Working for POP & Policies

Working for POP

We want everyone that works for and with POP to be safe, feel well and achieve.
Safety of staff and volunteers is important. This covers physical and emotional safety.
Safety of the people we work with is important.
POP will ensure, as far as practicable, that as a corporate body and collectively we achieve high levels of this safety.
People achieving high levels of wellbeing at work.
Team members are able to make decisions that enhance their own and others working environment.

How we work

Trust

Everyone is trusted to work ethically and make good decisions about how they work and what they do. Clear is kind. By maintaining an organisational function list we know what we are individually responsible for.

Valuing diversity

Diversity brings strengths beyond that of ensuring people with protected characteristics have equal opportunities to engage in the work of POP+. Diversity strengthens decision making. Challenge and difference allows us to make explicit the assumptions we make and consciously and collectively decide whether these are helpful.

Being safe

Being safe and feeling safe physically and emotionally is vital to living a fulfilled life. We apply this to our working environment, the support and work we engage with.

Autonomy, mastery & connectedness

Being motivated and engaged in work is vital for the self and the successful completion of work. Autonomy, mastery & connectedness are the building blocks of motivation, which collectively POP aims to maximise.

Reflective practice and supporting staff

We have/are adopting a way of working that continually helps us reflect and learn how our values translate into reality. Individual, one-to-one spaces, team & group conversations, reflective spaces and reviews are all practices we adopt to ensure to ensure that everyone in the team feels supported and able to fulfil their responsibilities with autonomy and mastery. It is the responsibility of each individual team members to identify what works best for them. A nominated trustee will independently ensure staff feel supported and where there are gaps will work with the CEO and Board to respond.

Decision making & governance

Describes how POP makes decisions, who is involved and the role of trustees.

POPs reflective practice

Describes how POP makes decisions, who is involved and the role of trustees.

Policy statements

By law we need to make statements that show how we are fulfilling our statutory responsibilities. By working for PVCSE everyone agrees individually and collectively to the policies and principles below.

Ethical behaviour

Ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Transparency and being accountable to one another are very important to maintaining a good working culture. It’s very important to be able to ‘disagree well’. If we can achieve this we will be able to build an amazing future together.

The intent to cause harm is unethical. Fraudulent and unethical activity involves the (deliberate) intention to deceive a person or organisation in order to obtain an advantage, avoid a responsibility or cause loss.

Our focus on reflective practice trains and gives us practice at discussing behaviours we feel are unethical. Except where an action is illegal and legal action must be taken, situations will be discussed within a team setting.

Health & Safety

We want everyone that works for and with POP to be safe, feel well and achieve.

Safety of staff and volunteers is important. This covers physical and emotional safety.
Safety of the people we work with is important.
POP will ensure, as far as practicable, that as a corporate body and collectively we achieve high levels of this safety.
People are achieving high levels of wellbeing at work.
Team members are able to make decisions that enhance their own and others working environment.

Data, GDPR & Confidentiality

Personal data is personal property. We must respect this. To use someone’s personal data without permission is unethical (and often illegal). At PVCSE we respect and comply with the principles of the GDPR with those we support and those we work with.

Covid-19 Responses & Adaptations

In the context of COVID-19 POP takes its responsibilities for the health and wellbeing of POP staff and their families, volunteers and trustees seriously. POP is committed to making good decisions which do not impact negatively on those who work for us and with us.

Safeguarding

Through the work of PVCSE we are fully committed to ensuring anyone experiencing vulnerability including children, young people and adults are kept safe in our communities and within the organisation of PVCSE.

All adults have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, the welfare of the child is paramount and all children, whoever they are and whatever their background, have the right to protection from abuse. This cascades through the whole of PVCSEs work and the people we work with.

Safeguarding means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances.

Flexible working

At PVCSE we recognise that a better work-life balance can improve employee motivation, performance and productivity, and reduce stress.

The organisation is committed to agreeing any flexible working arrangements, provided that the needs and objectives of both the organisation and the employee can be met. It encourages open discussions with staff members about how they might benefit from flexible working.

Flexible working is any type of working arrangement that gives some degree of flexibility on how long, where and when an employee works. This may include annualised or compressed hours.

When things go wrong

When a decision is made that has a detrimental impact, someone isn’t ‘pulling their weight’, someone is ‘being horrible’ or someone feels unfairly treated, then situations can get tricky. Here at POP we believe the best starting point is to have a conversation, initially 1:1 if necessary or desired, but ultimately within the whole team. Discussing as a team can be difficult to manage because it requires a level of sharing that provokes strong emotional reactions. However, if we don’t do this, communications can become very closed and ultimately concentrates power within a traditional decision making structure. This can have significant negative consequences. Our focus on reflective practice trains and gives us practice at discussing how we feel at work.

Recruitment & selection

Recruiting talented individuals who are a good fit for the role is an important consideration for organisations, regardless of their size or sector. PVCSE wants to ensure that recruitment and selection decisions mean that the best possible person is selected to fit the job roles designed by the organisation.

As POP evolves, it’s important that new recruits can demonstrate a willingness to learn, adaptability and ability to work as part of a team. This policy is a guide for anyone undertaking recruitment as part of POP.

POP ensures that our Recruitment and Selection processes will be:

be fair and consistent;
be non-discriminatory;
conform to all statutory regulations and agreed best practice

Environment & Sustainability

We seek to reduce our environment and improve our social impact. We apply this to our purchasing and choice of suppliers, choice of transport and how we operate internally such as recycling and reducing waste. We have declared a climate emergency and we will together with our partners and wider VCSE sector, support one another to work towards systemic change, speak up about the climate and ecological emergency working towards a sustainable and regenerative economy.

Compliance

PVCSE complies with all relevant legislation and guidance

Equalities Act 2010
Employment Rights Act 1996
Rehabilitation of Offenders 1974
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
Data Protection Act 2018
Employee Study and Training Regulations 2010
Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999
Flexible Working Regulations 2014
Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018
Parental Bereavement Leave Regulations 2020
The Health & Safety at Work (etc) Act 1974
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018
What to Do If You’re Worried a Child Is Being Abused (2006)
Every Child Matters 2004
Non Statutory Guidance on Safeguarding Disabled Children (2009)
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
PREVENT Duty – Guidance 2015
The Care Act 2014
Charity Commission Guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/topic/running-charity/money-accounts

Training, Education & Development

Staff induction
Fair Selection & Recruitment Training
Equality & Diversity Training
Providing Positive Feedback
Support and Supervision Training
Conflict resolution training
Having Difficult Conversations
Appraisal Training
Fire Safety Training
First Aid training
Fire safety, manual handling and display screen assessment (DSE) refresher training