Subserie 01 - Handbooks

• Documento textual

4 cm of textual records

This subseries contains the congregation’s handbooks of policies and procedures from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s. The subseries consists of handbooks, forms, a manual and booklets.

The Community Handbook includes loose sheets detailing Council contact persons and their areas of responsibility, as well as a revision to rules concerning leisure travel. The handbook outlines policy around different topics such as accounting, community prayer, donations and gifts, education, ministries, and more. Additional papers detail changes to the handbook. The community forms pertain to personal funeral planning, education, car accidents, the application for the apostolic services fund, and a form for organ donation.

The Policies and Procedures Manual is a 2003 revision to the revised 1989 Community Handbook. The policies and procedures pertain to the whole congregation, unless stated otherwise. Topics include community living, such as the regulations around vehicles, communications, houses, and jubilees; finances, including accounting, donations and gifts, and income tax; health, such as caring for one another in illness and ageing, funeral planning, hospitalization, and counselling and therapy; legal, including copyright, document retention, jury duty, power of attorney for financial matters and personal care, therapeutic practice, and wills; ministry, which includes application for old age pension, personnel policies, retirement, selection/transition/missioning, and volunteer screening; renewal and study, including retreats/spiritual direction and sabbatical leave; and travel, which includes the policies for lake houses and apartments, as well as leisure and family visits, including requirements for air/ international travel.

The Human Resources Policy Handbook includes information on topics such as absenteeism management, business trips, complaint procedures, computer systems usage, confidentiality, congregational ministries closure, corrective action, customer service, dress code, educational reimbursement, employee group benefits, employee status, health and safety, heat stress, hours of work and overtime, inappropriate conduct in the workplace, infectious diseases, ladder safety, leaves of absence, musculoskeletal disorders and lifting procedures, on call procedures, performance management, professional designations/associations, public and non-public holidays, recruiting practices, and vacation, There are also reviews and revisions to the handbook from 2006-2012.

There are two Called to Unity booklets, one revised in 1975 and the other undated. The 1975 edition details the Sisters’ duty to community, apostolic commitment, and government. The undated edition also includes details of the same duties, but also dictates specific directives for the Sisters, including prayer and community life, vows, formation, education, health care, care of the aged, missions, housekeeping, other apostolates, and government.