In meeting Flame Ontario Arts Collective’s mission, SideBurn Volunteer Services will, through meaningful public engagement, develop effective partnerships, mobilize appropriate volunteer and community resources, support a positive working environment and enhance SideBurn’s capacity to support and deliver quality services.
SideBurn Values for Volunteer Involvement
(Adopted from The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement Values)
- Volunteer involvement is vital to a just and democratic society. It fosters civic responsibility, participation, and interaction and is fundamentally tied to the Burning Man principle of Participation.
- Volunteer involvement strengthens communities. It promotes change and development by identifying and responding to community needs.
- Volunteer involvement mutually benefits both the volunteer and the organization. It increases the capacity of organizations to accomplish their goals and provides volunteers with opportunities to develop and contribute.
- Volunteer involvement is based on relationships. Volunteers are expected to act with integrity and be respectful and responsive to others with whom they interact.
Guiding Principles
- Volunteers assist SideBurn in providing quality services to event attendees and the community by sharing their skills and talents.
- Volunteer engagement at SideBurn supports meaningful public participation.
- Volunteer Services works collaboratively and cooperatively with volunteers and the organizations, thus ensuring that services are not duplicated.
- SideBurn is committed to building capacity in the community and a safe and functional event for all.
Sober Shift
Some of our roles, such as FAST and our Safety Teams (Rangers, Sanctuary), require you to be sober for your shift. For shifts in these departments, we require that:
- Volunteers must be sober from drugs and alcohol at the start of their shift and/or running of fire art.
- Volunteers must not under any circumstances consume drugs or alcohol while on shift and/or running of fire art.
- Volunteers who need to operate vehicles, run fire art and/or work in safety departments must not consume drugs or alcohol less than four hours before their next scheduled shift and must not attend their shift under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Should we have concerns about your alignment with this policy, we reserve the right to remove you from your shift or larger role. If you suspect another volunteer is not in compliance with this policy, please notify Khaki or a Board Member immediately.
We will err on the side of caution with respect to the safety of volunteers, participants and assets.
Volunteer Workplace Violence and Harassment
Context and Purpose
The Flame Ontario Arts Collective (FOAC), the organization behind SideBurn, recognizes that its volunteers may be subjected to violence and harassment by attendees, volunteers, or others who conduct business with the organization at the event. In these circumstances, FOAC acknowledges its responsibility to support and assist the volunteer subjected to violence and harassment, regardless of who the alleged offender may be, to the extent possible. All volunteers are responsible for respecting the dignity and rights of other volunteers and the people they serve at the event. The organization extends its responsibility to encourage its volunteers to react to incidents of violence and harassment they have witnessed or have been affected by, even if the violence and harassment was not directed at them and has not yet resulted in a complaint. FOAC ensures that all parties in a violence and/or harassment complaint will be treated objectively, following the basic rules of natural justice and fairness, and that complaints will be investigated expeditiously and handled in a confidential manner to the greatest extent possible. Information collected and retained may be subject to release under the Access to Information and Privacy Acts and the rules governing court or other proceedings under the law.
Scope
This policy applies to any person volunteering at SideBurn and to all activities that occur during SideBurn or while engaging in SideBurn-related activities or social events. Everyone is expected to uphold this policy and to work together to prevent workplace violence and harassment.
Policy Statements
FOAC believes that every volunteer has the right to volunteer in a courteous and respectful atmosphere that promotes equal opportunity and is free from all forms of violence and harassment, including harassment because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, record of offences, marital status, family status, or disability. FOAC will not tolerate, ignore, or condone workplace violence and harassment from volunteers or contractors, considering them very serious offences that may result in disciplinary action, up to and including revoking volunteer or leadership roles or banning a participant from FOAC events.
This policy also protects volunteers from workplace violence and harassment by other individuals with whom they may have contact in the course of their duties, including contractors and participants of SideBurn.
Objectives
To adhere to the provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (or corresponding provincial code depending on the location of the incident), if and as applicable, and to commit to providing a courteous working environment where all persons are treated with respect and dignity. To inform all volunteers, Board members, and contractors who do business with FOAC and hold them accountable for adhering to this policy. To ensure that all SideBurn volunteers are treated fairly and consistently.
