To ensure a consistent standard of Experts on our Platform, we undertake certain steps to check that all Experts are set-up with the necessary registrations, insurances and have the right mindset to assist and support Customers.

Any capitalised terms in this Policy have the meaning given in our Terms and Conditions.

Our Terms & Conditions are available here.

To the extent of any inconsistency, the Terms and Conditions will take precedence.

Prior to our Experts onboarding onto the Platform and offerings Services, we do the following:

Step 1 | We conduct a phone call with the Expert, to brief them on the Platform, how it works in practice, the workchapters Values and Vision and answer any technical/set-up questions they may have.

Step 2 | We request that Experts provide us with copies of a range of documentation which we then review including:

• ABN/ACN registration (all Experts must have their own ABN/ACN);

• GST registration (all Experts must be GST registered);

• Government-issued photo identification (Australian Driver's License or Australian Passport – To confirm their identity as per the ABN/ACN/GST Registration); and

• Professional Indemnity Insurance Certificate of Currency (all Experts must be self-insured and maintain the appropriate PI Insurance while on the Platform).

These documents are submitted to our dedicated inbox and all documentation/information provided by our Experts is handled internally in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Note that we rely on the information provided to us by the Experts (as stated above) and it is up to the Expert to ensure that they accurately represent their qualifications and expertise on their Expert Profile and in their Listings. If you are at all unsure or need any further confirmation that the Expert is the right fit for you, you should ask the Expert for further information through the Platform messaging system.

Step 4 | At the time of onboarding, we review each Expert Profile page on our Platform to check that the Expert has included the ABN / entity name through which they are providing their Services, so that it is clear for Customer who they are engaging.

Step 5 | We monitor Reviews Customers leave about the Experts, as well as the Reviews Experts leave for Customers.

Step 6 | If we are made aware of any issues or complaints, we monitor these closely and if we have concerns about quality of the Services being provided by Experts or have received Customer complaints, we will investigate and may take steps to remove the Expert from our Platform and they will no longer be able to offer Services on our Platform.

Questions?

For further information, refer to via Website Terms & Conditions.

If you still have any questions or concerns, you can reach the team at hello@workchapters.co.

An important element of workchapters is trust and safety on our Platform.

We connect experienced, vetted, Experts with Customers needing their skills and services and act as an intermediary to facilitate the transaction, we review every Expert Profile, we review each Listing before it goes live (and any changes to Listings), and we monitor Reviews by Users, and offer payment via a secure third-party payment processing service.

Any capitalised terms in this Policy have the meaning given in our Terms + Conditions.

Our Terms + Conditions are available here.

To the extent of any inconsistency, our Terms + Conditions will take precedence.

What payment processing system does workchapters use?

When Customers book Services through the workchapters Platform, payment is collected via a secure third-party payment processing service called ‘Stripe’ (or any alternative or additional provider we might use).

The funds for services are held in ‘escrow’ by Stripe until the Services are completed or the transaction meets one of the criteria below. workchapters does not hold and cannot access the money - we just receive the Platform Fee (i.e..‘commission’) for the work we do in offering the Platform and the Solution, including the development and maintenance of our technology platform, sourcing and verification of Experts, sales and marketing services, promotional support, Concierge services, payment processing (via a third-party payment gateway), issuing of receipts and tax invoices on behalf of the Experts, Expert Toolkits and other administrative support services.

So, let’s step through how this works.

Who collects and holds the funds during the payout delay?

At the time of making a Booking Request for a Listing via our Platform, Customers will be asked to enter payment information (credit card details).

Experts are then notified of the Booking Request and have 3 days within which to accept or decline the Booking Request (if they do nothing, it will be deemed to have been declined).

If the Booking Request is declined, you will be notified of this via a message in your inbox on the Platform and no payment will be processed.

If the Booking Request is accepted, you will be notified (once again, via a message in your inbox on the Platform) and it will become a confirmed Booking, and our third-party payment processor will collect and hold the funds and take care of the payout when any of the criteria below are met.

workchapters, as the platform Administrator, does not hold, and cannot access the funds. We only receive the Platform Fees for offering the Solution.

When will funds be released / when Experts receive their funds?

