This Code of Conduct applies to all Sapience Institute personnel (includes staff, volunteers and subcontractors) and when stipulated and relevant, it can apply to partners.
This code of conduct sets out clear standards, so you can:
be sure of the standards you are expected to meet
know whether you are working to these standards, or if you need to change the way you are working
safeguard yourselves and others from any accusations, harm, and abuse
identify areas for continuing professional development
fulfill the requirements of your role, behave correctly, and make decisions according to Sapience Institute’s Code of Conduct
Sapience Institute has 5 core standards:
Respect
Responsibility
Integrity
Competence
Ethical Conduct
We trust all Sapience Institute personnel to always use their best judgement on areas which are not covered in this code. Contact your manager if you face any issues or have any questions concerning this.
Respect
Respect means to have a due regard for the feelings, wishes, and/or rights of others.
Respect involves treating others the way we expect to be treated and the way we hope God will treat us.
Sapience Institute personnel must:
exercise respect to all individuals
uphold human dignity and promote equality and well-being of others.
respect those of different age, disability, education, ethnicity, gender, language, marital status, sexual orientation or family status, and socio-economic status
respect members of the general public
respect a person’s right to confidentiality.
Responsibility
Being responsible means having a moral duty to deal with something and/or managing individuals. It also means behaving correctly and being accountable for what one’s responsibilities.
All Sapience Institute personnel must:
act responsibly and ensure that the trust of others is not abused
uphold and promote equality, diversity, and inclusion
work towards creating a safe, welcoming work environment
ensure the well-being of colleagues
be open and willing to be taken to account.
Integrity
Integrity stands for being honest, open to being challenged, and considering different perspectives. It also includes being transparent in your actions at work. Sapience Institute personnel must:
be honourable, act with honesty, and have strong moral principles
be truthful, accurate, and consistent in one’s actions, words, and decisions
always work for the welfare of Sapience Institute and the wider community
be honest and fulfil their professional obligations as per their job description
be professional and maintain personal boundaries by adhering to Sapience Institute’s Conflict of Interest Policy.
be respectful to the privacy of others by avoiding disclosure of confidential information gained, unless there is a legitimate concern for the well-being of an individual and/or a legal imperative that requires disclosure.
Competence
Competence is defined as having the characteristics and skills that ensure you do the job. Competence also entails having excellence in the tasks and actions related to your role.
Sapience Institute personnel are encouraged to employ excellence in their work. This entails being proficient, constantly seeking ways to improve a working environment.
Sapience Institute personnel are encouraged to perform their duties with competency, integrate knowledge, skills, attitudes, experience, and values to progress in their occupied position.
Sapience Institute personnel must:
strive for excellence, but also be honest with themselves and others about what you can and cannot do
support others to grow and work in a way that brings out the best in people
do their job in line with what is considered to be best practice in the sector.
Ethical Conduct
Ethical conduct involves the principles that govern our decisions and behaviour. In entails what we ought to do and what we ought not to do. This also involves our duties towards our organisation and other people.
Sapience Institute personnel should:
treat others with compassion, respect and care.
be fair and just at all times.
be understanding.
listen to others with the intention to understand.
give people the benefit of the doubt.
trust their managers and leaders.
seek to increase the wellbeing of others and reduce any harm.
not disclose any of Sapience Institute’s financial or nonfinancial interests
abide by all of Sapience Institute’s policies and procedures.
never disclose confidential information. Disciplinary action may be taken in disclosing information which may lead to dismissal of staff.
Resources
Sapience Institute property and facilities (materials, equipment, and premises) may only be used for the organisation’s purposes, unless prior authorisation has been received by senior management (directors, board of trustees, CEO).
Sapience Institute email accounts must be primarily used for work. However, using the email accounts for personal reasons is permitted on condition, it does not violate this code of conduct (or any other policy) and it does not take Sapience Institute into disrepute..
Examples include sending emails to friends and families, downloading ebooks, guides, and other safe content for your personal use. Members of staff can sign up for newsletters and online services that will help you in your job or professional growth.
Relationships
Positive and respectful working relationships are critical to enhance and ensure the well-being of all personnel.
For the purposes of this code of conduct, an amorous relationship is defined as two individuals mutually and consensually entering into a relationship and understand it to be romantic or sexual in nature.
Sapience Institute personnel may not enter into an amorous relationship in which one person has evaluative authority, such as those who have responsibility for teaching, training, and supervising. This includes, but is not limited to:
Any instructor who conducts teaching to students shall not engage in an amorous relationship with the students during the period of teacher-student relationship.
