Admittance
a) Persons are admitted to membership of TOPRA in accordance with the criteria in force at the time of application. Please refer to the Articles of Association (and associated Bylaws). The criteria may be varied from time to time at the discretion of TOPRA.
b) Members are responsible for providing accurate information to support their application. If information is later shown to be incorrect, membership may be withdrawn with immediate effect. TOPRA reserves the right to request supporting information for any membership application.
c) Evidence to support an application for concessionary rates is required. Concessionary rates are valid for one year and ongoing concessionary rates cannot be guaranteed. A freelance/contractor/consultant /fractional will not be considered for ongoing concessionary rates unless supported by evidence of long-term (at least four months) periods of non-working.
Payment
a) Membership of TOPRA is conditional upon the payment of the annual subscription in a timely manner and is non-transferable to other individuals (regardless of whether paid for by the individual or the employer). The exception is the Enterprise Partner scheme whereby individual membership places can be transferred.
b) Members who do not pay within two months of the joining/renewal date will be considered to have cancelled their membership. Re-instatement of membership will require a new application together with the payment of a full year’s fee. No refunds of membership subscriptions are available after one month of the joining date.
c) Delegates may apply for TOPRA membership at the time of booking for a course or event to take advantage of preferential rates. However, membership payment must be made before the course/event takes place or full fee applies. If membership is cancelled after booking – and before the next renewal date – the full non-member course/event fee applies.
d) Where an Enterprise Partner leaves membership, TOPRA will approach the listed employees at renewal time with an invitation to self-pay.
Behaviours
a) If a member, through activities in a professional or personal capacity, is considered to have brought the profession of regulatory affairs into disrepute, The Board, in its absolute discretion, may cancel the membership of that individual until such time that the member can supply inforation to show that membership may be re-instated.
b) Members who participate in committees and working parties or deliver training or events on behalf of TOPRA are acting on behalf of The Board and all TOPRA members. They therefore must conduct themselves in such a way as not to discredit the organisation or its members.
c) Members are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous manner towards fellow members, TOPRA employees and any guests attending TOPRA activities. Behaviour considered discourteous, unprofessional or discriminatory will not be tolerated and may result in revocation of membership without refund.
Post nominals and badges
a) Members are entitled to use the post nominals/ badge designated by TOPRA. Use of these designations by persons who have not been accepted into these categories is forbidden and could result in termination of membership. Please note that acceptance into Fellowship is subject to a separate approvals process by a panel of peers and the TOPRA Board.
Financial
a) The Board will assign budgets to all committees and working parties and all members thereof will be required to operate within these budgets. No member may enter into financial agreements with third parties which are not anticipated by these budgets. Members must ensure that they have the appropriate authority to commit to expenditure on behalf of TOPRA. Members who operate outside their authority may be held to be personally liable. If you need further guidance on this point, please contact the TOPRA office.
b) TOPRA will pay reasonable travel or subsistence expenses to members working on behalf of the organisation, on the production of an authorised expense form accompanied by valid VAT receipts for all expenditure, in accordance with the expenses policy in place at the time that the expense was incurred.
c) Members who travel on TOPRA business are reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure that they are adequately insured for their journey, either under policies held by TOPRA or under personal or employer’s insurance. Insurance for personal effects is the responsibility of the member. If there is any doubt, the office should be consulted.
Premises
a) The TOPRA auditorium may be open to members for use but must be booked in advance and subject to availability. The booking member agrees to book and fund any food and drink required. Contact membership@topra.org for details. Equipment and materials may not be removed from these premises. TOPRA reserves the right to charge members for any damage caused by them while on the premises and accepts no liability for loss or injury sustained while visiting the offices. Members must comply with all health and safety instructions whilst on TOPRA premises.
Confidentiality and data protection
a) Members must keep TOPRA’s business affairs confidential. Persons who breach confidentiality may have their membership revoked. Confidentiality applies to, but is not limited to, details of other members, finances, details of meeting discussions, TOPRA commercial contracts or policies.
b) TOPRA cannot disclose details of individual TOPRA membership accounts. For Enterprise Partnerships, TOPRA will provide a list of accounts to the paying employer but cannot disclose details relating to use of the account. Partners are advised to seek separate agreement from their employees if they require detailed account information.
c) All TOPRA members will be entered into a legally required, publicly available register of members. The register will show name, address, country and date of joining.
d) TOPRA reserves the right to supply any information to verify or counter claims of membership. It will also provide any information legally required to do so.
e) Full details of TOPRA’s data and privacy policies apply. Members may update their marketing preferences in their MY TOPRA account. However, TOPRA has a legal obligation to ensure that all members receive certain information. Therefore, if you choose to unsubscribe this will not affect the correspondence we send to you to fulfil our contract with you as a member, to fulfil legitimate interests or comply with our legal obligations.
f) For conferences, events and similar activities we publish names, job titles and company information in delegate lists for the purposes of aiding networking and tailoring activities to your job title and seniority.
Intellectual property
a) TOPRA’s logo and membership badges may only be used to promote an individual’s membership of TOPRA unless additional permission has been obtained for their use from TOPRA.
b) TOPRA’s intellectual property, including branding, images, recordings (video or audio), publications (hard copy or print), website materials or newsletters may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the Global Director, Marketing, Communities and Events.
Special Interest and International Groups (SPINs/INs)
a) These groups have a separate governance structure available on request, however the general rules of TOPRA apply. TOPRA reserves the right to refuse admittance to a group or network.
Views and opinions
a) Members may not present their opinions as TOPRA endorsed. They must be clear in any public forum, including social media that opinions are their own unless specifically agreed by TOPRA.
b) TOPRA SPIN/INs may report a view that is representative of the group but, unless otherwise agreed, it must be clear that this is not a TOPRA endorsed position.
Voting
a) Voting rights are reserved for paying members of TOPRA. Complimentary members, Honorary Members, Associates (Student) or Affiliates do not have voting rights at General Meetings or Annual General Meetings unless agreed by the TOPRA Board. Voting at other meetings or events is at the discretion of the organiser.
Complaints
Please refer any complaints in the first instance to Global Director of Membership membership@topra.org. Any member who remains dissatisfied with the response may contact the Chief Executive samantha.atkinson@topra.org.
Please also refer to the TOPRA Articles of Association for further terms and conditions.
NB: ‘The Board’ means the duly elected Board of Directors of TOPRA.