YouthBuild Blueprint: Staff and Workplace Policies and Procedures

If you do not have a personnel manual and the attendant employment policies, you should engage legal counsel to help develop policies that comply with all the relevant state and federal laws. You may be able to find a law firm that will work for your organization on a pro bono basis. Your law firm can also assist you with many other issues that may arise, such as negotiating leases, consultant contracts, organizational subcontracts, and other such documents.

In addition to personnel policies and legal issues, you must also ensure that your YouthBuild program has adequate insurance. It would help if you worked with an insurance broker to determine what types of insurance your program needs. Keep in mind that insurance is regulated by state, so you should work with someone familiar with your state’s laws. Some of the types of insurance coverage are:

• Employee: Covering claims made by employees for losses occurring while working. Depending on the state, participants receiving a stipend are often considered in the same class as employees for insurance.
• Property: Covering property or equipment owned or leased by the organization against damage or loss due to fire, theft, and other perils.
• Liability: Covering trips and falls and other similar claims made by non-employees at your office or site or actions of staff or board which result in a claim, lawsuit, or other loss.

Program Compliance

Additional policies cover your YouthBuild program's compliance with the rules set forth by DOL. For example, you must make plans to meet all the reporting requirements of DOL. Like all programs that receive government funding, DOL YouthBuild programs are required to submit reports. DOL YouthBuild programs must submit three reports, each on a quarterly basis: a quarterly performance report (QPR), a quarterly narrative report (QNR) which is attached to the QPR, and a financial report, the ETA-9130.

To report on your work and the outcomes your youth have achieved, you must have data collection systems in place from the beginning of your program. Such a system includes the critical elements of collecting, entering, checking, and using data. Investing in this effort takes time, resources, and leadership. Successful programs use data to document their program’s success and continually assess what is not working so they can make mid-course modifications to improve the program. After carefully reviewing the DOL performance outcomes and attending the new grantee training, you will need to set up a system for collecting, entering, checking, and using your data. It is essential to be clear about who on your staff is responsible for each task for each data element that must be collected.

Read more in the DOL YouthBuild Policies and Procedures Guide and the YouthBuild Policies and Procedures Overview Webcast.

Other Topics in Performance Management: Policies and Procedures

• YouthBuild Blueprint: Participant Policies and Procedures
• Best Practices for Policies and Procedures

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