A motion was passed at the May 2002 Annual General Meeting for the BCFFPA to write and circulate a report on past bonus practices and approvals, and to include information on what proposed changes to policy the Board of Directors are looking at.

There has been a practice in place for a minimum of 17 years to provide provincial office staff with bonuses in an effort to recognize their contributions that exceed the job expectations. Over the course of those 17 years there has been $91,220.00 paid to the provincial office staff. Services have always been the highest priority and as such led to staff filling in on numerous occasions to ensure the services to foster parents and councils were maintained when a full complement of staff was unavailable.

Funding for bonuses were determined on funding availability under salaries and insurance administration. Representatives from the Provincial Board/Committees would strike a task group with three to four members for the purposes of review and making decisions on the distribution of bonuses. This task group was usually made up from representatives of the Personnel, Finance Committees and usually included the President, and on one occasion included the Past President. This group would consider bonuses for staff based on productivity over the year, looking at individual job performance, additional responsibilities and tasks undertaken, commitment to getting the job done, along with their knowledge and skill to manage additional responsibilities.

In keeping with the Audit undertaken by the office of the Comptroller General, the Board will undertake to develop policy for calculating, approving and communicating bonus payments. A process will also be developed to include criteria for evaluating staff performance when considering bonuses. Further to this a process to distinguish between surpluses derived from administrative efficiencies and from reduced service levels will also be developed. These tasks will be completed and approved prior to any future bonuses being considered.