CHIEF EXECUTIVE LIMITATIONS April 27, 2011 (Revised) POLICY GOVERNANCE The Chief Executive shall not cause or allow any practice, activity, decision or organizational circumstance that is unlawful, imprudent, immoral or in violation of commonly accepted business and professional ethics, the Unitarian Universalist principles, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill's Mission, Vision or its Bylaws. A. Shared Ministry Shared ministry affirms the value and necessity of mutually affirmed vision, wisdom, skills and commitments of the laity and professional ministry in facilitating the Mission of the congregation. Empower congregation committees, task forces, members and volunteers, without the means to effectively implement the Ends as established by the Board. Fail to provide the necessary guidance and support to accomplish these Ends. Establish task forces without providing them with clear goals, duties and expected end dates. Develop policies, procedures and job descriptions that are unclear or not easily understood. Establish committees without a clear understanding of expectations by the Executive as to the role of each committee. Delegate decision making and authority without carefully considering the volunteers' duties and responsibilities. Prevent committee and task force members from the opportunity to express their opinion, both individually and collectively. Serve as Chief Executive without appointing a Council of Lay Ministry Leaders. Operate without a Long Range Plan for UUCCH. Fail to engage congregational leaders directly affected by programs and decisions, communicating with them in a timely manner and soliciting appropriate feedback. Refuse to address questions and concerns regarding potential Chief Executive decisions. B. Public Relations The Chief Executive shall represent the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill (UUCCH) in public communication and ensure that the UUCCH name is used in a manner consistent with the core principles of Unitarian Universalism and the congregation. Speak to media outlets on behalf of the congregation except when needed. Represent the congregation to outside groups in a manner that reflects negatively on the core principles and the Mission Covenant of UUCCH and its congregation. Use the UUCCH name concerning social, political and controversial issues unless the congregation has formally adopted a position or the issue has broad, though not necessarily unanimous, support of the congregation. (Nothing in this policy shall be construed to infringe upon the fundamental freedom of the pulpit for the Chief Executive.) Fail to oversee the use of the UUCCH name for events sponsored by congregants and congregational committees.
2 C. Treatment of the Public With respect to interactions with the public, the Chief Executive shall act in a manner that creates positive relationships, conditions, procedures and decisions. Be disrespectful. Cause or allow conditions that are unsafe, undignified and unnecessarily intrusive. Fail to engage in attentive listening. Violate the privacy, confidentiality or the standards of the congregation's Mission, Vision, Ends and Unitarian Universalist principles. D. Treatment of Congregants and Volunteers With respect to interactions with congregants and volunteers, the Chief Executive shall act in a manner that creates positive relationships, conditions, procedures and decisions. Be disrespectful. Fail to establish with current and potential members a clear understanding of the benefits and responsibilities of membership in UUCCH. Maintain facilities that do not provide reasonable accommodation for adult and child congregants with a range of disabilities. Serve as Chief Executive establishing, implementing, maintaining and informing congregants of: - A Safe Congregation policy. - A Disruptive Person policy. - A Right Relations policy. Disclose member pledge information, except as required by members of the Stewardship Committee and those whose assistance is necessary to support the responsibilities of the Stewardship Committee. Endanger the confidentiality of any information that a congregant has expressed in confidence to the Chief Executive, except in situations where there is potential harm to oneself or others. Use methods of collecting, reviewing, submitting and storing personal information that fails to protect against improper access to the information. Jeopardize the values and principles of UUCCH and Unitarian Universalism. Operate without maintaining positive relationships with the UUA, the Joseph Priestly District (JPD) and the greater South Jersey community. Maintain church facilities that fail to provide a reasonable level of safety and access. Act in a manner that undermines UUCCH's Covenant of Right Relations.
3 E. Treatment of Staff The Chief Executive shall ensure that working conditions and decisions are safe and healthy, according to laws and regulations established by OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Act); that working standards meet the requirements of national, state and local laws; and that working standards also are in agreement with UUCCH's Vision, Mission, Ends and UU principles. Be disrespectful to staff. Discriminate against current or potential staff based on race, creed, ethnicity, national origin, gender, physical disability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender characteristics, identity or expression. Operate without written personnel policies that clearly state personnel rules for staff and provide for effective handling of grievances. Fail to ensure that permanent staff members receive annual performance reviews and professional development plans, the completion of which shall occur at least two months prior to the beginning of the new church year. Withhold from permanent staff members a current copy of UUCCH's "Employee Handbook," which contains all personnel policies. Materially downgrade the rights and privileges to which employees are currently entitled in the "Employee Handbook." Discourage staff from the opportunity for respectful expression of dissent; and shall not become biased based on that dissent. Imply or promise either permanent or guaranteed employment to any current or potential employee. F. Compensation and Benefits The Chief Executive is responsible to support the fiscal integrity of UUCCH and for the fair and just compensation of staff when setting salaries, benefits and expense reimbursement levels; the same would apply in the case of contract workers and consultants when needed. Make any change to the compensation, benefits, professional expenses and all other monetary remuneration to the Chief Executive position, except as authorized by the Board of Trustees. Allow staff compensation to fall below minimum wage and benefits to fall below those defined in the "Employee Handbook." Fail to consider current budget constraints when considering salary and benefits for employees. Fail to compensate staff fairly and equitably, taking into account responsibility, experience, performance and UUA guidelines. Imply or promise to any staff member guaranteed future compensation. Be out of compliance with: - All federal, state and local employment laws and requirements - All policies as outlined in the "Employee Handbook."
