Participant Charter of Engagement
The Open Doors Initiative

About
The Open Doors Initiative (ODI) Code of Conduct outlines our commitment to our participants, as well as our participants’ responsibilities when engaging with our teams. 

Who We Are
ODI is a non-profit organisation that creates pathways to work through training, education, employment and entrepreneurship for marginalised individuals in Ireland. Our participants include refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, people with disabilities, disadvantaged youth, those from a Traveller or Roma background, LGBTIQ+, people with a criminal past, and any intersectionality between the groups.

What We Do

• We offer free training and support to participants to help them access employment, self-employment, and/or education. We do this by working with over 80 corporate partners and 40 other non-profits from our supporting community.
• Our work with participants includes, but is not limited to:
• Programmes created to help participants develop pre-employment skills and build up confidence, such as our Job Ready and Mentorship programmes
• Skill-building workshops and webinars to help participants develop specific skills, such as personal branding or mastering the STAR method for job interviews
• Career Paths events to help participants learn more about ODI partners and explore career opportunities
• Tailored support such as CV reviews, mock interviews, and more
• Training, support, and guidance to help participants access employability.

What We Don’t Do

• We do not guarantee employment on any of our initiatives.
• We are not a recruitment company and cannot influence who our partners hire.
• We are not a government agency and cannot support participants with Welfare issues. 
• We are unable to provide consultations on matters that are not related to employment, education, or entrepreneurship.

Our Commitment to You
Providing tailored and constructive support:
We work with our participants to understand their needs and identify the most appropriate supports. We do this by communicating politely and sharing recommendations and constructive feedback.
Listening to our participants:
We seek feedback and insights from participants to improve our current supports and create new bespoke initiatives that help support them with the barriers which they face.
Acting with integrity:
We are committed to acting with integrity in every aspect of our work, every day. We build and maintain trust by providing timely and practical information, conducting accurate analysis, and generating reliable resources and trainings.
Collaborating with others:
We can’t do this work alone. With the combined knowledge and power of our Supporting Community and Our Partners, we collectively share insights and learning which helps us to progressively improve the suite of free offering we provide to all our participants.

Your Responsibilities as an ODI Participant
Our employees are here to help our participants and support them in the most effective way. In order to do that, participants need to be respectful at all stages through the process. This, of course, should be a mutual process. 
You are considered an ODI participant if you have registered for any of our programmes, events, or other initiatives. As a participant, we expect you to adhere to the following conditions:

• Respect: Everyone is there to learn, so please be respectful and polite to Open Doors staff as well as other participants. 
• Engagement: While our staff is here to support and guide you, it is your responsibility to drive your own learning forward. You must have the commitment to attend sessions on time, ask questions when necessary, and complete trainings/assignments in a timely manner.
• Ownership: As an ODI participant, you should take ownership of your goals and tasks as part of the initiative(s) you signed up for. You should not expect ODI staff or volunteers to do the work for you, and you should not expect that ODI will get you a job or influence the recruitment outcomes of our partners. We are here to help you gain the skills and confidence to access employment on your own.
• Attendance: If you have signed up for any of our supports and can no longer participate, please make us aware in advance. If you consistently miss appointments with team members, mentors, and others, you will no longer be able to participate in our programmes.
• Punctuality: Make sure to arrive a few minutes early for all sessions. By arriving late, you might miss out on information or disrupt the session. 
• Language: Please always make sure that you are not using language that may be offensive to others. Hateful and discriminatory comments, as well as any abusive behaviour towards ODI staff or other participants will not be tolerated.
• Disruptions: We encourage participants to fully engage and ask questions during our sessions and programmes. This should be done at an appropriate moment (such as when the speaker asks the attendees if they have any questions) and should be relevant to the content being presented. 
• Feedback: If you have any to provide, please make sure this is constructive as this will help us to continue to improve our supports and services for further participants.
• Accessibility: If you have any requirements about accessibility or any reasonable accommodation requests, please contact the ODI team and we’ll do our best to support you.

Consequences of Non-Compliance
We are committed to creating a positive and supportive environment for all participants. To ensure this, we expect everyone to follow the conditions outlined above. However, if these are not followed, we have a structured approach to address any issues:
1 - First Warning:
If a participant does not follow the conditions above, they will receive a verbal or written warning from Open Doors staff, outlining the specific behaviour that needs to be corrected. This can include not attending or being late to a meeting, or being impolite towards ODI staff or other participants. Depending on the severity of the misconduct, the participant may be temporarily suspended from the programme or training session.
2 - Removal from the Programme:
If a participant fails to adhere to the conditions after the first warning, they may be removed from the programme entirely. In this case, they will no longer have access to our supports and services, and may be denied further support in the future.

Immediate Removal:
In cases of severe misconduct (e.g., abusive behaviour, use of foul language, discrimination, or violence), Open Doors reserves the right to immediately remove a participant without prior warnings.
We aim to resolve any issues fairly and respectfully, and we encourage participants to communicate with us if they have any concerns or challenges.
We are here to support you and ask that you respect these guidelines so we can offer the best experience to everyone involved.