Managing allegations

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Managing allegations against church officers: a model procedure

Introduction

This procedure is suggested to PCCs and other employers who do not have a procedure
of their own. If they do have their own procedure, that is the one that should be used.

This procedure is applicable both to paid staff and to volunteers. These are termed
church officers in what follows. References to pay apply only to paid staff. The person
taking responsibility for the action is termed line manager.

Aims

There may be occasions when a church officer’s behaviour or performance does not
follow the rules or standards expected for a worker within the church. In the Diocese of
Oxford church workers with children or vulnerable adults are normally expected to abide
by the provisions of the Good Practice guides supplied by the Diocese or the local church.
The disciplinary procedure below sets out the action which will be taken when these
standards or rules are breached.

The aims of the procedure are:
to highlight the issues of concern and to encourage conformity to acceptable standards;
to deal quickly and consistently with disciplinary issues;
to deal with an issue in an open and clear manner. At every stage the church officer will
be advised of the nature of the complaint and be given the opportunity to state their
case.

Church officers will not be dismissed for a first breach of discipline except in the case of
gross misconduct, when the penalty will normally be dismissal without notice and without
pay in lieu of notice.

Before taking formal disciplinary action, a church officer’s line manager will make every
effort to resolve the matter by informal discussions. Only where this fails to bring about
the desired improvement should the formal disciplinary procedure be implemented.

Allegations affecting children

This arises when it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child;

possibly committed a criminal offence against, or related to, a child; or

behaved towards a child or vulnerable adult in a way that indicates that he or she is
unsuitable to work with children or vulnerable adults.

Allegations that fall short of these may nevertheless amount to inappropriate conduct, in
which case the employer will need to consider whether to handle this by way of advice,
supervision and training, to use disciplinary processes, or a combination of these.

There may be up to three strands in the consideration of an allegation:


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a police investigation of a possible criminal offence;

enquiries and assessment by local authority social care about whether a child or
vulnerable adult is in need of protection or in need of services;

consideration by an employer of disciplinary action in respect of the individual.

Allegations where any of these is potentially involved should be discussed first with the
Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser and the Local Authority Designated Officer.

Suspension

It may be necessary to suspend church officer, as a precautionary measure, at the
appropriate rate of pay for paid staff (usually full pay), pending further investigation and a
hearing, if:

their presence might impede a proper investigation;



their presence might cause an unacceptable risk until the matter has been resolved. This
could be related to, for example, a prima facie case of loss of cash or property, violence
against a child or colleague, etc.

In cases where there is a prima facie case of serious misconduct the Registrar should
always be consulted immediately if the church officer is paid, and the Diocesan
Safeguarding Adviser if the allegation concerns a child or vulnerable adult. If there is a
union representative then this person should also be informed. In such cases it is
essential that the line manager suspending the church officer has the appropriate
authority to suspend on behalf of the PCC or other employing body and that the
procedure for serious misconduct or alleged serious misconduct for the particular staff
group is followed.

Normally, as soon as preliminary enquiries indicate that an church officer may have
committed serious misconduct, the allegation should be put to him or her and he or she
would normally be suspended while the complaint or allegation is investigated. Failure to
deal with the matter promptly and failure to suspend the church officer whilst the
investigation is undertaken could make a subsequent dismissal unfair. The reason for
this is that summary dismissal for serious misconduct implies that the employer
considers the misconduct so serious that it would be impossible to allow the church
officer to remain in employment. Doubt must be cast on this belief if it takes the
employer a long time to put the allegation to an church officer, or if the employer can take
the risk of the church officer remaining on the premises whilst the investigation is
undertaken.

When suspending an church officer, the appropriately authorised manager should meet
with them to put the allegation to the church officer in a non-judgemental manner and to
explain how the matter will be progressed, i.e. that the church officer will be suspended, if
paid on the appropriate rate of pay (normally full pay) while an investigation is carried out
and that it may be necessary to speak to the church officer further during the
investigation before determining whether a disciplinary hearing is required. It should be
emphasised that suspension is not disciplinary action in itself and does not imply guilt,
rather it is a precautionary measure that is taken where serious allegations are raised
and an appropriate investigation is undertaken. A record of the suspension interview


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should be kept in case it is necessary to refer to it at a subsequent hearing and the
arrangements for suspension should also be confirmed to the church officer in writing.

