Kindred School of Yoga - Code of Conduct

September 2020

We are committed to holding high ethical standards for our yoga teachers.

The primary goal of our code of conduct is the welfare and protection of our students, teachers, yoga community, and the public. It articulates the ethical standards that our teachers must follow. The Code of Conduct is intended to elevate the professionalism and integrity of our yoga teachers by adopting uniform standards for behavior yet recognising the diversity of the many traditions of the teaching and practice of yoga.

Professional Growth/Continuing Education

Teachers will maintain the integrity, competency, and high standards of the yoga profession by continuously striving to improve their skills through keeping current in new developments in yoga practice and by participating in continuing educational programs.

Teacher-Student Relationships

Teachers shall treat their students with respect and with regards to their individuality, dignity, and privacy.

Teachers shall commit to promoting the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of their students. Teachers shall cause no harm to their students, shall commit to practicing ahimsa, and strive to alleviate the suffering of all beings.

Teachers shall create and maintain a safe, clean, comfortable, and positive environment for the practice of yoga.

The relationship between a yoga teacher and a student is based on trust. To establish and maintain that trust, the teacher must be polite, considerate, and honest with their students. Teachers should practice good communication with their students. Teachers should listen attentively to students, respect their point of view, beliefs and culture, and should not allow their beliefs and values to adversely influence their relationship with their students. Teachers should avoid imposing their beliefs on others, although they may express them when appropriate in the class.

Integrity

Teachers are committed to maintaining impeccable standards of professional competence and integrity. Teachers are committed to promoting the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing of their students. Teachers are committed to practicing yoga as a way of life, which includes adopting the fundamental moral principles of yoga.

Scope of Practice

Our studio will not engage in the unauthorised practice of medicine. We will not recommend treatment, diagnose a condition, or suggest that a student should disregard a physician’s advice. We will refer our students to medical doctors or complimentary licensed professionals when appropriate.

Confidential Information

Our studio will maintain the confidentiality of all private information disclosed by our teachers, students and clients. We will maintain commercially reasonable policies and procedures to protect the confidentiality of all private information disclosed by our teachers, students, and clients.

Inter-Professional Relationships

Teachers are part of a network of healthcare and well-being professionals and shall seek to develop interdisciplinary relationships. Teachers shall conduct themselves in an honorable manner in their relations with their colleagues and other wellness practitioners. Teachers shall not openly criticize practices followed by other yoga schools or teachers.

Advertising and Public Communications

Our studio will not make false, deceptive, or fraudulent statements or advertisements concerning: (i) the training, experience, or competence of our teachers; (ii) the academic degrees or credentials of our teachers; (iii) their institutional or association affiliations; (iv) their services, including classes, workshops, and teacher trainings; (v) the scientific or clinical basis for or results

or degree of success of, their services; (vi) their fees; (vii) unusual or unique abilities of our teachers, including statements involving sensationalism or exaggeration; or (viii) an intent to exploit a student’s fears, anxieties or emotions, or to create unjustified claims of results.

Yoga Equity

Our studio will not discriminate against or refuse to provide teaching or professional help to any student, client or employee based on any protected class such as age, gender (including pregnancy), race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status or genetic information. We will not discriminate in the workplace.

Financial Practices

Teachers will be honest, straightforward, fair, and conscientious in conducting all of their business affairs. Teachers will manage their business affairs according to recognized standard business and accounting practices. Teachers will discuss all fees and financial arrangements in a straightforward professional manner.

Teachers will seek opportunities to render service to individuals or groups who are underserved by the broader yoga community on a pro bono basis.

Refund Policy 

Refunds & Cancellations

-In order to reserve your place on the training a non-refundable deposit of £500 is required. The place on the training is only reserved once this deposit has been received by Kindred Yoga.

-Please note this deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable to another yoga teacher training.

-Full payment for the training must be made 12 weeks prior to the start date.

-If you cancel your place on the training less than 12 weeks before the start date of the training, Kindred will not be able to refund any of the full payment. It is up to the discretion of Kindred Yoga to refund some or all of the fee (minus the non-refundable deposit) if Kindred is able to fill the place on the teacher training.

-If you have to leave the training once it has started at any point, Kindred Yoga will not be able to offer a partial refund for the remainder of the course and will not be able to transfer your place to a future training.