• Experts will receive the funds when one of the following actions occurs:

• the transaction is manually marked as completed by the Customer;

• the transaction is manually marked as completed by a workchapters Administrator;

• if the transaction was a booking with the availability calendar, the transaction is automatically marked as completed one day after the end date; or

• the transaction is automatically marked as completed after a number of days (currently set to 85 days) (this is because of of our third-party payment processor (Stripe) requirements – they cannot hold money indefinitely).

Note that holding funds does not apply to the Platform Fee received by workchapters, this is processed and released to us once the Booking Request is accepted by the Expert.

It will take a few days for the third-party payment processor to release the funds and for them to arrive in the Expert’s bank account. We can’t guarantee how long but allow around 5-10 days from the time a Booking has been marked completed.

What are the limits associated with holding funds?

With our third-party payment processor, delayed payments are enabled by default. This has a few effects:

it is not possible for Customers to select an end date that is more than 85 days in the future in an availability listing using one of the calendars (so if for example you are wanting the engage a Daily Rate Contractor for a longer period, you can’t book many months in advance – contact our Concierge service for customised support concierge@workchapters.co); and

funds can't be held for longer than 85 days. A workchapters Administrator will release the funds manually from the Stripe dashboard at that time (either back to the Customer if the Services were not provided, the Expert if we have received reasonable evidence that the Expert has completed the Services in the Booking, or as otherwise to be distributed as agreed between the Customer and Expert or in accordance with our Terms + Conditions).

This is due to our third-party payment processor technical requirements (and they are not able to hold funds indefinitely).

What is there is a dispute about the payment?

Any disputes regarding payments or the performance of the Services by an Expert are to be resolved in accordance with our Disputes + Complaints Handling Policy and our Terms + Conditions.

It is important that any dispute is raised with the Expert ASAP, and before you mark a transaction as ‘completed’ in your admin panel.

If you have any issues with the Services performed as part of the Booking, you must mark the Booking as “Disputed”, otherwise payments will be released by the third-party payment processor (either in accordance with this Policy, the Terms or automatically, where it is a time-based booking).

This is due to the way our third-party payment processor (Stripe) processes the payments – once their system considers a time-based Booking has been completed (because it has not been told otherwise as the Booking has not been ‘Disputed’) then the transaction will automatically complete and the Expert will receive their payment.

Once a transaction is marked ‘completed’ by a Customer, or if the payment has been automatically released (as set out above), the payment will be released into the Expert’s bank account so there is no further recourse to retrieve the payments (unless a Customer takes direct action against the Expert, or requests a return of the money from the Expert direct).

In the event a Customer fails to, delays or otherwise does not provide confirmation that Services have been completed, the Expert can request that we trigger the release of the funds which are being held by the third-party payment processor . If we are reasonably satisfied that the Services have been provided, we may, without any further recourse from any party, release the payment(s) to the Expert.

Security

We will never ask you for credit card or banking information via the messaging on the Platform (or via any other form of communication e.g. email). Be careful of scammers or phishing. Only use approved payment methods. If in doubt of any request for information (potential scamming/phishing), please contact the team at hello@workchapters.co to discuss.

If you try to circumvent the Platform Fees or divert work off-platform, we will seek to recover our costs and any reasonable losses we have incurred, as set out in our Terms + Conditions.

Stripe

For further information about Stripe click here.

Questions?

For further information, refer to our Terms + Conditions.

If you still have any questions or concerns, you can reach the team at hello@workchapters.co.

We understand sometimes things change but for our Experts, time is money, and other Customers might be waiting to use their Services, so we want to ensure there are fair policies in place for all parties.

Here we set out the different requirements for changes and cancellations to Bookings.

Note also the Cancellation Fees that apply below.

Any capitalised terms in this Policy have the meaning given in our Terms + Conditions.

Our Terms + Conditions are available here.

To the extent of any inconsistency, our Terms + Conditions will take precedence.

Notice periods

Experts and Customers can agree different notice periods and cancellation terms with each other, however to ensure there is a baseline standard around expectations, we suggest the following notice periods as a minimum courtesy.

Bookings at specific times (e.g. Sounding Board Services)

If you make a Booking for a certain time slot and you don’t show up, you will still be charged the full amount, unless an Expert agrees something else with you (which might be agreeing to have the meeting at another time, or refunding you the Price of their Services (less out Platform Fee which would have already been processed). If you need to makes any changes or wish to cancel, then you will need to provide the Expert with at least 12 hours written notice before the booked time, otherwise you will still be charged the full amount.

