STANDARDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS
at Terminal Hotel
  • 1. Preamble
Taking into account the legal obligation arising from the provisions of the Act of 13 May 2016 on counteracting sexual offences and protecting minors and the content of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and recognizing the important role of business in ensuring respect for children's rights, Terminal Hotel adopts the Standards for the Protection of Minors (also “SOM”, “Standards”). This document constitutes a set of rules
and procedures applied in case of suspicion that a child staying at Terminal Hotel is being harmed and for preventing such threats,
including consideration of the situation of children with disabilities and children with special educational needs. The Standards for the Protection of Minors at Terminal Hotel are implemented based on
the principles listed below:
  1. Terminal Hotel conducts its operational activities with respect for the rights of children as persons particularly vulnerable to harm.
  2. Terminal Hotel acknowledges its role in conducting socially responsible business and promoting desirable social attitudes.
  3. Terminal Hotel in particular emphasizes the importance of the legal and social duty to notify law enforcement authorities of any suspected offence committed against children and undertakes to train its employees in this respect.
  • 2. Definitions
For the purposes of this document, the meanings of the following terms are specified:
  1. Tourist facilities – hotel establishments and other facilities where hotel services are provided as defined in the Act of 29 August 1997 on hotel services and services of tour leaders and tourist guides.
  2. Child/minor – for the purposes of these standards a child is considered to be any person who has not reached 18 years of age[1].
  3. Child’s guardian – the child’s legal representative: a parent or guardian; a foster parent; a temporary guardian (i.e. a person authorized to represent a minor Ukrainian citizen who is staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland without adult care)[2].
  4. Unrelated adult – any person over 18 years of age who is not the child’s parent or legal guardian.
  5. Child abuse – shall be understood as behaviour that may constitute the commission of a prohibited act to the detriment of a child by any person, including an employee of the entity, or a threat to the child’s welfare, including neglect; any intentional or unintentional action/omission by an individual, institution or society as a whole and any result of such action or inaction that violates the rights, freedoms and personal welfare of children and/or disrupts their optimal development.
  6. Forms of violence against a child:
  • Physical violence against a child is violence that results in the child suffering actual physical harm or being potentially exposed to it. This harm results from action or omission by a parent or another person responsible for the child, or whom the child trusts, or who has authority over the child. Physical violence against a child may be repetitive or a single act.
  • Psychological violence against a child is a chronic, non-physical, harmful interaction between the child and the caregiver, including both actions and omissions. This includes, among others: emotional unavailability, emotional neglect, a relationship with the child based on hostility, blaming, denigration, rejection, developmentally inappropriate or inconsistent interactions with the child, failure to recognize the child’s individuality and psychological boundaries between parent and child.
  • Sexual exploitation of a child is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that the child is not able to fully understand and give informed consent to and/or for which they are not developmentally mature and cannot legally consent and/or which is contrary to the legal or customary norms of the given society. Sexual exploitation occurs when such activity takes place between a child and an adult or between a child and another child if those persons, by reason of age or developmental level, are in a relationship of care, dependence or authority. Sexual exploitation may also take the form of sexual exploitation for gain, meaning any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, power imbalance, or trust for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, deriving financial, social or political benefits from the sexual exploitation of another person. There is a particular risk of exploitation for sexual purposes during humanitarian crises. The risk of exploitation exists both for children and their caregivers (definition according to UN Bulletin ST/SGB/2003/13).
  • Neglect of a child is the chronic or occasional failure to meet the child’s basic physical and psychological needs and/or the failure to respect their basic rights, causing impairment to their health and/or developmental difficulties. Neglect occurs in the relationship between the child and the person who is obliged to care for, bring up, care for and protect the child.
  1. Crime against a child – all offences that may be committed against adults, and additionally offences that can be committed only against children (e.g. sexual exploitation under Article 200 of the Penal Code[3]). Due to the specifics of accommodation facilities, where it is easy to obtain the opportunity for seclusion, the offences most likely to occur on their premises are offences against sexual freedom and decency, in particular rape (Art. 197 PC), sexual abuse due to insanity or helplessness (Art. 198 PC), sexual abuse by reason of dependence or critical situation (Art. 199 PC), sexual abuse of a person under 15 years of age (Art. 200 PC), grooming (seducing a minor via means of remote communication – Art. 200a PC).