G. Communication and Support to the Board It is the responsibility of the Chief Executive to ensure that the Board is informed and supported in the work of the Board. 4 Fail to submit monitoring data required by the Board in a concise, timely, accurate and understandable manner that directly addresses the provisions of Board policies being monitored. Allow the Board to be uninformed or misinformed of relevant trends, anticipated adverse conditions including media coverage, threatened or pending lawsuits, and any significant changes affecting assumptions upon which Board policies were based. Neglect to advise the Board when, in the Chief Executive's opinion, the Board's actions or behaviors are not in compliance with its own governing policies, linkage policies or the Bylaws, to the detriment of the working relationship between the Board and the Chief Executive. Fail to gather as many external and internal points of view and options as needed for the Board to be able to make fully-informed decisions. Operate without a workable mechanism for official Board, Chief Executive and committee communications. Fail to work with the Board as a whole except when: a) Fulfilling individual Board requests for information; or b) Responding to Officers of the Board or committees duly charged by the Board. Hesitate to notify the Board of any action the Chief Executive is unable to take due to legal, regulatory or contractual restraints. H. Emergency Succession To protect the Board from sudden loss of the Chief Executive services, the Chief Executive shall ensure that at least one high level lay leader is sufficiently familiar with Board and Executive issues and processes to enable that person to assume the Chief Executive position with reasonable efficiency on an interim basis. I. Financial Planning and Budgeting The Chief Executive is responsible to ensure that financial planning and budgeting for any fiscal year, or the remaining portion of any fiscal year, shall be financially sound and shall reflect the Board's Ends priorities. Plan expenditures in any fiscal year of more funds than are credibly projected to be received in that period. Present a budget that contains insufficient information to enable credible projection of revenues and expenses. Submit a budget or financial that does not disclose planning assumptions. Fail to take into account projected pledge collection rates within reasonable historical limits.
5 J. Actual Financial Conditions and Activities With respect to the actual ongoing fiscal conditions and activities of the organization and the Ends priorities as established by the Board, the Chief Executive shall protect the organization from financial jeopardy and from a material deviation of actual expenditures or revenues. Spend in excess of the current year's budget. Create financial obligations beyond the current year's budget, without Board approval. Delay in settling all payroll and debts in a timely manner. Neglect to pay government ordered payments or filings on time and in an accurate manner. Allow UUCCH's operational cash reserves (excludes endowment fund cash reserves) to fall below the level of donor restricted funds (excluding the prepaid pledges reserve account). Acquire, encumber or dispose of real property unless the Board and, when necessary, the congregation approves. Fail to protect the organization's tax-exempt status. K. Asset Protection The Chief Executive is responsible that all assets are protected, adequately maintained, are not subject to unnecessary risk, and that all damages are appropriately repaired.. Fail to insure all assets against theft and casualty loss and against liability to Board members, staff and the organization. Subject the building, equipment and property to improper wear and tear, damage or insufficient maintenance. Operate without a maintenance plan. Expose the Church, its members, and its Board of Trustees to legal or governmental claims by failing to exercise reasonable judgment in performing his or her duties. Allow no conflict of interest to occur in employment, awarding of contracts or purchases. Operate without appropriate controls so that the processing and disbursement of funds meet generally accepted auditing and accounting standards. Interfere with the maintenance and disbursement of the endowment fund according to the congregation's Bylaws and resolutions. Fail to have a periodic financial audit.
6 L. Grants Only the Chief Executive may award grants and those grants must serve the Mission and Ends of UUCCH. Award any grant before considering an applicant's capacity to produce appropriately targeted and efficient results. Fail to oversee the grant approval process. Fail to collect, review and retain written grant applications. Neglect to provide follow-up reports on grant activities. Award any grant without considering the budgetary, staff and facility impacts to the grant award. M. Spending Contracts The Chief Executive shall execute contracts on behalf of UUCCH. Award any contract not included in the annual budget which is in excess of $10,000 without Board approval. Award any contract without considering the budgetary impact of the contract. Award any contract before seeking legal advice to interpret and assess contractual terms, when necessary. N. Restricted Gifts The Chief Executive shall decide whether or not to accept certain restrictions to a financial gift made to UUCCH. Accept any restricted gift that is contrary to the Mission, Ends and UU principles.