HOPE employees are expected to reflect Biblical and Christian values as outlined in the Statement of Faith. Employees at HOPE are visible members of the Christian community in Phnom Penh and are in the privileged position of being role models within this community.

HOPE employees are from a range of cultures and Christian backgrounds. Because employees bring different experiences to the community, this document outlines the expectations and views of what is acceptable and seeks to address the way employees should conduct themselves.

A Christian lifestyle should reflect the Biblical perspective of integrity and appropriate personal and family relationships, business conduct and moral behavior.

 Employees are expected to demonstrate a teachable spirit, an ability to share Jesus’ love for others, and a willingness to live contentedly under authority. A commitment to follow the Matthew 18 principle of going directly to the person in love when an issue arises with colleagues or management is a foundation for a spiritually healthy community.

It is the goal of HOPE International School that each employee demonstrates their Christianity in their daily living, relationships, attitudes and values. Deviations from this may be considered grounds for contract termination. As a Christian school, HOPE requires employees to adhere to this policy.

Therefore, we recognise that:

● HOPE is a Christian school representing Jesus Christ to its community in Cambodia.

● HOPE requires its employees to be born-again Christians, living their lives as Christian role models (Romans 10:9-10; 1 Timothy 4:12; Luke 6:40).

● HOPE is a unique work setting. It is not only a Christian school, it is part of a broader community here in Cambodia.

Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco, and Weapons:

The consumption of alcohol in some cultures and settings is a sensitive issue and needs to be approached with care and consideration of others. If employees choose to consume alcohol [at all], they are required to behave responsibly, exercise moderation, and avoid drunkenness. Any use of alcohol in an illegal way is prohibited. Employees cannot drink with students. Employees should not be under the influence of alcohol while on

campus, interacting with students, or at an official HOPE event. Employees of HOPE may not use illegal drugs (non-medicinal or hallucinogenic) of any kind. Illegal usage of controlled substances is also prohibited. HOPE is an alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and weapon-free campus.

Attendance:

HOPE expects regular, consistent attendance. Employees are expected to arrive on campus and begin their tasks at the start of their work schedule as outlined in the Employee Handbook. Punctuality and regular attendance during scheduled work periods are required for continued employment. An employee’s specific work schedule, including days off for non-full time employees, are determined by his or her immediate supervisor based on departmental needs and the attendance policies of the school.

Occasionally, a situation arises that delays an employee's arrival at work. Except in the case of an emergency, it is the employee’s responsibility to notify his or her supervisor in advance that they will be late.

 Church:

Employees are required to attend a Christian church in Phnom Penh. HOPE believes a commitment and accountability to a local group of Christians outside of HOPE school is important for the health and well being of its employees.

Confidentiality:

The need for discretion and confidentiality exists in every department at HOPE. The school expects employees to handle, in a professional and ethical manner, any confidential information entrusted to them. Confidential information should not be shared or discussed with anyone who does not have a legitimate need to know the information. If an employee is not certain if it is appropriate to release information, he or she should check with their supervisor. This includes, but is not limited to, discussing family or personal matters in the classroom. Be careful about what is discussed with other school employees at all times, and do not discuss confidential matters with people outside of the organisation.

Dress:

Employees are expected to dress in a manner that is professional and appropriate for their position.  In addition, employees are expected to practice good personal hygiene and dress modestly.  Cambodians dress modestly and employees are asked to be sensitive to the host culture and demonstrate respect for the local customs. Please refer to the Employee Manual for the specifics of the dress code. Dressing appropriately in the community is also an important example as an employee of HOPE.

General Misconduct:

Employees are expected to adhere to acceptable educational and business principles in matters of education, business, and personal conduct. Employees are responsible for the appropriateness of their own conduct, and to exhibit a high degree of personal integrity at all times. It is impossible to list all forms of conduct that might be considered inappropriate.  Specific behaviour, such as theft, lying, fighting, using physical force, falsification of records, bribery, threats of violence, harassment and discrimination are clearly unacceptable at any

time in any workplace. Furthermore, the school expects all employees to adhere to the following principles:

● High standards of professionalism at all times.

● Perform responsibilities in a way that is consistent with our Christian values.

● Comply with all laws applicable to the school and country in which we serve, as well as the passport country of the employee.

● Treat others with courtesy and respect.

● Be careful to avoid all criticism and complaints of fellow employees, the supporting organisation, or the students about their mission agency.

● Speak respectfully to all employees, students and parents.

Relationships:

God is our loving (1 John 4:7-8), holy (1 Peter 1:16), and unchanging Creator (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 13:8). He created us to worship and glorify Him in all that we do. We are sinful and broken, which we demonstrate in numerous behaviors that are contrary to God’s will as set forth in and evidenced by Scripture. The Bible also provides wisdom and direction to faithfully navigate sin as it relates to current issues of our culture. 

