Staff

 Personnel Policies and Procedures of New Frontiers For Families  

Update 10/1/04

Policy: It is the policy of New Frontiers for Families to employ professional staff that will accomplish the agency’s mission with competence and integrity. As such the following staff policies and procedures are defined.

Leadership of New Frontiers for Families: New Frontiers for Families is owned and directed by the agency’s Executive Director. The Executive Director is President of the agency’s three member Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees consists of the President, the Vice President and the Secretary/Treasurer. The Board of Trustees meets quarterly to decide on such matters as budgeting, personnel policies, contract negotiations and the agency mission. An Advisory Board consisting of six members serves the agency for the purposes of refining the best practices, developing program plans and recommending policy to the Board of Trustees. The Advisory Board meets four times a year, at the end of every third month.

Terms of Employment: Employees will serve at the discretion of the Executive Director/President of New Frontiers for Families. Service will be according to agency funding, professional performance and the need for specific skills. The first day of employment is the staff persons hire anniversary date. Prior to anniversary date, the employee must have legal residency in the U.S., have a valid Utah Drivers License, have cleared BCI and have no record of substantiated child abuse or neglect or have documented successful completion of a child welfare service plan. Each employee is on probationary status for the first six months. Employees hired before November 1, 1998 will be "grandfathered" into permanent status. The probationary period serves as a time to evaluate the match between employees and the agency. The employee may be released without cause during this time period, with written notice. Employees may also release themselves from service with notice. Staff is requested to give a two week written notice when terminating employment. Performance plans will be negotiated within the first month of employment, between the employee and the Executive Director/President. Employees are expected to follow their performance plans, which will become part of the employee file.

Communication and Teamwork: Communication and teamwork are the hallmarks of New Frontiers for Families mission and values when working with families and service providers. As such it is the responsibility of each employee, to practice courteous and assertive communication and to act as a team member whenever possible, both inside and outside the agency. It is important for each employee to take his or her concerns to the person directly involved before moving up the chain of command, both inside and outside of the agency.

Personnel Files: Each employee of New Frontiers For Families will have a confidential personnel file with the following contents: a face sheet with the employee’s name, social security number, hire date, home address and phone number. Resumes, performance plans, performance reviews, commendations, corrective action plans and timesheets will also be the contents of these confidential personnel files. Employees may view the contents of their files with the Executive Director and provide reasonable notice of this request.

Performance Plans: The performance plan gives a general outline of agency expectations of employee’s performance, work scopes, weekly hours, salary and professional conduct. Each plan will be tailored between employee and the Executive Director. The Executive Director is the supervisor of each New Frontiers For Families employee and as such each employee is directly accountable to Her.

Evaluation Process: Quantitative information will be used to evaluate employee’s performance. Employees will receive an overall evaluation rating of exceptional, successful or unsuccessful. Both employee and Executive Director will cite specific behaviors to justify the rating. Each employee will meet monthly with the Executive Director to review performance, set goals or timelines and receive feedback as a foundation for the probationary and annual evaluation. Exceptional employees will consistently exceed performance objectives. Successful employees will meet the required objectives. Unsuccessful employees fail on significant objectives. All reviews will be documented, signed and dated by both employee and Executive Director and placed in the employee’s confidential personnel file. Evaluations may be done at other times if the Executive Director deems it necessary.

New Employee Orientation: A staff designated by the Executive Director will orient each new employee. This orientation will consist of completing personnel file face sheet information, W-2 forms, being oriented with personal safety, office locations, performance planning, agency mission, personnel and practice policies, use of office equipment, agency networking, advocacy and case management principles, programs, grants, time sheets, work schedules and pay periods.

Non-Discrimination of Employees: New Frontiers for Families promotes fair and equitable treatment of all people. Employees will not be discriminated against for any reason, including age, gender, race, ethnicity, class, marital status, mental or physical disability or sexual orientation. New Frontiers for Families seeks to have a diverse staff representing the clients we serve.

