Naval Services FamilyLine Employee and Volunteer Handbook
Updated 04/01/2021
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INTRODUCTION
This Handbook is directed to you, a prospective or present part-time employee of or volunteer for Naval Services FamilyLine (hereinafter “we” or “the Company”) and is intended to acquaint you with the Company’s personnel policies and procedures.
PLEASE NOTE: This Handbook itself does not and is not intended to create a contract of employment, create a contract for a definite term, set forth terms or conditions of employment or volunteer service, or limit possible reasons for dissolution of the employment or volunteer relationship. The policies and procedures in this Handbook are not contractual commitments by the Company.
If you are an employee, your employment is “at will.” That means that both you and the Company are legally free to terminate the employment at any time and for any reason or no reason, with or without prior notice, except as prohibited by applicable law. No employee, supervisor, manager, officer, or other agent has any authority from the Company to offer any contract of employment or otherwise change this “at will” status. If you are a volunteer, your service is also “at will.”
The Company also reserves the right to change the policies described in this Handbook without notice, and to make exceptions to the policies described where it deems appropriate. This Handbook necessarily does not reflect changes in policies made after the date shown above, although you may be notified from time to time of amendments to the Handbook or changes in the policies contained in it. Any violation of the policies in this Handbook may result in immediate termination of your employment or volunteer service, even for a first offense. Disciplinary measures to be taken shall be in the sole discretion of the Company and any failure to take disciplinary measure in any event shall not operate to waive the Company’s subsequent ability to take disciplinary measures.
An Employee and Volunteer Handbook Acknowledgement is included as an Appendix to this Handbook. This form or a copy of it should be signed, dated, and returned as soon as possible upon your receipt of this Handbook.
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I. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The Company is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability or any other classification protected by applicable law. All personnel actions are and must be administered in a non-discriminatory manner.
We require that all of our employees, supervisors, volunteers and managers understand and practice equal employment opportunity. Acts of discrimination, including illegal harassment, will not be tolerated. We will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, unless doing so would result in an undue hardship on the Company.
We require that all employees and volunteers lend their support to achieving our objectives of equal opportunity employment and of zero tolerance for any type of illegal harassment or discrimination. Any violation of this Equal Employment Opportunity Policy, including its prohibitions on harassment, will be dealt with severely. Any employee, including any manager or supervisor, or any volunteer who engages in such violation will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action up to and including discharge.
All Company employees and volunteers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. The Company is therefore committed to providing a work environment free from harassment, intimidation and coercion based on or related to race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or any other classification protected by applicable law. Such behavior is inconsistent with our philosophy of mutual respect for all employees and volunteers and will not be tolerated.
Illegal and improper harassment may include, for example:
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Offensive or abusive physical contact;
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Use of offensive nicknames or terms of endearment;
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Unwelcome comments about a person’s clothing, body, or personal life;
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Offensive jokes or unwelcome innuendo;
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Any suggestion that sexual activities, race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected classification would affect one’s job, promotion, performance evaluation, or working conditions; or
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Other conduct referring to race, gender, religion, etc., even if not objectionable to some employees, if it creates a working environment that others may reasonably find hostile or offensive.
Sexual harassment, in particular, may consist of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when one or more of the following occur:
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Submission or rejection of such conduct is made a term or condition of an individual’s employment;
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Submission or rejection of such conduct is used for the basis for an employment decision, such as promotion, demotion, termination, or pay; or
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Such condition interferes with an employee’s work performance or creates a hostile, intimidating, or offensive work environment.
If you believe you are the victim of illegal harassment or other illegal discrimination, or witness what you believe to be illegal harassment or discrimination, you should use the following procedure:
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If you believe you are being harassed or subjected to discrimination or believe you have witnessed such behavior and you are comfortable in speaking to the offending employee or volunteer, you are encouraged to speak to that individual about his or her conduct and explain that you do not like it. The offensive conduct may have been thoughtless or based on a mistaken belief that it was welcome. If you believe you have been harassed or subjected to discrimination or have witnessed such behavior and you are uncomfortable approaching the offender, or have done so without success, or simply want the Company to know, you should report such facts immediately to your supervisor so that the Company can take appropriate action.
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If for any reason you are uncomfortable approaching your supervisor (for example, if your supervisor is the person you feel is engaging in illegal harassment or discrimination), or you feel that the matter is not being adequately addressed, you should bring the matter to the attention of the next level of management as soon as possible, preferably within forty-eight hours. In any event, respond immediately; do not ignore the problem. It is important to inform the Company immediately if you experience or observe illegal discrimination or harassment. Nothing can be done to remedy a problem if the Company does not know it exists. If a complaint is made, the Company will conduct an investigation and take appropriate action. Confidentiality will be maintained to the extent possible without jeopardizing a full investigation. No employee will be disciplined or otherwise retaliated against for complaining about discrimination or harassment.
