Visitors at Services Work Locations

Policy:

We are committed to exceeding our customer’s expectations in all we do and providing excellent services. It is important that when employees are at work, they are directing their full attention to the person/people for whom they are providing supports and to their job responsibilities. It is also important to minimize potential risk to the people around us and to promote an environment in which employees remain productive.

The workplace/site is not an appropriate place for children and visitors of employees during working hours. Working hours include team meetings, trainings, and scheduled shifts.

Mains’l recognizes that circumstances arise; exceptions to this policy may be granted in advance by the supervisor following review with the senior manager for extenuating circumstances.

Procedure:

When an employee encounters sudden circumstances that compromises or eliminates child care and is scheduled to work, it is Mains’l policy that children or visitors of the employee should not come to the service location for the following reasons:

Confidentiality of information about people receiving services;
Compromise of supervision of the person/people as defined in each person’s Services Questionnaire and Safety Plan);
Distractions in emergency procedures;
Distractions from providing quality services;
Potential for injury.

If all other options by the employee, including attempting to find replacement staff, have been exhausted, the following procedure shall be in effect:

The staff will call their supervisor as soon as possible and explain the circumstances and what they have done to try to make other arrangements,
The supervisor will verify that there are no issues in the person’s/people’s plans or emergency procedures that might prevent an exception to the policy from being granted for a short term basis,
The manager will notify their senior manager if/when an employee would need to bring a visitor to the workplace.
The supervisor will communicate the decision to the requesting staff.
The decision by the supervisor and senior manager is final.

If an exception is granted in advance by the supervisor and senior manager, it is expected that the child (ren) or visitors are not napping or sleeping at the work location as this might compromise any emergencies requiring evacuation.