We believe that marriage is a lifelong covenantal relationship created by God for a man and a woman. Sexual intimacy is a gift from God and has its proper place only within the context of marriage (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-5). We believe that any form of sexual behavior that deviates from the Biblical standard is sinful and offensive to God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 13, 18-19; Exodus 20:14; Matthew 15:29). Some examples include, but are not limited to, premarital sex, adultery, use of pornography, homosexual behaviour, rejecting or changing one’s biological sex or bisexual conduct.

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male and female in the womb. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27).

We believe that life is a gift from God and is precious. We believe that all life is created by God (Genesis 1:27), life begins at conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 44:2a) and each person’s days are numbered by God (Psalm 139:16; James 4:13-15).

We recognise that there will be circumstances that will require the school to respond if the behaviour does not align with our beliefs. In these situations, our approach would be as follows:

● We are committed to partnering with individuals to disciple, mentor, and minister to our students as they develop an understanding of the Biblical worldview of marriage, sexuality, gender, and sanctity of life (Psalm 119:66).

● As a Christian School, our views related to sexuality and gender are designed to uphold our Statement of Faith and to keep our focus on providing a Biblical education to our students. We also recognise that we are all sinners greatly in need of God’s grace and mercy daily.

● Every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, grace, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31).

● HOPE International School will teach in accordance with the gender God gave each person in the womb and will refer to students using the pronouns that align with his/her God-given gender.

HOPE International School requires employees to support these beliefs as outlined in scripture.

Unsatisfactory performance, work habits, overall attitude, conduct, or demeanor; violation of school policies, procedures, or guidelines; or any other behaviour or conduct deemed inappropriate or unacceptable by the school may result in corrective action, up to and including termination.

All HOPE records and information relating to HOPE and its employees and students are confidential and employees must, therefore, treat all matters accordingly.  (Confidentiality Statement)

HOPE offers a basic salary package to its employees. Since our mission is to serve those families who minister in Cambodia, our goal is to keep costs manageable for missionary families to afford a HOPE education.  To support this mission, employees are encouraged to raise additional funds by sending churches, mission organisations, and supporting partnerships in order to supplement their monthly salary.

HOPE will pay the gross salary and withhold the Cambodian tax before a net amount is paid twice a month (by the 14th and 28th) via ABA bank transfer. For expat employees, HOPE also provides Allianz health insurance through Talent-Trust and AIA for Khmer employees.

Please see the link on your employee contract or here to view the Employee Salary Structure and Benefits for full details on benefits and links to policies. If you have any questions, please ask the HR Office.

Employees are required to dress modestly and professionally, respecting the fact that we are a Christian school in a modest Cambodian setting.  For certain school events and official government visits, staff may be required to dress more formally than the guidelines below.  Exceptions to the employee dress code may be granted on special event days and non-student contact days.  In general, HOPE’s dress code is business casual Monday through Thursday.  On Fridays, to show enthusiasm for HOPE, employees may dress more casually by wearing jeans and a HOPE t-shirt. Business casual is still acceptable on Fridays.  Jeans with non-HOPE t-shirts are not allowed. Listed below are the guidelines for appropriate dress.

Men: 

• Dress trousers/pants

• Collared shirts

• HOPE T-shirts and jeans may be worn on Fridays

• Shorts are only appropriate when teaching PE or on designated days (Sports Day, Cross Country Day, etc.)

• Sandals or shoes are acceptable, but not rubber flip-flops 

• Underwear should not be visible through clothing

Women:  

• Dress trousers/pants and capris

• Dress tops, dresses and skirts

• All tops should not reveal a bare midriff, should have straps at least 3 cm wide and not be low cut 

• The hemline of skirts or dresses should be no shorter than 5 cm above the knee

• HOPE T-shirts and jeans may be worn on Fridays

• Shorts are only appropriate when teaching PE

• Sandals or shoes are acceptable, but not rubber flip-flops 

• Underwear should not be visible through clothing

Each employee will receive a HOPE photo ID badge.  Everyone on campus must wear their ID badge at all times.  At HOPE, people are issued different coloured lanyards depending on their purpose on campus. 

• All employees are issued BLUE lanyards and are approved to work with children.

• All approved volunteers (classroom volunteers, coaches, extracurricular club leaders) and HOPE service providers/contractors (C9) are issued YELLOW lanyards and are approved to work with children in supervised settings.

• All visitors, are issued RED lanyards and are NOT approved to work with or be alone with children. All visitors must be accompanied by a HOPE employee at all times.

