BSB61015 Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management Charity Care Case Study

• incident date
• name of person who submitted report
• time of incident/hazard
• location of incident/hazard
• incident/hazard type
• description of incident/hazard
• persons involved
• witnesses
• injuries sustained
• description of injuries
• actions taken to minimise hazard or reduce risk post-incident.

Equal employment opportunity policy

In keeping with the federal government legislation to promote equal employment opportunity, Charity-Care is committed to the promotion of equal opportunity for all persons including women, people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island descent, people of all racial and ethnic groups and people with disabilities.

Equal employment opportunity means that merit and equity will form the basis of all employment, training, and promotion decisions that affect employees at the workplace.

Charity-Care accepts that as an employer it has a responsibility to eliminate and ensure the continued absence from within its structure any source of direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of any factors not related to work performance, including race, colour, national or ethnic origin, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy, age, status as a parent or carer, political conviction, social origin or impairment.

In practice, Charity-Care’s EEO policy means:

• For job applicants:
  • fair recruitment procedures

○ opportunities for non-traditional jobs for women and men

○ merit-based access to jobs for members of designated groups, including people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island descent, people of all racial and ethnic groups and people with disabilities.

• For employees:
  • no unjustified barriers to advancement for any members of staff

○ elimination of unjustified discrimination in selection and promotion processes

○ appropriate training and development opportunities for all staff, including women and members of designated groups

○ opening up of business decision-making processes to staff.

Charity-Care is committed to the principles of the legislation and seeks your support in implementing the equal opportunity program.

Expenses policy

The purpose of this policy is to ensure you are properly reimbursed for out-ofpocket expenses related to direct expenses for work-related activities, and that Charity-Care is able to claim on taxable expenses.

Meals and entertainment

As a general rule, meals and entertainment necessary for the conduct of business should not be lavish, extravagant or unreasonably costly.

The business meal/drink

A meal is classed as a business meal and is reimbursable when the purpose of the meal is a business discussion in line with business goals.

One employee may not entertain another except when a client is present or:

• when one employee is away from home
• when the discussion cannot, for reasons of privacy or other pertinent business purposes, be conducted on business premises.

In order to qualify for business use, the entertainment must: ● be fully documented and explained in the expense report ● be for a business purpose and not just general goodwill.

Reimbursement of small expenses/temporary cash advance

In some situations, it may be necessary to use cash and claim the reimbursement of these expenses via a cheque requisition or petty cash.

• Always obtain a tax invoice; without one, Charity-Care may not be able to reimburse you.
• Parking expenses incurred while working will be reimbursed against receipts.
• Until previous cash advances have been accounted for, further cash advances are not allowed. You must reconcile all cash advances and attach appropriate receipts with an expense statement.
• You will be required to sign for the advance before it is issued. An expense reimbursement form must be completed and submitted with receipts to claim reimbursement. The form must detail:

○ employee name

○ date of purchase

○ department

○ expense type

○ description ○ client ID number ○ purchase amount.

Financial Handling Policy

Authority to sign cheques

Purpose

To spell out procedures that must be followed in the signing of cheques on behalf of Charity-Care.

Procedure

• All cheques must contain two eligible signatures.
• Eligible signatories are board members or staff members who have been previously nominated and endorsed by the board.
• Any two of the above have the authority to sign cheques.
• Signatories cannot sign a cheque made payable to themselves.
• A list of all cheques issued each month will be provided to the treasurer.

Expense reimbursement

Purpose

To spell out procedures that must be followed in the reimbursement of expenses incurred on behalf of Charity-Care.

Policy

Charity-Care will reimburse its staff (including volunteers) any reasonable and authorised expenses incurred by them on behalf of Charity-Care or in the course of Charity-Care business.

