Human Resources Governance

The Board, or management committee, of an NGO has particular legal and practical responsibilities for human resources. The board has specific responsibilities in relation to the employment and management of staff, and is ultimately responsible for the employment decisions of the organisation. In particular, the Board is responsible for recruiting and employment of any Executive Officer of the organisation.

For the effective management of the organisation, the Board will often delegate employment decisions to the Executive Officer and management. In some small organisations, the board or a Management Committee may retain responsibility for employment decisions. The relative roles and responsibilities of the Board and Executive Officer should be clearly delineated in policies approved by the Board.

Human resources and employment is an area where Boards can experience difficulty over deciding their appropriate role. In some organisations, Boards can be perceived to be too involved in staffing decisions, retaining the power to “hire and fire” and determine staff workloads when the organisation has grown beyond their ability to effectively manage staff directly by Committee.

In contrast, in other organisations the Board can be seen to be too removed from their appropriate oversight role to ensure staff and volunteers are treated fairly.

A Board might assume the following roles or responsibilities:

• Determining the rules for employing, disciplining and dismissing staff
• Making policies about staff conduct and general expectations of performance
• Becoming involved in any change or negotiation of the wages and conditions of staff, to ensure that the organisation is able to attract and retain suitable employees while maintaining its financial health
• Mediating in staff conflict where this has been unable to be resolved by management
• Investigating serious matters, such as gross misconduct or fraud
• Checking compliance with laws and organisational policies on employment, including that there are sufficient provisions for staff entitlements and that superannuation and other entitlements are being paid correctly

Back to Staff: Further Human Resources Information

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