Employees should also use this procedure in regard to any work-related harassment or discrimination by non-employees. The Company cannot always control the conduct of all non-employees but will attempt to address any such situations that arise, consistent with the intent of this policy.
II. GENERAL WORK RULES
Employees (and volunteers who have agreed to work at a specific time) are expected to be present and ready to begin work at the start of their scheduled shift or working day. Employees shall notify their supervisors if and when they learn they will be unable to report to work or will be late. Such notification should be given as soon as possible, but in any event no later than fifteen minutes past the employee’s scheduled starting time. Similar courtesies are expected from volunteers.
Employees are expected, during working time, to devote substantially all of their attention to the business of the Company. Employees will be expected to accept and perform responsibilities as requested by management without regard to their usual job functions. No employee or volunteer shall, without permission, at any time or in any manner, either directly or indirectly divulge, disclose, or communicate to any person, corporation, or other entity in any manner whatsoever any confidential information concerning any matters affecting or relating to the business of the Company, its employees or volunteers, or its manner of operation.
The Company’s mission is to provide education, information, and resources to assist naval service families in navigating the military life. The Company and its employees and volunteers do not and cannot give one-on-one personal or professional advice or counseling that is more appropriately provided by trained mental health professionals. You must take care not to cross over into these prohibited areas either during our classes, seminars, and workshops, or when assisting families outside of the Company’s organized educational activities. Solicitation or distribution of non-Company materials by both employees and non-employees on Company property is prohibited at all times.
The Company relies upon the accuracy of information contained in employment applications and other communications to the Company by its employees and volunteers, and among its employees and volunteers. Misrepresentation, falsification, or material omissions in a job application or in employees’ or volunteers’ other communications within the Company are prohibited.
Employees and volunteers are expected to dress in a manner which will reflect favorably on the Company and protect from injury. Neatness and cleanliness are basic requirements.
We maintain a smoke-free environment in working areas as a safety precaution and as a courtesy to non-smokers and those who are sensitive to smoke. Smoking is prohibited on Company property.
The following are prohibited:
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The use, possession, sale, dispensation, offering, manufacture or being under the influence of illegal drugs, whether on or off-duty;
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The use, possession, sale, dispensation, offering, manufacture, or being under the influence of alcohol on or in Company premises, vehicles, worksites, or time (except possession and sale of Company’s inventory or consumption of alcohol at social or sales events, in moderation, with prior permission);
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the above activities in regard to alcohol off-duty where they adversely affect job performance, job safety, or the Company’s reputation in the community; and
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The conviction or guilty plea under any criminal drug charge or impaired driving offense. Employees and volunteers who are charged with any criminal offense must notify the Company as soon as possible thereafter.
The Company reserves the right to search or inspect any Company property and anything belonging to any employee or volunteer on Company premises at any time, whether or not locked. All packages and other belongings are also subject to inspection upon request. The Company assumes no responsibility for the theft or other loss or damage to any personal property of any employee or volunteer while he/she is on duty and/or on Company property.
Generally, all Company resources (photocopiers, computers, shredders, office supplies, etc.) shall be used only for business related functions (see limited exceptions under VI. TECHNOLOGY below).
Current employees should notify the Company of new addresses promptly upon moving in order to ensure receipt of necessary tax documents, notices, and/or final pay in the event of termination of employment.
III. HOURS AND PAY
The Company’s office is normally open to the public 10 am to 2 pm, Monday through Thursday. An employee’s or volunteer’s work hours may differ. Employees will be compensated for all hours worked but an employee should never work in excess of forty (40) hours in a single week. Since each employee is most familiar with their own schedule, each employee shall keep track of their hours and notify their supervisor immediately if they are inadvertently requested to work in excess of that amount.
The Company withholds federal and state income taxes, social security taxes, and amounts stated in garnishment and child support orders as required by applicable law. If you are subject to a child support order, please notify the Company immediately and provide a copy of the relevant court order.
Employees whose employment has terminated can pick up their last paycheck on the same day on which other employees are paid for the same period of work. If an employee does not pick up the paycheck, it will be mailed to his or her last known address.
IV. LEAVES AND ABSENCES
Employees are not entitled to paid vacation. Nonpaid vacation is subject to management approval and must be scheduled in advance. Employees are not entitled to paid sick or maternity leave. Employees must contact the Company as soon as they become aware that they are sick and may miss work.
Military leaves of absence are governed by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Reservists working for the Company are given nonpaid leave of absence to attend drills and periods of active duty. Your supervisor should be given as much advance notice as possible of the dates for active service periods and any drills which may interfere with your normal work hours. Any pay you receive for military service is yours to keep.
