Article 8 Failure to attend, etc
Where an offender fails to attend for work on a day when he has been instructed to do so by the relevant officer or where he is required to cease work in accordance with rule 6(2) above, the supervisor shall take steps to inform the relevant officer of the failure or other alleged misconduct; and the relevant officer shall, on the day on which he is so informed or the next following working day, seek (orally or in writing) from the offender an explanation for the failure or his account of the misconduct.
The relevant officer shall make a record of the explanation or account. He shall also record his opinion as to whether an explanation for a failure to attend or to attend on time amounts to a valid reason for the failure. In considering whether or not there was a valid reason, the relevant officer shall have regard to whether or not any failure to attend or lateness in attendance was due to medical reasons, family or religious responsibilities, requirements of the offender’s employment or other circumstances beyond the control of the offender, and in each case whether the circumstances arose so late that it was reasonable for the offender to have failed to inform the relevant officer in advance and to seek fresh instructions from him.
In a case in which the relevant officer considers that there was not a valid reason for a failure to attend or that there has been a failure to comply with any other requirement of the community service order, he shall either–
lay an information before a justice of the peace in accordance with section 16(1) of the Act of 1973, or
send a warning letter to the offender reminding him of his obligations under the community service order and of the consequences which may follow under the said section 16 if he fails again to comply with its requirements.