• Corrections
• Changes to Discipline and Grievance Procedures
• Annual Leave Increase
• Rowan's Recruitment Line
• The PA Register
• EyeT4All
• 3WC Celebrations
• Readers Writes: Speeches from the 3WC Celebrations
• Legal Advice for Deaf People
• Need Help? Ask SARA
• Membership of The Rowan Organisation
  

Corrections

Thank you to the reader who spotted that we had given the wrong direct dial numbers for Rowena Arnold and Susan Kuchta! The correct numbers are:

Rowena Arnold: 0845 606 1596

Susan Kuchta: 0845 606 1597

As far as we are aware, all other numbers were correct. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Unfortunately, the Carmarthenshire Peer Support internet forum closed by the time the Winter issue of Directions had gone to print.

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Changes to Discipline and Grievance Procedures

If you employ one or more personal assistants, carers or helpers of some kind, then the following information is important:

On April 6th 2009, the existing statutory discipline and grievance procedures (sometimes referred to as "the 3-step procedures") will be abolished.

These will be replaced, on the same day, by the ACAS statutory Code of Practice for handling disciplinary and grievance issues at work. This Code is designed to help employers, employees and their representatives, deal with issues which may arise in the workplace.

A failure to follow the Code when dealing with disciplinary and grievance issues does not, in itself, make an employer liable to proceedings. But employment tribunals will take the Code into account and could adjust any awards made in relevant cases by up to 25 per cent for unreasonable failure to comply with any provision of the Code.

The Code does not apply to redundancy dismissals or the non renewal of fixed term contracts on their expiry and here, a separate process would need to be followed.

The main theme of the Code is to encourage fairness and transparency by developing and using rules and procedures for handling disciplinary and grievance situations. These should be set down in writing, be specific and clear.

Whenever a disciplinary or grievance process is being followed it is important to deal with issues fairly. There are a number of elements to this:

• Employers and employees should raise and deal with issues promptly and should not unreasonably delay meetings, decisions or confirmation of those decisions.
• Employers and employees should act consistently.
• Employers should carry out any necessary investigations, to establish the facts of the case.
• Employers should inform employees of the basis of the problem and give them an opportunity to put their case in response before any decisions are made.
• Employers should allow employees to be accompanied at any formal disciplinary or grievance meeting.
• Employers should allow an employee to appeal against any formal decision made.

Because the Code of Practice is a statutory requirement, we strongly advise that you include the procedures in the employment contract you give to your PAs. As such, the Rowan Organisation has created new disciplinary and grievance procedures, based upon the samples made available by ACAS.

You will find enclosed with this Newsletter a copy of the new procedures and a letter explaining what you need to do. If you do not employ staff (for example, if you only use Agency workers), you can ignore the enclosed documents.

For further information,  you can download the full ACAS Code of Practice and separate ACAS guidance notes or you can visit the Acas website.

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Annual Leave Increase

On the 1st of April 2009, the statutory minimum holiday entitlement goes up from 4.8 weeks to 5.6 weeks per year (pro rata for part-time employees).

If you employ PAs or carers, you must ensure that they are given their full new entitlement. You should inform them of their new entitlement, ideally in writing.

The statutory minimum entitlement includes the bank and public holidays. If, however, you want to give your employees more than the statutory minimum entitlement, you can do so at your discretion providing you work within the constraints of your budget.

If you require assistance with calculating your PAs' new entitlement, you can contact our Payroll team at head office. If you are concerned over whether your funding will cover the increase in annual leave entitlement, please contact the relevant funding provider.

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Rowan's Recruitment Line

When you are advertising for a personal assistant, either through a local newspaper, Jobcentre Plus or via some other means, you have the opportunity to use the Rowan Organisation's Recruitment Line. It offers you a means through which to send out the job application form and job description etc., while at the same time safeguarding details such as your home address or contact number. By using the Recruitment Line, it will also save you time from having to manage posting out forms yourself.

If you wish to use the Recruitment Line, here's how it basically works:

