Complaint Procedure

1. What this covers

Any concern about conduct connected to BCS Latin Dance: harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, a breach of the Code of Conduct, unsafe conditions, or how you have been treated by anyone here — including Salsa Paul.

It applies to students, drop-ins, guests, volunteers, instructors, DJs and contractors, and to anything that happens at a class, a social, a venue, on the way to or from, or in our online groups and messages.

2. How to raise it

You can also:

• Raise it for someone else, or alongside them
• Report anonymously. We will act on what we can — though anonymity limits how far we can investigate, because we cannot ask you follow-up questions and it is harder to give the other person a fair chance to respond
• Go straight to an outside body instead. You never have to come to us first — see section 9

What helps, if you have it

None of this is required, and a complaint is not weaker for missing it: what happened, when and where, who was involved, whether anyone else saw it, whether it has happened before, and what you would like to see done about it. That last one matters — sometimes people want an investigation, and sometimes they just want to not be put in a rotation with someone again.

3. Informal or formal — your choice

Informal is often enough and is usually faster: a quiet word from Paul, a change to how classes are rotated, or a conversation between the people involved if — and only if — everyone wants that. We will never pressure you into a face-to-face with someone you do not want to face.

Formal means a documented investigation and a written outcome. You can start informal and move to formal at any time. Choosing informal first never counts against you later.

We may have to act anyway. If what you tell us suggests a serious risk to you or to someone else, we may need to investigate even if you would rather we let it go. If that happens, we will tell you before we do it and explain why.

4. What happens, and when

These are the timelines we hold ourselves to.

1. Acknowledgement — within 2 business days. We confirm we have it and tell you who is handling it.
2. First conversation — within 5 business days. We listen properly, without interrupting or debating it, and agree with you what you want to happen next.
3. Interim steps — immediately, where needed. Before anything is decided we may keep people apart in class rotations, change a schedule, or ask someone to stay away from events while we look into it. These are precautions, not findings, and we say so.
4. Investigation — usually finished within 20 business days. We speak to you, to the person complained about, and to any witnesses; we look at messages, photos or anything else relevant; we keep notes. The person complained about is told what has been alleged and gets a fair chance to respond — that is a requirement of fairness, not a courtesy to them. If it is going to take longer, we tell you why and give you a new date.
5. Decision and outcome. We decide on the balance of probabilities — what more likely than not happened — and take action from the ladder in the Code of Conduct.
6. Telling you. You are told the outcome, what we found, and what we are doing about it. Privacy law limits the detail we can give about a disciplinary consequence for another person, but you will never be left wondering whether anything happened.
7. Checking back — about a month later. We ask whether it has actually stopped, because an outcome on paper is not the same as a fixed problem.

5. When the complaint is about Paul

6. No retaliation

Nobody is penalised for making a complaint in good faith, supporting one, or acting as a witness. No losing your place in a class, no being dropped from an event, no cold shoulder, no quiet freeze-out. Retaliation is itself a breach of policy and is investigated as a fresh complaint. If a complaint is not substantiated, that is not the same as it being false — only a knowingly untrue complaint is treated as misconduct.

7. Confidentiality, and its limits

We share what you tell us only with the people who need it to investigate or to act on it, and we keep records securely.

We cannot promise absolute confidentiality. We will have to share information when:

• Fairness requires telling the person complained about what has been alleged, and by whom, so they can answer it
• There is a risk of serious harm to someone
• We are required to report to a regulator, an insurer or the police, or are ordered to disclose by law

Where we have to share something, we tell you first wherever it is safe and possible to do so.

8. Records

We keep a written record of every complaint: what was reported, what we did, what we found, and the outcome. Records are stored securely, are not part of anyone's class file, and are kept for at least five years — long enough to see a pattern across time, which is exactly how repeat behaviour gets caught.

9. If you would rather go elsewhere, or you are not satisfied

Using this procedure does not use up your right to go elsewhere, and nothing here asks you to wait for us to finish first.

• Your local labour or human rights authority
• The police, where a crime may have been committed. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

10. Review

This procedure is reviewed at least once a year, and after any complaint that shows it needs changing. If something about it did not work for you, tell us that too — it is the most useful complaint we can get.