Complaints procedure

If any employee, member, visitor or visiting team feels that they suffered discrimination or harassment in any way or that the club policies, rules or code of conduct have been broken, they should follow the procedures below.

  1. The Complainant should report the matter in writing to the club Administrator at admin@pavavetennishove.com. The report should include:

(a) full details of what occurred;

(b) details of when and where the occurrence took place;

(c) any witness details and copies of any witness statements;

(d) details of any former complaints made about the incident, including the date and to whom such complaint was made; and

(e) an indication as to the desired outcome.

1.1 The complainant can remain anonymous, and the Club will respect this.

2. If the person accused of this behaviour is an employee, the Club will follow the club’s Disciplinary Procedure and employment law.

3. Otherwise, the matter will be referred by the Administrator to the Chair of the Management Committee (MC) for consideration and appropriate action. Action can include communicating with either or both parties verbally or formally at a meeting.

3.1 If a meeting is held, two members of the MC or Club Officers will attend, one to lead and one to assist and take notes. The complainant/person complained against will usually attend alone. At the meeting the Club representatives:

3.2 Whether or not a meeting is held, the two Club Officers may decide, at their sole discretion:

3.2.1 To uphold or dismiss the complaint without holding a hearing, or

3.2.2 Hold a hearing at which they might request one or more parties to attend to present their case.

3.3 In either case, they will have the power to impose any one or more of the following sanctions on a person found to be in breach of any Club policy or refusing to make a reasonable effort to attend a meeting when requested to do so:

(a) Warn as to future conduct, possibly including a period of monitoring for future behaviour;

(b) Suspend from membership for a period;

(c) Remove from membership;

(d) Exclude a non-member from the Club, either temporarily or permanently; and

(e) Turn down a non-member’s current and/or future membership applications.

3.4 Will provide both parties with written reasons for its decision to uphold or dismiss the complaint within one (1) calendar month of such decision being made.

3.5 In the unlikely event of a member’s expulsion being considered (c above), item 10 of the Constitution (“Expulsion”) will also apply.

4. Appeal.

The person(s) complained against can appeal only against a sanction of 6 months’ suspension or a greater sanction. For a lesser sanction there is no appeal. The complainant can appeal any decision.

An appeal can be initiated by emailing: admin@pavavetennishove.com . The appeal will be considered by an MC member who has little or no knowledge of the matter (complaints are not usually discussed at open MC meetings, partly for this reason).

Points 3.2-3.5 above apply to the appeal process.