Introduction

Common Knowledge is a worker cooperative. A co-op is a group of people organising to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs, through a jointly-owned and democratically owned enterprise.

Most firms exist to provide profit for the owners. Common Knowledge exists to provide decent work and to fulfil its mission in accordance with its values. By decent work we mean jobs that are well paid and secure, with equality, dignity and respect, the opportunity to develop peoples’ skills and aptitudes, and to collectively self-manage our working lives.

The co-op values are self-help, self-responsibility, equality, equity and solidarity.

These are put into action using the seven co-op principles:

• open and voluntary membership
• democratic control
• member economic participation
• autonomy and independence
• member and public co-op education
• cooperation between cooperatives
• care for community

In short, a worker co-op is a firm that is owned by, controlled by, and for the benefit of, its worker members and the wider community. The members of Common Knowledge collectively own and control the co-op. They direct its activity, sharing the benefits and management responsibilities that membership brings.

As a cooperative, employment decisions are very important, because becoming a worker at Common Knowledge puts you on a pathway to potential co-ownership as a member. Additionally, our team composition is critical to our collaborative culture and how we work. In short, our people are the most important thing to us as a organisation, so we really try to get this right.

What other documents govern membership?

Formally the rules governing membership of Common Knowledge are enshrined in our Articles of Association, in particular articles 6 to 19. The rules in this page are considered secondary rules, which can be established by members at anytime according to article 88 of these articles.

Types of Member

We have three different types of role associated with membership:

• Associate Member (open ended or fixed period)
• Prospective Member
• Full Member (commonly simply referred to as Member)

Associate Member (previously Contributor)

This is someone who would like to work with the cooperative, but for whatever reason, does not want to be a member or take on the attendant rights and responsibilities that accompany this. Instead, they work as a freelance contractor for the co-op. They are not an employee of the cooperative.

This is basically work on a project basis. You may need to sign a contract per project you work on. It is a closer relationship than being a freelancer, but you are not a member.

The most common path to membership is to begin as an Associate Member.

This might be a temporary arrangement or it might be open ended. For example, for a fixed term period.

Can I remain an Associate Member forever?

If you've spent more than six months continuous working at this status, it might be good to consider if you'd like to become a member. The ability to be a member and participate with full equality is an important part of being a workers' cooperative. But membership is voluntary.

You are welcome to discuss the reasons for not becoming a member with the cooperative. It might be that you simply don't want to, for the same reasons as you first decided it wasn't for you. But it might also be that there are ways in which we are approaching bringing members in or their rights or responsibilities that they have that the cooperative needs to change, to allow new members to join.

Where can you go from here?

• You can follow the membership path to become a Member.
• You can stop being an Associate Member and leave the cooperative.

Members can also choose to downgrade to being an Associate Member if their life circumstances change, or, say, they no longer wish to be have the responsibilities and rights of membership.

What rights and powers do I have?**

• You are responsible for delivering the projects you are working on as a member of the team.
• You will have access to the various tools that we use to organise, including Notion, GitHub, Twist and Productive.
• You are entitled to a commonknowledge.coop email address.
• We’ll add your name and bio to our proposals and website.
• You aren't responsible for any of our internal responsibility areas, unless specifically contracted to do so (e.g. if you are specifically brought in to do business development or improve our documentation practices).
• You can and should participate in any decisions that concern the Associate Member status or processes or tools that effect your work as an Associate Member.
• You have the right to attend any meeting of the cooperative, unless members decide to have a specifically members-only meeting.
• You can participate in any Twist thread, make suggestions, ask or be invited to make a decision. Equally, members can decide that a decision is solely between members, but must be explicit as to why.
• You can propose a decision or a change if you would like, even if it binds another status in the cooperative. For example, a proposal that affects members, even while you are not a member. As members will have a say over this change, seems like this has checks and balances enough.
• When it comes to the governance of a specific project that you're working on, you have an equal voice as everyone else.
• We welcome you bringing work into the coop, persuading others of its importance and getting it onto the books.

What don't I have access to that a member has?

• Access to the bank account, unless the role involves specific contracts that require this
• Guaranteed work on an ongoing basis
• Ability to sign off decisions involving money, membership or governance
• Equipment provided by the cooperative
• Any other benefits provided to an employee on the basis of their contract, for example, pension provision or sick pay

Prospective Member

This is someone who is on the path to become a Full Member. All Prospective Members will need to follow the same process to gain membership.

1. Trial period

We begin each collaboration on a freelance or temporary contract for three months at four days a week (or equivalent). The purpose of this is to see if we can work together on projects, without the added pressure of membership duties or other responsibilities. This is essential, as day to day working together is most of what we will be doing. The person can be an Associate Member, a freelancer or fixed term employee.

2. Membership path

After at least three months of the trail period, a person can opt on to, or be invited onto the membership path. They continue this path for six months. This time is to allow both parties to understand whether membership is right for them. It is intended for both parties to get a sense of whether this is a good fit.