-If you must withdraw from the program for special circumstances such as a serious illness, injury, change in circumstances or bereavement, Kindred Yoga  will unfortunately not be able to give any refund. It is up to the discretion of Kindred Yoga if they can defer the remaining modules to a future training.

Paros Immersion

-Kindred takes no responsibility for cancellation of flights or any transport booked to travel to the Immersion on the Greek Island of Paros and will not be held responsible for any refunds and charges incurred associated.

-Kindred will not be able to refund the training costs if for any reason you are unable to attend the immersion on the Greek Island of Paros.

Force Majeure

-In the case of force majeure like the pandemic, we will convert the non-refundable deposits into yoga teacher training credit for all students. All deposits will be transferred to other training, this can only be done once. 

-No cash refunds will be issued.

-If the course is forced to be postponed part way through the course, Kindred Yoga will rearrange the remaining modules of the course and if this is not possible for students to attend, Kindred will transfer to the next training that they are available for.

Attendance Policy

We require 100% attendance to graduate and receive a certificate of completion from our program. Class attendance will be taken throughout the training.

Please ensure you can attend all modules before committing to the training.

Lateness 

Please do not be late for trainings, if you are repeatedly late we have the right to ask you to reschedule the module with added costs.

Emergency Absences

In the case of any emergency absences, please notify the training director immediately. 

Each student is responsible for re-scheduling modules with the teachers. Students must pay £125 per hour for missed modules with the teacher.

Grievance Policy 

Reporting of Policy ViolationsWe encourage anyone who has been the subject of sexual misconduct or of any other action that violates our policies or Code of Conduct to report the incident to Kindred School of Yoga’s management. 

• The report should contain the following information:

  • Your full name;

  • Your email and phone number;

  • The name of the person the grievance is against;

  • A description of the policy violation;

  • The date and location of the policy violation;

  • Names and contact information of any witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the situation; and

  • Any other credible evidence that is available to support the grievance.

In the interest of fairness, all reports must be made by the person who has personally experienced the misconduct. All reports must be made in good faith based on information the person reporting the incident reasonably believes to be accurate.

We may request additional information from the person reporting the incident throughout the course of review of the report.

We will take appropriate action to ensure compliance with our policies. Kindred School of Yoga Management will impose any sanctions that it feels are fair, just, and reasonable under all circumstances.

We will not allow anyone to retaliate against any person for making a report in good faith or providing information in connection with an investigation into an alleged violation.

Any information provided during a grievance review will be treated on a confidential basis. Similarly, any actions taken in response to the report will also be confidential.

Due Process and Procedure

We recognise that our school has an obligation to give a person accused of misconduct a reasonable level of due process. Because the person may lose his or her job and their reputation may be tarnished, the decision-making process must be fair and objective. 

Kindred School of Yoga Management will gather all of the relevant facts surrounding the matter and make a fair and objective decision based on the facts. We reserve the right to interview the person who reported the situation, the person who perpetrated the misconduct, and any other people who have direct knowledge about the situation. We will examine all other credible and objective evidence about the situation.

After the reviewing body gathers the facts, we will determine if the allegations are credible. If it is determined the allegations are true, we will decide on the sanctions to impose and then communicate the decision to those involved.

Sanctions

All cases of abuse and misconduct, from inappropriate commentary to physical assault, will be judged objectively and we will provide a sanction that fairly and equitably addresses the situation, giving due considerations, to all the facts.

In many cases, it may be hard to uncover all the facts, there may be conflicting facts, there may be conflicts of interest, and there may be circumstances and facts that weigh on both sides of the situation.

However, we will use sound and careful judgment in deciding what type of sanctions to impose. These are the four outcomes:

1. No action. The facts do not show that the person committed the policy violation.

2. A Warning. The facts show that the person’s actions were minor and that a warning is a fair sanction. The warning could be coupled with counseling.

3. Time Out. The facts show that the person’s actions were serious, and they warrant suspending the person from the studio or community for a decided amount of time. However, the actions were not so serious that they support termination of employment. For example, the person may be good hearted, but made a mistake in judgement. This may weigh toward leniency.

The “Time Out” period is usually one year but it may be shorter depending upon the circumstances. During the “Time Out” the person gets counseling and does personal development.

