Membership Terms and Conditions
Introduction
1. The Federation of International Employers/La Federación de Empresarios Internacionales (hereinafter referred to – including our operating affiliates – as FedEE®) has its head office at Adam House, 7-10 Adam Street, The Strand, London WC2N 6AA, United Kingdom. The Federation is an employers’ organization providing professional HR support services to multinational enterprises worldwide. References to members in this text shall apply to all categories of Membership and to Fellowship. The terms “corporate membership” or “corporate member(s)” shall strictly apply to membership subject to an annual subscription.
2. For historical and practical reasons, services to members of the Federation are provided through FedEE® Corporate Services Limited (FCSL) and helpline/customized services through Persolicy Limited.
Federation Membership
3. Membership of the Federation is open to established private sector companies, trade commissions, international bodies, diplomatic missions, governmental labour ministries, voluntary organisations and certain professional firms. It is not open to trade unions, recruitment companies, labour-hiring organisations (including gangmasters), HR consultancies, HR outsourcing companies, payroll providers, payroll/HR software companies, other employer associations or HR professional groups, competitor organisations, political parties, or companies that have seriously been subject to disrepute during the last five years due to their employment or related practices. Competitor (or potential competitor) organisations that covertly seek membership via a third party will forfeit any payment made in respect to membership and may face legal action under tort laws relating to deceit.
4. All organisations seeking membership must be established bona fide employers that operate (or plan to operate) in two or more countries, have 200+ employees and have their own in-house HR Department. They must communicate through corporate domains registered in their own corporate names. Applications are reviewed by the FedEE membership review group and may be accepted or refused at its discretion. Membership may be terminated at the discretion of the Secretariat if a member organisation is considered to be seriously in breach of these terms and conditions, or is considered not to be a suitable or appropriate corporate body to be a member of the Federation.
5. Applications for membership shall be processed within two working days of their receipt. Any cancellations in respect of membership must be made within seven working days of the application being sent and, within this period, can only be accepted if our services have not been used. Cancellations must be sent by email to [email protected]. Organisations that do not meet our cancellation conditions will be subject to the full membership cost (without concessions or reductions) if they subsequently seek to cancel prior to payment within the subscription period. If payment of outstanding invoices is not undertaken within our 30-day credit period then the account and membership passwords may be suspended pending settlement or cancellation at our discretion.
6. All users must be current employees of the principal registered member organisation or a majority-owned subsidiary. Those operating in other group companies or minority-owned subsidiaries must be subject to separate membership subscription.
7. Members shall nominate a senior manager or professional to be their main contact with the Federation. The main contact shall be responsible for managing additional users, informing the Federation of changes in user details, and notifying the Secretariat of users leaving their employment. Each user shall receive their own individual passwords for access to our services and these must not be shared with anyone else. User access is periodically monitored and if a user ceases to be employed by the member organisation, they shall have no further right to make use of our services.
8. Members/users agree that email addresses provided to the Federation or operating entity may be used for administrative purposes and for the provision of membership services – subject to amendment or addition of users in accordance with these terms and conditions. A corporate email address must be provided for each named user, and it is a condition of access to our services that all current users remain on the circulation list to receive our fortnightly HR newswire by email.
9. Corporate members shall pay an annual membership fee on the basis of its current tariff (including any reduced rates that may, from time to time, apply). The first year of membership shall operate for 12 months from the end of the month in which an organisation makes a membership application. All membership fees are non-returnable once payment has been received. Payment for the first year’s subscription shall normally be payable before membership services may commence.
10. The Federation may award honorary lifetime Fellowship to those who have made a substantial contribution to the profession of International HR Management and/or been of great service to the Federation itself. This award entitles the holder to use F.FedEE after their name.
