Office Rules and Premises Policy

Purpose

Our office at Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering is where NEO meets clients and keeps confidential client information. This policy sets the everyday rules that keep it safe, professional, accessible and confidential.

Who it applies to

Employees, independent-contractor paralegals and students on placement, whenever they are at the office. The rules on visitors, recording, smoking, alcohol and cannabis also apply to clients and everyone else who comes in, alongside our Respectful Conduct Policy (Clients and Visitors).

Hours and appointments

1. Business hours are on our Contact page: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm Eastern time, and Saturday by appointment.
2. Clients by appointment. If someone arrives without one, greet them politely and offer the next suitable appointment, or a call or video meeting. Urgent matters follow our Urgent Matters Policy.
3. Within our scope. NEO provides only the services a licensed paralegal may provide. A matter outside that scope is explained by a licensee and referred to a lawyer.

Visitors

1. A private record. Record each visit on the appointment or the client's file. We don't use a sign-in sheet other visitors can see, because even the fact that someone is our client is confidential.
2. Accompanied. Visitors stay in reception or a meeting room unless someone from NEO is with them, and are never left alone where files, screens or papers can be seen.
3. Service people are let in only when expected or confirmed with the principal or the building, and are supervised near confidential information. Personal visitors and children don't come into work areas without the principal's approval.
4. Say who you are. Give your name and role, and if you are not a licensee, say so, under our Supervision and Delegation Policy.
5. Photos and recordings. Staff don't take photos, video or recordings in the office without the principal's approval. We ask visitors not to photograph or film in the office, where other clients' information could be caught, and to tell us before they record a meeting they take part in, as our Recording of Calls and Meetings Policy explains.

Confidentiality in the office

1. Clean desk. Never leave client documents out. When you step away, and at the end of every day, lock papers away and clear notes and whiteboards.
2. Screens. Lock your screen every time you step away, and keep it turned away from visitors and windows.
3. Conversations. Discuss client matters only where you can't be overheard, never in hallways, elevators, the lobby, parking areas or nearby restaurants.
4. Paper. Print only what you need and collect it at once. Scan documents into the client's file the day they arrive where possible, and return or lock away originals. Shred paper with client or firm information securely, never in ordinary garbage or recycling; a client's originals are returned, not shredded, under our File Closing and Retention Policy.
5. Taking files out. Papers and devices leave the office only for work, such as a hearing, in a closed bag, and are never left in a parked car or unattended.
6. If something goes wrong, such as a document seen by the wrong person or a lost file, tell the principal at once, under our Information Security and Data Breach Response Policy.

Mail, money and deliveries

1. Mail is opened, scanned to the client's file and passed to the responsible paralegal the day it arrives. Anything with a date or deadline is flagged the same day, under our Deadlines and Limitation Periods Policy.
2. Money. Cheques, drafts and cash go to the principal the same day, under our Trust Accounting and Client Money Policy and Cash Transactions and Anti-Money Laundering Policy. Never leave money in the open or take it home.
3. Documents served at the office. Note who delivered them, when and what they are, and tell the responsible paralegal at once. Don't accept service for a client unless the paralegal confirms we are authorized to.
4. Couriers. Check the courier and the recipient before handing anything over, and record tracking numbers on the file. Bring deliveries in promptly. If a package looks suspicious, don't open it: move away and call 911.

Keys, locking up and after hours

1. Keys, access cards and codes are issued by the principal and recorded. Never lend, copy or share them, report a loss at once, and return them on your last day.
2. Doors. Don't prop doors open or let someone you don't know follow you in.
3. The last person out puts files away, locks or signs out of every device, checks the meeting rooms, locks the office and follows the building's lock-up rules.
4. After hours. Working at the office outside business hours needs the principal's approval in advance. For employees, the time is recorded and paid under our Hours of Work, Overtime and Attendance Policy. Tell the principal or a colleague when you'll be there and when you leave, and don't meet a client alone after hours unless the principal has approved it.

