Staff Guidelines & Regulations (Discord) (Anonymised)

Introduction#

Being a member of staff for [REDACTED] comes with the expectation that you will be able to uphold the community rules and exercise professionalism where it is needed.

The guidelines and regulations outlined below set out the standard for what is expected of you as a staff member, specifically relating to the Discord server. You should ask for clarification about anything that is unclear or that causes confusion.

Violations of any of these regulations may result in disciplinary action such as a formal warning or removal from the team in serious circumstances, though this will usually be preceded by an informal reminder of our expectations for members exercising the responsibilities of a staff position.

These guidelines and regulations may be changed at any time. You can expect to be notified about significant changes, so you are aware of them before they come into effect and enforcement begins.

Staff Guidelines & Regulations#

1. Staff members are subject to the same rules that normal users are. You are expected to enforce the rules, so it only makes sense that you should also follow them to the greatest extent.
2. Avoid punitive action where it is not necessary. You should only issue formal punishments (i.e., warnings, mutes, kicks and bans) when it is the most appropriate remedial action and no other response would suffice in comparison to the offence.
3. Do not leak or disseminate any confidential information. This includes any and all information sent in channels that are restricted to staff members of the server. Where you believe certain information is of the public interest to have knowledge of, you should seek advice from a senior staff member for advice.
4. Do not argue with staff members in public channels. It is important that we are seen as a unified whole to the user base. While it is acceptable to disagree with a staff member on a matter of moderation, you should express this disagreement in a private environment, which would mean either in a staff channel or in Direct Messages (DMs).
5. Use objectivity when deciding on punishments. You should issue punishments solely based on a user’s punishment history, the severity of the offence, and the impact, if any, it had on any other users. If you feel that you cannot reasonably exercise objectivity in regard to a certain user (for example, because you know them in real life), you should ask for another staff member to deal with the situation at hand.
6. Communicate with staff members about anything you are unsure about. If there is a situation that you are not sure about how to respond to, you should seek the opinions of other online moderators to ensure that the decision made is as fair as possible. This may also help with consistency across moderation within our team.
7. Be proactive in moderation, not reactive. You should be conscious of what you are saying in public channels, especially when they might instigate an argument. Steer conversations in a different direction if you know they are getting heated.
8. Notify senior staff members about any extended leave of absences. There is nothing wrong with taking an extended break for whatever reason, but we ask that you notify us beforehand so we know you are still wanting to retain your position.
9. Do not discuss Discord or Minecraft punishments in public channels. There is no need to publicise case information, especially where it may degrade the quality of ongoing conversation. You should encourage users to communicate with you privately if they wish to dispute or discuss a punishment.
10. Permissions should be used in the way that they are intended to be used. For example, nicknames should only be applied to users when they have an inappropriate username or non-alphanumeric characters in them.
11. Try to regularly participate in conversations on the server. While by no means is activity tracked, you should make an effort to participate in public channels in the Discord server whenever you can. It is important for staff members to be fully integrated into the community.
12. Cooperate with internal reviews of cases. In certain situations, you may have one or more of your decisions challenged by a senior staff member. This is not to doubt your competence, but to understand your thought process in reaching a decision. As such, you should be prepared to defend your position with evidence and conclusions derived from this evidence.
13. Above all else, use common sense. Your decision-making, when not guided by predefined rules, should be based on your common sense. You should act in a way that a reasonable person would in those specific circumstances.

Complaints Procedure#

This procedure sets out what you should do if you would like to complain about a fellow staff member for a breach of the above guidelines and regulations, as well as the consequences enacted on the perpetrator if a breach is confirmed.

To initiate a complaint, you should Direct Message (DM) a senior staff member to the one that you are intending to report. You should include the following information in your initial communication with them on this matter:

1. Discord username of staff member*
2. Discord ID of staff member*
3. date and time of incident - an approximate is acceptable if not known*
4. reason for report - this should be very short and straight to the point*
5. explanation of incident - this should include a simple sequence of events*
6. desired action, if any

* indicates required

The below table shows what consequences may be determined to be necessary in an individual situation. Senior staff members will take account of prior incidents as well as the severity of the incident in and of itself. These consequences may not be followed in order across multiple offences.