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The general approach in this code of ethics (course of conduct) is based on the ethics that every human being has a unique value and potential, irrespective of origin, ethnicity, sex, age, beliefs, socio-economic and legal status. Each individual has the right to the fulfillment of his/her innate and acquired skills.
The social service practitioner has a responsibility to devote his/her professional knowledge and skills scientifically for the benefit of each individual, group, community and mankind.
The social service practitioner has a primary obligation to render a quality service professionally in a professional and ethically correct manner.
The social worker shall recognise and take into account his/her personal and professional limitations, and not let such limitatons impact on a principled service.
Conduct that concerns the social service profession’s shall mean, inter alia, for a practitioner to:
(a) Scientifically evaluate and support the profession in order to enhance and raise the dignity and integrity of the profession.
(b) Challenge unacceptable practices and uphold those that are acceptable; -protect the profession from unfounded criticism which could bring it into disrepute;
(c) remain actively involved with the formulation, development, determination and implementation of professional policy.
Conduct that concerns a client shall mean, inter alia, for a social service practitioner to:
(a) Recognise the uniqueness of each client;
(b) Maintain a professional relationship with the client;
(c) Acknowledge the right to self-determination of the client;
(d) Take into account the client’s rights, preferences and objectives when structuring service-rendering, even in the absence of the client; strive towards the client’s optimal use of his/her abilities;
(g) Respect the client’s right to decide whether or not to co-operate with the social service
(h) practitioner and maintain the client’s right to confidentiality;
(i) Not refuse service-rendering to a client irrespective of whether or not the client is in a position to pay the fees for such services; inform the client of and prepare him/her of any decision regarding the termination of service-rendering.
Conduct that concerns a colleague or another professional person shall mean, inter alia, for a social service practitioner to:
(a) Respect and honor the training and service-rendering of colleagues and other professional persons;
(b)Respect the trust that exists between colleagues;
(c) Resolve criticism of and differences between colleagues in terms of the authority structure of the employer(s);
(d) Protect and defend colleagues against unfair criticism;
(e) Promote opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and experience between colleagues and other professional persons.
Conduct that concerns an employer shall mean, inter alia, for a social service practitioner to acknowledge and honor his/her employer’s authority as far as it is compatible with this course of conduct.
Conduct that concerns a social service institution shall mean, inter alia, for a social service practitioner to co-operate with those social work institutions whose policies, procedures and operations are directed towards adequate service-rendering and encouragement of professional practices consistent with this course of conduct.
Conduct that concerns the community shall mean, inter alia, for a social service practitioner to enhance and promote service-rendering to the community under all circumstances by utilising and developing resources in the community; have the responsibility to be aware of, initiate, develop and change social policy consistent with professional practices.
Issued as General Notice 292 of 1986 in the Government Gazette No 10205 of 25 April 1986.
Disciplinary policy of the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP)
The document on the disciplinary policy of the SACSSP should be read in conjunction with Chapter III of the Social Service Professions Act, 1978, the Regulations regarding the conducting of inquiries into alleged unprofessional or improper conduct, the Rules relating to the acts or omissions of a social worker, a social auxiliary worker or a student social worker which shall constitute unprofessional conduct and the Rules relating to the course of conduct to be followed by social workers in the practicing of their profession, promulgated under the Social Service Professions Act, 1978.
The objectives of the policy are that, in protecting the interest of the public and the profession, the disciplinary system of the SACSSP should be accessible, fair, effective, affordable and expeditious.
Accessible: The system must be easily available to and understood by all complainants.
Fair: The system should treat all parties equally and justly.
Effective: The system should protect the standards of service delivery in accordance with the policy of developmental social welfare.
Affordable: The system should be designed to match available financial resources.
Expeditious: The system should bring complaints to a solution as soon as possible and promote swift action. Principles
The system should promote a balance between restorative and punitive justice.
