A radical approach to safeguarding that questions the definition of “vulnerable” and instead places all people we work with at the heart of the policy holistically. We propose a shared opportunity to use non-punitive procedures, ask for consent, offer a matrix to attempt to diffuse conflict or avoid involving external agencies and supporting both victim and perpetuator.

A policy that aims to address the lack of support for staff who have caring responsibilities, and the lack of recognition of the different dimensions of what that support might look like. The policy lays out guidelines that aim to help relieve some of this stress and enable both employer and employee to be clear about where they stand regarding support and time off work.

A policy to address the medium-to-long term impacts of Long COVID (and other types of chronic illness and disability) and outlines organisational processes for supporting staff affected, in a way which is aligned with disability justice and the needs of a small staff team to continue to work in a sustainable way.

A plain-English pay policy for a small youth work cooperative, in which pay is variable, depending on current organisational income levels. Aims to offer the flexibility of freelance work, while offering additional forms of support (like sick pay).

A policy that provides two ways into a role for employees, acknowledging that not all hierarchical work relationships are equitable. It also involves staff members in the process and allows current workers to have a first go at a role.

In our flat structure, we have created a “Buddy system” where each team member acts as a buddy to another. This aims to ensure that we don’t lose the good bits of management, and that we all feel supported and able to hold ourselves accountable.
The buddy system is closely related to our feedback processes which are also detailed here.