We will start a Twist thread for the membership. This thread will include all decisions about the person's membership from that point on.

We want to ensure that Prospective Members feel that they have autonomy within the co-op during this period. We encourage all Prospective Members to take ownership of the work they do (for collaborators or for the co-op), and to feel comfortable in communicating how they feel the trial period is going.

Each prospective member will have a "buddy" within the co-op, who will:

• Onboard the Prospective Member to our various communication channels and platforms
• Explain our policies and ways of working
• Be there to answer any questions or concerns

At the end of each month, existing Full Members will arrange a one-to-one catch up with the Prospective Member, where we can discuss how everything is going and if there is anything that needs to be adjusted.

3. Membership decision

At the end of six months’ continuous service, you will be eligible to apply for Membership, or the co-op may invite you to become a Full Member. If the co-op invites you to become a Full Member, you will have up to one month to make a decision about whether to accept. The co-op might add some caveats to your membership. They may also extend the membership trail period and by mutual consent have you continue as a Prospective Member for a time.

If you do not apply for Membership, or if the co-op does not invite you to become a member, your employment will finish at the end of the six months, unless another contract is agreed.

If you apply for Membership and are accepted, or the co-op invites you to become a Full Member and you accept, you will be offered a new, open-ended Member Employment Agreement.

4. Celebration

The co-op celebrates the addition of a new member! 🥂

Where can you go from here?

• You can become a Full Member, if the members agree after six months as a Prospective Member
• You can stop being a Prospective Member and leave the cooperative
• You can opt to work as a contractor, but not a Member

What rights and powers do I have?

• You have a Common Knowledge email address.
• You can attend any meetings we hold that aren't formally open and participate in day to day operational decisions there.
• You have access to all our internal systems, such as Productive, Notion and so on.
• You can participate in all formal decisions on Twist for things like budget, policy and rules.

Due to our Articles of Association you can't yet propose modification our articles, as this requires you to be a Full Member of the cooperative and a hence a director.

It is uncommon for cooperatives to have full access to modifying the cooperative without having passed a probation period and becoming full members. However, because collaborative decision making is a core thing thing we do, it is vital to work out in the probation period if both parties can truly work together. It also allows prospective members to learn by doing and real stakes mean meaningful decisions.

Consent-based decision making provides enough checks and balances to try and prevent bad decisions being made for the collective. A Loomio decision was made on the September 4, 2019 to add this.

Full Member

This is someone who is a member of the cooperative. This is basically the default state we'd want everyone who works at Common Knowledge to be.

We try very hard to ensure that there is no sense of hierarchy within the co-op. No member is another member's boss. We have intentionally not established specific roles within the co-op. Instead, we collectively self-manage projects and administration in a democratic and non-hierarchical way, with rotating responsibility areas.

This way of working means that Members must show a high level of personal and collective responsibility - using their skills and capacities productively, for the development of the coop; upholding the co-op’s policies; positively contributing to the co-op’s culture; treating their colleagues respectfully and as equals; being honest, open and accountable to each other; and complying with any reasonable work or support request made by another Member or by the co-op.

Expectations of Full Members

All Full Members are also Directors of Common Knowledge Co-operative Ltd. This comes with the special legal powers and responsibilities that come with being a Director of any company.

You will sometimes be expected to carry out various administrative roles and tasks needed to maintain and grow the co-op. This includes attending strategic planning meetings and contributing to decision-making.

Where can you go from here?

• You can stop being a Member and leave the cooperative

What rights and powers do I have?

• You are a formal director of Common Knowledge and listed on Companies House.
• You have access to all our systems.
• You can participate in formal decisions on Twist or in person about budget and rules.
• You have access to the bank account.
• In accordance with our Articles of Association, you can propose modification of our articles.

Who can be members?

Members need to be over the age of 16 and be an employee of the cooperative and should support the aims of the cooperative. Membership is voluntary, in accordance with the general principles of cooperatives.

If you are a self-employed contractor, company or nominee of a company or "unincorporated body" you can also become a member. This is so potentially other organisations or even investors can have an interest in Common Knowledge's running.

In the case of the member being a group, someone to represent the interests of that group as a proxy for the membership that would be normal for a regular human should be appointed to provide some continuity. This is article 12 of the articles.

How do you stop being a member?

There are three ways to leave the cooperative.

Either to stop being employed by the cooperative, you get expelled or (sadly) die or are no longer physically able to be a member.

To stop being employed by the co-op, simply hand in your notice via email to hello@commonknowledge.coop.

Expulsion is a sad situation but it works like this. The other members inform the member with 21 days notice in writing that there will be a resolution to expel them and the reasoning for this. There is an extraordinary general meeting after 21 days held where the member or their representative can make their case. If the resolution passes, the member ceases to be a member and employee of Common Knowledge. We hope to never use this policy.