1. Introduction
The PUSHWORTH Plan emphasizes the values of fairness, a sense of justice, and a caring attitude. This policy has been developed to reflect those values in the relationships in PUSHWORTH.
PUSHWORTH recognizes that there will be instances where people in personal relationships may work here. Additionally, relationships which at their commencement are purely professional may change in nature. When this occurs, there is the possibility that the quality of the working environment may be prejudiced by perceptions of conflict of interest, bias, or perceptions of bias.
The principles underlying the policy are:
- Self-disclosure. PUSHWORTH intends to rely on people disclosing that a potential or perceived conflict of interest exists because of the existence of a personal relationship.
- Conflict of Interest. The requirement to disclose the existence of a relationship is based solely on the potential for or perception of a conflict of interest, that is the possibility that a decision may be biased or prejudiced, either in favor of or against, a person with whom there is a personal relationship.
- Equity of treatment. The policy seeks to assure that no undue advantage or disadvantage occurs because of the existence of a personal relationship.
2. Who Does the Policy Apply To?
This policy statement deals with any relationship between PUSHWORTH Team Members which have the potential to give rise to a conflict of interest or an abuse of power. The relationship may be:
- personal, for example: familial, sexual
- financial
- The relationship may be current or in the recent past.
3. Staff Relationships
Staff members should be neither advantaged nor disadvantaged because of a personal relationship with another member of staff. There is no prohibition on the appointment of staff to a section where there is a personal relationship as defined above, provided that the prohibitions set out below are followed.
3.1 A Team Member shall not take part in the following matters if there is a personal relationship as listed above;
- recruitment or appointment
- immediate supervision
- promotion or reclassification
- staff development, travel or other material benefit
- benefits which may arise from unequal treatment in the application of conditions of service
3.2 A Team Member should declare the existence of an interest and the potential for a conflict of interest to the relevant supervisor who must put in place alternative arrangements for any of the matters listed above.
4. Financial Relationships
There is a potential for conflict of interest where staff have a personal, financial or business relationship which can be advantaged by privileged knowledge of the decisions made by PUSHWORTH.
4.1 A Team Member with a financial interest in a company, partnership or other business may not act to influence contracts between that entity and PUSHWORTH.
4.2 A Team Member with a business interest in a contract shall not be involved in the selection of a tender for that contract. If responsible for writing a tender specification, the specification must be reviewed and approved by a person approved by the staff member’s supervisor.
4.3 Team Members shall not use PUSHWORTH’s name, equipment or any other services for their external interest.