11. Members are entitled to six legal helpline enquiries as an inclusive part of their annual membership (four if they joined before February 1st 2017). However, requests for minor clarifications about data on the FedEE® member website shall not constitute a formal enquiry. Enquiries in excess of the inclusive allocation each year may be made on a pay-as-you-go basis at a competitive flat or bundled rate. The maximum duration of FedEE® staff time per enquiry is one hour (although 1.5 hours for subsequently purchased enquiries). Enquiries are handled by Persolicy Limited, although they may also be delegated, in some cases, to an individual lawyer acting in their own capacity and under their own professional indemnity liability cover. Any liability for information, guidance or advice given by a FedEE® entity or affiliates shall rest entirely with Persolicy Limited and no liability whatsoever shall exist in respect to the Federation or any other entity. For the complaints procedure see ‘General Terms’.
12. When each membership period comes to an end, a renewal invoice may be issued and membership will be provisionally renewed for a further 12 months to ensure continuity of service. It is the policy of FedEE® to maintain membership fees at the same rate for up to three years after membership commences, unless price inflation exceeds 7% in any one year. If renewal of membership is not required, an authorised representative from the organisation should inform the Membership Secretary at the earliest reasonable opportunity and, in any case, no later than two weeks following the conclusion of the previous membership period. A credit note shall then be issued if an outstanding invoice has been submitted to the member organisation.
13. The principal payment office is located in Nicosia, Cyprus. Value Added Tax (VAT) shall not be charged to members outside the European Economic Area. Those located in EEA countries – other than Cyprus – will not be charged VAT provided a valid EC VAT registration number is provided.
14. Members agree to settle all legitimate invoices within 30 days of receipt. Members should notify the payment centre as soon as possible after receipt if any details need to be changed. Payments made after the credit period may be subject to a monthly interest payment. All fees may be settled by bank transfer or credit/debit card – including telephone transactions. Upon settlement a receipted invoice will be issued.
15. The Federation and operating entities undertake to supply services to members as described on the FedEE® website. However, we reserve the right to vary, amend or withdraw any of these services at our discretion.
16. Members and Fellows shall undertake to respect the confidentiality and protect the copyright of all information conveyed to them, not divulge such information to employee representatives or anyone outside their organisation and not use the data other than for the management of their directly employed staff or directly engaged contractors. It may not be used for product development or any commercial purpose. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright on all material supplied to members belongs to FedEE Corporate Services Limited. Members shall also undertake not to bring the Federation or any of its officers or associated bodies into disrepute.
17. The identities of corporate members shall not be revealed to any organisation outside the Federation’s Board and Secretariat without their explicit permission. The only exceptions to this are where a member organisation voluntarily reveals such details, it is revealed with discretion by the FedEE Secretariat only by its corporate name to potential FedEE member companies or funding organisations, the data is in the public domain or where the data must be made public for any statutory reason. The privacy of all personal data gathered, processed, stored and utilized shall be subject to the terms of our FedEE privacy statement (see Clause 30 below).
18. Organisations subscribing to the Federation are classified as “members”, but possess no formal voting powers. Federation Board Member organisations are full voting members of the organisation. The Board may grant lifetime Honorary Fellowship to individuals who have given exceptional services to the Federation or to the HR or Corporate Legal profession.
Events and Meetings
19. Federation events and meetings shall be organised though FedEE® Corporate Services Limited (FCSL).
20. FCSL shall have the right to change the speakers, the location and modify the subject of individual talks or sections of any event or meeting reasonably in the light of prevailing circumstances. If a location is changed FCSL shall endeavor to ensure it is to a new location close to the original planned venue and give as much advance notice as possible. FCSL shall also have the right at their discretion to invite any person(s) its chooses to attend an event without charge, at a reduced charge or subsidise their travel costs to attend the event.
21. Once a booking for an event or meeting is made it may only be cancelled in writing within seven working days of the booking being received. This must be confirmed in writing within 48 hours of cancellation. Those booking events may, however, alter the name of the person attending the event — provided that the person so substituted is employed by a company in the same corporate group as the person making the original booking. They may also ask FCSL to hold a sum as credit against a future event or other service.
22. Attendees at events or meetings should allow for the possibility of inclement weather, travel delays or other intervening factors that may interfere with attendance at an event. For this reason the attendee should ensure that their travel plans provide ample scope for any contingencies that may arise. This includes adequate travel insurance and insurance for loss of any event fees.