Procedure

1. Charity-Care will not reimburse staff for:
   1. Expenses claimed by an employee as a tax deduction.
   2. Expenses normally recoverable from a third party.
   3. Claims for purchases that are required to be made under a CharityCare purchase order.
   4. Expenses that are not incurred for business purposes.
   5. Late payment interest on credit cards.
   6. Parking, traffic, or other fines and penalties.
2. In travel expenses:
   1. Employees will be reimbursed for the most direct and economical mode of travel available, considering all of the circumstances.
   2. Employees will not be reimbursed for additional costs incurred by taking indirect routes or making stopovers for personal reasons.
   3. Use of an employee’s own vehicle for work-related travel will be reimbursed by way of an all-inclusive mileage allowance.
   4. Trip cancellation insurance will be reimbursed.
3. For accommodation:
   1. Employees will be reimbursed for moderate accommodation expenses, considering all of the circumstances.
   2. Employees will not be reimbursed for items of a personal nature charged to a hotel account.
   3. When accommodation is provided by an employee’s friend or relative to whom the employee gives money or a gift as compensation or as a sign of appreciation, the employee may claim an overnight accommodation expense in accordance with per diem rates.
4. For the employee’s own meals:
   1. Employees will be reimbursed for reasonable and appropriate meal expenses actually incurred while on Charity-Care business.
5. When the staff member is offering hospitality on behalf of Charity-Care:
   1. Employees will be reimbursed for hospitality expenses incurred in the course of Charity-Care business, as appropriate.
   2. Appropriate hospitality charges include events hosted or sponsored for the purpose of promoting Charity-Care’s work or enhancing its image, and include meals that are related to the transaction of Charity-Care business.
   3. When Charity-Care employees dine together while on Charity-Care business, it is appropriate for the senior person (if any) to arrange payment and submit the claim for reimbursement.
6. Reimbursement of reasonable but unauthorised expenses may be made at the discretion of the Business Manager.
7. Advance payments may be authorised where appropriate. Such payments will be subtracted from the amount of any later reimbursements. If, for whatever reason, expenditure is not incurred, then any advance payments made, or any unspent portion of such payments, must be returned.
8. Staff are authorised to approve expenses to the amount specified in their individual job description, and for expenditure above this level must seek specific authorisation from their supervisors.
9. Receipts, invoices, vouchers, tickets, or other evidence of such expenditure must be retained for all purchases and expenses.
10. Staff incurring authorised expenditure must submit requests for reimbursement to the designated person, using the expense reimbursement form. The completed form must be signed by the applicant.
11. Expense reimbursement forms must be presented with all relevant original receipts, invoices, vouchers, tickets, or other evidence of such expenditure when seeking reimbursement. Where such evidence is for any reason lacking, statutory declarations may be sought.
12. The designated person is responsible for determining if the expenses being claimed are reasonable given the circumstances, and for ensuring that they are charged against the appropriate account, and that any requirements under the fringe benefits tax legislation have been met.
13. Claims that have not been properly prepared, authorised, or supported by adequate documentation will be returned to the claimant and reasons will be given in writing for not processing the claim.

Credit card policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

1. Ensure that organisational transactions are carried out as efficiently as possible through the use of credit cards and transaction cards as appropriate.
2. Guard against any possible abuse of organisational credit cards.

Procedure

1. Card issue:

The organisational credit card may only be issued to a board member, staff member, or volunteer where their functions and duties would be enhanced by the use of an organisational credit card. Cards will thus be issued only to people on the approved organisational credit card list. The approved organisational credit card list shall be held by the CEO.

Other persons may be added to the list by the board. The board may delegate this power to any or all of:

1. the finance committee
2. the CEO
3. the auditor.

Cards may be issued on a temporary basis and recovered afterwards.

Each organisational credit card will be issued to a specific person, who will remain personally accountable for the use of the card. Cardholders will sign the credit card issue form.

Only the authorised signatory may use the card. No more than one card shall be issued per cardholder. Credit limits as appropriate shall be set for each card by the issuing authority.

2. Cardholder responsibilities:

The cardholder shall:

1. in all cases obtain and retain sufficient supporting documentation (e.g. a tax invoice) to validate the expense, or shall in lieu provide a statutory declaration
2. attach these supporting documents to the monthly statement from the bank
3. review the monthly statement for inaccuracies (and report these to the CEO)
4. verify that the goods and services listed were received
5. sign the monthly statement to verify that transactions have been made for official purposes
6. forward the papers to the authorised signatory for approval (the board chair shall authorise payments to the CEO; the CEO shall authorise the expenditure of all other cardholders)
7. notify the bank and the CEO (or in the case of the CEO, the board chair) immediately if:
   1. the card is lost or stolen
   2. any unauthorised transaction is detected or suspected
8. notify the CEO of any change in name or contact details
9. take adequate measures to ensure the security of the card
10. return the card to the CEO if:
    1. the cardholder resigns
    2. the CEO determines that there is no longer a need for the cardholder to retain his or her card

• the organisational credit card has been cancelled by the bank

1. be personally liable for any unauthorised transaction unless the card is lost, stolen or subject to fraud on some part of a third party.