  2. Other forms of harm to a child than the commission of a crime against them – all forms of violence used against a child that do not meet the elements of an offence prosecuted by public indictment (e.g. shouting, humiliation, grabbing, name-calling, neglecting needs, etc.).
  3. Employee is a person employed under an employment contract or performing work on the basis of a similar agreement (e.g. contract of mandate, B2B, contract for specific work), as well as an intern, trainee, volunteer, etc.
  4. Employee working with children is any person performing tasks or assigned to perform tasks related to upbringing, education, recreation, treatment, providing psychological counselling, spiritual development, sports activities or carrying out other interests by minors, or caring for them.
  5. Entrepreneur – the body/entity/person managing a given facility or network of facilities, responsible for the proper functioning of the facility in formal terms.
  • 3. General principles
  1. Terminal Hotel undertakes to educate its employees about circumstances indicating that a child staying on the premises may be harmed and about ways to respond quickly and appropriately to such situations. The facility may carry out such education through various forms of training, e.g.: external trainings, internal trainings, e-learning, educational materials developed by the hotel and available to employees, educational materials available free of charge developed by other organizations.
  2. Every employee, before being admitted to work, is acquainted with the SOM, which is confirmed by the employee by making a declaration and committing to comply with the rules and procedures contained in this document.
  3. Employees employed to work with children are subject to periodic training, which is documented by the employer.
  4. Terminal Hotel undertakes to take into account the situation of children with disabilities and children with special educational needs.
  • 4. Procedure for identifying a Child during reception registration
  1. One form of effective prevention of child abuse is establishing the identity of a child staying in the facility and the child’s relationship to the adult with whom they are staying.
  2. The reception employee shall take all possible steps to identify the child and their relationship to the accompanying adult.
  3. To identify the child and their relationship to the person they are staying with in the facility, you should:
    1. ask for the child’s identity document or another document confirming that the adult has the right to care for the child. Example documents that may be used for identification include: identity card, school ID, MObywatel application, Internet Patient Account, court decision. If there is no identity document or the adult refuses to show it, ask for the child’s details (first name, last name, address, PESEL number).
    2. If there are no documents indicating the kinship of the child and the adult or the adult refuses to show them, ask about this relationship of the adult and the child.
    3. If the adult is not the child’s parent or legal guardian, they should be asked to produce a document e.g. a notarized consent from the parent for that person to travel with the child or a consent signed by the child’s parent including the child’s details, home address, a telephone contact for the parent and the identity document number/PESEL of the person to whom the parent entrusted care of the child.
If the adult does not have any of the above documents, they should be asked to complete an appropriate declaration, in accordance with the template prepared by the facility. The declaration should contain the child’s data and the data of the adult with whom the child is staying, together with an indication of the relationship between the child and the adult. If the adult is not the child’s parent or legal guardian, they should declare that the parents/legal guardians have given their consent for the care of the child.
  1. If the adult refuses to show the child’s document and/or to indicate the relationship, it should be explained that the procedure is intended to ensure the safety of children using Terminal Hotel and that in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 13 May 2016 the facility’s employees must comply with child rights regulations. After a positive explanation of the matter, thank them for the time spent ensuring that the child is in good care.
  2. If the conversation does not dispel doubts regarding suspicions about the adult and their intentions to harm the child, especially when they refuse to show an identity document or the child does not have such a document, and also refuses to provide a written statement, discreetly inform the supervisor and security staff (if present on the premises at that time) in such a way as not to arouse suspicion (for example, you may refer to the need to use equipment in the back office of the reception, asking the adult to wait with the child in the lobby, restaurant or another place).
  3. From the moment initial doubts arise, both the child and the adult should, as far as possible, remain within sight of a facility employee and should not be left alone.
  4. The supervisor who has been informed of the situation takes over the conversation with the adult in order to obtain further explanations.
