Code of Conduct – NESU Finland

This document is a translated version of NESU Finland’s Code of Conduct that was originally created in Finnish. In the event that the translated version differs from the original document, the original Finnish Code of Conduct will prevail.

1. Purpose

The Code of Conduct aims to support the implementation of activities in accordance with the values of the Nordiska Ekonomie Studerandes Union – NESU Finland ry, later NESU Finland ja NESU Union, at NESU events and, for compelling reasons, in other events. The Code of Conduct encapsulates the common rules of behaviour, by following which all members of the community are guaranteed a safe and respected experience within NESU. The Code of Conduct safeguards the right of those concerned to equal and fair treatment in the investigation following an infringement of the Code of Conduct.  

2. Applicability

The guidelines of the document must be followed in the events and other activities of NESU Finland, associations and other actors operating within NESU Finland, and NESU Union, such as on social media or other communication channels. The guidelines are also valid in official accommodation provided by the sitz event organizers. In addition, NESU organizations are free to apply the guidelines in the document in their own activities to the extent they wish. Violations of the operating methods presented in the document must be brought to the attention of NESU Finland’s equality officers or the equality committee, in which case the matter will be handled by the NESU equality committee. Actions that violate the ethical guidelines may lead to sanctions, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis, however, following the methods defined in this document.

3. Equality commitee

The equality committee monitors the implementation of NESU’s Code of Conduct. The equality committee consists of NESU Finland’s International Affairs Officer (later NESU President), NESU Finland’s Chairperson and two harassment contact persons elected by the board of NESU Finland. The work of the committee is led by NESU Finland’s Chairperson, who has the casting vote in the event of a tie.

Harassment contact persons can be contacted via the contact form found on the NESU website or by sending an email to contactperson@nesu.net. Harassment contact persons can also offer other channels for low-threshold support regarding any harassment cases in addition to those mentioned above. These methods must be informed and up to date on the NESU website. These contacts are handled confidentially only by the equality officers. The subject of an anonymous report can be contacted. In order for inappropriate behaviour to be handled by the equality committee, the contact to the equality committee must be made under your own name by email or via the contact form. You can also contact the equality officers if you need support in handling any harassment cases or do not know who else to contact. In this case, equality officers offer low-threshold support to the person in need of assistance and help find a suitable party to assist.

Each NESU event must have two non-alcoholic harassment contact persons appointed. In cases of harassment, the harassment contact persons will bring the case to the attention of the equality officers if the parties of the case wish to proceed with the case. Starting from 1 September 2025, NESU events must have at least one non-alcoholic harassment contact person, and starting from January 2026, events must have two non-alcoholic harassment contact persons. The rule comes into effect with a transitional period starting from 1 September 2025. It is the responsibility of the organizing party of the NESU event to ensure that harassment contact persons are obtained for the event. In multi-day events, such as the NESU Conference, several harassment contact persons can be used in rotation during the event; the harassment contact person does not have to be the same each day of the event, but a person in charge must be appointed and communicated to participants for each component of the event in accordance with the rules.

If further action is desired to investigate the case, the harassment contact persons will bring the case to the attention of the equality committee, and the cases will be handled anonymously. If the sanction is an event ban, if the person receiving the event ban registers for an event while the ban is in effect, the main organizer of the event in question will also be informed of the sanction. Otherwise, the case or the personal information of the participants will not be shared with third parties.

4. Rules

4.1. NESU events follow the principles of a safe space. You can read about NESU’s safe space principles on the NESU website.

        nesu.net > Equality > Safe Space Principles

4.2. Everyone should be treated equally regardless of age, gender, sexuality, skin colour, religion, ideology or other personal characteristics. All forms of discrimination and bullying are prohibited. You can read more about the definitions and characteristics of discrimination and bullying on the NESU website.

nesu.net > Equality

4.3. The personal physical and psychological integrity of another person must be respected. Also consider the other person’s state of intoxication, a truly drunk person cannot give informed consent to sexual intercourse. You can read more about the signs of harassment on the NESU website.

   nesu.net > Equality

4.4. All forms of physical and mental violence and threats of violence are strictly prohibited.

4.5. A joke or drunkenness does not justify offensive behaviour.

4.6. Event organizers and people around you should be treated with respect and others should be considered in your own actions. The premises and other property of the event organizer, host, and other partners of the event must be taken good care of.