The cardholder shall not:

1. exceed any maximum limits set, from time to time, for the organisational credit card
2. obtain cash advances through the organisational credit card
3. use the card for any proscribed purchases
4. authorise their own expenditure
5. claim double allowances (i.e. request reimbursement for an expense already paid by the card).

3. Credit card expenditure:

The card will only be used for those activities that are a direct consequence of the cardholder’s function within the organisation.

Where coincident and/or private expenditure occurs on the same transaction (where, for example, a person incurs a debt for personal telephone calls during a hotel stay) the cardholder must settle the private expense prior to charging the balance on the organisational credit card.

Where doubt exists as to whether or not an item is function-related, prior authorisation should be obtained from the CEO (or, in the case of the CEO’s own card, the chairperson of the board or the chairperson of the finance committee).

The use of the corporate card for ‘services of a dubious nature’ is expressly prohibited. ‘Services of a dubious nature’ are defined as any goods or services that might bring the name of the organisation into disrepute.

4. Credit card misconduct:

Wherever a breach in this policy occurs, the CEO must assess the nature of the breach and, if significant, report the breach to the police for criminal investigation or, if lesser in nature, institute an appropriate disciplinary process:

1. in the first instance, counselling and/or verbal warning (and diary or file note created)
2. in the second instance, a written warning
3. in the third instance, or if the dollar amount is greater than $1000, the card is to be immediately withdrawn.

At the next finance committee meeting the CEO shall report:

1. the investigation of the circumstances of the breach
2. police reports and action (if any)
3. disciplinary action taken (if any).

Charity-Care accounts receivable policy

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to define the accounting policies and procedures in respect of the recording, collection and reporting of moneys owed to Charity-Care.

Customer/client inquires

The intent of all interactions between Charity-Care staff and customers or clients of Charity-Care is that all inquires are to be handled in a tactful and diplomatic manner.

Procedure

1. Collect details from client, without offering comment or opinion.
2. Confirm that you or another Charity-Care representative will get back to them within 24 hours to speak with them on the matter.
3. Review the client/customer file:
   1. If the matter is the result of a data entry error:
      1. correct the error
      2. notify your direct supervisor in an emailed report, and ask for confirmation of your actions

• when you receive confirmation, contact the client/customer by phone (or other means if no contact number) to inform them of changes.

1. If the matter is not related to a data entry error:
   1. collate all details of the matter
   2. outline possible causes or reasons

• notify your direct supervisor in an emailed report and ask them to manage the issue, or for clear direction so that you can manage it.

Debtors

Charity-Care raises invoices for the sale of goods and services to external organisations and individuals. A debtor is an organisation or individual who owes Charity-Care money for goods and services provided.

Debt collection process

Debts are to be collected as outlined in the following process diagram, with attention being paid to ensure that any actions taken by the accounts receivable department are recorded in the client file. This can be in the form of:

• inserting copies of correspondence (from or to the client)
• writing notes on the client file (dated and initialled)
• updating status of client debt (especially in regard to the debt collection decision matrix shown below)
• other relevant or supporting information.

Debt collection decision matrix

Overdue	Response	Terms	Doubtful/ba d	Reporting
30 days	Reminder statement Phone call	Continue credit	No	Document report
60 days	Letter	Restricted credit	Doubtful	Advise manager
90 days	Debt collection agency	Stop credit	Doubtful/bad	Advise manager
Over 90 days	Legal action	Stop credit	Doubtful/bad	Manager responsible

Procedure

• Run Aged Debtors Report on 1^st of every month.
• Complete Bad/Doubtful Debts Report by the 10^th of every month.
• Accounts over 90 days overdue to be handled by the manager – documents to be filed separately in the manager’s office.
• All contact with debtors to be recorded on file – should include copies of invoices, correspondence and log of phone calls.

Trading terms

• 5% 7 days, OR
• Nett 30 days from statement.

Sexual harassment policy

Charity-Care recognises that sexual harassment is a serious issue and is committed to providing a workplace free from sexual harassment.

