Where the line is.

Never ask a member for their contact information.

No instructor or employee may ask a member for their contact information, directly or indirectly, under any circumstances.

Friendship, dating, networking, a shared hobby, a business idea. All the same answer. Contact information means phone numbers, email and home addresses, social media handles, messaging usernames, and any other way to reach someone personally.

These count as asking:

• Asking to swap numbers, follow each other, connect online, scan a personal QR code, or join a private chat or group.
• Offering your number or handle without being asked, handing over your phone, or saying something like "Text me sometime" or "You should add me."
• Asking a coworker, member, friend or partner to collect it for you, pass on your details, arrange an introduction, or find out whether they are interested.
• Using pottery photos, a glaze recipe, a private lesson, a ride, a favor, a business opportunity or a shared interest as the reason to collect it.
• Looking someone up, or using member records, waivers, booking systems, group lists or studio messages to start personal contact. A public profile or a suggested account is not an invitation.
• Using a studio account, a second account, a disappearing message, a group invite, or running into them somewhere else to do any of the above.

That list is not exhaustive. If a thing you are about to do gets you their contact details and they did not offer, it is the same rule.

For studio business, point them at an approved studio form, account or channel rather than asking them to hand anything to you. Use studio records only for the work they exist for. Never copy, save or share member information for personal use.

If a member asks you first, it is your call.

If a member independently asks for your contact information, you may share it if you want to. You may also accept what they offer without being prompted.

What you cannot do is ask for theirs in return, push them to message you, or steer them into being the one who asks.

The invitation belongs to the member, and it only covers what they asked for. Someone asking for a glaze recipe is permission to send a glaze recipe. It is not permission to flirt, ask them out, add them to a private group, or start messaging them about something else.

You can also say no without explaining your personal life. "I keep my personal contact information separate, but you can reach us through the studio" is a complete answer.

If a friendship does grow out of the studio, let the member be the one who suggests meeting up. A date or a private hangout is not a workaround for the contact rule.

An existing friendship or relationship with a member still gets disclosed under rule 5. It does not excuse pressure, favoritism, misuse of studio information, or new requests for contact details.

Friendly is just friendly.

Nobody owes us friendship, a date, a reply, or an explanation because we get along at the studio.

Some people are warm, talkative and affectionate with nearly everyone. Some are polite because saying no feels uncomfortable. From the outside those two look identical, and they are easy to read as something they are not.

The same goes for coworkers. If interest is not clear, keep it professional. If someone declines, pulls back, stops replying or asks for space, stop pursuing personal contact. Interest before now does not create an obligation later.

Nothing personal up or down your reporting line.

No employee may have a romantic or sexual relationship, or an outside personal friendship, with their direct supervisor. The same prohibition applies to supervisors and their direct reports. There are no exceptions.

Your direct supervisor is the manager immediately above you, including anyone covering that job temporarily. The real reporting arrangement is what counts, not the job title.

An outside personal friendship means something past ordinary work interaction: private hangouts, trips, regular personal calls and messages. Being kind at work, sharing a meal on a shift, or turning up to a studio-wide team event is not that.

Romantic involvement covers dating, sexual contact, hookups, and ongoing romantic or sexual exchanges, online included. Calling it casual, keeping it quiet or avoiding a label does not change the rule.

The reason is straightforward. A supervisor affects your schedule, your assignments, your opportunities, your feedback, your discipline and whether you keep your job. Even when both people believe it is fair, coworkers have every reason to wonder whether decisions are based on performance or closeness. Honest feedback gets harder. Complaints start to feel unsafe. One disagreement can land on the whole team.

Consent, good intentions, an existing relationship, and disclosure do not create an exception. A manager cannot approve one for themselves or for anyone else.

Other relationships can be fine. They still get written down.

Disclose every outside personal friendship and every romantic or sexual relationship covered by this policy to both the owner and the general manager.

Friendships and relationships between coworkers, or with a manager who is not your direct supervisor, are allowed when they are voluntary, disclosed, and free of a conflict of interest. Anything with an adult member also has to clear rules 1 through 3.

Disclose a new relationship within five calendar days of it starting, and before you take part in any work decision connected to it. Disclose a direct supervisor situation immediately.

Existing relationships get disclosed when this policy is introduced, or when you join the team. Both people are responsible for making sure it actually happens.

Put it in writing, and cover four things:

• Who is involved.
• Whether it is a friendship or romantic involvement.
• Any reporting or decision-making authority either person has over the other.
• Any conflict you can already see.

Nobody needs intimate details or copies of private conversations to record a relationship.

A conflict of interest exists when a personal relationship could influence work decisions or create competing loyalties. Someone outside your direct reporting line can still affect your pay, your schedule, a promotion, discipline, or your access to opportunities. That authority gets disclosed and dealt with.

Nobody makes or influences employment decisions, investigates a complaint, or decides special member benefits involving their partner or their outside personal friend. The owner and the general manager hand those decisions to someone uninvolved.

If a conflict cannot be resolved, the relationship and the work arrangement cannot both continue.

Ordinary workplace friendliness and acquaintances do not need disclosing, and neither do relationships with people who have nothing to do with the studio or your work. If you are not sure which side of the line yours falls on, ask privately before it becomes a problem.

Tell the owner and the general manager again if a disclosed relationship ends, changes, creates a conflict, or becomes connected to a new reporting arrangement. If one of them is personally involved, disclose to the other. Disclosing something is never permission to break another rule.

Speak up, and nobody gets punished for it.

Tell the owner or the general manager if you experience, witness, or are worried about a boundary violation, pressure, favoritism, harassment or retaliation.

In person or in writing, either is fine. You do not need proof, a formal complaint, or any certainty that a rule was actually broken before you ask for help.

You do not have to confront the person, and you do not have to go through your direct supervisor. If your concern involves the owner, go to the general manager. If it involves the general manager, go to the owner. If it involves both, go to another uninvolved manager, who has to arrange an independent outside reviewer. You can also get outside advice or contact an appropriate government agency without using our process first.

If you manage people, pass concerns promptly to an uninvolved owner or general manager, or arrange the outside review above when both are involved. Do not promise secrecy, do not let it slide because the people are friends, and never investigate a complaint about yourself or your partner.

We cannot promise absolute confidentiality. A proper review sometimes means sharing information in order to understand what happened.

What we can promise is that it gets looked at promptly and fairly, that the people involved get heard, and that privacy is protected as far as a real review allows.

There is a form for this if writing it down is easier than saying it out loud. It routes around whoever the concern is about, and it can be sent anonymously.

Open the reporting form