Whistleblowing and ethical Guidelines
Whistleblowing is to make a formal report about harmful, dangerous, unethical or criminal incidents in the association.
Any members, elected representatives or others who have information about censurable conditions may give notice.
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How to make the necessary changes?
After the statutes have been amended and the three documents have been adopted, all documents must be uploaded with the statutes to the association's profile on sio.no.
All documents, ethical guidelines, warning poster and handling of warnings, must be included. Here you will find templates for the documents:
What is a warning?
A warning is a formal notification of harmful, dangerous, unethical or criminal incidents in the association. All members, elected representatives or others who have information about reprehensible circumstances can report. The report can either be sent directly to the board of the association, or you can report through SiO Foreninger, who will then enter into dialogue with the association and forward the notification.
If you wish to report through SiO Associations, send an email to: Varseltilforening@sio.no
Prevention and handling of reports
The best thing you can do to avoid reports to the association is to prevent them, but if you still experience receiving a report, it is good to have some clear guidelines for how to handle the report. A report can be demanding to handle for the student association. That is why we have designed support documents to prevent and handle reports in student associations.
Adopting changes to the statutes
Since you must change the statutes, and all members must be familiar with the guidelines, this requires a general meeting or extraordinary general meeting. We have updated our sample statutes where you can read about these changes with comments, and other possible additions you may consider. First, you must mention guidelines in your statutes. We suggest that you write the following in the statutes:
§xx Statutes and guidelines
The statutes are the highest governing document of the association. The board and the general meeting may adopt guidelines that supplement or expand the statutes. The board is responsible for ensuring that members are familiar with the applicable documents.
§xx Ethics and whistleblowing
The association shall, as far as possible, consider environmental and ethical considerations in planning activities. If objectionable circumstances occur in the association or during the association's events, this may be reported in accordance with whistleblowing procedures. [If necessary, briefly describe who handles the matter. In any case, it is the board that makes the final decision in whistleblowing cases.]The association shall have an updated whistleblowing poster, whistleblowing procedures and ethical guidelines that all members shall be familiar with.
In addition, you must have a paragraph on sanctions that briefly describes what the consequences of violating the statutes or guidelines may be.
§xx Sanctions
In the event of a violation of Norwegian law, the association's statutes or guidelines, the board may impose sanctions against the member in question. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, warnings, temporary suspension of membership rights, or in serious cases, exclusion from the association. All sanctions shall be decided by the board with a qualified majority of at least two-thirds. Decisions on sanctions may be appealed to the board for reconsideration of the case. [Or the general meeting. Depending on what you end up with.]
Template for Warning Poster
The warning poster is a template that the association will use for its association. The warning poster should be well known to the entire association because it states in an easy-to-understand manner how to behave in the association, what is not tolerated, but also how reports of objectionable conditions should be reported and handled.
The warning poster is adapted for student associations, but is based on LNU's warning poster.
Template for ethical guidelines
The ethical guidelines are based on the association's values, statutes and guidelines. The ethical guidelines shall be a composition of the associations' ethical practices and shall be adhered to by all members of the association. The board is responsible for reviewing the ethical guidelines each semester and updating them as necessary.
Persons elected to board positions shall sign that they have read and will follow the association's ethical guidelines
These ethical guidelines are adapted for student associations, but are based on LNU's ethical guidelines
Guide for Handling Whistleblowing
When handling a whistleblowing report, it is important that you familiarize yourself with their ethical guidelines as well as this guide for handling whistleblowing cases. We at SiO Associations will assist you at every stage of the process of handling whistleblowing cases. The guide provides you with information on how to proceed, what not to do, but also gives you a step-by-step review of how to follow up on whistleblowing cases in a fair manner for all involved.
This document should be uploaded together with the ethical guidelines and whistleblowing poster.