Customer must mark a Booking as ‘Disputed’ otherwise the funds for time-based Bookings will automatically be released to the Expert 1 day after the scheduled Booking time.

See Cancellation Fees below.

Bookings for certain days (e.g. Daily Rate Contractor Services)

If you book an Expert for a certain day or a number of days , you must provide at least 2 business days’ written notice if you wish to make any changes or wish to cancel the booking.

If you book an Expert for 2 (consecutive) weeks or more, you must provide at least 1 weeks’ written notice if you wish to make any changes or wish to cancel the booking.

The Customer must mark a Booking as ‘Disputed’ otherwise the funds for time-based Bookings will automatically be released to the Expert 1 day after the scheduled Booking time.

See Cancellation Fees below.

Bookings for general Services (e.g. Micro-Consulting or Customised Solutions)

In the event you purchase Services and change your mind after the Booking Request has been accepted, there are no cancellations or refunds, unless otherwise agreed with an Expert.

In the event an Expert allows a cancellation, they may still charge any pro-rata amount they consider reasonable for any work completed or costs incurred to date. If the Services involved the provision of template agreements, policies or other documents and these have already been provided to you, subject to Australian Consumer Law and subject to anything you agree otherwise with an Expert, these are non-refundable.

See Cancellation Fees below.

Cancellation Fees

Where any Bookings (whether Sounding Board, Daily Rate Contracting, Micro-Consulting or Customised Solutions) are changed or cancelled, the following cancellation fees apply (irrespective of the notice periods agreed between Customers and Experts):

Third-party fees: All Bookings still incur third-party payment processing fees as the payment has already been processed by our third-party provider and are therefore non-refundable. This is necessary because these are the terms that our third party payment processor charges us, and the service they provide (being the processing of the payment, holding the funds in escrow, and any subsequent release, is a service that has still been provided). The portion of these costs would be withheld as part of any refund (third party payment processor fees may be updated from time to time but as a general guide they charge a total of 3% -5% of the transaction value to collect, hold and then release payments).

Our fees: We may also charge an administrative fee to process any changes or reversals (currently charged at $50 + GST per booking) which will be done by deducting this from the funds held via our third-party payment processor. This is necessary because we need to spend time doing administrative work to authorise the release / reversal of funds that are held by our third party payment processor.

Questions?

For further information, refer to our Terms + Conditions.

If you still have any questions or concerns, you can reach the team at hello@workchapters.co.

We are excited about building a community of Experts and supporting our Customers. We encourage sharing knowledge, information and resources to benefit all members of our community.

Any capitalised terms in this Policy have the meaning given in our Terms + Conditions.

Our Terms + Conditions are available here.

To the extent of any inconsistency, our Terms + Conditions will take precedence.

How reviews work

After a Booking is completed, our Platform enables ratings and reviews to be provided by Experts and Customers. This is important as it enables Experts to build their professional profiles and have the opportunity to secure more work via our Platform, and for Customers to have confidence in the Expert they are engaging.

Both the Expert and a Customer can leave a review for each other, but leaving a review is optional – you can simply skip this step. Note that reviews are not anonymous – your profile information (name + photo) and the service you booked (e.g. 1 hour Sounding Board) will be seen next to the review your leave.

There are a few things you can do when leaving a review:

• Select a ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ rating.

• Add free text to describe the specific feedback.

This will then be collated into an ‘overall’ rating score e.g. 100% based on 2 reviews.

Concerns about reviews

We are not responsible for any rating or review and under no circumstances will we be deemed to have published the rating or review and all liability is excluded in this regard.

In the event a User has a concern about a rating or review, then they should immediately contact us at hello@workchapters.co to enable us to investigate (which may mean removing, editing or redacting the rating or review in whole or in part).

While we cannot amend or delete reviews that are genuinely unfavourable or just because a User doesn’t particularly like it (remember – transparency and honesty is important), however if any of the reviews are unfounded, untrue, defamatory, slanderous, in breach of any laws (including but not limited to breach of any anti-discrimination laws, privacy, confidentiality or otherwise incite fear, violence, hatred or similar) or otherwise in breach of our Terms + Conditions, we will remove the review and reserve the right to remove such Users from our Platform and report to the appropriate legal authorities.

Act appropriately

In short, be nice, and act towards others as you would like to be treated yourself.