Dress, conduct and shared space

1. Dress in business or business-casual clothing suitable for meeting clients, and for hearings as the court or tribunal expects. Religious dress, and clothing related to a disability or to gender identity or expression, are respected under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
2. Conduct. Be courteous to everyone, under our Staff Code of Conduct and Civility and Professional Conduct Policy. Keep personal calls brief and away from clients.
3. Scents and food. Avoid strong perfumes and scented products, since some people have allergies or sensitivities. Eat away from reception, meeting rooms and client files, be mindful of allergies, and leave shared spaces tidy.

Personal property, and lost and found

• Keep valuables with you or locked away. To the extent the law allows, NEO isn't responsible for lost personal property.
• Found items go to the principal, who records them, tries to find the owner and keeps them for at least 30 days before donating or disposing of them.
• A document or device that may hold client information never goes to lost and found. Give it straight to the principal, who returns it to the right file and treats it as a possible privacy incident.

No smoking or vaping, and fit for work

1. Smoke-free. No one smokes or holds lighted tobacco or cannabis, or uses an e-cigarette (vapes), anywhere in the office, as the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017 requires in enclosed workplaces. Anyone who won't stop is asked to leave. Outside, follow the building's rules and local by-laws, and keep away from the entrance.
2. No alcohol, cannabis or illegal drugs are used in the office, and illegal drugs are never brought in.
3. Fit for work. Come to work, at the office, at home or at a hearing, able to work safely and not impaired by alcohol, cannabis, drugs or medication. If a prescribed medication might affect your work, tell the principal so we can discuss accommodation; you don't have to name the medication or condition.
4. Help, not blame. Substance use problems are treated as a health issue, under our Licensee and Staff Wellness Policy. Someone who appears impaired stops working and is helped to get home safely.

Emergencies

1. Call 911 first. Our address is Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering.
2. Fire. Know the exits and the building's fire safety plan and meeting point. When an alarm sounds, leave at once by the nearest safe exit, bring visitors with you, don't use elevators or stop for belongings, and don't go back in until the fire service or the building says it is safe. The most senior person present checks that everyone is out.
3. Help to evacuate. If a disability may affect your safety in an emergency, tell the principal. We'll prepare individualized emergency information with you, as Ontario's accessibility standards require, and share it, with your consent, with the person who will help you.
4. First aid. NEO keeps a first aid station at the office, as Ontario's first aid regulation requires: a stocked first aid box, inspected at least every three months with each inspection signed on its card; a notice board with the WSIB "In case of injury or illness at work" poster (Form 82) and the first aid certificates of the trained workers on duty; and, whenever work is in progress, a worker nearby with a valid first aid certificate in charge of it. Every first aid treatment is recorded.
5. Threats or violence. Get to safety, call 911, and follow our Workplace Violence and Workplace Harassment Policy and Program.
6. Closures. If power, flooding, weather or the building closes the office, the principal tells everyone by phone or the staff portal, clients with appointments are offered a call or video meeting, and urgent work continues under our Business Continuity and Succession Policy.
7. Report every incident, injury, near miss and hazard to the principal straight away. Each is recorded, and reported to the WSIB where the law requires, under our Workplace Health & Safety and WSIB Policy.

Accessibility for clients and visitors

1. Service animals and support persons are welcome, and we communicate in ways that take a person's disability into account, under our Accessibility Policy.
2. When booking, ask whether the client needs anything to attend, such as help reaching our unit, a quieter room, more time or an interpreter.
3. If something a person relies on to reach or use our office is unavailable, we post a notice and offer a call, a video meeting or another place to meet.
4. Everyone who serves the public for NEO, including contractors and students, is trained in accessible customer service, as Ontario's accessibility standards require.

The building's rules

Follow the building's and the landlord's rules on common areas, parking, deliveries, garbage, noise and after-hours entry. Report building hazards, such as poor lighting or a wet floor, to the principal, who raises them with the building.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year, and whenever our office, the building's rules or the law change. The principal approves every change.

Questions

Ask the principal, or email info@neolegalservices.com, call 647-200-3526 or toll-free 888-519-2435, or write to us at Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 1B5.