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is any deliberate verbal or physical conduct that is unwelcome and uninvited, embarrassing, demeaning, offensive or compromising. It can be experienced anywhere in the workforce and by both men and women.

It has nothing to do with mutual attraction or genuine affection between people. Such friendships, whether sexual or not, are a private concern. It should not be confused with genuine compliments or behaving with common courtesy.

Sexual harassment may include such actions as:

• dirty jokes, derogatory comments, offensive written messages

(email/SMS), or offensive telephone calls

• leering, patting, pinching, touching or unnecessary familiarity
• persistent demands for sexual favours or outings displays of offensive posters, pictures or graffiti.

Such behaviour is against the law if it makes you feel:

• offended and humiliated
• intimidated and frightened uncomfortable at work.

Charity-Care considers sexual harassment an unacceptable form of behaviour which will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Charity-Care undertakes to educate all employees on the issue of sexual harassment to avoid its incidence and to inform employees of procedures to deal with the problem should it occur.

Privacy policy

Charity-Care is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of our clients and supporters. Charity-Care supports and is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles can be found at <http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacyact/australian-privacy-principles>.

Privacy and our clients

Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the people we help is essential in preserving dignity and providing respectful assistance. Personal client information is collected and used by Charity-Care, only with client consent, in order to provide the best possible assistance and:

• to assess if clients meet eligibility criteria for specific assistance
• for internal reporting purposes
• to continuously develop and improve our assistance programs
• to assess the effectiveness of our assistance programs
• to assess the nature of need in the community to plan our future programs.

Consent is always sought in using personal and sensitive information for research purposes. This information, however, is always de-identified prior to analysis, and individual clients cannot be identified from any research analysis or report.

Disclosure

Client information is never disclosed to other organisations or individuals without the client’s consent, unless they are working directly on our behalf or we are required to do so by law.

In some cases, personal information (but never sensitive information) is supplied to contractors (for example freight companies or research agencies) who perform some of these tasks directly on our behalf, and who must sign strict privacy and security agreements and who are also bound by the Australian Privacy Principles. These agreements ensure that these contractors keep personal information confidential and do not use it for any other purpose other than the work we have contracted them to perform.

Protection of personal information

Charity-Care also actively seeks to ensure that all personal information we collect is protected from misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We have internal data protection and electronic data transmission procedures; all donations and communications made online via our website are secure.

More information

Clients can obtain copies of their personal information held by Charity-Care, correct their personal records, obtain further information about how CharityCare manages personal information, or lodge a complaint about the handling of their personal information by contacting the Charity-Care head office.

Charity-Care risk management policy

Purpose

Risk is inherent in all business activities. The aim of this policy is not to eliminate risk, but rather to manage the risks involved in all Charity-Care activities in order to maximise opportunities and minimise adversity.

Effective risk management requires:

• a strategic focus
• forward thinking and active approaches to management
• balance between the cost of managing risk and the anticipated benefits
• contingency planning in the event that mission-critical threats are realised.

Procedure

Charity-Care will maintain procedures to provide a systematic view of the risks faced in the course of our business activities.

1. Establish a context: the strategic, organisational and risk management context against which the rest of the risk management process in CharityCare will take place. Criteria against which risk will be evaluated should be established, and the structure of the risk analysis defined.
2. Identify risks: identification of what, why and how events arise as the basis for further analysis.
3. Analyse risks: the determination of existing controls and the analysis of risks in terms of the consequence and likelihood in the context of those controls. The analysis should consider the range of potential consequences and how likely those consequences are to occur. Consequence and likelihood are combined to produce a priority rating for the risk.
4. Treat risks: for higher priority risks, Charity-Care is required to develop and implement specific risk management plans, including funding considerations. Lower priority risks may be accepted and monitored.
5. Monitor and review: oversight and review of the risk management system and any changes that might affect it. Monitoring and reviewing occur concurrently throughout the risk management process.
6. Communication and consultation: appropriate communication and consultation with internal and external stakeholders should occur at each stage of the risk management process as well as on the process as a whole.

Additional information

Registering not-for-profit or charitable organisations^[1]

The company structure

Under a company structure, charitable or not-for-profit organisations will generally be registered as public companies that are limited by guarantee. Limited by guarantee means the liability of the company's members is limited to the amount the members undertake to contribute to the property of the company if it is wound up.