• All parents who are on campus during the school day or before and after are issued GREEN lanyards.

If you or a family member are sick, inform your line manager/supervisor, and for all teaching staff, please inform the Academic office (academic@hope.edu.kh) by 6:30 am.  It is your responsibility to fill out the Leave Request form immediately after and refer to the 2760 Leave Policy for further guidance.

It is our desire that HOPE be an environment rich in mutual respect and value for one another.  In our multicultural setting, this may take more effort as we acknowledge our varying cultural ways of communicating. We aim to maintain an attitude of peace and acceptance of one another despite the many opportunities for misunderstanding and miscommunication that can arise in such a setting.

The main channels for employee communication are:

Telegram: Telegram is the main platform to receive official communication by text message from HOPE.  Marketing and Communications Manager will set you up to the specific groups. The ICT Team is available to assist in the event of any technology difficulties by emailing ict@hope.edu.kh.

Email:  Google Gmail is the main platform for official work related messages. 

Head of School communication: The Head of School sends out an all-staff email bi-weekly with general updates.  The Head of School also sends out an email directed at parents (cc’ing the secondary students) on the alternate week from the HOPE Connect.

Principal communication: Each principal sends out weekly communication with notices about weekly assemblies and meetings and professional development.

HOPE Connect: This is a biweekly publication prepared and sent out by the Marketing and Communications Manager with announcements and reminders primarily focused on parents and students. However, employees find its contents informative and helpful as well. HOPE Connect is published at connect.hope.edu.kh.

HR Happenings:  This is an every other month newsletter prepared and sent by the HR department via email with announcements of new staff, updates on positions, reminders and more.

HOPE seeks to support its staff to grow as a professional; therefore, participation in development is strongly encouraged. 

Process for applying for Professional Development (PD)

• Fill out the Professional Development Form

• PD requests should go to the Principal/Manager for approval. Once approved, the paperwork will be sent to the Academic Office/Human Resources (HR). 

• The Academic Office/Manager will review the records to verify if the employee is eligible to grant the request. 

• The Academic Office/Manager will notify the employee of the final approval. 

• The employee must complete the Professional Learning Feedback and Review Form

See details by reviewing the policy link, 2150 Professional Learning Policy and Procedure.

All employees at HOPE are subject to a professional review meeting after three months and annually thereafter. Such reviews are to be conducted with the line Manager and documented in your HR file.

2230 HOPE Performance Management Policy and Procedure

Please review HOPE’s policies by reading 2190 Social Media Code of Conduct Policy and 4040 ICT Acceptable Use.

Please review the 6220 Child Safety Policy and direct any questions regarding this policy to childsafety@hope.edu.kh.

As a general rule, employees should not communicate with current students of HOPE through personal means of communication, including cell phones, personal email accounts, or social media.  They are not to be friends on social media.  All communication should be through the official school email or Google chat.  In rare cases when it is necessary to share personal numbers with students, e.g. class trips, foreign travel, etc., employees should exercise professional judgement and discretion and they should inform the Principal or supervisor about the communication.

Remote working should only be undertaken at the direction of the Head of School and/or after discussion with the Principal or line Manager/supervisor.

2200 HOPE School Working from Home Policy

HOPE is committed to the support of its staff and provides options for care. For information, please review the 6133 Crisis Care & Caring Support Policy.

HOPE Conflict of Interest Policy applies to any situation in which an employee's personal interests may conflict with the interests of the school. This is an undesirable situation because it may influence or skew the employee's judgement and commitment to the school, and therefore to the achievement of the school's objectives.  For additional information, please review 2170 Employee Conflict of Interest Policy. 

HOPE conducts its business ethically and provides information and guidance to its employees and volunteers on how to recognise and deal with bribery and corruption issues. This policy has a dual purpose:  

• to ensure that employees do not conduct themselves in a manner that leads to personal benefit or gain 

• to protect HOPE employees whose position requires them to act on behalf of HOPE International School

For additional information, please review 6610 Anti Corruption and Bribery Policy.

HOPE encourages truthfulness in line with Biblical knowledge about telling the truth, AKA ‘whistleblowing’.   To encourage him or her to take appropriate action in response to concerns raised about conduct or practices that may be unlawful, corrupt, improper, unsafe, or unethical and that conflict with school standards and policies, we offer a policy that gives employees, volunteers, parents, and students confidence in reporting such concerns.  For further information, please review the policy  HOPE Truth Telling Policy.

HOPE is committed to providing a safe environment free from sexual harassment. HOPE will treat all incidents seriously, with respect, in confidence and promptly investigate all allegations of sexual harassment. Anyone found to have sexually harassed another will face disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from employment or expulsion from school.

