POLICY and PROCEDURES

Policies establish decisions that affect the whole organization.

Policies provide guidelines for the Executive Director and other CIL staff.

Good written policies can protect the CIL and Board of Directors from legal suits and provide guidance for a smoothly running operation.

A policy manual and/or employee handbook is also recommended to provide guidance to employees on a variety of issues. Each employee should have easy access to this information in a suitable format.

At a minimum, it is suggested that the CIL include the following in the policy and/or employee handbook:

· Welcome statement from the Board of Directors or CIL Executive Director

· Nondiscrimination statement

· Sexual harassment policy

· Drug free workplace policy

· Description of benefits

· Work rules

· Pay policy

· Holiday policy

· Sick leave

· Smoking policy

· Travel policy

· Grievance procedures

· Travel Policies

A separate policy/procedure manual shall be developed for programs/services provided by the CIL.

Each Board of Directors should seek legal counsel and develop and or revise their own Policy and Procedures Manual, to ensure the policies are in compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations.

Note of caution: Several CILs have obtained copies of other CILs policies and have adopted them as their own without fully understanding their contents. This lack of understanding leads to a poor line of authority between the Board of Directors, Executive Director and Center staff. There is nothing wrong with using another CIL's policies as a guide, but you must review them fully so that all board members fully comprehend their contents. The board will be legally responsible for whatever is written and adopted.