Any complaint has to be specific about the alleged unprofessional or improper conduct, indicate the nature of the complaint, against whom the complaint is lodged, as well as possible remedies.
The Council should as far as possible, be the agent of last resort and not the first in disciplinary matters.
The Registrar may, after a complaint has been lodged with the Council, liaise with the responsible service provider or the practitioner's supervisor, who may have dealt with the matter in the first instance. Should the matter not be resolved internally, the Registrar may refer the matter to the responsible institution, e.g. National and Provincial Departments or other monitoring systems.
Role differentiation between the SACSSP, the State, employers and professional associations as far as disciplinary matters are concerned should be of primary concern in resolutions as to whether the SACSSP will proceed with a complaint lodged with it. In this respect cognizance will be taken of the fact that
The SACSSP is mainly concerned with the professional conduct of persons registered with it and whether the person is fit and proper to practice the profession concerned;
The SACSSP will also, relating to the above, in co-operation with employers, training institutions and professional associations, be responsible for educating the professionals concerned on ethical conduct and the disciplinary procedures being followed;
The employer and the labor unions are mainly concerned with acts pertaining to labor disputes and the SACSSP should deal with these matters only when the acts of the practitioners concerned have a detrimental effect on the profession or the persons utilizing the services of the practitioner;
The employer should take responsibility for quality performance management and effective supervision of professional staff, as well as monitoring the service rendering of the employees concerned; and
professional associations should inter alia assist the SACSSP with the upholding of the standards of professional conduct and the ethical code.
In accepting its role as the body ultimately responsible for upholding the standards and ethics of the profession, the SACSSP will co-operate with the State, employers and professional associations, as well as all other role players like the Criminal Courts or the CCMA and may await the outcome of such hearings should there also be alleged unprofessional or improper conduct involved in the cases concerned.
The SACSSP will in matters where the Council has no jurisdiction, refer the complaints to other bodies that can fulfill a more appropriate role.
The staff of the SACSSP shall actively promote the objectives and the above principles when dealing with practitioners or the public.
TERMINATION OF SERVICES WITHOUT SERVING PROPER NOTICE PERIOD AS AGREED UPON BETWEEN THE EMPLOYER AND THE EMPLOYEE IN THE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
It has come to Council's attention that there are social workers that abscond from their employment or serve a notice period that is not in line with the contract of employment. Council issued warning to some of the complaints of alleged unprofessional conduct to employees (social workers) who neglected to serve proper notice period in view of the consequences it had on their clients.
The implications thereof among others are that clients are deprived of proper termination processes, urgent cases are not attended to and that court work and its administrative work is not attended to timeously. The described conduct therefore does not reflect appropriately on the profession in terms of not complying with the general accepted standards of practising the profession. Proper termination with clients is imperative by social workers in order to preserve the dignity and prestige of the profession.
CAN ORGANISATIONAL POLICIES BE APPLICABLE OVER THE BASIC CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT ACT (BCEA), ACT 75 OF 1997
Section 4(c) states that basic conditions of employment constitute a term of any contract of employment except to the extent that a term of contract of employment is more favourable to the employee than the basic condition of employment.
Council regards the period of serving one month notice as protecting the employee (social worker) even if the employee is not required to give such notice, against a short notice termination by the employer and therefore should be regarded as improving on the BCEA. Therefore such term can be contained in a contract of employment and once so included has to be respected.
There has been allegations levelled at prospective employers that they do not provide sufficient time to social workers to serve adequate notice periods as agreed upon with his or her current employer with the threat that the next best candidate will be offered the post. You are requested to inform Council in writing of such conduct from prospective employers of social workers. This may lead to unnecessary tensions among organizations that are expected to work together as a collective and for the benefit of the professions. Prospective employers’ cooperation in this regard will be appreciated.
View Code of Ethics
View Disiplinary Policy
View Complaint Template
View Notice of Dispute with RCPC
View Questionnaire on Working Environments of SW
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