4.7. The use of illegal intoxicants is strictly prohibited.

4.8. No one may be pressured to use alcohol. Everyone is free to choose whether or not to use alcohol.

5. Infringement of the Code of Concuct

Violation of the rules specified in this document will result in sanctions. Activities outside of NESU Finland or NESU Union events may be considered when handling the case, if the equality committee finds the activities to be sufficiently serious and/or related to the case. The cases are handled under the leadership of the equality committee together with the parties concerned. The sanctions are confirmed by the equality committee. The NESU Chairpersons’ Network decides annually at its meeting whether they will apply the new and existing rules decided by the equality committee to their own events in addition to NESU Finland’s and NESU Union events. If the chairpersons do not feel that the rules are in line with the values of their organizations, the issue should be discussed and considered how the rules would also better serve the local NESU organizations.

The definitions of severity levels are indicative. The equality committee is free to use severity levels at its discretion and is obligated to present the reasons in writing to the person causing harassment/violating equality.   

In serious cases, the equality committee may, at its sole discretion, place individuals on a temporary ban from participating in events while the case is being processed. The decision on a temporary ban must be unanimous: every person on the committee must support the decision to set a temporary ban. 

A person may be temporarily banned from events on the grounds that their presence at an event may pose an immediate danger or harm to other participants in the event and the offence exceeds at least a level 3 severity limit.

Severity level and sanctions: Basis for determining severity level

(All points do not need to be fulfilled)

Compensation for damages. If an individual intentionally or negligently causes damage to the property of an event organizer or partner, they may be required to compensate for the damage in full.

6. In the case of harassment

1.      When you encounter or witness inappropriate behaviour and/or behaviour that violates these rules, intervene if possible.

2.      Report the incident to the event organizer, the event’s harassment contact person, NESU Finland’s equality officer, or another reliable party.

3.      If possible, write down what has happened to make it easier to process the matter.

4.      If you are unable to intervene in the situation yourself, you can contact NESU’s equality committee later via the anonymous contact form on the NESU website or by email at contactperson@nesu.net

5.      Serious violations at all NESU events must be brought to the attention of the equality committee.

The Code of Conduct is available to members on the NESU website (nesu.net > Equality in NESU > Ethical guidelines). 

Changes can be made to the rules as needed. Outdated technical aspects can be corrected in the rules by decision of the equality committee meeting. Technical aspects can include, for example, updating the instructions related to the NESU website.

To amend the actual content of the rules, a majority of at least three-quarters (¾) of the votes cast at the statutory general meeting is required. The amendment of the rules shall be considered at the statutory general meeting,   

IF 

A majority of the board sees a need for change

OR 

Three (3) members of the organization request a change from the board in writing.

6. Procedure

Cases are handled according to the procedures defined in this document. The equality committee is obligated to hear the relevant party or parties’ accounts of the events. Actions cannot be considered inappropriate until the matter has been clarified. All parties are heard in the handling before a decision is made.

When the equality committee receives a request to handle inappropriate behaviour, the equality officers request an account of the events from all parties. The parties have ten (10) days to respond to the request for an account from the date of submission of the request. After receiving the accounts, the equality officers distribute the accounts to the committee in an anonymized form. 

The equality committee holds a discussion and decides on whether the behaviour violates the rules. If the behaviour violates the rules, the equality committee will discuss sanctions. The scale in section 5 of this document is followed when determining the sanctions. If the equality committee deals with a violation of severity level 5, the board of NESU Finland is involved in the decision-making. The equality committee is obligated to inform the person accused of inappropriate behaviour of the imposition or non-imposition of a sanction, the duration of the sanction and the reasons for it. 