For more information about this policy please follow the link here.

Good relationships foster community and lead to the success of our school.  However, in the event of a grievance, everyone will be treated with respect and due process followed.

For more details about submitting a grievance, please review the policy HOPE Grievance and Appeals Policy.

Excursions, or field trips, will occur on occasion for educational purposes. Information regarding these, including permission slips, will be sent to parents, and permission will be sought for each field trip. For information in regards to forms and policy, please review the Excursion/Field Trips Folder.

HOPE has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy for staff and secondary students. Devices must be in good working order and be relatively new (typically no older than 10 years). It should have supported operating systems, meaning be qualified for security and system updates. More information can be found on the BYOD Site.

For qualified staff positions or situations where BYOD is not an option, HOPE can provide equipment according to the job role. The Staff and Student Device policy explains this further.

Our ICT technicians are generally happy to help with issues and problems which may come up with personal devices. Once you have internet access, please log all ICT requests to the ICT Help Desk: ict@hope.edu.kh.

Reasonable personal internet use, such as paying bills, shopping and personal communication is allowed at any time, so long as it does not interfere with your duties or those around you. If you would like to download large files or stream video, please do so outside of teaching hours. Employees are expected to conduct.

Email is a useful communication tool and is great for asynchronous communication. It’s ubiquitous and easy but it’s not always the right tool for the job. Some rules of thumb for when and how to use email are:

• As a follow-up medium to confirm or remind people of what was said in a conversation or meeting - we don’t use email for important new information or to break bad news

• For non-urgent communications- if it’s urgent, pick up the phone or talk to them in person

• Keep it as narrow as possible - don’t CC people ‘just in case’, only reply to the sender or those who need to be emailed

• Primarily during work hours - don’t expect that people will see the email you sent overnight or outside of work hours.

• If you are sending an email late at night or during holidays, consider using the ‘deliver later’ feature to schedule your email for a more suitable time If you’re emailing a group, make liberal use of the BCC field, especially if you’re emailing external recipients, such as a group of parents. This is important for the security of all recipients.

 Some alternatives to email that may be more suitable are 

• A meeting (online or in person) to make a group decision.  

• A shared document, a Shared Drive, or Space to collaborate on a task or project.   

• A conversation (in person or on the phone) for important or serious discussions

• A text message or phone call for urgent communication can also be used to distribute malware or trick people into divulging credentials or private information. Often such emails seem urgent.  If you receive an unexpected email, especially one containing links or attachments, please delete it or report it to ICT (ict@hope.edu.kh).  If you do click on a link or open an attachment and then realise it was a mistake, please let the ICT department know ASAP, via phone or in person.

HOPE uses Google Workspace Email (a.k.a. Gmail) as our email provider. For more information on how to use Gmail, please refer to Google’s training guides.

As with everything you do, please conduct yourself according to the HOPE Lifestyle Statement when using email. Email should not be used to harass, intimidate, bully, deceive, mislead or break the law.

4000 Personally Identifiable Information Handling Policy

4005 Email Acceptable Use Policy

4015 Password Protection Policy

4040 Security Awareness and Acceptable Use Policy

HOPE Email Etiquette Guidelines

All acceptable internet use must be reflective of the 4040 Security Awareness and Acceptable Use Policy.  Staff will be held accountable for the policy.

Classroom teachers are responsible for:

• Curriculum planning which identifies opportunities to enrich and extend learning objectives via access to the Internet

• Giving students clear objectives for Internet use

• Providing students with lists of relevant and suitable websites

• Informing students of their responsibilities

• Informing students that checks can be made on usage of the school network or on personal devices being used during school hours and on school property

HOPE School Management is responsible to:

• Inform and ensure all HOPE Employees are aware of and are adhering to this ICT Acceptable

Use Policy, the HOPE School Code of Conduct and any other relevant or related policies HOPE International School does not tolerate cyberbullying.  Any behaviour or online activity that could be considered to be a type of cyberbullying will result in discipline, potential loss of privileges and, in some cases, can be considered a crime.

Examples of cyberbullying can include but are not limited to harassment, stalking, belittling, scaring, hurting, intimidating, impersonating, tricking, or excluding someone else with the intent to emotionally, physically, or spiritually harm that person.

Throughout the school year, students may have their image, likeness and/or voice captured on digital video, photos, slides, audio and other electronic media.  HOPE reserves the right to use this media to promote the school through the Internet, mass media, displays, brochures, presentations and other forms of distribution.

A list is kept of students who are not permitted to have photos displayed and this list will be maintained on the school database and checked before images are used. Please check with Marketing and Communications if in doubt.