SOFA Personnel Policies
The hiring of all employees shall be pursuant to an assessment by the Director and/or Program Director upon concurrence of the Board. No staff member or applicant will be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, ancestry, veteran status, marital status, or disability and other factors prohibited by state and federal laws. SOFA does reserve the right to include Christian doctrinal beliefs, personal conduct and lifestyle as a bona fide qualification for certain positions consistent with federal and state law, and as set forth in its mission statement.
The applicant shall be screened through the submission of a resume and the submission of three references.
For the position of Program Director, Assessor, and Clinical Coordinator and any other position requiring contact with children and families shall be required to provide fingerprints for Ohio BCII and FBI background checks. Employees, who will be employed for clerical work, shall not be required to provide this background check.
Once hired, the employee shall be a probationary employee for three months from the date of hire.
Upon hire, the employee shall receive orientation of his/her duties and receive initial training of SOFA’s policies and general adoption law and foster care rules in the State of Ohio by the Director or his designee(s).
All assessors shall be required to maintain their assessor credentials by completing Tier I, Tier II, and ongoing assessor training.
All employees shall receive an evaluation by their direct supervisor or designee on an annual basis. The evaluation shall be in writing and the supervisor will review it with the employee.
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE
1. An employee shall be disciplined (which may include termination) for violation of SOFA policy, dishonesty, thievery, being under the influence of alcoholic beverages, use of illegal drugs or narcotics, the selling or offering for sale of illegal drugs or narcotics, physical violence, immoral conduct or gross insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of law, abuse of sick leave, or for behavior which presents an immediate danger to the safety of other employees and for other cause . SOFA is an at-will employer and may immediately terminate an employee for any act, omission or behavior which SOFA deems to be unacceptable.
2. In cases involving the discipline of an employee, SOFA has the discretion to follow such progressive and corrective disciplinary action as the agency deems appropriate under the circumstances.
3. At the discretion of the Director, an employee may be suspended without pay pending an investigation if the employee is charged with a serious infraction. Offenses will be cleared and removed from the employees file upon the discretion of the Director. The Director will determine what constitutes a serious infraction.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
A grievance is any dispute which may arise concerning the employee’s work. Each grievance shall be numbered and shall be considered to be presented in the order of its number.
An employee who has a possible grievance shall meet with the Director or his designee prior to filing a written grievance in an attempt to resolve the issue.
In the event that a meeting with the Director does not resolve the issue, the grievant shall submit a written grievance to the Director, outlining the employee’s concerns, and reasons why the meeting with the Director did not successfully resolve the issue. The written grievance shall be submitted within five working days after the meeting with the Director. Failure to specifically cite the reasons for the grievance shall relieve the agency of any obligation to process the grievance.
A grievance under this procedure may be brought by any employee who believes him/her to be aggrieved. Where a group of employees desires to file a grievance involving an alleged violation which affects each employee in the same manner, one employee selected by such group, shall process the grievance.
Grievances submitted beyond five working days will not be considered. The Director or his designee shall hold a meeting within five working days of his receipt of the grievance, and provide a written or verbal response.
The response by the Director or his designee shall be the final step in the process.
In the event that the grievance being reported involves the Director, the written grievance should be submitted directly to the SOFA board for review and resolution.
SALARY AND FRINGE BENEFIT PLAN
All SOFA staff except Director, Program Director, and the Adoption Support Specialist will be Independent Contractor’s. The Director shall be paid a salary as may be determined by the Board. Assessors and Clinical Coordinators shall be paid pursuant to the fee scale chart as may be changed from time to time as recommended by the Director and approved by the Board. The Program Director, and the Adoption Support Specialist shall be paid a yearly salary with bonuses as recommended by the Director and approved by the Board. No money shall be paid volunteers. There are no current fringe benefits but shall be created pursuant to the particular position and as approved by the Board.
Disclosure of Criminal Charge
All SOFA employees, including contractors, shall within 24 hours inform the Director or his designee of any charge of any criminal offense that is brought against him/her. If the charge is of any offence listed in OAC 5101:2-5-09, such failure to inform the Director or his designee within 24 hours shall result in immediate dismissal from SOFA.