In the case of harassment, both parties have the right to know the names of the people handling the case. If the parties of the case request it, the equality committee must handle a justified claim for disqualification and notify the person making the request of the decision before starting the proceedings. In addition, the members of the equality committee have the right to reasonably demand that a member of the committee recuse themselves from handling the case. 

After notification of the sanctions, all parties have two (2) weeks to appeal in the following scenarios: 

– New, aggravating information emerges from the case that has significant impact on the handling of the case

– After handling the case, a conflict with a person handling the case is revealed

– One or more members of the equality committee submit a dissenting opinion on the outcome of the case

The equality committee reviews the appeal and votes on whether to accept the case for reconsideration. If the committee unanimously concludes that there is no reason to reconsider the case, the appeal is considered to have been processed, and the case is finally closed. If one or more members of the committee consider reconsideration to be appropriate, the case is processed again. During the reconsideration, the equality officers present the case to the board of NESU Finland, which votes on the final outcome of the case.

During the reconsideration following the appeal, the committee’s previous decision on the case remains in effect. The reconsideration will be conducted within two (2) weeks of the filing of the appeal request.

If the equality committee feels that someone poses an immediate threat to their own health or the health of others, it may justifiably deviate from the predefined guidelines to facilitate more flexible processing.

The equality committee appoints a person from among its members who is responsible for informing the main organizers of events organized by NESU Finland or NESU Union if a person with a valid event ban has registered for their event. The main organizers of the events process the information confidentially.

Vahingonkorvaus. Jos yksilö aiheuttaa
tahallisesti tai tuottamuksellisesti vahinkoa tapahtumanjärjestäjän tai
yhteistyökumppanin omaisuudelle, voidaan hänet velvoittaa korvaamaan aiheuttamansa vahinko kokonaisuudessaan.

6. 
Toimintaohjeet

1.    Kohdatessasi tai todistaessasi epäasiallista ja/tai
näitä sääntöjä rikkovaa toimintaa, puutu tilanteeseen, jos mahdollista.

2.    Ilmoita tapahtuneesta tapahtuman järjestäjälle,
tapahtuman häirintäyhdyshenkilölle, NESU-Finlandin yhdenvertaisuusvastaaville
tai muulle luotettavalle taholle.

3.   Jos mahdollista, kirjaa
ylös mitä on tapahtunut asian käsittelyn helpottamiseksi.

4.          
Mikäli asiaan
puuttuminen ei onnistu itse tilanteessa, voit ottaa NESU:n
yhdenvertaisuustoimikuntaan myöhemmin yhteyttä nesu.net anonyymin
palautelomakkeen kautta tai sähköpostilla contactperson@nesu.net.

5.   Vakavat rikkomukset kaikissa
NESU:n tapahtumissa on tuotava
yhdenvertaisuustoimikunnan tietoon.

Ohjesääntö on jäsenten saavutettavissa NESU netissä (nesu.net, Equality in NESU ->
Ethical Guidelines).

Ohjesääntöön voidaan tehdä muutoksia
tarpeen mukaan. Vanhentuneet tekniset seikat voidaan korjata
ohjesäännöstä yhdenvertaisuustoimikunnan kokouksen päätöksellä. Teknisiksi seikoiksi voidaan lukea
esimekiksi NESU nettiin
liittyvien ohjeiden päivittäminen ajantasalle.

Ohjesäännön varsinaisen sisällön muuttamiseen vaaditaan vähintään kolmen
neljäsosan (¾) enemmistö annetuista äänistä yhdistyksen kokouksessa. Ohjesäännön muuttamisen käsittely yhdistyksen kokouksessa tulee kyseeseen,

JOS

Enemmistö hallituksesta näkee tarpeen muutokselle TAI

Kolme (3) yhdistyksen jäsentä
vaatii hallitukselta kirjallisesti muutosta.

