The Adult Placement Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

Employment of staff

30.—(1) The registered person shall—

(a) ensure that all permanent appointments of persons to its staff are subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation;

(b) operate a disciplinary procedure which, in particular—

(i) provides for suspension, and the taking of other action short of suspension, in relation to a member of staff where appropriate in the interests of service users and the proper operation of the agency; and

(ii) provides that a failure on the part of a member of staff to report an incident of abuse, or suspected abuse, of a service user placed by the agency to an appropriate person is a ground on which disciplinary proceedings may be instituted.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(ii), an appropriate person is the registered person, a police officer or an employee of the Regulation and Improvement Authority.