Small is Beautiful Ltd are required to ensure that anyone working in our early years nurseries is not disqualified from doing so under the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009.
A person may be disqualified because:
1. They have certain orders or restrictions placed upon them
2. They are found to have committed certain offences
You are required to complete Part A of this form and sign the declaration to confirm that you are not / would not be disqualified under the Regulations from working at our nurseries as we are a setting covered by the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009.
If you are disqualified you cannot work in our nurseries unless you are granted a waiver by OFSTED. If you are applying for a job with Small Is Beautiful your employment will not start until the waiver has been granted. If you are a current employee, you will not be able to work in the nursery until the waiver is granted. If you are not granted a waiver we will withdraw our offer of employment, or if you are already employed, this will result in the termination of your employment.
If at any point in your employment there is reason to believe that you may be disqualified, even if you are not sure if this would definitely be the case, you must inform Small Is Beautiful immediately, so that we can make appropriate enquiries with OFSTED. This will be treated in the strictest confidence and if we are advised by OFSTED there is no cause for concern and no action required, no records of any such declaration will be kept. Failure to inform Small Is Beautiful immediately that there is reason to believe that you may be disqualified is a disciplinary offence and due to the severity of the consequences to Small Is Beautiful will usually be considered as potential Gross Misconduct.
If it is necessary to apply for a waiver you will not be able to carry out your usual job role. We will initially require you to take any Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) you may have accrued and any annual leave accrued to that date; this may include relocating any annual leave you have booked for later in the year (unless you have made firm travel arrangements that would result in a cost to you for cancelling – you may be required to provide evidence of this). Once any TOIL and annual leave is taken you will usually then receive normal pay for any further reasonable period that you cannot work in the nursery, provided you comply with all reasonable requests. In some circumstances, for example if a delay in the waiver process is caused by your failure to provide necessary information, we may instead require you to take unpaid leave.
If you are not able to work in the nursery while a waiver is applied for, you remain an employee of Small Is Beautiful and must comply with all reasonable requests made of you. This means that you must give all necessary information to Small Is Beautiful, apply for the waiver immediately it becomes necessary and you must comply with all requests made by Small Is Beautiful or by OFSTED in order for the waiver process to be completed as quickly as possible. Any delay in a waiver decision caused by your failure to comply with this will result in you being required to take unpaid leave. It will also be treated as a disciplinary offence and due to the severity of the consequences to Small Is Beautiful will usually be considered as potential Gross Misconduct. If you do not apply for a waiver within 24 hours of being requested the disciplinary process will be triggered unless you inform us immediately that you do not intend to apply for a waiver.
If you are not able to work in the nursery while a waiver is applied for, we may ask you to attend meetings, training courses (including Saturdays), or to carry out some work at home if this is appropriate; this may include tasks that you do not normally carry out in your day to day work but that we feel you are capable of completing. We may also ask you to complete training at home and provide a report back to your manager on this. If you are studying for a qualification, we would expect you to continue working on this and to continue attending college where required. Failure to carry out any of the above or any other reasonable task requested of you will result in this period of time being regarded as unauthorised and therefore unpaid absence. It may also result in disciplinary action for failure to carry out a reasonable request and may require you to refund any training fees we have paid on your behalf.
If you decide not to apply for a waiver your employment will be terminated for some other substantial reason (an SOSR dismissal) as we will not be legally permitted to continue employing you.
If you are successful, this form will be retained for the duration of your employment. If you are unsuccessful, this form will be retained for three months after applying for a position with us.
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