7.
Menettelytapa

Tapaukset käsitellään tässä
dokumentissa määriteltyjen menettelytapojen mukaan. Yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta
on velvollinen kuulemaan asianomaisen tai asianomaisten selvityksen tapahtumista. Toimintaa ei voida pitää epäasiallisena ennen kuin asiaa on selvitetty. Käsittelyssä kuullaan
kaikkia osapuolia ennen päätöksentekoa. Yhdenvertaisuustoimikunnan saadessa
pyynnön käsitellä epäasiallista käytöstä yhdenvertaisuusvastaavat pyytävät
kaikilta osapuolilta selvityksen tapahtuneesta. Selvityspyyntöön on aikaa
vastata 10 vuorokautta pyynnön jättämisestä. Saatuaan selvitykset,
yhdenvertaisuusvastaavat jakavat selvitykset toimikunnan nähtäväksi
anonymisoituina.

Yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta keskustelee yhdessä ja tekee
päätöksensä rikkooko käytös ohjesääntöä. Mikäli käytös on ohjesäännön vastaista
he keskustelevat seuraamuksista. Seuraamusten määrittämisessä noudatetaan tämän
ohjesäännön kohdan 5 mukaista asteikkoa. Mikäli yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta
käsittelee vakavuusasteen 5 rikkomusta, päätöksentekoon otetaan mukaan NESU
Finlandin hallitus. Yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta on velvollinen tiedottamaan
epäasiallisesta käytöksestä syytettyä
seuraamuksen langettamisesta tai sen langettamatta jättämisestä, seuraamuksen
kestosta ja sen perusteluista. Häirintätapauksessa molemmilla osapuolilla on
oikeus saada tietää tapausta käsittelevien henkilöiden nimet. Mikäli tapauksen
osapuolet niin vaativat, tulee toimikunnan käsitellä perustellusti esitetty
vaade jääviydestä ja ilmoittaa päätös pyynnön tekijälle ennen käsittelyn
aloittamista. Lisäksi yhdenvertaisuustoimikunnan jäsenillä on oikeus perustellusti vaatia toimikunnan jäsentä jääväämään itsensä tapauksen käsittelystä.

Seuraamuksista tiedottamisen jälkeen kaikilla osapuolilla on 2 viikkoa
valitusoikeutta seuraavaksi mainituissa skenaarioissa:

–      
Tapauksesta selviää uutta, raskauttavaa tietoa, jolla
on olennainen vaikutus tapauksen käsittelyyn

–      
Tapauksen käsittelyn jälkeen selviää konflikti
tapahtuman käsittelijän kanssa

–      
Yksi tai useampi yhdenvertaisuustoimikunnan jäsen
jättää eriävän mielipiteen tapauksen lopputuloksesta

Yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta käy läpi valituksen, ja äänestää otetaanko
tapaus uudelleenkäsittelyyn. Jos toimikunta yksimielisesti toteaa, ettei
tapausta ole syytä uudelleenkäsitellä, valitus katsotaan käsitellyksi, ja
tapaus sulkeutuu lopullisesti. Jos yksi tai useampi toimikunnan jäsen katsoo
uudelleenkäsittelyn aiheelliseksi, käsitellään tapaus uudestaan.
Uudelleenkäsittelyssä yhdenvertaisuusvastaavat esittelevät tapauksen NESU
Finlandin hallitukselle, joka äänestää tapauksen lopputuloksesta.

Valituksesta seuraavan uudelleenkäsittelyn aikana toimikunnan edellinen
päätös tapauksesta pysyy voimassa. Uudelleenkäsittely suoritetaan kahden viikon
kuluessa valituspyynnön jättämisestä.

Mikäli yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta kokee, että joku on välittömäksi uhaksi
omalle tai muiden terveydelle, ennalta määritellystä toimintaohjeesta voidaan
perustellusti poiketa joustavamman käsittelyn helpottamiseksi.

Yhdenvertaisuustoimikunta osoittaa keskuudestaan henkilön, jonka
vastuulla on tiedottaa NESU Finlandin tai NESU Unionin piirissä järjestettävien
tapahtumien pääjärjestäjiä, mikäli heidän tapahtumaansa on ilmoittautunut
henkilö, jolla on voimassa oleva tapahtumakielto. Tapahtumien pääjärjestäjät
käsittelevät tietoja salatusti.