Applicability

HOT Voting Members

The Voting Membership of HOT has its own code of conduct committee and process for reporting complaints between voting members and OSM community members. That procedure document can be found here.

HOT Board Members, Community Members, Partners and Volunteers

Individuals who fall into the categories listed here may report on misconduct related to official HOT US business, staff, or board as per the Misconduct Reports section of the Definitions & Reporting Matrix below. The Non-Reliation and Whistleblower Rights section at the end of this policy applies to all the parties listed here.

Misconduct Reports

Definition

Misconduct is wide reaching, including breaches to HOT’s Code of Conduct as well as other instances of severe unprofessional behavior that violate HOT’s principles and values.

Examples of misconduct may include, but are not limited to:

• Actions (or lack thereof) that put personal safety and/or the safety of others in jeopardy in the course of work.
• Actions taken with serious consequences against HOT’s reputation.
• Discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.
• Incidences of fraud or embezzlement.
• Conduct that violates HOT standards of conduct or the law (US or local).

Reporting options

1. Please send an immediate report via email or schedule a call with the Human Resources Manager: hr@hotosm.org.
2. If you would like to remain anonymous, you can fill in the form here, to confidentially and anonymously report any incident or complaint to Operations.
3. You may also report as you are comfortable to:
   1. Your supervisor
   2. Your team director
   3. A member of senior management including HOT’s Executive Director
   4. The president of the Board of Directors (president@hotosm.org)

Crimes against person or property, such as assault, rape, burglary, etc., should also immediately be reported to local law enforcement personnel.

Next steps

You will be contacted as soon as possible (we strive for 24 hours) to discuss your report. Within 10 business days of the initial report, you will receive a notice regarding the management’s response (i.e. inquiry, investigation, disposition, resolution, etc.) to the issue.

You may only receive limited follow-up on anonymous reports, depending on the amount of information shared and the nature of the incident.

Non-Retaliation and Whistleblower Rights

• The Whistleblower should promptly report the suspected or actual event per the guidelines above.
• The Whistleblower shall receive no retaliation or retribution for a report that was provided in good faith – that was not done primarily with malice to damage another or the organization, but reported with a sincere intention to be truthful and fair.
• If the investigation of a report, that was done in good faith and investigated by internal personnel, is not to the Whistleblower’s satisfaction, then they have the right to report the event to the appropriate legal or investigative agency.
• The identity of the Whistleblower, if known, shall remain confidential to those persons directly involved in applying this policy where at all possible, unless the issue requires investigation by law enforcement, in which case members of the organization are subject to the local laws.
• Anyone who retaliates against the Whistleblower (who reported an event in good faith) will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of the relationship with HOT.
• A Whistleblower who makes a report that is not done in good faith is subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of relationship with HOT and may also result in legal claims by the person who was wrongfully accused.