As I've written before, many camp pros have a sense that they should be complying with various laws and regulations, but they don't really know what those laws and regulations are. This is not surprising, of course. The law is complicated, and the vast majority of camps don't have in-house attorneys.
As one of my colleagues wrote:
"There [are] a staggering number of laws that regulate the employment relationship and work environment. My job is to help organizations follow those laws as well as possible, but perfect compliance probably isn’t feasible. However, substantial compliance is."
To be sure, for large national companies with sizable in-house legal departments, perfect compliance is usually the goal. By contrast, for most camps, which rely on occasional conversations with outside counsel, substantial compliance would be an excellent starting point.
But what exactly does that mean? What areas should we think about when it comes to our legal compliance? Perhaps you will find the below checklist useful as you think about these questions:
Implement policy for the protection of minors: rule of three; supervision policies; off-season communication; vetting staff and vendors; abuse prevention training; etc.
Do you have these foundational policies in place? That should be the starting point of all planning.
Ensure practices and policies comply with state camp regulations, including: medication distribution; staff ratios; mandatory reporting and training; emergency action plan; and other requirements that vary by state.
Have you reviewed your state camp regulations in recent years to see how they've changed or evolved? Keep in mind that ACA accreditation standards and state legal compliance are sometimes quite different.
Review contracts used by your camp for key relationships: camper enrollment agreement; staff offer letter; employee handbook; parent handbook; etc.
Do these agreements adequately protect your camp? Do your employment materials comply with state law? Are you relying on questionable templates from other camps, potentially based on the laws of states other than your own?
Review employment law matters, including: job application; background check authorization; classification of staff and volunteers; compliance with state and local requirements for hiring/onboarding, wage and hour, leave, notices and postings, etc.; I-9 compliance; performance appraisals and documentation; process for disciplinary action; etc.
Since camps have so many employees, and each camp's head of HR tends to wear multiple hats, this is an especially important consideration when planning a compliance program. Employment law compliance should be among the starting points.
Review contracts signed by camp with outside providers, vendors, and business partners.
Are you indemnifying service providers without realizing it? Are you waiving their liability for negligence?
Review your insurance policies to ensure key protections are in place.
Have you asked your insurance provider if all best practices are implemented in your policy? This should be an annual meeting. As one anecdote, I was recently working with a camp that discovered they didn't have directors' and officers' coverage -- a major surprise to them. Of course, if you're working with one of the major camp insurers, then they likely hold your hand through this process. If you're not, then you may need to take a more active role in ensuring that all appropriate coverages are in place.
Review nonprofit governance and policies, including: by-laws, whistleblower policy, document destruction and retention policy, and conflicts of interest policy.
Are these materials in compliance with any recent updates in your state's laws? Does your board follow best practices? Do you maintain good minutes of every board meeting? Does your organization follow its own bylaws?
Review corporate compliance: compliance with new reporting obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act; proper business registrations in relevant jurisdictions; annual reports submitted; DBAs filed; corporate resolutions and other records properly maintained; etc.
Do you now have remote employees who have potentially created a nexus with new states? Do you operate under a name different than your corporate name? If so, do you have a DBA in place?
Review cybersecurity, information security, and data privacy policies, including: policies regarding sharing and protecting camper medical information; preservation and destruction of documents; access rights of employees; cybersecurity training; policy for use of personal devices for work; website privacy policy; etc.
Are you in compliance with applicable privacy and data security laws?
Review Practices for Marketing Emails and Business Text Messages: CAN-SPAM compliance for emails, TCPA Compliance for text messages, etc.
Does your email marketing and business texting comply with applicable requirements? Do you include your address, unsubscribe link, accurate headers, etc. in every email? Do your text messages have an opt out option? Many smaller businesses don't realize that these are legal requirements.
Review COPPA compliance of online advertising.
Are you collecting information from children without parental consent? Are you using remarketing and retargeting without considering who your website is directed to?
We can all appreciate that this is a long list -- often too long for a camp to tackle in just one year. Many organizations opt to tackle a couple items on this list at a time rather than doing everything at once (e.g., two items this year, two items next year, and so on, until the organization has covered each area).
Please note that this checklist is intended as an educational starting point to make a comprehensive plan and does not include every legal area to consider. Likewise, the questions following each bullet are representative questions to consider rather than comprehensive questions that encompass every consideration within the area. Camps should consult with their attorney to make a plan specific to their camp. This checklist is just an educational starting point, not legal advice.