Originally Posted by
tan1959
Something has just occurred to me; as I am changing the hours that the mindee usually attends to less hours with immediate effect and during our notice period, do I need to give a reason for that in the letter? obviously parents know why mindee cannot have contact with 2 of the other mindees. Thanks
Hmmm...? Good point.
As a general rule, any significant changes to a contract should happen after the due notice period has been given (i.e. 4 weeks in most cases.) The exception is that you can make a change with no/less notice if both parties agree to it. I'm not aware that you ever need to give a reason. BUT giving a reason might, in some cases, help to gain parent's consent for an immediate change (or it can backfire and P them off completely, depending on circumstances.) AND some CMs I know of have cornered themselves with their own policies by stating they will give reasons for everything little thing they do.
I would always be cautious about giving reasons for things parents might not want to hear. This is because:-
1. I know you wouldn't say this, but anything the parent might interpret as "I don't want your child cos he's a brat" or "I just can't cope" will go down badly and may be used in gossip against you.
2. It's possible the parents might find a way of twisting things so you get accused of discrimination of some sort. If the unacceptable behaviour later gets diagnosed as some sort of 'disorder' or 'learning difficulty' then they could be banging on your door with a copy of the Equality Act faster than you can say "scapegoat." (After all, there's no such thing as "naughtiness" any longer - it's all 'disorders' and 'syndromes'.)
I think your next step should be a call to the legal team at your insurer or professional representative body, just for advice.
Bookmarks