Community policy

Our values at ETI: 

Collaboration - Connecting people. Convening conversations. We bring together people from contrasting backgrounds around a common focus. This sets us apart. It’s at the heart of who we are.  

Engagement - Whatever the issue, we will engage with it in full depth. Our work is thorough and meticulous. Whether it’s providing guidelines, reports or training. No quick fixes or shortcuts here. 

Respect - Our work often deals with crises, and involves highly challenging conversations. No matter what, we treat everyone involved with dignity. Being respectful is part of our DNA. 

Fairness  - A sense of fairness underpins everything we do. We hold all to account with decency and integrity. We believe everyone is equal and should be treated by the same standards. 

Knowledge - We are genuine thought leaders in our space. Smart, wise with an academic grounding. Our counsel is highly valued, our advice is golden. This expertise is a huge differentiator.  

We want to build a friendly, safe and engaging community for ETI members and beyond. By using this website, you agree to these guidelines and our [Terms of Use]. If you have any questions related to these guidelines, please get in touch at community@eti.org.uk 

Published date: 20 October 2021 

About us 

Ethical Trading Initiative, Registered No. 3578127 and whose registered office is at LHBO4 Kennington Business Park 1-3 Brixton Road, London SW9 6DE, UK.  This online platform is supplied by Zapnito. 

Safety 

Although there are areas of the website that are reserved for members only and private conversations (i.e. in closed rooms), please remember that anyone could be reading what you post. Take care with details which could identify anyone linked to the work that you are involved in. Exercise caution in revealing proprietary, confidential information or sensitive information from your organisation. If the location of your work is sensitive, do not disclose information on the location and take care with personal details such as addresses, phone numbers and information about your personal life and the personal life of others. 

Style, manners and language 

We expect everyone to conduct themselves in a professional manner in keeping with the professional status of this community. Individuals that are employed by companies, NGOs, Trade unions and civil society bodies and who are using this site do so as representatives of their respective organisations.  We recommend that you complete your Community site profile (e.g. profile picture, job details). The more detail you add to your profile, the more people will want to engage with you and the more connected you’ll be to fellow community members. Be yourself; please never impersonate another person. Present your opinions and positions in a tactful and moderate fashion, and always give the benefit of the doubt. Remember, not everyone has English as a first language and that some things may not come across as intended. 

Spirited debates and opinionated comments are always welcome, but any unnecessary rudeness or disrespect is not. Please be nice to each other and share your ideas in a civilised and measured manner. Finally, please refrain from dominating conversations and let everyone have a voice in the discussion. 

The use of swearing, offensive and threatening language, and uploading images which may cause offence is strictly prohibited and we have the right to edit and/or remove such content or any other content from the website that we believe may cause offence. Please ensure that your contributions do not contain abusive or false statements. Do not forget that you are legally responsible for what you submit. Each situation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis but we have the right to restrict you from using the website if we believe that you have breached these guidelines.

To ensure the community remains usable, please be thoughtful about where you begin new conversations. If you begin an off-topic thread in a group, the moderator may move your conversation into a more appropriate group or remove it entirely if it is considered spam. Likewise, please ensure your comments within a conversation remain on topic. Off-topic comments may be moved into a new thread to allow the discussion to continue, or if they are considered spam they will be removed. Each situation will be evaluated on a case by case basis.  

Content 

As explained in our website’s Terms of Use, content that you upload must not infringe the rights of any other person or organisation. If we believe that the content that you have uploaded onto the website is likely to infringe the rights of a third party or if we believe that the content uploaded violates these guidelines or our website Terms of Use we have the right to edit or remove such content at our discretion. We also have the right to suspend and/or permanently restrict your access to the website if we believe that you have uploaded or used the website in a way that is contrary to these guidelines and/or the website's Terms of Use.  

Please attribute quotes and paraphrased comments to their proper sources. If you want to upload a copy of an image, text, video or any other content, make sure you have the right to reproduce them on this website. Posting copyright material without permission may be unlawful. If you want to discuss someone else’s work, please summarise it in your own words. You can only post links to another website if the content on that other site abides with these Guidelines, and if that other website allows you to post links to their website. 

Content added to the website within rooms, discussions or comments made by the website’s members are not endorsed or reflective of ETI. 

Reporting and Moderation 

Your Community Manager is Alan Sadler and you can reach him at community@eti.org.uk. Alan and colleagues from the ETI Secretariat moderate the community, to help keep things friendly, respectful, collaborative and engaging. 

This website is post-moderated, which means that all commentary and discussion will appear on the website as soon as you post it. All posts will be reviewed and checked as soon as possible. If you find something which you think breaches the terms of these Guidelines or the website’s Terms of Use, please report it to community@eti.org.uk.

Technical Issues 

We hope everything is in working order. If you discover any technical issues with the website, please let us know and report any technical issues to the team: community@eti.org.uk.