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All staff must at all times exercise the highest standards of integrity. In particular they should avoid any situation where they could be suspected of obtaining improper benefit by nature of their employment.

Where it is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules for the benefit of staff, staff should be aware that the borderline between genuine expressions of goodwill or appreciation, and that of bribery can appear extremely fine.

The general principle is that the giving or receiving of token gifts may be acceptable but should only be made/accepted with the approval of the Home’s Manager or Line Manager for the Home.

For example:

1. DMR will seek to prevent the giving or receiving of gifts, hospitality or paying of expenses if it might influence or be perceived to influence a business decision. Any such issues will not be tolerated;
2. Children or their families may attempt to give staff gifts or money, staff should not accept any such offer and should report any such occurrences to a senior member of staff or the Home’s Manager;
3. Suppliers or potential suppliers to The Home may offer gifts, seeking contracts to sell goods or services. Any such gifts or discounts fall due to The Company and not the individual staff. As such, staff are expected to declare any such gifts or discounts and may be required to hand them in to the Home’s Manager;
4. On some occasions, children’s or their families may offer token gifts as a sign of appreciation to staff. In these circumstances, when it may give offence to refuse the gift and the relative value of the gift is small, staff are free to accept remembering that the acceptance of any gifts, under whatever circumstances is to be bought to the attention of the Home’s Manager and ensure that a note is made on their staff file.

It is accepted that on special occasions such as on Birthdays or Religious Festivals staff may wish to buy a child a gift separate from those given by the Home. This could have implications in relation to Child Protection procedures and could be interpreted as 'grooming'.

Therefore giving of gifts is only acceptable provided:

• It is a token gift of relatively insignificant monetary value;
• Staff inform the Home’s Manager that they are presenting a gift to a child;
• The Social Worker is notified, and a decision made about whether to notify the parent(s).  

End