Any instructor who conducts training to volunteers should not engage in an amorous relationship during the assignment of the course
Sapience Institute personnel of seniority shall not engage in an amorous relationship with another employee or personnel if they have evaluative authority over them. Shall such relationships transpire, the personnel of evaluative authority should immediately cease to manage or evaluate the person they have an amorous relationship with.
Absence of adherence to the above may be perceived as compromising the objectivity and the professional standing position at Sapience Institute as a teacher, supervisor or manager. At Sapience Institute, the personnel are expected to fulfill their duties which they have been entrusted with.
If the amorous relationship concludes in a promise to marriage (engagement) or marriage (including nikah), both parties shall update their conflict of interest form. The CEO or relevant authority shall make a decision on the course of action to take to remove any potential conflicts. This can result in both parties not having evaluative authority over each other.
Members of staff may seek guidance on the implementation of this code on a confidential basis from their line manager.
Members of staff are encouraged to always act in an accountable and transparent manner with their line manager.
This is also to protect themselves from potential allegations and their reputation.
This is to protect Sapience Institute participants from any potential conflict and emotional harm or any other form of potential abuse.
During Sapience Institute assignment, members of staff shall avoid engaging in irrelevant conversations (irrelevant conversation is defined as regarding marital and amorous relationships) with the opposite gender.
All training and teaching should take place in a formal setting with more than two persons when they are of the opposite gender (refer to dignity at work policy).
At Sapience Institute, relationships between employees shall be kept at a harmonious and professional level.
Staff shall be mindful and ensure that personal relationships do not compromise their work or this may be perceived as a conflict of interest, as well as breaching confidentiality and trust. This is to protect themselves from any allegation that their personal relationships have led to their professional practice in some way being compromised.
Any misappropriation of authority will not be tolerated at Sapience Institute. All employees shall abide by clear and concise rules with regards to their behaviour.
Sapience Institute aims to create a safe environment, hence mutual respect is demonstrated on a daily basis by members of staff. Sapience Institute staff shall not engage in secret marriages, this includes:
when the marriage is intentionally kept hidden
when one spouse tells another spouse to refrain from mentioning the marriage to others
when one or both spouses willfully create the impression of being unmarried through implicit or explicit language.
Sapience Institute staff should not enter marriage with the intention of divorce.
Frequent dissolving of marriages with Sapience Institute personnel or related persons (two or more) will be deemed as sufficient evidence to be a cause of concern. Measures will be put in place to safeguard individuals and the organisation.
Abuse
Abuse is an action that violates a person’s dignity and human and/or civil rights.
Sapience Institute has a zero tolerance policy for all forms of abuse.
Abuse can take many forms and it can occur anywhere. The abuser could be a stranger, carer, a family member, colleague or someone in a position of trust and authority.
The effects of abuse can be emotional, physical, and social.
Abuse of Authority:
Abuse of authority in the workplace is when a senior member of staff or manager uses their position of authority to intimidate, bully, threaten, and express unreasonable demands. This can also include suggestive or threatening behaviour, any form of discrimination and favouritism.
Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment involves making unwelcome sexual or inappropriate remarks or physical advances, directly or indirectly.
Points of consideration:
Sapience Institute personnel in leadership position should not expect their employees to work or provide any form of service during their annual leave.
Abuse of authority further materialises through the perpetrator’s speech, including; flirting, making criticisms about employees’ physical appearance, work skills, and intellect.
Further examples of abuse of authority at work, includes denying training promotion opportunities.
The perpetrator might physically assault their victims which includes touching, hitting, and slapping. This type of abuse prevents employee engagement at work and constitutes emotional abuse.
Harassment
Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010, harassment consists of action or comments that workers find offensive.
Making comments on one’s physical appearance or flirtatious advances is considered as harassment.
Further examples of harassment include, spreading malicious rumours, neglect, exclusion, gossiping, ridiculing, misuse of power and/or position, deliberately undermining a competent worker by overloading and constant criticism, preventing individuals progressing by intentionally blocking promotion and/or training opportunities.
Harassment is not restricted to face-to-face communication; it may also occur in written communications, including email and phone.
Bullying:
At Sapience Institute, we recognise the negative consequences of bullying. Bullying is characterised by an imbalance of power, and it is associated with fear and aggression.
It is an intentional harm-doing elicited by a ringleader and/or a group of people, and it is carried out repeatedly over time.
Bullying can be apparent in different forms: physical bullying includes, kicking, threatening, and stealing, while verbal bullying is associated with name calling, teasing, racial slurs, and obscene gestures.
Relational bullying refers to leaving individuals out on purpose, spreading nasty rumours, and cyber bullying. This type of bullying can be very intimidating and denigrate or injure the recipient psychologically.