Escalation Procedures/Management of Non-compliance with this Policy: Code of Conduct
Definitions and Abbreviations
“Workplace” covers places where volunteers provide services to SideBurn and includes all places where SideBurn business occurs, including, but not limited to, the following:
- SideBurn event location
- Online or in-person meetings pertaining to SideBurn or Flame Ontario Arts Collective
“Workplace violence” is defined as the following:
- The exercise of physical force by a person against a volunteer in a workplace, that causes, or could cause, physical injury to the volunteer;
- An attempt to exercise physical force against a worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to the volunteer, and;
- A statement or behaviour that it is reasonable for a volunteer to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to the volunteer.
“Workplace harassment” means “engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome” or “workplace sexual harassment”. This may include comments or actions in the workplace that negatively affect working relationships or productivity or create a poisoned work environment.
Harassment may occur as one incident or a series of incidents involving unwelcome comments or conduct.
Workplace harassment includes psychological or personal harassment and bullying, as well as comments and conduct prohibited under the grounds stipulated in the Ontario Human Rights Code. Sexual harassment is a form of workplace harassment.
Examples of harassing behaviour prohibited under this policy are the following:
- Verbal abuse or inappropriate displays of shouting, anger disproportionate to the situation, anger when someone is expressing their view, becoming angry over frivolous things, anger when things don’t go your way;
- Bullying;
- Comments or actions that constitute harassment or discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment and harassment or discrimination based on an individual’s race, ancestry, colour, creed, gender expression, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, place of origin, ethnic origin, citizenship, marital status, family status, record of offences, age, or disability;
- The display, circulation, or electronic transmission of pornographic, racist, or other offensive or derogatory text or pictures;
- Conduct that interferes with a person’s work performance and creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment;
- Unfounded complaints that are made in bad faith, in reprisal, frivolously, or with malicious intent;
- Interfering with a workplace violence or harassment investigation;
- Intimidating a complainant, respondent, or witness or influencing a person to give false or misleading information; and/or
- Failure of individuals in positions of authority to respond in accordance with this policy to incidents of misconduct or allegations of discrimination or harassment. Such failure may be considered as condoning such behaviour and therefore a violation of this policy.
“Sexual harassment” means “engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace because of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, where the course of comment or conduct is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome”, or “making a sexual solicitation or advance where the person making the solicitation or advance is in a position to confer, grant, or deny a benefit or advancement to the worker and the person knows or ought reasonably to know that the solicitation or advance is unwelcome”.
Sexual harassment can also take the form of a reprisal or threat of reprisal for the rejection of a sexual solicitation or advance made by a person who is in a position to grant or deny a benefit.
Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Leering;
- The display of sexually offensive material;
- Sexually degrading words used to describe a person;
- Derogatory or degrading remarks directed towards members of one sex or one sexual orientation;
- Sexually suggestive or obscene comments or gestures;
- Reasonably unwelcome Inquiries or comments about a person’s sex life;
- Unwelcome sexual flirtations, advances, or propositions;
- Persistent unwanted contact or attention after the end of a consensual relationship;
- Requests for sexual favours;
- Unwanted touching;
- Verbal abuse or threats; and
- Sexual assault.
Appendix A – Volunteer Workplace Violence and Harassment Process
FOAC’s workplace violence and harassment process includes measures to protect volunteers from workplace violence and harassment, procedures for summoning immediate assistance if workplace violence occurs, and a process for volunteers to report incidents or raise concerns.
FOAC will ensure that the Workplace Violence and Harassment Policy and the supporting process are implemented and maintained and that all volunteers have the appropriate information and instruction to protect them from violence and harassment in the workplace.
All volunteers are encouraged to raise any concerns about workplace violence and harassment and to report any violent incidents or threats or incidents of workplace harassment, including sexual harassment, regardless of whom the offender may be.
FOAC encourages prompt reporting of complaints so that a rapid response and appropriate action may be taken. However, recognizing the sensitivity of these problems and the emotional toll such conduct may have on a person, the late reporting of complaints may not in itself preclude FOAC from taking action. Please see the formal complaint process below for more details.
Complaints may be lodged by a volunteer who is not experiencing workplace violence or harassment directly but who has witnessed or is affected by workplace violence or the harassment of others. A volunteer who becomes aware of situations where workplace violence, harassment, or discrimination may be occurring is requested to notify their Producer or Lead. The potential problem will be actively monitored and, when necessary, investigated. Steps will be taken to correct the situation.