4. Dismissal. The facts show that the person’s actions were so serious that they warrant dismissing the person from the studio or community. The person is dismissed, and their employment or independent contractor agreement is terminated. Legal action will be taken if required.

Anti-Retaliation Policy

In order to promote a safe yoga community, individuals need to know that they can bring forward concerns without fear of backlash. Your school’s Retaliation Policy will help establish comfort, safety, and trust within your sangha.

You have the flexibility to create a Retaliation Policy that best suits your school’s needs. To support you, Yoga AllianceTM has provided several templates below to help you create your school’s Retaliation Policy. We encourage you to modify the language of these templates to fit your own unique needs.

We will not retaliate against any person for having reported or threatened to report harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or violations of our Code of Conduct or polices, or for participating in an investigation into any of the foregoing. Anyone who retaliates against a person will be subjected to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

We encourage any person — including employees, non-employees, and students — who believe they have been subject to retaliation to inform Kindred School of Yoga Management.

We have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment or sexual misconduct. We will do everything possible to ensure that you are not retaliated against by anyone because you have reported misconduct.

Harassment Policy

Harassment is a legal term that means unwelcome verbal and non-verbal conduct directed against someone in a protected class.

Sexual harassment is a legal term that means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature in the workplace.

Sexual misconduct is a non-legal term used informally to describe a broad range of behaviors which may or may not involve harassment.

Your school has flexibility in creating your Anti-Harassment Policy. We encourage you to consider and address multiple potential situations within your policy, including your stance on non-sexual harassment, consensual romantic relationships, and non-consensual harassment allegations.

Harassment Against Members of Protected Class

We do not permit managers, employees, teachers, independent contractors, students, or others in the workplace to harass any other person because of age, gender (including pregnancy), race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, genetic information, or any other basis proscribed by law.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

We do not tolerate sexual harassment in our studio. Sexual harassment refers to any unwelcome sexual attention, sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

(a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment;

(b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual;

(c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; or

(d) such conduct has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

Examples of sexual harassment include unwanted and unnecessary physical contact; offensive remarks (including unwelcome comments about appearance); obscene jokes or other inappropriate use of sexually offensive language; the display in the studio of sexually suggestive objects or pictures; and unwelcome sexual advances by teachers, students, customers, clients, or other visitors to a studio. Non-physical gesture, behavior, unnecessary physical contact, verbal suggestion, or innuendo may constitute sexual harassment.

Sexual Misconduct

We prohibit sexual misconduct in our studio. Sexual misconduct is any unsolicited and unwelcome sexual advance including requests for sexual favors, sexual touching, and verbal, visual, or physical conduct that creates a sexually hostile environment in a yoga class or studio. 

Teachers may not use sexually suggestive language (including sexual jokes and degrading comments), gestures, movements, or images in their classes, in their studios, on their websites, or in their social media platform. 

Teachers should avoid making comments on their students’ appearance that could be perceived as sexually oriented or suggesting an attraction. Teachers should avoid making comments that idealize or assume a specific body type or image. If a student tells a teacher that any behavior is unwelcome and the teacher repeats the behavior, it may be considered harassment.

Romantic Relationships Between Teachers and Students

Teachers shall avoid getting into personal or sexual relationships with students that may result in the impairment of their professional judgment or that may compromise the integrity of their teaching. If a relationship begins to develop, the teacher should bring it to school management.

Yoga teachers are committed to maintaining impeccable standards of professional integrity and to promoting the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of their students. Teachers recognize the inherent imbalance of power in the teacher-student relationship and recognize that romantic relationships with students have the potential of exploiting the trust of students, creating dependent relationships, and compromising the integrity of the teacher.

Teachers should avoid acting on, responding to, or allowing sexual contact or romantic attraction with a student even if the student initiates the relationship. Teachers should ensure that their relationships with students are always professional, and not open to misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

However, if a romantic attraction does begin to develop with a student, teachers should seek guidance from school management before acting on the attraction. The school management will then decide how it wishes to handle the relationship. For example, it may bless the relationship, but establish boundaries to prevent conflicts of interest and other problems. It may also decide that either the teacher or student should leave the school.

If a teacher has a pre-existing relationship with a student that did not arise from the teacher-student relationship, it should be brought to the attention of the school’s management so that it can guide the couple in maintaining high ethical standards.