Registration of a company creates a legal entity separate from its members. The company can hold property and can sue and be sued.

Companies are registered under the Corporations Act 2001, which is Commonwealth legislation administered by ASIC. A company's registration is recognised Australia-wide.

At the very least, a public company must:

• have at least three directors and one secretary
• have at least one member
• have a registered office address and principal place of business located in Australia
• have its registered office open and accessible to the public
• be internally managed by a constitution or replaceable rules
• maintain a register of its members
• keep a record of all directors' and members' meeting minutes and resolutions
• appoint a registered company auditor within one month of its registration
• keep proper financial records
• prepare, have audited, and lodge financial statements and reports at the end of every financial year
• send to its members a copy of its financial statements and reports, unless the member has a standing arrangement with the company not to receive them
• hold an annual general meeting once every calendar year within five months of the end of its financial year
• receive and review an annual company statement and pay an annual review fee. A charitable or not-for-profit company may be eligible for a reduced annual review fee if it meets the criteria under the definition of 'special purpose company' in regulation 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) of the Corporations (Review Fees) Regulations 2003
• lodge notices whenever changes to its officeholders, office addresses, constitution and name occur within specified timeframes as determined by the Corporations Act 2001. As a general guide please refer to ‘Legal obligations of a company’ on the ASIC website <http://www.asic.gov.au/companies> for more information.

A company limited by guarantee may also be registered without the word

'Limited' in its name. This is only possible if its constitution:

• requires the company to pursue charitable purposes only and to apply its income promoting those purposes; and
• prohibits the company making distributions to its members and paying fees to its directors; and
• requires the directors to approve all other payments the company makes to directors.

State and territory government requirements – fundraising^[2]

Queensland

Relevant authority – Office of Fair Trading, Queensland

The Office of Fair Trading administers the Collections Act 1966, which controls how charities and community purpose organisations conduct appeals for public support or fundraising in Queensland. Any organisation that wants to publicly fundraise for a charitable or community purpose is governed by this act.

Activities regulated by the Office of Fair Trading under the Collections Act 1966 include:

• fundraising appeals
• door-to-door appeals and street collections, and
• commercial appeals on behalf of charities by entrepreneurs.

Under the Collections Act 1966, you may require either of the following two approvals.

Registering a charity:

• To be registered as a charity, an association’s objectives must meet the definition of ‘charitable purpose’ under the Collections Act 1966. The applicant needs to complete Form 1 – Application for registration of a charity and lodge it with the Department for approval.
• If approved, the Department will issue the applicant with Form 2 – Certificate of registration as a charity. It is a one-off requirement for each charity to register if it intends conducting appeals for support. A registered charity may continue to fundraise until its registration is cancelled or it is directed to cease fundraising.

Obtaining a sanction for authority to fundraise

Organisations wanting to fundraise or conduct an appeal for a community purpose may be required to apply for a sanction. The applicant needs to complete Form 5 – Application for a sanction and lodge it with the Department for approval.

If approved, the Department will issue the applicant with Form 6 – Certificate of sanction. The organisation may continue to fundraise until the sanction expires or it is cancelled or the organisation is directed to cease fundraising.

Conducting a door-to-door appeal or street collection

Once registered as a charity or a sanction is obtained, certain rules must be followed when making door-to-door appeals and street collections. The applicant needs to complete Form 8 – Application to have a day assigned for a door-to-door appeal or street collection and lodge it with the Department for approval. If approved, the applicant will receive either Form 9 – Assignment of day for door-to-door appeal or Form 10 – Assignment of day for street collection, depending on which of the two approvals is sought.

Other issues to consider

Registered charities and sanctioned organisations must have their financial records audited annually. A copy of the audited financial statement must be submitted to the Department within seven months of the end of the organisation’s financial year. A current copy of the organisation’s constitution must be held at the Department. The public can search these documents for a small fee.

[1] Source: ASIC, ‘Registering not for profit or charitable organisations’, viewed July 2015, <http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/Registering+not-for-profit+or+charitable+organisations>

[2] Source: Australian Taxation Office, ‘State and territory government requirements – Fundraising’, viewed July 2015, <https://www.ato.gov.au/Non-profit/State-and-territory/In-detail/Fundraising-requirements/State-andterritory-government-requirements---Fundraising>.