When a volunteer is alleged to be inflicting an incident of workplace violence or harassment, their term of service as a volunteer may be suspended pending an investigation of the complaint. If the investigation does not support the charge of violence or harassment, the term of service will be resumed. However, if the investigation supports the charge of workplace violence or harassment, other appropriate measures may follow, such as a referral to the Conduct Chair.
Roles and Responsibilities
Volunteers have a responsibility to:
- Treat individuals in the workplace with respect and dignity;
- Be familiar and comply with FOAC’s policy and procedures for handling incidents of violence and harassment;
- Where the volunteer feels comfortable or confident doing so, promptly and clearly make known to the offender their disapproval of, or unease with any offensive behaviour;
- Promptly report incidents of violence and harassment to their Producer, Lead, or Conduct Chair using the incident reporting form;
- Promptly report systematic problems that may cause, contribute to, or encourage violence and harassment in the workplace to their volunteer group lead or to the Board even if the problems have not yet resulted in a complaint;
- Keep a written record of the details (including times, locations, and names of any witnesses) of the alleged incident(s) of violence or harassment; and
- Ensure that all parties involved in a violence and harassment complaint understand the importance of keeping all information confidential.
Volunteer group leads have a responsibility to:
- Treat individuals in the workplace with respect and dignity;
- Be familiar and comply with FOAC’s policy and procedures for handling incidents of violence and harassment;
- Ensure that their volunteers are aware of and understand FOAC’s policy on violence and harassment;
- Ensure that the workplace violence and harassment policy is consistently applied to volunteers;
- Ensure that all parties involved in a violence and harassment complaint understand the importance of keeping all information confidential;
- Report any systematic problems resulting in violence and harassment in their work environment to the Conduct Chair, and take prompt action to correct the problem;
- Implement the disciplinary action instructed by the Board or Conduct Chair.
Imminent Actual Workplace Violence Process
In the case of imminent or actual workplace violence or a threat of workplace violence, immediately alert your Producer, Lead or Consent Chair if before or after the event. During the event alert, your Lead, Producer, Security, Rangers or Board Members on call. Take detailed notes of the incident, ensuring that all events, including time, date, and names are properly documented.
Informal Complaint Process
All volunteers are encouraged to attempt to resolve their concerns by direct communication with the person(s) engaging in unwelcome conduct or comments or otherwise engaging in conduct in violation of this policy. When volunteers feel confident or comfortable in doing so, they should make it clearly known to the person(s) responsible that the behaviour is offensive and request that it stop. The respondent(s) may not realize that the behaviour is unwelcome and offensive.
You are encouraged to keep a written record of the date, time, details of conduct, and witnesses, if any.
In some situations, it may be difficult or inappropriate to address the conduct directly with the respondent, or the offensive behaviour may continue even after the respondent has been told the behaviour is offensive. In this case, volunteers should take immediate action as outlined below.
Volunteers who experience violence and/or harassment and attempt to deal directly with the respondent but fail, or feel that a direct approach is inappropriate, may choose to have the matter dealt with on an informal basis with the assistance of Conduct Chair, without proceeding with a formal complaint. This step provides a means of obtaining information, voicing concern, and developing a way to deal with the problem. Volunteers are encouraged to discuss these matters directly with those they feel comfortable with if they feel this could resolve the issue.
Where a volunteer is unsure that violence or harassment has occurred and would like help to determine whether the incident constitutes violence or harassment, the volunteer should immediately discuss the incident with their Conduct Chair.
Where the complainant finds the informal resolution to the problem unsuccessful, inappropriate, or unacceptable, the complainant may proceed with the formal complaint process.
Formal Complaint Process
All formal complaints will be investigated by the Conduct Chair (unless there is a conflict of interest) will be submitted through the incident reporting form on the website. The Conduct Chair may engage a third party to help with the investigation process. The complaint must include a description of the incident (when it occurred, the persons involved), witnesses, if any, steps already taken, if any, to resolve the matter, and the remedy sought by the complainant.
When a complaint is initially received by the Conduct Chair, it is the Conduct Chair’s responsibility to report it to the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board within 72 hrs of receipt. The Conduct Chair will interview the complainant to discuss and clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident and determine if there is a possibility that violence and/or harassment has occurred.