• If you are already receiving recruitment support from your local Rowan Independent Living Adviser (ILA) then they can offer advice and if required, assist with writing the job advert and the Reference Number to be used.
• If you are not currently receiving support from an ILA you can still use the Recruitment Line. If you are unsure of certain wording or content of your advert, you can contact the Rowan's Information Service on 0800 783 1755, who will try to assist.
• Please remember that your job advertisement must not contain any wording which could be seen by someone else as being discriminatory (e.g. based on gender, age, race, disability), unless you can justify it and include an appropriate exemption statement.
• Your job advertisement MUST contain a Job Reference Number. You will need to contact the Recruitment Line on 0845 602 4614 to agree the number that should be used.
• Your advert MUST also contain the Recruitment Line telephone number so that applicants can phone for an application pack.
• Once you have this information agreed and you're happy with your advert, you can go ahead and place it with the advertiser you have chosen.
• When you place your advert, you MUST also send the Job Description (and Person Specification and any other information you might want included), to the Recruitment Line, preferably by email to recruitment@therowan.org, or by post to The Recruitment Line, The Rowan Organisation, Eliot Park Innovation Centre, Barling Way, Nuneaton, CV10 7RH.
• Upon seeing your advert, potential applicants will contact the Recruitment Line to request a Job Application Pack and they will be asked to quote the reference number that appears on your advert
• The Recruitment Line will send out the Application Pack, (containing the job description, application form, PA Register Form etc.) on your behalf and receive back completed forms, to batch up and send on to you.

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The PA Register

The Rowan Organisation often receives enquiries from people about possible personal assistant vacancies. It may be that they had already applied for previous vacancies advertised by service users, but were unsuccessful at that time or maybe are willing to do relief work for another employer.

In order to help support the recruitment process and potentially improve our service users' chances of finding suitable PAs, the Rowan Organisation has created a database (the PA Register) to hold details of PAs who are looking for a job or for additional hours.

PAs who join the PA Register, after signing a consent form, will be able to receive details and an application form for new vacancies in their area.

The name and address details provided by PAs for the PA Register is confidential and will not be disclosed to service users. It will be the role of the local Independent Living Adviser to look at the PA Register and determine whether the PAs' details match up with a particular vacancy (e.g. preferred working area, hours available, driver/non-driver). If the vacancy appears suitable, the PA will be sent the relevant job description and application form, and the associated Job Reference Number. The PA, if interested, would then complete the application and send it back via Rowan's confidential Recruitment Line to you.

PA details will be held on the PA Register for up to three months, unless they instruct the Rowan Organisation to keep it on for a shorter or longer period.

Please note that the Rowan Organisation does not recommend individuals for jobs and it is made clear to all PAs that we are not the employer.

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EyeT4all

EyeT4All is a new project from the British Computer Association of the Blind (BCAB). It is aimed at blind and partially sighted people who want to get more out of using computers.

The course offers a relaxed and friendly environment in which people can learn about sending email, writing letters, looking for holidays, and many other uses of computers in day to day life. It shows trainees how to use such items as voice recognition software, DAISY books and reading machines.

EyeT4All has been funded for four years by the Big Lottery Fund and through BCAB's sales of its Guide Cats CDs.

Courses are free and trainees are given the opportunity to join BCAB for free for the first year. Members are kept up to date with latest news of software for blind and partially sighted people, future training and more.

If you would like to find out about training days near you, please contact BCAB for support on 0845 643 9408 or email EyeT4all@bcab.org.uk .

Source: www.bcab.org.uk .

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3WC Celebrations

To mark the success of the Direct Payments Scheme in the Three Welsh Counties Project, five half-day celebration events were hosted by The Rowan Organisation in October and November 2008.

The half day events in Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, Penygroes in Carmarthenshire and Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, were well attended by social services personnel, voluntary organisations and people using Direct Payments already. It was an opportunity to not only look back over the past five years and acknowledge the achievements in that time, but also to look forward to a changing environment in which disabled people should be

enabled to live even more independently through new initiatives such as Third Party Payments and Self-Directed Support.

Opening remarks were given at each event by Cllr Thomas (Penygroes), Mark Williams MP (Aberystwyth), Angela Burns AM (Haverfordwest), and Paul Davies AM (Haverfordwest). Each speaker shared inspiring remarks, reminding those gathered that for people to remain independent in the community there must be a focus upon choice and control.

The highlight of each event was hearing from local people using Direct Payments and supported by The Rowan Organisation. Nicole van Schie, Sally-Ann Deakin, Eva Miller, David Jones, Marie James, Sandro Cairns and Amanda Belcher, among others, all spoke of the difference Direct Payments has made to their lives by having their needs met in a way that was tailored to their individual circumstances.

In addition there was a presentation by The Rowan Organisation summarising the history of the Direct Payments scheme, which was first launched in October 2002.
It began working in Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire with just a few people in receipt of Direct Payments and now supports around five-hundred people across the project.

After workshops looking in more detail at Direct Payments and the alternatives and compliments to the scheme designed to enable independence, the Direct Payments Lead Officer for each county closed the events by thanking The Rowan Organisation for their hard work and success.

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Readers Writes

SC from Aberystwyth spoke at our celebrations in Wales. Here is the speech he made...

"I have been receiving Direct Payments since 2004. I have had two personal assistants, arranged for me by the Rowan Organisation. My current PA has been with me since 2006.

