Grievance Procedure

Intention

The Trustees of Nottingham Hackspace have the authority to ban anyone from entering the space and the authority to strip anyone of their membership. This must only be done in circumstances where this authority is best for the Nottingham Hackspace and its members as a whole.

This policy will only be applied to members who demonstrate unwillingness to address behaviour which has caused offence, harm or distress to another member or members; or has threatened the safety of the Hackspace. This may be behaviour directly targeting or witnessed by any individual. The Nottingham Hackspace SafeSpaces policy elaborates on this somewhat. Throughout the process, all efforts will be made to keep clear and constructive communication between the trustees, the offending party, and any other affected parties.

In very serious cases, trustees may invoke temporary access bans until the issue is resolved. Should a trustee become the focus of a complaint, they will not be included in their normal capacity during the grievance process.

Introduction

• This policy applies to members, guests and attendees of events that use Nottingham Hackspace or its online meeting places.
• Any person may be banned from the space if they violate existing policies or if they have the potential to harm other users of the space.
• Before the formal banning procedure is started, the trustees must make every attempt to resolve the issue informally.

Process

• Should a trustee become the focus of a complaint, they will not be included in their normal capacity during the grievance process.
• The offending party must be given at least two written warnings before being banned. At every stage, it must be made clear to the party where they are in this process.
• At every stage, all involved trustees but one must be in agreement that allowing the user to continue to use the space would not be in the best interest of the organisation.
• At every stage, the trustees must make their reasoning available to the offending party. They must also make as much detail as is appropriate available to all members.
• By default, a ban will be for a year. At their discretion, the trustees can issue a reduced ban period.
• Bans of more than one year may only be issued in extreme circumstances. The trustees must review these bans yearly.
• If the offending party is a member, the ban will trigger the process to remove the member as per section 4.4 of the Nottingham Hackspace Constitution.
• When a person is banned, their right to access Nottingham Hackspace is revoked. Any entry to the space without the prior, express permission of trustees will be considered trespass.
• The trustees must seek feedback from the community to ensure this process remains fair and balanced.