Food Waste Hero: complaints and warnings
Food Waste Heroes play an absolutely critical role in Olio communities all across the UK and beyond, and they have an enormous responsibility to ensure food from businesses is distributed safely. To ensure Food Waste Heroes are always following the law, as well as government advice and Olio’s rules, we have processes in place to properly train and support Food Waste Heroes at all times, but also to sanction those who don’t follow the rules.
In addition to our general Acceptable Use Policy, here we explain how we monitor, warn and ban Food Waste Heroes in the unfortunate situations where we have to take action to ensure Olio remains a safe, friendly, inclusive, and positive community.
How are FWH complaints and warnings dealt with?
Olio receives complaints via FWH Issue Reports which can be accessed by tapping '' Report an issue'' in My Collections (or Documents) on the Volunteer Hub. We aim to respond to complaints within 48 hours.
Clear evidence = formal warning: If the FWH is found to have broken FWH guidelines, we share a formal warning via email (to the users email that is names on their Olio profile). We do consider an appeal if our evidence is brought into question. On receiving a second warning within a 6 month period, FWHs are suspended or banned from the FWH program. To protect the identity of a reporter, we may choose not to disclose the exact reason for a formal warning.
No clear evidence = monitoring: If we aren’t able to verify claims made in a complaint, we will make a note on the FWH’s account for future reference. If several people in the local community complain about a range of issues multiple times, we may send FWHs a formal warning about this issue. To protect the identity of a reporter, we may choose not to disclose the exact reason for a complaint.
How does Olio monitor Food Waste Heroes’ accounts?
Olio uses algorithms which automatically highlight certain behaviours that indicate that someone might not be following the rules. We may use this information, as well as information stored in your user profile to investigate any issues if they arise.
Why would FWHs receive a warning?
A FWH may receive a warning about their conduct, via the email address linked to the Olio account. FWHs must keep an eye on this email account, in case a reply may be required via email. There are several reasons why we may send FWHs a warning via email:
- Breaking hygiene/food safety rules.
- Showing any sort of prejudice against other Olio-ers or FWHs.
- Any form of discrimination.
- Missing a collection without arranging cover.
- Sharing food collected from a business outside the Olio app.
- Sharing food past its ‘use by’ date.
- Arranging cover by non FWHs.
- Bullying other Olio-ers or FWHs.
- Being rude to Olio staff members.
- Being rude to business staff.
- Keeping more food than the 10% personal allowance.
- Having suspected multiple accounts, used to claim collections.
- Not following Olio / FWH sharing guidelines.
If a FWH does not reply when asked for further information, or if the issue recurs, they will be removed from all their collection slots. If a FWH receives a warning for any of the above reasons and is a Squad Captain, they will be removed from all their Squad Captain roles - but can rejoin as a Squad Captain again in 3 months. A warning will remain on the account for 6 months in case the situation arises again, in which case the FWH could be removed from the volunteer programme for a period of time. In the most severe cases we will delete and block the user’s account without prior warning.
Why would a FWH be removed from collection slots?
If a FWH receives a warning, and continues to fail to comply with guidelines, they will be removed from their collection slots. Like all voluntary programmes, Olio requires reliability from its volunteers. The intention behind removing FWHs from their slots is to prevent food from going to waste and to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all users. Removal of a FWH who cannot comply with guidelines will allow someone else in the community to volunteer. If the FWH finds other slots in the future, but exhibits the same behaviour that jeopardises collections, we reserve the right to remove the user from the FWH programme all together, or ban the user from the Olio app.
Removal from FWH Programme
In serious cases, or when 2 warnings occur, Olio reserves the right to remove FWHs from the Food Waste Hero programme to prevent further issues. The Olio app will still be accessible as normal.
Suspensions & Bans
Check out our Acceptable Use Policy for guidance on these matters which apply to all Olio users.
How do FWHs make a complaint?
If you would like to make a complaint about your collection, a business, you’re collecting from, or a Food Waste Hero in your Squad, please send us a FWH Issue Report by tapping '' Report an Issue'' in My Collection Slots (or in Documents) on the the Volunteer Hub. We aim to resolve or respond within 48 hours.
Read more about reporting issues as a Food Waste Hero
To report specific content on the app, you can click the flag 🏳️ on any content (or 3 dots on a message) to send a report to Olio. We will review the content and take action if necessary.