I use my PA to play snooker at the RAFA Club, to go to the cinema, swimming, the gym and to play bowls as well as going to the arts centre. I am also looking forward to going horse riding and on trips away with my PA in the near future.

My PA and I have also been to see Status Quo and the Sugababes live, which I really enjoyed. I was also supported to raise money for a trip I made with

Mencap to Lesotho in March last year by my PA. A scrapbook that we made together is now with the Queen of Lesotho!

Having Direct Payments allows me to do these things I enjoy doing so much. I can pay my PA to accompany me to concerts and organise travel and accommodation, which I would otherwise find difficult to do on my own. I am able to make my own choices and lead an active social life because I have the independence to decide what I do and the support in place to help me when I need it.

I like the way that the Rowan Organisation involved me in picking my PA. I wanted someone who was young and lively to keep up with my active life! I also wanted my PA to be a man.

I like the way that I was allowed to choose who I wanted to work for me instead of being stuck with someone that I didn't know or like!! I found it very nice that the Rowan involved me in finding someone who I wanted. I was very pleased with the way they supported me to set up my PA's contract and arranged for him to start working with me.

I get a lot of help from Gareth John, my ASW, when dealing with banking and money. He helps me to keep a record of my finances and helps me to cope with things I find hard like tax returns for my PA's wages. This would be too hard to do on my own and the Rowan staff are very good at helping me with this. And they are very friendly too!

I like the way that my opinion counts within this organisation.

I go to meetings for Direct Payments and am the events organiser on one committee. This makes me feel involved and a real part of the work the Rowan does as I feel that they listen to me and other clients, and are interested in hearing what I want from them.

The Rowan Organisation has helped me to lead my life more independently by supporting me with Direct Payments. I have my own PA who I picked myself and can choose what I want to do and when. So I would like to say a big thank you to the Rowan Organisation for all the support it has given me in the last four years."

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Legal Advice for Deaf People

In September 2008, the Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD) and the Legal Services Commission launched a new service to help Deaf BSL users to access legal advice.

BSL users in England and Wales can now obtain free legal advice from professional caseworkers through a webcam. All caseworkers are fluent in British Sign Language. Advice is available on benefits, employment, housing and debt.
To access the service, users need a computer, broadband connection and a webcam. The RAD can provide details of how to access the service if users don't have the equipment. New users will need to fill in a referral form to make an appointment. When an appointment is booked, they are then able to talk face to face to their caseworker using the webcam.

The service is aimed at people who are on low incomes or who receive benefits. New users will have a legal aid assessment to see if they can use the service for free. If they don't qualify, the RAD will signpost them to another service that can help.

To find out more about the service, visit www.radlegalservices.org.uk or phone 020 7613 3841, minicom 020 7613 3967.

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Need Help? Ask SARA

AskSARA is an online self assessment tool from the Disabled Living Foundation. Individuals can go to the website to find advice and details of products to aid independent living.

Users of the site select a category that they need help with. They then answer a series of questions about themselves and their environment. At the end, they receive a report offering advice and suggestions for disability equipment they might benefit from. It also includes details of where the products are available from.

Popular topics that people seek support with are health, mobility, clothing and preparing food and drink.

To use the service, please visit www.asksara.org.uk .

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Membership of the Rowan Organisation

The Rowan Organisation is a registered charity and not for profit organisation. It is a user-led organisation and the majority of Board members are disabled people, as are a number of our operational staff.

Membership of the Rowan Organisation is open to all service users and it's free! Ordinary members receive a summary of the quarterly Board meetings, are entitled to attend and vote at the AGM and also have the chance to become a Board Member themselves.

Board membership offers an exciting opportunity to travel and meet up with others. Service user members', who are elected on to the Board, influence the management and direction of the organisation. Board membership offers a mix of business and social elements and all reasonable travel, accommodation and other expenses are paid for by the Rowan Organisation.

If you are interested in applying for ordinary membership, with the chance of becoming a Board member, please contact the Rowan Organisation at Head Office on 0800 783 1755 or by emailing info@therowan.org.
The following further information may help you to decide to become a member:

Mission Statement

"The Rowan Organisation exists to provide disabled people with access to information and support in order that they can make informed choices and be in control of their lives".

Vision Statement

"A society that is fully inclusive in which the barriers, whether environmental, attitudinal or institutional, that prevent disabled people from having equality of opportunity have been removed."
In providing services we advocate the following principles:

Services offered should support disabled people to have increased choices, independence and control of their lives.

Support provided should be based on and directed by the aims, objectives and needs identified by each disabled person.

The same range of opportunities and facilities should be available to disabled people as are available to others.

Disabled people should not be excluded, segregated or discriminated against because of their impairment.

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