 is $0.45/L which was based on the= gas price of $1.29/L. Ernie will look into other mileage rates to see if Spectrum is keeping in line with what most agencies are doing.

RRSP – clarification of income tax information. For 2007 taxation yea= r, you can claim any contributions for RRSP’s in 2007 and any contributions in the first 60 days of 2008.

Bus pass – Translink is offering a disco= unt to employees for monthly bus passes when the pass is purchased through yo= ur employer. Ernie will research requirements for this application. If someone opts in, do they need to remain in for one year? 6 months? Wha= t if that person leaves Spectrum and they still have 4 months left for the = bus pass to be purchased through Spectrum? Who pays for it? Can you opt ou= t at that point?

Memo to staff, who would = be interested in this bus pass program? We need at least 25 members to join.

Health & Safety Committee – has at least 2 employee representatives= . 2 years ago we had nominations. We will issue a new memo out to staff for nominations for this years committee. Then we will take a vote on who = will be elected into the committee. The Health and Safety committee meets o= nce per month on the 4^th Monday of every month, 10am-12pm. The committee also must attend at least 8 hours of training per year. Some= examples of this training have been through WorkSafe BC, private education,= or other means of training. (The committee has attended training such as Musculoskeletal Injuries, MRSA, and Violence in the Workplace)

Wage equity - The Community Living Agencies Network – www.clanbc.ca R= 11; has been established and is having an AGM on June 24^th in Burnaby at t= he Hilton on Kingsway. CLAN will work with the Provincial Government to ensure that non-union agencies get funding for wages and benefits that is equivalent to the funding that unionized agencies get. We would like to see at least 10 people from Spectrum there, it’s a great opportunity to hear from Rick Mowles, the CEO of CL= BC and the key-note speaker Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond= , BC’s Child and Youth Representative. This new agency will help Spectrum continue to provide competitive wages and benefits over the coming years.

The Spectrum Picnic is at Trout Lake on Friday July 18, 2008. 3pm-6pm.

Next Policy meeting is September 17, 2008