  5. If the conversation confirms the belief that an attempt or commission of an offence against the child has taken place, the supervisor notifies the police. The procedure for circumstances indicating child abuse then applies (see Chapter III).
  6. If employees of other departments witness unusual and/or suspicious situations (e.g. cleaning service, room service, bar and restaurant staff, relaxation area staff, security, etc.), they should immediately notify their supervisor, and in their absence – the decision-maker, who will take appropriate actions (see points 7 and 8 above).
  7. Depending on the situation and the location, the supervisor assesses how justified the suspicion of child abuse is. For this purpose, appropriate measures are selected to clarify the situation or a decision is made to carry out an intervention and notify the police.
  • 5. Procedure in case of circumstances indicating harm to a child by an adult
  1. A justified suspicion of child abuse exists when:
    1. the child disclosed to a facility employee that they are being harmed,
    2. an employee observed the abuse,
    3. the child has visible signs of harm (e.g. scratches, bruises), and when asked responds inconsistently and/or chaotically and/or becomes embarrassed, or there are other circumstances that may indicate harm, e.g. finding pornographic materials involving children in the adult’s room.
  1. An employee who has a justified suspicion that a child staying on the premises is or has been harmed should immediately notify the supervisor/decision-maker, who notifies the police. In the case of an existing threat to the child’s safety, the employee who formed the justified suspicion of child abuse should immediately notify the police by calling 112 and describing the circumstances of the incident. Regardless of the above, the employee notifies the Terminal Hotel Coordinator of the incident.
  2. Every effort should be made to hinder or even prevent the child and the person suspected of harming the child from leaving the facility.
  3. In the case specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure, a citizen’s arrest of the suspected person may be made. In such a situation, until the police arrive, the detained person remains under the supervision of security staff or other hotel employees who can carry out such actions without risking their health or life.
  4. In every case, the child’s safety must be ensured. The child, as far as possible, should remain under the care of an employee until the police arrive. If possible, attempts should be made to support the child.
  5. If there is a justified suspicion that an offence occurred involving the child’s contact with the perpetrator’s biological material (semen, saliva, skin), where possible the child should be prevented from washing and from eating/drinking until the police arrive. The child should be explained why such restrictions are being applied.
  6. After the child is taken over by the police, secure the monitoring footage and other relevant evidence (e.g. documents) concerning the incident and hand them over to the Coordinator, who, at the request of the authorities, will forward copies by registered mail or personally to the prosecutor or the police.
  7. After the intervention, the incident should be reported to the Coordinator, who records it in the incident log or another document intended for this purpose.
  • 6. Principles of safe staff–child relationships
  1. The following rules are binding on all employees of Terminal Hotel, as well as other adults who have contact with children on the premises of the facility if such contact occurs with the facility’s consent.
  2. The overarching principle of all actions taken by employees who have contact with children on the premises of Terminal Hotel is to treat the child with respect and to take into account their dignity and needs.
  3. It is unacceptable for employees or other adults to use any form of violence against a child.
  • 7. Final provisions
  1. The Standards for the Protection of Minors come into force on 15 August 2024.
  2. The Standards for the Protection of Minors are made available to all employees by publishing them on the Terminal Hotel website and at Reception.
  3. The Standards for the Protection of Minors are made available to guests by publishing them on the Terminal Hotel website and at Reception.
[1] According to Polish law, a child is any person under eighteen years of age (Art. 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989). A minor is a person who has not reached the age of majority, i.e. a person up to the age of 18 or a woman who has obtained full legal capacity by entering into marriage after reaching 16 years of age (Art. 10 § 1 and 2 of the Civil Code), which may occur by permission of the guardianship court for important reasons and if the circumstances indicate that entering into marriage will be in the interest of the newly established family (Art. 10 § 1 of the Civil Code). [2] Parents – Art. 98 of the Family and Guardianship Code; guardian – Art. 155 of the Family and Guardianship Code; foster parent – Art. 1121 of the Family and Guardianship Code; temporary guardian – Art. 25 of the Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens in connection with the armed conflict on the territory of that state. [3] The Act of 6 June 1997 Criminal Code (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1138, as amended).