Work Schedules: Employees will negotiate their work hours per pay period and schedules with the Executive Director. Employees will be asked to retain some flexibility in their scheduling given the varied nature of client family’s schedules. Much trust is placed in employees of New Frontiers for Families. As such employees are required to be accountable for their activities and schedules with the Agency. Employees are required to schedule a monthly supervisory meeting with the Executive Director and are required to attend staff meetings. If an employee plans to take more than two hours off during a scheduled work day they must submit a written request to the Executive Director unless the situation is an emergency. In the event of an emergency a call to the agency is required.

Timesheets and Pay Periods: Employees are to accurately record their time worked on their timesheet and submit it the Monday after the Pay Period ends. The timesheet serves to document how employees utilize their time according to different agency contracts. One pay period is two weeks long. The pay period begins on Saturday morning and ends fourteen days later on Friday evening. Paydays will be every other Friday. Paychecks will be available by noon the following Friday after the period ends. No paycheck will be distributed unless a timesheet has been submitted.

Employee Benefits 1.Holidays: Employees will receive sixteen paid holidays from New Frontiers For Families. They are Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Years Day, Human Rights Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Pioneer Day and Labor Day, Restoration Day. These holidays will be pro-rated for employees. For example, if an employee works 25 hours a week, the holiday will equal 5 hours. If an employee works 32 hours a week the holiday will equal 6.5 hours or 1/5th of the employees work week Personal Leave: Personal Leave (includes sick leave) will be as follows: New Employees: Pay periods Hours per period Per Year

Leave will be paid out at the end of each year (Sept. 30). There will be no carry over. 2. Compensation and Pay Increases: Staff will be compensated according to their performance and available funding. 3. Funeral Leave: Up to three (3) days with pay (day is equal to the hours in each employees negotiated day) may be allowed when death occurs in the employees (or the employee’s spouse’s) immediate family and when approved by the Executive Director. Immediate family includes spouse, children, parents, brother or sister, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws or any other member of the family unit whose residence is in the same household.

Employee Travel and Mileage Reimbursement: Staff may be required to travel to different sites for purposes of training, consulting, meetings and program monitoring. The Executive Director will pre-approve all overnight, out of state or mileage reimbursements. Staff should use supervisory meetings to plan for meeting these travel needs and complete the appropriate forms. Staff is to report their travel itineraries in writing to the Executive Director including departure and arrival times, purposes of the travel, location of meeting and location of the motel accommodations. It is the responsibility of each employee to travel in the most fiscally responsible manner. Employees will be compensated for travel time if they are going to participate in pre-approved work activities.

New Frontiers for Families Policy on Training Stipends and Travel for Training New Frontiers for Families Staff and families members who attend training not provided by New Frontiers for Families (not in the scope of work) will be paid a stipend of $50.00 per day for instate training and $100.00 per day for out of state training. No mileage, time or meals will be paid. If motel stay is required and not covered by another source, New Frontiers for Families will cover this. An advanced travel request is required for all training. Training provided by New Frontiers for Families and required as part of your job will be paid on an hourly basis and mileage and meals will be reimbursed.  

Conflicts of Interest: Employees of New Frontiers for Families will avoid actual and perceived conflicts of interest. If employees are approached to provide services to other agencies that are directly related to the work of New Frontiers for Families they must notify the Executive Director in writing. If the employee accepts the invitation which could include consultation, training, materials development, speeches, etc. they must do it on their own time which is not being paid by New Frontiers for Families. If the invitation is done on New Frontiers for Families time the employee will remunerate the agency for this activity. No employee may represent themselves as a spokesperson of New Frontiers for Families unless they have the prior written approval of the Executive Director.

Drug Free Workplace: New Frontiers for Families is a drug free workplace. No employee is allowed to work while under the influence of non-prescription drugs or alcohol.

Sexual Harassment: New Frontiers for Families employees have a responsibility to create an emotionally save work environment. Employees found to be participating in sexual harassment will be disciplined or terminated by the Executive Director.

Record Keeping and Notes: New Frontiers for Families employees will be responsible to submit Client Notes, contact sheets, reimbursements, phone logs, and list of open clients with who they were referred by, and a calendar of their work schedule for the up coming week each Monday with their time sheet. Not complying with this policy will result in leave without pay after the first missed pay period, and non-compliance for 2 pay periods will result in termination.