The APNA Ethics Program is based on the bylaws of the association, established in 1993. This is the section of the by laws concerning Ethics:
Section 5. Censure (Warning) or Expulsion – Members of the Association may be censured or expelled for cause. Sufficient cause for such censure or expulsion from membership shall be a violation of these bylaws, any rule or practice duly adopted by the Association, or any other conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Association. Censure or expulsion shall be by the affirmative action of the majority of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall have such authority and power as may be necessary to adopt rules and policies relative to the procedures to be followed to implement this section of the bylaws.
Anyone who has reason to believe and evidence to prove that a member agency is conducting business in a manner contrary to the Standards of the Association can register a complaint with the Ethics Committee. The APNA process for handling complaints is modeled after the Better Business Bureau (BBB) process. The Better Business Bureau conducts the complete process on line and is able to be viewed by anyone.
APNA maintains confidential files of all correspondence relating to the complaint. Only the parties involved and the Board of Directors are privy to the information. If a complaint is investigated by the Ethics Committee and does not result in any action being taken, the Ethics Committee submits that report at the next regular Board Meeting and the report is entered into the meeting notes. Minutes from APNA Board Meeting can be viewed by current board members only. Emails or parts of e-mails received during the ethics investigation may be forwarded to the involved parties at the discretion of the Ethics Committee.
Listed below are some, but not all, of the possible reasons to submit a complaint to the Ethics Committee.
Each member agency is responsible for creating and managing their contractual agreements with both clients and nannies or service providers. APNA will not intercede or impose any penalty on any member agency who is in compliance with their own contractual obligations.
A Complaint is registered by completing the APNA Member Complaint Form here (all are required fields):
This Complaint Form must be complete in order to register a formal complaint against a current member of the Association of Professional Nanny Agencies. All complaints will be investigated by the Ethics Committee. All or part of the complaint may be shared with the current member agency involved during the process of investigating the complaint. Anonymous complaints will not be considered.
The Ethics Committee’s goal is to resolve all complaints within thirty (30) days. While every effort will be made to conduct an unbiased review, member agencies that do not respond in a timely manner may be subject to censure or revocation of membership due to non-responsiveness.