Where as a result of an interview, the complainant and the Conduct Chair agree that the conduct in question does not constitute violence and/or harassment as defined in this policy, no further action will be taken and the matter will be treated as closed.
Where an investigation is conducted, the Conduct Chair will advise the individual in question in writing that a complaint has been made, the details of the complaint, and that an investigation will be conducted. The complainant will be sent a copy of this notice within 72 hours of the interview with the Conduct Chair. If the results of the interview or investigation indicate that there may be a malicious complaint, the report will be forwarded to the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board with recommendations from the Conduct Chair.
If an investigation is to be conducted, it will include interviews with the complainant, the alleged respondent, and any witnesses. Depending on the circumstances, the investigation may be conducted by a third-party investigator. The investigator will prepare a written report of the investigation findings. The report shall be provided along with recommendations, if any, to the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board for action.
Where the information gathered in the early stages of the complaint process suggests a reasonable possibility of a solution, the Conduct Chair may propose a resolution mechanism prior to proceeding with a full investigation.
The Conduct Chair will meet with the parties involved to discuss the findings of the investigation to date, inform them of the possibility of an early solution, and give them details of the proposed solution. This allows the parties to become aware of the tentative findings, and presents an opportunity, based on the information, to mutually agree to resolve the matter without further investigation.
Where an agreement is reached, and the matter is deemed resolved, the Conduct Chair will prepare a summary report outlining the findings and recommendations.
When preliminary findings do not permit an early resolution of the incident, the investigation will be continued. The investigation will be completed and a comprehensive report will be presented to the Flame Ontario Arts Collective for action as soon as possible and within 90 days of the initial meeting with the complainant and the alleged respondent, where possible and appropriate.
The investigation will:
- Be kept confidential, and identifying information will not be disclosed unless necessary to conduct the investigation. The investigator should remind the parties of this confidentiality obligation at the beginning of the investigation.
- Include a thorough interview of all relevant parties and any witnesses, to the extent possible.
- Provide the respondent the opportunity to respond to the specific allegations raised by the complaint, and in some circumstances, the complainant the opportunity to reply:
- Include the collection and review of any relevant documents.
- Include notes and statements during interviews with parties and any witnesses.
- Include a written report summarizing the steps taken during the investigation, the complaint, the allegations of the complainant, the response from the respondent, the evidence of any witnesses, and the evidence gathered. The report will set out findings of fact and come to a conclusion about whether the complaint was founded or not.
After the investigation is completed, the complainant and the respondent, if the respondent will be informed in writing of the results of the investigation and any disciplinary/corrective action taken or that will be taken by the Flame Ontario Arts Collective to address the situation.
All references to the Conduct Chair will be replaced by the Flame Ontario Arts Collective when a member of the Conduct Chair is the alleged offender. The procedures for reporting and investigating will remain the same.
Disciplinary/corrective action for violations of this policy will take into consideration the nature and impact of the violations and may include warnings, verbal or written reprimands, termination of volunteering or banning from the event. Similarly, deliberate false accusations are of equally serious nature and will also result in disciplinary action.
Note, however, that an unproven allegation does not mean that violence or harassment did not occur or that there was a deliberate false allegation. It simply means that there is insufficient evidence to proceed or that, while the complainant may have genuinely had reason to believe that there was violence or harassment, the investigation has not borne out the complaint.
The investigation will remain active for a reasonable period of time to allow for monitoring of the implementation of disciplinary/corrective action, if applicable, and the results achieved through that disciplinary/corrective action.
The Flame Ontario Arts Collective will not in any way penalize or retaliate against a volunteer who in good faith makes a complaint of violence or harassment, nor permit anyone else to do so. Such action would be a serious violation of this policy and should be reported immediately.
The Flame Ontario Arts Collective will not tolerate any retaliation whatsoever against a volunteer for having complained of violence or harassment, or participated or cooperated in an investigation of a complaint. Volunteers who are found to have acted in such a manner may be subject to disciplinary action. Volunteers must cooperate in an investigation of violence or harassment.
Confidentiality
At all steps of the complaint and investigation, the confidentiality of the process, parties, and individuals, and information involved will be preserved except when the disclosure of a complainant’s name or the circumstances related to the complaint is necessary to investigate the complaint, disciplinary/remedial measures are taken in relation to the complaint, or otherwise as may be required by law.
Contact
Conduct Chair: conduct@sideburn.ca