Emotional/ Psychological Abuse:
This type of abuse can be very distressing for a victim and cause long-term harm.
To protect adults from emotional or psychological abuse, staff should be aware of the bullies’ threat of punishments, intimidation or humiliation by shouting or taunting, refusal of contact with friends and family, and attempt to confuse or influence decisions.
Social Media Guidance
Photography and images:
Sapience Institute has a duty to care for its staff and the general public in particular the vulnerable members of the community, such as children and vulnerable adults. We are committed to creating a safe environment in which children are protected from any potential harm.
Child Protection System in the UK is governed by The Department for Education (DfE). The Law states:
everyone who works with children has responsibility for keeping them safe
everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play in sharing information and identifying concerns.
There are a number of aspects to consider when protecting children and Sapience Institute plays an important role in child protection.
Sapience Institute has duty to care and safeguarding children is our key consideration.
Sharing images of children on Sapience Institute’s social media (Facebook, Twitter and IG) can pose potential safeguarding risks to the child and the family. This may lead to abuse both online and offline.
It is important to consider that if a child and their family have experienced abuse, this could be a reason they may be concerned about the perpetrator tracing them online.
There is a potential danger and it is likely to be misused by external parties if these images are accessed.
As an organisation, it is important to reduce the potential harm that may occur to children.
Social Media Conduct:
Social Media provides an immediate vehicle for ‘viral’ transmission of important information. It is a tool that allows one to communicate with millions of people. It has been to our advantage that Sapience Institute personnel can make a good use of Social Media to share the message of Islam and to promote Sapience Institute. However, there are many legal elements which requires attention in order to safeguard Sapience Institute, its personnel, and the wider public.
Sapience Institute personnel are advised to be mindful not to share anything that could be used against them, threaten your personal safety or the safety of others.
Sapience Institute personnel must never express any support to extremist group, extremist views, and/or their methodology that will pose legal and reputational risk to Sapience Institute.
If you engage in online channels, your comments will be permanently available and publishable in other media. You will not be able to take anything back.
Sapience Institute personnel may not use foul language.
Do’s and Don’ts of social media usage:
Do not post any content that puts Sapience Institute into disrepute and violates the institute’s objectives.
Do not post anything that can be perceived as sectarianism:
Sectarianism is a form of prejudice, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching relations to a sect.
Do not defame any other organisation, scholar, and speaker (unless there is a legal and/or ethical obligation to do so).
Do not use content/materials that infringes the copyright of another person (plagiarism, or passing off other people’s material as your own) or copyright material without references or acknowledgement.
Do not post unauthorised personal information (name, address, phone number, and email) of other people.
Do not post content/ material that contains vulgar, obscene and/or indecent language and/or images.
Do not post content/material which defames, abuses, or threatens others.
Do not post statements that are bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive.
Do not post content/material that advocates illegal activity or discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them.
Do not post defamatory content (content that may be untrue and that could harm the reputation of an individual or organisation)
No Flaming; there is a difference between voicing a legitimate concern or grievance and simply badmouthing or some other form of written abuse of someone or some service.
Users who violate this Code of Conduct will be subject to disciplinary action.
All social media users are required to provide a valid email address and mobile number where they can be contacted at any time.
Any person actively using Sapience Institute social media channels is implicitly agreeing to these rules regardless of whether they have been read or not.
Do think before you post. Your posts will be visible to anyone, anywhere, and at any time.
Do always be respectful and courteous with all content/ material posted on all social media channels.
Do manage your accounts’ privacy settings and take control of who sees what.
Do encourage others to share your content by adding social media share buttons to your online channels.
Do protect your intellectual property. For example, pictures you upload to social media may be used by the site for their own advertising – check the site’s terms and conditions for details.
Do check the copyright of images and other content before you post.
Do not share posts that promote political parties or any content on any channel or platform that is not in line with this code of conduct and Sapience Institute’s anti-extremism policy.
Always publicly clarify if any of your posts on social media can be misinterpreted or used in a way to harm your or Sapience Institute’s reputation, and if any of the posts can be interpreted to potentially violate this Code of Conduct or any of Sapience Institute’s policies and procedures.
Do not post anything online that you would not say in public, thus includes, but is not limited to:
bullying
discrimination
harassing
threatening
obscene.
Public Figures, Speakers and Front Facing Personnel:
All Sapience Institute public speakers must grant access to another member of Sapience Institute to their Sapience Institute related (or work related) social media accounts.
This safeguards the speaker and the public. This must be applied to all front facing figures who work for Sapience Institute.
Extremism and Terrorism
All personnel must adhere to Sapience Institute’s anti-extremism policy and sign and agree the guidance.
