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 Bad Behaviour policy is how we do that.
The way we identify bad behaviour is with an Infraction. An Infraction is our way of identifying that you breached one of our policies or expectations, and recording that breach for future reference. By default, there is no penalty attached to an Infraction. Members are encouraged to report all Infractions to the Infraction Committee, no matter how small. The Infraction Committee decides if an Infraction should be issued based on the evidence presented to them, or that they discover.
If an Infraction is serious enough to warrant some form of penalty, or a pattern of bad behaviour is identified, an Infraction may be accompanied by a penalty. Primarily, a penalty will be an Access Suspension but may be another form of "making good" such as cleaning up a mess or paying for a tool that was damaged.
A penalty must never take the form of a fine or monetary penalty unless there was a direct cost to BMS such as a broken tool due to negligence. 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.
A penalty may come in the form of an Access Suspension. This does not change your membership status - you are still a member and entitled to vote in meetings. However, during the Access Suspension period, you are not permitted to:
During an 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.
For an Infraction to be official, it must be issued by the Infraction Committee. An infraction or penalty may be appealed at a general meeting.
Any member can report an Infraction to the Infraction Committee for investigation. If the Infraction Committee finds evidence that a breach of policy or group expectations occurred, they are obligated to issue an Infraction. If they choose not to issue an Infraction, it can be referred to a general meeting for consideration. The Infraction Committee can issue an Infraction by a simple majority vote.
All Infractions must be posted on the forum under the Infractions category and remain visible to members at all times, but may be hidden from the general public. The post must be published within 48 hours of the Infraction being issued, and preferably after the person has been notified (or at the same time, but never before). The forum post must contain the following information:
The Infraction Schedule below contains a list of Infractions that the Infraction Committee is obligated to issue. Each Infraction is accompanied by a suggested penalty, but the actual penalty issued may be slightly different depending on the situation.
Each time an additional 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.
Once a member has been issued with the maximum number of Infractions in any category, they are required to show cause as to why their membership shouldn't be cancelled. This is 4x offences for Category 1, 3x for Category 2, and 2x for Category 3. It is expected that the executive committee would handle a situation like this and cancel someone's membership if they could not show adequate cause.
These Infractions are minor, and first offences should not be accompanied by an Access Suspension penalty. However, after the first offence, each additional offence should be accompanied by an Access Suspension going from 1 week, to 2 weeks, then up to 4 weeks.
These Infractions are more severe than Category 1, and first offences should be accompanied by an Access Suspension penalty. Each offence should be accompanied by an Access Suspension going from 2 weeks, to 4 weeks, then up to 2 months.
These Infractions are major, and first offences should be treated seriously. Every offence should be accompanied by an Access Suspension going from 1 month, then 3 months.