23. All event fees shall not be subject to VAT provided that the company’s VAT number is provided (EEA only) and the company is located outside Cyprus (see 13 above).
General Terms
24. The Federation undertakes to provide its services using its best endeavors and to ensure the accuracy of any information and/or assistance provided. However, members and nonmembers should provide their own indemnity for attendant risks beyond our control or reasonable obligations and consult their own legal, financial or other appropriate specialist advisors before acting on the basis of any information and/or views obtained from the Federation or any of its operating entities.
25. In no event shall the Federation or FCSL, their operating entities, officers, employees, speakers or associated parties be liable to any member or any other bodies, individuals or third parties for any loss, lost profit, or any special, incidental or consequential damages (however brought about, including negligence) arising out of, or in connection with, services, benefits, publications, events or products supplied by us on behalf of ourselves or referred to/about by ourselves. To the extent that any responsibility exists it shall rest entirely with the Federation’s principal advisers – Persolicy Ltd.
26. ADR: The Federation carries out its activities in line with the PPR Code of Practice (http://ppr.org.uk/paralegals/code-of-conduct/) and all complaints shall be primarily dealt with in respect to the Code. Complaints about our services should be initially addressed to the Secretary-General of the Federation and specific reference made to the appropriate element of the Code that we have been perceived to have infringed. If the complaint(s) cannot be resolved through mutual discussion and negotiation then both parties shall jointly agree the appointment of an independent mediator to settle the matters in hand. In no case shall any liability exceed three times the current annual rate of FedEE® corporate membership.
27. These Membership Terms and Conditions should be read in conjunction with our General Terms and Conditions of Use https://www.fedee.com/general-terms-and-conditions-of-use/ and terms and conditions that additionally apply to different events or publications. Copyright to all FedEE materials is held by FedEE® Corporate Services Limited.
28. The registered address of the Federation is Elizabeth House, Queen Street, Abingdon OX14 3LN, UK. For due diligence purposes reference should be made to all FedEE corporate entities.
29. The rights and obligations outlined in our membership and general terms and conditions shall be subject to Cyprus law and the jurisdiction of the Cyprus Courts. In relation to the Federation itself the jurisdiction shall be English law and the English courts.
FedEE Privacy Statement (2018)
30.Your personal privacy matters a great deal to us. The sources of personal data about FedEE registered users are the users themselves, their LinkedIn pages, our principal contact in the member organization, the organisation’s website, public telephone directories or company registration records. All personal data for natural persons gathered, processed, stored and utilized by the Federation of International Employers (FedEE), FedEE Corporate Services Limited and their operating affiliates is kept to a minimum, collected for specific and justifiable purposes, stored securely, not revealed to any party outside of the FedEE administration and not held longer than strictly necessary.
The way we handle personal data fully complies with FedEE’s own data privacy and protection code of practice, drawn up jointly through a member working group ahead of the GDPR. This is available free to members in the FedEE knowledgebase or on request via [email protected].
We identify “sensitive personal data” as defined by the GDPR and ensure that it is subject to necessary additional safeguards.
In common with all data transmitted via the Internet, personal data will be present in the ether of the WWW for such time as is necessary to be received, stored and utilized. Moreover, FedEE utilizes cloud technology – via WordPress and directly – for data storage, although protected by encryption and the use of VPN for access, using virus-protected mac systems.
All FedEE personnel are subject to employment contractual clauses that strictly limit their access to, and processing of, all personal data and bind them to respect data privacy in perpetuity. Only the minimum of staff members are allowed access to databases containing personal data provided by members, fellows, course participants, users and third parties.
Membership data is held securely by the membership database company ‘Wild Apricot’ in Toronto, Canada (a country with formal EU adequacy status), but accessed only within the EU. In the unlikely event of a data breach all those affected will be notified immediately and the relevant data protection authority informed. If any user wishes to obtain a copy of what we hold on file about them, please contact the FedEE Membership Secretary. We recognise that all data subjects have the right to be forgotten and will completely remove all personal data about a specific and identifiable data subject upon request.
Last updated: May 22 2018