You must not do any act that we would deem to be inappropriate, is unlawful or is prohibited by any laws applicable to our Platform, Services and Content including but not limited to:

• any act that would constitute a breach of either the privacy (including uploading private or personal information without an individual's consent) or any other of the legal rights of individuals;

• using our Platform to defame or libel us, our employees or other individuals;

• uploading files that contain viruses that may cause damage to our property or the property of other individuals;

• posting or transmitting to our Platform any non-authorised material including, but not limited to, material that is, in our opinion, likely to cause annoyance, or which is defamatory, racist, obscene, threatening, pornographic or otherwise or which is detrimental to or in violation of our systems or a third party's systems or network security.

Inappropriate behaviour

If we allow you to post any information to or transmit via our Platform (or any of our associated social media sites or other forums), we have the right to take down this information at our sole discretion and without notice.

We reserve to take any such further action that we deem appropriate or as required by law, including but not limited to removing your from accessing or using our Platform, reporting to appropriate law enforcement or other authorities, commencing legal proceedings and publishing corrective notices.

If you see anything that breaches this Policy or just doesn’t quite sit right, please contact us immediately so we can investigate.

Questions?

For further information, refer to our Terms + Conditions.

If you still have any questions or concerns, you can reach the team at hello@workchapters.co.

When going online to book transactions, we understand that trust and safety are important. As Platform owners, where possible, we seek to facilitate fair and prompt resolution of disputes between parties.

Any capitalised terms in this Policy have the meaning given in our Terms + Conditions.

Our Terms + Conditions are available here.

To the extent of any inconsistency, our Terms + Conditions will take precedence.

Complaints

Sometimes misunderstandings, disputes or less than satisfactory experience, might lead to disputes. Depending on who the dispute is between and what the dispute is about, will impact how it is to be resolved.

If the complaint or dispute is about access to the workchapters Platform or our Solution:

• Then the complaint or dispute is between workchapters and a Customer or Expert.

• You should contact the Team at hello@workchapters.co.

If the complaint or dispute is about the Services provided or due to be provided by Experts to Customers via our Platform, or any payments by or due from a Customer, or any other dispute or issue arising between an Expert and a Customer:

• Then the complaint or dispute is between Customers + Experts.

• Customers + Experts will need to contact each other either via the Platform or other known contact methods.

Dispute Resolution | Between workchapters and a Customer or Expert

Stage 1

Provide a notice of dispute in writing to the other party within 14 days of the Booking, using the known contact details.

Try to resolve the dispute with 14 days of receiving notice of the dispute (see Terms and Conditions for when notices are deemed to have been received).

Stage 2

If not resolved directly between the parties within 14 days of a party receiving notice of a dispute, use mediation or alternative dispute resolution methods, as determined by us, with the parties to equally share the costs of the mediation.

Stage 3

If still not resolved following mediation, or alternative dispute resolution methods within a further 21 days, the parties may initiate legal proceedings, which shall be binding on the parties.

Nothing in this Policy is intended to limit either party’s ability to seek injunctive relief where necessary.

Dispute Resolution | Between Customers and Experts

As the Services to be provided are as agreed between Experts and Customers (workchapters is not a party to the transaction), we encourage Customers and Experts to resolve their disputes directly.

Customers and Experts can agree anything directly between themselves – we do suggest the following processes as options.

Stage 1

Provide a notice of dispute in writing to the other party within 14 days of the Booking, using the known contact details.

Try to resolve the dispute with 14 days of receiving notice of the dispute (see Terms and Conditions for when notices are deemed to have been received).

Stage 2

If the dispute cannot be resolved, contact us at hello@workchapters.co for support to try to resolve the issue or propose some options.

We will endeavour to act as intermediary and resolve the dispute to the best of our abilities based on the information available to us within 14 days of receiving notice of the dispute.

Stage 3

If we are unable to resolve the dispute within that timeframe, we encourage the parties to seek independent mediation to resolve the dispute within a further 21 days, using a mutually agreeable mediator, with the parties to share the costs equally. There are online providers, for example, Immediation, which the parties may find to be a convenient option.

Stage 4

If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute via mediation within that timeframe, then the parties may initial legal proceedings which shall be binding on the parties.

Nothing in this Policy is intended to limit either party’s ability to seek injunctive relief where necessary.

Questions?

For further information, refer to our Terms + Conditions.

If you still have any questions or concerns, you can reach the team at hello@workchapters.co.