This Conflict of Interest Policy and Declaration will be read by the following persons:
- Board member, upon appointment to the Board; and
- Staff, upon joining Home Nursing Foundation (HNF)
The undersigned acknowledges that they understand the Conflict of Interest Policy of HNF and that they will make timely declarations as required, as set out below:
1 DEFINITION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Arises in any situation where the personal or professional concerns of a Board member or a staff may hinder his / her ability to put the interests of HNF before personal and/or professional interest.
Exists whenever an individual can benefit directly / indirectly from information received by, or a decision of the Board, or where such a benefit might reasonably be perceived.
Is a situation in which an individual has a separate and competing interest vis-à-vis HNF and they have not made clear as to which interest he / she is acting for.
2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Board members and staff should act in the best interests of Home Nursing Clear policies and procedures should be set and measures be taken to declare, prevent and address conflict of interest.
3 DECLARATION POLICY AND PROCEDURE
Every Board member and staff shall declare in writing the nature and extent of any relationship, arrangement, contract or agreement, which may result in a conflict of interest, real or The declaration to be made by the Board member and staff shall be in the form annexed as Form “A” and Form “B”.
All Board members and staff will be required to file a Declaration on an annual However, if at any time following the filing of his or her Declaration there occurs any material change in the information contained in the Declaration given by the board members or staff, either by way of addition or deletion, that board member or staff shall file a supplementary Declaration describing such change, as soon as reasonably possible.
Where Board members and staff have knowledge of and personal interest in business transactions or contracts that HNF may enter into, they are required to make a declaration of such interest as soon as possible and abstain from discussion and decision-making on the matter (including voting on the transaction or contract). All such discussion and evaluation by the board or relevant approving authority in arriving at the final decision on the transaction/ contract should be well documented.
Where Board members and staff who have vested interest in other organisations that have dealings / relationship with HNF, and when matters involving the interests of both HNF and the other organisations are discussed, they are required to make a declaration of such interest and if necessary, abstain from discussions and decision making on such matters.
The Board’s approval should be sought before HNF enters into any joint venture with external Where Board members and staff have interest in such ventures, they should make a declaration of such interest and if necessary, abstain from discussion and decision-making on the matter.
Where a conflict of interest arises at a Board meeting, the Board member concerned should not vote on the matter nor participate in He / She should offer to withdraw from the meeting, and the other Board members should decide if this is required. The reason for how a final decision is made on the transaction or contract should be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
Recruitment of staff with close relationship (i.e, those who are more than just mere acquaintances) with current Board members or staff should go through the established human resource procedures for recruitment. The Board member or staff should make a declaration of such relationships and should refrain from influencing decision on the recruitment.
Paid staff, including the Chief Executive Officer and senior management staff employed by HNF should not serve as a member of the Board as it can pose issues of conflict of interest and role conflicts, and may raise doubts on the integrity of Board’s The Chief Executive Officer and senior management staff can attend board meetings, ex-officio, to provide information and facilitate necessary discussion but should not take part in the decision-making of the Board.
Major donors / representatives from major donor companies should avoid the following potentially conflicting situations if serving as a member of the Board:
- Conflict of loyalty: Board member may not have the overall best interests of the charity due to their vested interests/ This may influence decisions relating to allocation of resources/ setting the organization’s directions. (There may be particular programme areas board member is vested in and is biased towards.)
- Use of information to influence donor decisions: Information accessible to board members may be used to influence donors’ decision on allocations or the corporation they This may result in staff not highlighting certain issues for fear that the donation may be affected. Issues of transparency and disclosure can arise.
- Pressure to release additional information to donor: Board member may expect additional information from staff on how donations were used and the details of users.
- Personal benefit/ gain/ recognition: The board member may expect greater recognition for financial support given, than is usually Staff may feel beholden to this board member in case the donor relationship is threatened.
Board members should serve without remuneration for their voluntary service to HNF so as to maintain the integrity of serving for public trust and community good instead of personal gain. However, HNF may reimburse Board members for out-of-pocket expenses directly related to the service.
Every staff should avoid outside activities or employment that may adversely affect his or her performance on the All employees are expected to conduct their business and personal affairs with the highest standards of integrity, to avoid both the appearance and existence of a potential or actual conflict of interest.
If a board member or staff has any reason to believe that there may be a conflict of interest, he / she must immediately disclose the matter to the President / Chief Executive Officer of HNF.
Please view Form A & Form B here.
