The Town of Fort Nelson and Regional District Office has been receiving an increasing number of requests from citizens to solicit employees during work hours for a variety of causes. Some of the types of requests include: sponsoring for community or school functions, selling items to raise money for local groups & organizations, company salespersons, and sometimes even by regional district employees who belong to such groups or organizations.

Door to door soliciting, or in this instance, workstation to workstation soliciting, places staff in an awkward position to purchase items or provide sponsorship. Soliciting within the workplace can cause staff to feel uncomfortable at being "put on the spot" for requests for donations or funding, in front of their co-workers or staff.

More importantly, soliciting is disruptive and interferes with staff working. There have been occasions where meetings have been in progress in an office and the meeting has been interrupted by someone requesting sponsorship or funding for a community event.

Due to increasing demands for these types of requests, it was determined that a policy should be developed to handle these situations and requests.

Policy/Objective

To implement a policy that formalizes procedures on handling soliciting at Town/Regional District facilities.

1. Citizens or employees seeking sponsorship/funding or selling products shall be provided with a copy of the Town/Regional District Soliciting Policy.

2. All new employees shall be provided a copy of the Town/Regional District Soliciting Policy.

3. All persons leaving items at Town/Regional District facilities, shall be advised of that facility's daily coffee break time so items can be retrieved during that time period.

4. Citizens or employees seeking sponsorship/funding for community organizations and events or those persons selling items, shall observe the following procedures:

~ Workstation to workstation canvassing shall not be permitted.

~ Sponsorship request forms and/or collection envelopes can be left in staff coffee/lunch rooms or posted on staff bulletin boards for individuals to choose at their leisure whether they would like to respond to the request and donate funds.

~ The Town/Regional District will not be responsible for any items left on bulletin boards or in staff coffee/lunch areas, including literature, forms, samples of merchandise, actual products, or money in collection envelopes.

~ By leaving items at Town/Regional District facilities, it is understood that all items left in coffee/lunch areas are done so at your own risk.