Formal process

Once the disciplinary procedure becomes formal, the church officer has the right to be
accompanied or represented by a union representative or colleague at any meeting if
they wish.

Step 1. If a church officer’s behaviour or performance remains unsatisfactory after
informal discussions, the line manager will give the church officer a written statement
setting out why the decision to take disciplinary action has been taken.

Step 2. The line manager will set up a formal interview with their church officer to discuss
the issues. If the officer is unable to attend as a result of circumstances outside their
control (e.g illness or other unforeseen events), a further meeting should be arranged. If,
however, the officer fails to attend for no good reason, the meeting can go ahead and a
decision can be made. The church officer will be told the details of the concerns, and be
able to put their case. If, after discussion, the line manager decides that disciplinary
measures are appropriate, the church officer will be informed by the line manager of the
measures to be taken normally in the form of a first written warning at this stage. Such a
warning will include the level of improvement required of the church officer, the date by
which it is to be achieved, what will happen if it is not achieved and how to appeal. A first
written warning will expire and be removed from the church officer’s file after one year.

Step 3. In the case of a serious breach of standards, or if performance does not improve
after a first written warning, a final written warning will be given which will include the
reason for the warning and a note that if no improvement results within a specified time
period, further action will result. This further action could include loss of pay, demotion,
transfer to other duties or dismissal, and can only be approved by the PCC or a
Committee to which this duty has been delegated. A final written warning will expire after
two years.

Appeals. A church officer has the right to appeal during this procedure. This should be
done in writing to the churchwarden of the relevant church, or, in cases where the
churchwarden is the church officer’s line manager, to the other churchwarden of the
parish, within five working days of written notice of a disciplinary action being received.
The churchwarden will arrange an appeal hearing with the church officer which may
include other members of the PCC or others.

Gross misconduct

The following offences are examples of gross misconduct:

serious inappropriate conduct in relation to a child or vulnerable adult, even if not a
criminal offence;
theft or fraud;
physical violence;
bullying or harassment;
incapacity due to alcohol or drugs;
malicious damage to church property.

This list is illustrative not exhaustive and other forms of misconduct may be considered.




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If, after investigation, it is confirmed that an church officer has committed one of these
offences, the normal consequence will be dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of
notice. While the alleged gross misconduct is being investigated, the church officer may
be suspended by the PCC, during which time he or she will be paid their normal pay rate
(see above). Any decision to dismiss will be taken only after full investigation. The church
officer has the right to appeal as described above.

Referral for barring

PCCs have a duty to refer information to the vetting and barring agency where:

an church officer of or a volunteer appointed by the PCC is removed from regulated
activity, or that person resigns, retires, is made redundant or transfers to other activity
and
the PCC thinks (having gathered sufficient evidence to suggest on the balance of
probabilities that it is the case) that the individual has:
- engaged in relevant conduct (see definition below);
- satisfied the Harm Test (see definition below); or
-received a caution or conviction for a relevant offence (see definition below).

Relevant conduct is conduct that falls into any of these categories:
it endangers, or is likely to endanger, a child or vulnerable adult;
it is conduct that, if repeated against a child or vulnerable adult, would endanger them or
be likely to endanger them;
it involves sexual material relating to children (including possession of such material);
it involves sexually explicit images depicting violence against human beings (including
possession of such images);
inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature involving a child or vulnerable adult.

The Harm Test is satisfied if, in the view of the relevant person, (e.g. the PCC) the
individual
may harm a child or vulnerable adult;
may cause a child or vulnerable adult to be harmed;
puts a child or vulnerable adult at risk of harm;
attempts to harm a child or vulnerable adult; or
incites another to harm a child or vulnerable adult.

A relevant offence is an offence which qualifies a person for automatic inclusion in the
lists maintained by the agency of those barred from working with children and vulnerable
adults respectively. These are, in the main, serious criminal offences involving sexual
misconduct and/or violence. More information can be obtained from the Safeguarding
Adviser or the Diocesan Registrar.

PCCs will need to put arrangements in place to handle any referrals. Although the duty to
refer falls on the PCC as a body, in most cases it will make sense for a small group
(including the parish Child Protection Representative) to take practical responsibility. This
group should always liaise with the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser, who will confer with
the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and should also be able to assist PCCs in
completing the online referral form where necessary.

For advice on safeguarding contact:

Stephen Barber, Safeguarding Adviser
01865 208290
stephen.barber@oxford.anglican.org


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                  Issued March 2012




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