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Staff Code of Conduct

Staff Code of Conduct

I. Staff-User Interaction

All staff members, regardless of rank, are expected to treat all members of the community with respect. If a staff member is having difficulty dealing with any user to a point where they are unable to do their job effectively, it is suggested that the matter be brought to the attention of the Directors so that responsibility of the matter may be reassigned. This may occur for a number of reasons, including:

  • The staff member knows the user personally and cannot function as an unbiased mediator.
  • The user is being overtly rude to the staff member.
  • The staff member is unsure of how to handle the situation and desires input from the rest of the staff.

Staff members are reminded to remain impartial in their positions. Bribery, favoritism, coercion, and other such forms of biased and unbecoming conduct are strictly prohibited. If a staff member feels their judgment may be clouded or otherwise impaired while working, they are expected to fully relinquish authority of the situation to another member of staff.

All user information is confidential, and all interactions dealing with a user's account or personal information may only occur between the user in question and staff. Staff members will not give out information to third parties, including infraction information, ban reasons, IP addresses, or account activity details, without explicit permission from the user. However, any official requests sent from state or federal authorities will meet legal compliance from all staff.

II. Interaction Amongst Staff

All staff members are all encouraged to communicate with each other openly and fully, and to act with the utmost professionalism around their peers. Staff members may not reverse the decisions of other staff members without first discussing it with the staff member in question or the rest of the staff first. If a conflict between any staff members arises, we urge those parties to bring that matter before the rest of the staff so the matter may be settled. If the matter cannot be sorted out, all parties will be asked to take a temporary or permanent leave from the staff, depending on the nature of the dispute.

In the event of a departmental dispute in which a department member disagrees with the actions or verdict of the department head, and the staff member feels the action may be detrimental to the site, the Directors may be called in to vote on the ruling. The Directors' decision will be passed by a majority vote of greater than one-half of the Director team, and the Directors are free to choose to uphold the department head decision, or enact their own verdict. The Directors may also act on their power to discipline staff members based on majority ruling if it is called for by the situation.

If a staff member believes that they will not be around for an extended period of time, they are required to give the rest of the team an advance warning. For security reasons, staff accounts found to be inactive for longer than two weeks will be temporarily removed from staff positions until the account owner returns and is ready to continue working.

III. Representing the Site

Staff are required to remain professional when dealing with issues publicly on the site as well as other sites. This means that staff should not harass or defame other sites while being associated with Weasyl, as well as not deriding aspects of Weasyl itself. If a staff member has issues with a policy or aspect of the site, they are asked to handle the issue privately in staff areas.

Although staff are asked to remain professional while performing their duties, it is not required while they are using the site for their enjoyment. We here at Weasyl wish for the site to be as open and fun as possible, and we want our staff to be able to enjoy the site themselves. As long as the staff members follow the policies of this document and all other site policies, they are free to behave as they wish in regard to their own personal enjoyment of the site.

IV. Site Liability & Security

Due to the nature of the content allowed on this site, we require all staff to be 18 years of age or older. We recognize that age is not a reliable indicator of maturity; however, all staff must be able to legally view and respond to reports dealing with adult content.

Any staff member partaking in illegal activities which put the site at risk will be immediately terminated. This includes admitting to crimes in which the site must inform the police, as well as using site resources to provide or ask users to provide them with pirated copyrighted content.

Staff members are forbidden from performing their duties while under the influence of any mind- altering substances. If there is any indication that a staff member is operating under the influence, they will be temporarily locked out of their account. Prescription drugs are permissible, although we require that they seek approval from the rest of the staff before performing their duties if they affect a staff member's performance.

All staff are expected to maintain proper account security. This includes creating a secure password and making sure the email linked to their admin account is also secure. If a staff member's account is compromised, they will be temporarily removed from staff and/or their account will be temporarily locked until the issue is resolved. If the staff feels the affected member will continue to be a security risk, they may vote to have them removed from staff.

In addition to user information, content from staff areas of the site are also confidential. This includes staff forums, reports, site code, account information, and all other information privy to staff members only. Staff found leaking privileged information without proper authorization will be removed from their position, and possibly the site depending on the nature of the leak.

V. Promotions

Staff promotions will be initiated by the Directors when space becomes available for the appropriate positions or if a staff member has performed exceptionally in their duties. A user will be brought up for review and the voting members will be given time to state their reasons for or against the promotion. Moderators will be promoted to admin status after the admin and Director staff vote. Admins will be promoted to Director status after a vote from the Directors.

Each member of the voting group will cast one vote. A decision will be passed with a majority vote of greater than two-thirds. If the decision obtains between one-half and two-thirds of the possible votes, the topic will be discussed again and the staff will vote once more. After the second discussion and vote has taken place, a majority vote of of greater than one-half will pass the action.

VI. Disciplinary Action

Each infraction of site policy by a staff member will be treated on a case-by-case basis. In the event that a staff member breaks any site rules, all relevant parties will be brought into a discussion with the Director team. Any staff member wishing to give input into a situation may contact the Director team privately so that their views may be taken into account. After considering all available relevant information, the Directors will determine a suitable punishment, including, but not limited to, demotion, temporary or permanent loss of status, or temporary or permanent removal from the site. A vote to enact the determined action must reach a majority of greater than one-half of the Directors. Owners may override any vote, but this will be reserved for only extreme circumstances related to the legal liability of the site.

If a moderator is found to have broken site policy and requires demotion, they will be removed from staff. If a Director requires disciplinary action, they may not take part in the vote concerning which actions will be taken.