Employees are not entitled to paid jury duty leave or for court appearances. Employees must contact the Company as soon as they become aware that they may be called for jury duty or a court appearance.
V. SAFETY
Our goal is to furnish employees and volunteers a workplace free from recognized hazards and in full compliance with applicable Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) standards. Employees are therefore expected to conduct themselves to maximize safety for themselves and other employees.
Employees and volunteers should be familiar with and observe at all times the OSHA requirements and other safety rules applicable to their jobs. If you are not familiar with or do not understand the applicable rules, ensure that your supervisor explain them to you. Make sure you know and understand the rules applying to a particular job or machine before you begin to do the job or operate the machine.
Employees or volunteers who believe that a condition is unhealthy or unsafe should report such observations immediately to their supervisors. Any employee or volunteer who suffers or observes any work-related injury should immediately report that to his or her supervisor, or otherwise ensure that the injury is brought to the Company’s attention. This rule applies whether or not you think the injury is serious and whether or not you think it requires treatment.
Employees or volunteers who have or suffer illness or injury, whether or not work-related, that affects their ability to do their jobs or the health or safety of themselves or other employees should promptly report that to their supervisor. Employees or volunteers who observe such injury or illness in others should promptly report such facts to their supervisor or the affected employee’s or volunteer’s supervisor. This rule also applies if and when any employee or volunteer is affected by any drug or medication that adversely affects their ability to do their job safely, and when an employee or volunteer has reason to believe that another employee is so affected. Other requirements: Never engage in “horseplay.” Wear clothing suited to your job. Keep your workplace clean. Dispose of all trash and empty soft drink bottles/cans properly. Use the proper tools for the job. Do not operate equipment unless you are trained and qualified. Observe all safe practices and rules while operating equipment. Do not attempt to repair or adjust equipment while it is in operation. Consult your supervisor if such adjustments are necessary.
VI. TECHNOLOGY
The Company owns and controls all workplace technology and therefore all communications and activity conducted over it. Authorized use of Company-owned or operated computing and network resources shall be consistent with the mission of the Company and consistent with this policy.
Underlying this policy is the idea that each employee has a responsibility to use the Company's information technology resources in a manner that increases productivity, enhances the Company's public image, and is respectful of other employees and volunteers. Generally, the resources should be used only for business related functions; however, there are a few exceptions:
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To send and receive necessary and occasional personal communications;
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To prepare and store incidental personal data (such as personal calendars, personal address lists, and similar incidental personal data) in a reasonable manner;
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To use the telephone system for brief and necessary personal calls; and
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To access the Internet for brief personal searches and inquiries during meal times or other breaks, or outside of work hours, provided that employees adhere to all other usage policies.
In subsequent sections and without limiting the foregoing, this policy defines specific unacceptable uses of the information technology resources of the company in more detail. The Company reserves the right, upon reasonable cause for suspicion, to access all aspects of its computing systems and networks, including individual login sessions to determine if a user is violating this policy or state or federal laws.
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Privacy
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No user should view, copy, alter, or destroy another's personal electronic files without permission (unless authorized or required to do so by law or regulation). In addition, users should not have an expectation of privacy. The information technology system belongs to the company. Users expressly waive any right of privacy in anything they create, store, send, or receive on the company information technology system.
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Sharing of Access
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Computer accounts, passwords, and other types of authorization are assigned to individual users and should not be shared with others. You are responsible for any use of your account. If an account is shared or the password divulged, the holder of the account will lose all account privileges and be held personally responsible for any actions that arise from the misuse of the account.
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Prohibited Use
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Abuse of the Company’s computer resources is prohibited and includes, but is not limited to:
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Game Playing: Computing and network services are not to be used for recreational game playing. Game playing on company time is counterproductive.
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Chain Letters: The propagation of chain letters is considered an unacceptable practice and is prohibited. If a chain letter is received by an employee or volunteer, the company prohibits the forwarding of the email to anyone.
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Faxing: Using the company fax machine or computer faxing capabilities for non-company related activities is strictly prohibited. The company prohibits the use of any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine unless authorized by management.
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Harassing, Discriminatory, and Defamatory use: Individuals use electronic mail for correspondence that is less formal than written memoranda. Employees and volunteers must take care, however, not to let informality degenerate into improper use. The Company does not tolerate discrimination or harassment, or any person based on gender, pregnancy, childbirth (or related medical conditions), race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, family care or medical leave status, veteran status, or any other status protected by state and federal laws. Under no circumstances may employees or volunteers use the company's information technology resources to transmit, receive, or store any information that is discriminatory, harassing, or defamatory in any way (e.g., sexually explicit or racial messages, jokes, cartoons).
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Gambling: The use of company computers and networks to gamble is strictly prohibited.
