Everyone is human, and we try not to unreasonably penalise or reprimand people for genuine mistakes. However, patterns of mistakes or more serious instances of bad behaviour need to be dealt with appropriately. Our Infraction policy is how we do that.
The way we identify bad behaviour (whether intentional or not) is with an Infraction. An Infraction is our way of identifying that you breached one of our policies or expectations, and recording that for future reference. Members are encouraged to report all behaviour that may be worthy of an Infraction.
The committee must issue an Infraction in all cases where there is clear evidence a breach occured. Infractions are just a record and don't always necessitate a punishment as described below. Most members will receive an Infraction at some point. They only become a problem if a pattern emerges.
If an Infraction is serious enough to necessitate some form of penalty, or a pattern of bad behaviour is identified, an Infraction should be accompanied by a penalty. A penalty will usually be a Tempoary Access Suspension but may be another form of "making good" such as cleaning up a mess or paying for a tool that was damaged. The committee can decide to issue any type of penalty that they feel is necessary and reasonable to rectify the Infraction.
A penalty cannot be in the form of a fine or monetary penalty unless there was a direct cost to BMS. In this case, any monetary penalty must not be greater than the actual cost incurred by BMS. Fines are not an equitable penalty in most cases and we avoid them.
A penalty may come in the form of a Temporary Access Suspension. This does not change your membership status or entitlement to vote etc. However, during the Temporary Access Suspension period, you are not permitted to:
During a Temporary Access Suspension, you are required to maintain your membership by paying your fees. If you do not wish to pay membership while you have an Access Suspension, you can cancel your membership.
All infractions must be recorded on the official member forum in the private "infractions" category. It is critical that all infractions issued must be recorded here and remain available to any member at any time. This ensures 100% transparency and allows us to record patterns of behaviour that occur over time.
If infractions are hidden or not recorded properly, it makes it difficult to identify and rectify patterns of bad behaviour. A record of an infraction must include the member's name, when it happened, what the infraction was, and clear evidence of the infraction.
The Infraction Schedule contains a list of behaviours that must receive an infraction. Each Infraction is accompanied by a suggested penalty, but the actual penalty issued may be slightly different depending on the situation.
Each time an Infraction is issued in a category, the penalty should become more severe. Each category outlines the expected escalation of a penalty and should be treated separately from each other category. For the purpose of escalation, infractions expire after 4 years.
Once a member has been issued with the maximum number of Infractions in any category, they are required to demonstrate why their membership shouldn't be cancelled. This is 4x offences for Category 1, 3x for Category 2, and 2x for Category 3.
These Infractions are minor, and first time breaches should not be accompanied by a Temporary Access Suspension penalty (but another penalty like cleaning up their mess is fine). However, after the first breach, each additional breach should be accompanied by a Temporary Access Suspension going from 1 week, to 2 weeks, then up to 4 weeks.
These Infractions are more severe than Category 1, and first time breaches should be accompanied by a Temporary Access Suspension penalty. Each breach should be accompanied by a Temporary Access Suspension going from 1 week, to 2 weeks, then up to 4 weeks.
These Infractions are major, and first time breaches should be treated seriously. Every breach should be accompanied by an Access Suspension going from 1 month, then 2 months, but this may be longer in serious cases.