Sapience Institute will not tolerate personnel engaging in, expressing or supporting any form of extremism and terrorism. Sapience Institute will inform the police and relevant authorities and immediately dismiss anyone who violates Sapience Institute’s anti-extremism policy.
All Sapience Institute personnel must understand the law of their countries they live and work in. It is important that they are fully aware of the legislation referring to extremism and terrorism.
Tolerance and Individual Rights
Individual Rights
Islam teaches mutual respect and tolerance of people with different faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. Islam’s moral philosophy aims to preserve an individual’s life, religion, intellect, lineage, and property.
Interfaith work and debates
Islam promotes intellectual debate and dialogue, and forbids disrespecting other people and their beliefs.
Existing peacefully with non-Islamic beliefs is an essential Islamic principle that is clearly stated in the Islamic source texts.
All parties engaged in the interfaith discussion or debate must agree to adhere to Sapience Institute Code of Conduct in writing.
When Sapience Institute personnel are engaged in interfaith work or debates they must:
behave in a respectful and courteous manner towards other participants in the event, guests and sponsors of the debate, and members of the public attending debate events
abide by the laws of the host nation
abide by any rules, guidelines, and restrictions set by the host organising committee to keep the event regulated and ensure the safety of participants
not make insulting comments, jokes, insults, or insinuations about another person’s culture, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation or which may be construed as being derogatory or as harassment, whether in the presence of that person or in any other forum in which the person may not be present
not stalk or physically harass another individual
not engage in any form of violence or threats of violence
not intentionally cause damage to the property of other individuals or of any host venue
not consume any substances which are not legally entitled to be consumed in the host country, or supply any such substances to others
not consume or be under the influence of alcohol or drugs in a way which may bring the debate into disrepute
not confront adjudicators in an aggressive manner after a debate
provide and receive feedback given in a way that is constructive and non-confrontational.
LGBT+
Sapience Institute is committed to creating a safe environment by following the teachings of Islam. Everyone must be treated with dignity and respect.
Sapience Institute acknowledges the importance of adhering to the law in the U.K.
Sapience Institute will not tolerate any member of the public to be discriminated against by Sapience Institute personnel.
Sapience Institute personnel must not express hatred and discriminate against any member of the LGBT+ community.
Sapience Institute personnel can express the Islamic position on LGBT+ relationships. This must be done in a way that does not violate Sapience Institute’s anti-extremism policy.
Sapience Institute rejects the false notion that articulating a moral position on something leads to discrimination, hatred, and violence (this excludes hate speech that promotes or can inspiring acts of hate, violence and discrimination).
Sapience Institute will continue to improve relations with the wider community as our main objective is to call humanity to the creator without prejudice.
Data Protection
Sapience Institute must comply with data protection law.
The law prior to 25 May 2018 is derived from the Data Protection Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”) and from 25 May 2018 will be derived from the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation 2016/679/EU) (“GDPR”) which came into force on 25 May 2016 and which becomes applicable on 25 May 2018.
Every person working for, with, or on behalf of Sapience Institute must adhere to the following principles when dealing with personal data.
Personal data must only be:
processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner in relation to the subject (“lawfulness, fairness, and transparency”)
collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes (“purpose limitation”)
adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (“data minimisation”)
accurate and where necessary kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure personal data that are inaccurate are erased or rectified without delay and in having regard to the purposes for which they are processed (“accuracy”)
kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which personal data are processed (“storage limitation”)
processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, or damage using appropriate technical or organisational measures (“integrity and confidentiality”).
Fundraising, Finance, and Conflicts of Interest
All Sapience Institute personnel have a role to play in ensuring that Sapience Institute’s activities and relationships must contribute to the achievement of its objectives.
Spending charity money on anything that cannot directly or indirectly further Sapience Institute’s objects is unethical and unlawful.
All Sapience Institute staff have a responsibility to ensure that funds are properly used. They must ensure that they adhere to any controls, processes, and measures to avoid misuse of funds.
Any personnel engaged in fundraising for Sapience Institute must adhere to the UK Fundraising Regulator’s and the Charity Commission’s guidance on fundraising.
A conflict of interest is a situation in which Sapience Institute personnel, who, contrary to the obligation and duty to act in the best interests of the charity, exploits the situation for personal, usually financial, benefit.
A conflict of interest can involve a clash between professional obligations and personal interests if the individual tries to perform that duty, while at the same time trying to achieve a personal gain.
Sapience Institute have a legal requirement for all personnel to declare a conflict of interest immediately, when they are aware of any possibility that their personal or wider interests could influence decision-making and responsibilities.
All Sapience Institute personnel must adhere to its conflict of interest policy.
