As the fall term comes to a close, the AMS Board of Directors is working on policies that will affect all AMS employees.
In a report to Assembly on Nov. 3, Laura Devenny, chair of the Board, told Assembly the Board passed “numerous” employee-facing policies—including customer services policy, an accommodation policy, a record management policy—in their October meeting.
The policies will be available and come into effect in February 2023. They will impact AMS staff and those accessing AMS services. In her report, Devenny said all employees will be notified of the changes.
“We are in a way extrapolating everything individually from the Employee Policy, so by the time we hit February, all policies will be ready to go and we can decommission the Employee Policy,” Devenny said in a statement to The Journal.
Composed of students, non-students, the AMS executive team, and the Board of Directors offers the AMS guidance, financial accountability, and human resources support.
Luca Difrancesco, Board of Directors student director, will be talking about this new policy implementation in detail next week at the AMS Corporate Special General Meeting, according to Devenny.
The accommodation and record management policies were amended from already existing AMS policies. According to Devenny, the customer service policy, on the other hand, is “brand new.”
“While the expectation of all our staff and volunteers is to provide a high-quality experience to students, we now have it as a tangible policy,” she said.
This new policy focuses on training staff in accessible customer service and the applicable legislation, equipping AMS employees with the proper knowledge to serve customers, ensuring the AMS treats internal and external customers with respect, and approaching all situations with patience and understanding.
“This policy both shares the values the AMS holds, and outlines how the policy will be implemented across the AMS,” Devenny said.
Devenny said the accommodation policy—along with many other policies—was previously housed under the full Employee Policy, but is now getting its own standalone document, as many of the new developing policies are.
“This policy outlines our duty to accommodate, our values of a collaborative approach to accommodation, and creating a plan for accommodation, which outlines the responsibilities of all parties,” she said.
“By separating these policies outside of the long EP document, students can find what they are looking for more easily.”
The personnel record management policy has been created in conjunction with the AMS’s usage of HRDownloads, Devenny said. The policy will inform students of what the platform is used for, and how long documents are retained.
HR Downloads is a software that provides AMS employees and volunteers a secure platform to sign contracts, house performance evaluations, accommodations, and other personal information needed in the workplace.
“The previous policy didn’t go into as much detail as the new one, and I believe this document makes it more accessible to our staff members,” Devenny said.
While Devenny said the AMS always provided barrier-free accommodations, the addition of new sections of policy will make this clearer. The new “Creating the Accommodation Plan” section, for example, outlines the duty of all parties to take the burden off staff members.
AMS policies are reviewed on a three-year cycle to ensure they’re updated as need, in conjunction with Canadian and Ontario legislation.
The AMS recently hired a new full-time permanent staff member to lead the human resources team, dedicated to reviewing, improving, and implementing these policies.
“The Human Resources Officer is aware of all new legislation as it occurs and offers support to employees to ensure their success wherever possible,” Devenny said.
“These policies are always open to staff feedback and will be monitored to ensure their effectiveness.”
Tags
AMS, AMS Board of Directors, Employment, Policy, student jobs
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