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Online Shopping: The use of the company computers and the Internet to conduct personal online shopping is prohibited.
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Unauthorized Monitoring: A user may not use computing resources for unauthorized monitoring of electronic communications. However, the Company has the right, but not the duty, to monitor any aspects of its computer system including monitoring sites visited by employees or volunteers, chat groups, newsgroups, and downloading and uploading of files.
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Flooding or Spamming: Posting a message to multiple list servers or news groups with the intention of reaching as many users as possible is prohibited. Spamming email addresses within or outside the company is also prohibited.
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Private Commercial Purposes: Company computing resources shall not be used for personal or private commercial purposes or for financial gain.
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Political Advertising or Campaigning: The use of Company computers and networks for political purposes of any kind is strictly prohibited.
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Software Piracy / Unlicensed Software: The use of unlicensed software on Company computers is strictly prohibited. All software in use on the company's information technology resources must be officially licensed software. No software is to be installed or used that has not been duly paid for and licensed appropriately for the use to which it is being put. No employee may load any software on the Company's computers, by any means of transmission, unless authorized in writing in advance by the Chairman.
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Pornography: Employees and volunteers are not allowed to visit sites that the Company may consider “obscene” in its sole discretion. The Company also prohibits using company computer resources to send sexually oriented images or messages.
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Other Prohibited Uses: Employees and volunteers may not use any of the Company's information technology resources for any illegal purpose, violation of any Company policy, in a manner contrary to the best interests of the Company, in any way that discloses confidential or proprietary information of the Company or third parties, or for personal gain.
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E-mail Policies
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The use of Company e-mail addresses is reserved exclusively for business use. Acceptable E-mail Usage:
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E-mail Passwords: Only authorized employees and volunteers issued e-mail passwords are permitted to use passwords to access their own e-mail accounts. Only authorized employees and volunteers are permitted to use the password of another employee or volunteer to access that employee’s or volunteer’s e-mail account.
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Forwarding E-mails: Employees and volunteers may not forward e-mail to others without the express permission of the sender. The express permission is necessary since frequently e-mail contains confidential, proprietary, and trade secrets. All employees and volunteers must consider that e-mail messages meant for a single reader may not be meant for widespread distribution.
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Chain Letters: Employees and volunteers are prohibited from initiating or forwarding chain letters via e-mail. A chain letter is a message sent to a number of people asking each recipient to send copies with the same request to a specified number of others.
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Accurate Communication via E-mail: All employees and volunteers should make every attempt to communicate truthfully, accurately and clearly via e- mail. Employees and volunteers should use the same due care in drafting e-mail as they would for any other company communication.
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Spamming: Employees and volunteers are prohibited, without the expressed consent of their supervisor and the recipient, from sending spam (unsolicited e-mail). Employees and volunteers are prohibited from sending company-wide e-mail messages to all employees and/or volunteers without the approval of an appropriate supervisor.
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Spoofing: Employees and volunteers are prohibited from hiding their identity (spoofing) when sending e-mail. Any anonymous or pseudonymous e-mail messages are prohibited.
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Communication of Confidential and Sensitive Information via E-mail: Sending via e-mail confidential information of the Company, its employees or volunteers is strictly prohibited. Unauthorized dissemination of this type of information may result in civil liability as well as criminal penalties. Before sending an e-mail message every employee and volunteer should think about how a third party to the message might interpret the message.
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Blind ‘Carbon Copies’: Due care must be exercised when sending blind carbon copies (blind cc) of e-mail messages. All employees and volunteers using “blind cc” must ensure that the addressee’s privacy is not violated.
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E-mail Ownership Policy: All e-mail messages employees and volunteers create, receive, and use in the course of business is property of Company. At management’s request, employees and volunteers must make available any or all company records (including e-mails). The law gives Company management the right to access to all employee or volunteer messages sent or received via company systems. With regards to e-mail, employees and volunteers have no expectation of privacy.
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Naval Services FamilyLine
Employee and Volunteer Handbook Acknowledgement
I acknowledge that I have received a copy of the Naval Services FamilyLine Employee and Volunteer Handbook. I further understand and agree that this Acknowledgement will be executed by electronic signature and kept as an electronic record in accordance with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (as enacted by the District of Columbia). If I do not consent to this, I will print out, sign and date, and deliver the signed original of this Acknowledgement to the Company. I understand that I am expected to adhere to the policies set forth in this Handbook. I understand, however, that the policies in this Handbook are not terms or conditions of employment, that these policies may be changed unilaterally by the Company from time to time, and that there may be other things expected of me that are not reflected in the Handbook. I also understand that nothing in this Handbook creates an express or implied contract of employment, and that my employment or volunteer service, is “at will” and may be terminated, either by myself or by the Company, at any time for any reason under the law or for no reason at all.