The Lake District Ski Club (LDSC) is run by volunteers. We pride ourselves in fostering good relations within the club, and with our neighbours, and appreciate that our volunteers are giving their own time. Still, in all organisations, situations may arise when people feel they have not been treated fairly or have experienced poor behaviour. This policy aims to lay out the procedure for dealing with any such grievance in a timely and confidential manner.

A grievance can be about anything done, or not done, by committee or other member(s), which you feel affects you unfairly or unjustly. A grievance can also be about discrimination, harassment, bullying, or any other club-related decision or behaviour that you think is unfair, unjust, or upsetting. This Grievance Handling Policy outlines the procedures you should follow to try to resolve a grievance, and also outlines the steps LDSC will take to resolve your grievance if you make a formal complaint. The LDSC committee may unilaterally introduce, vary, remove, or replace this policy at any time.

What are your options if you have a grievance?

In general, there are three options to consider if you have a grievance:

- Deal with the matter informally.

A grievance can be dealt with informally by approaching the person involved in your grievance, if you feel comfortable in doing so. You can tell them that their behaviour / decision / action etc. was unfair, offensive / discriminatory, etc., and why you believe this to be so. The person may have been totally unaware of the effect their behaviour or decision has had on you. By telling them, you give them a chance to redress the situation. This may not be appropriate in some cases, particularly if you do not feel comfortable speaking to the person involved.

- Speak to a committee member.

If you do not want to speak to the person involved directly, you can tell another club member about your grievance. They should be able to tell you what your options are. They may approach the person on your behalf and talk to them informally about your grievance. They may decide to take more formal action. Generally, they will seek your approval before doing anything — although sometimes they may decide that taking action will be necessary, even if you do not wish for them to do so (for example, where failure to do so poses a health and safety risk). LDSC does not have an official management structure so we understand that it may be difficult to decide to whom to talk. However, any of our volunteers should be able to advise you and, ultimately, if you are not happy with the response, you can approach the club president.

- Make a formal complaint.

If you do decide to make a formal complaint, this can be done by putting the complaint in writing or email and submitting the report to the club president/trustees.

The written complaint should contain a description of the incident(s), decision, behaviour in question, the time and date of the incident(s), the names of any witnesses, your signature, and the date of the complaint.

How will the club handle your complaint?

Grievances will be treated with the utmost confidentiality (except where the Club deems it necessary to disclose the complaint for the purpose of dealing with it effectively; disclosure will be no wider than is strictly necessary). It is important that you also maintain confidentiality and do not discuss your complaint with others, unless the Club gives you permission to do so.

Any grievance will be taken seriously, handled impartially, and any steps taken will be in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness.

Employees who raise grievances are protected from victimisation.

Grievances will be dealt with promptly, taking into account all of the circumstances.

Generally, you may have a support person with you at any stage of the process.

The investigation

Where a grievance cannot be resolved informally and the Club deems an investigation is required, the matter will be investigated by someone the Club deems as appropriate. This may be an external investigator. How the investigation is to be conducted is at the complete discretion of LDSC. The following are general guidelines only. During the investigation, you will generally be interviewed first, following which any witnesses, the person against whom the complaint is made, and any other relevant people will be independently interviewed. Both you and the person against whom the complaint is made will generally be allowed to have a support person present when the interview is being conducted.

If the complaint is substantiated, appropriate action will be taken (see below). If the complaint is unsubstantiated, you will generally be given an explanation as to why that finding was made.

If the complaint is found to have been fabricated or vexatious, appropriate disciplinary action may be taken against you, up to and including termination of membership.

What are the possible outcomes?

If the investigation reveals that your complaint is valid, a number of actions may be taken, depending on the nature of the complaint. The person(s) against whom the complaint is made may be asked to give you a written apology, he/she may be given a written warning, counselling, transfer, demotion, or may be subjected to disciplinary action up to and including termination of club membership/employment.

If the investigation is inconclusive, i.e. the complaint cannot be proven due to lack of evidence or the conduct is not sufficiently serious to justify disciplinary action, the Club may nevertheless take a number of actions. These may include training and/or monitoring of relevant member(s).

If the complaint is found to have been fabricated or raised vexatiously, appropriate action may be taken against you in accordance with the Disciplinary and Termination Policy including counselling, a formal warning, transfer, demotion, or disciplinary action up to and including termination of membership/employment, depending on the seriousness of the circumstances.

What if you are not satisfied with the outcome?

If you are not satisfied with the way in which your grievance was handled you may take it to an outside agency or relevant body (such as Snowsport England) for further investigation and deliberation. In appropriate circumstances, you may wish to seek advice from a union or lawyer.

Other policies

Employees and are encouraged to read this policy in conjunction with other relevant Club policies, including: → Code of Conduct → Workplace Anti-Bullying & Anti- Harassment Policy → Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-Discrimination Policy.

V1. Dec 2024