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HRCI Professional Community Guidelines for Recertification Providers

Updated as of November 1, 2024

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this online community are those of the individual participants and/or organizations and do not reflect the opinions, official policy or position of the HRCI professional community, its moderators, or its affiliated organizations. The information provided by its participants is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional advice. HRCI is not responsible for the opinions, accuracy, completeness, or validity of any information posted by the community participants. Participants are encouraged to exercise professionalism, discretion and critical thinking when posting, reading and/or responding to posts. HRCI does not endorse or approve of information posted on the professional community. Recertification Providers (RPs) are the only ones with access to the private group RP Space. Communications in this group should focus on topics related to the HRCI Recertification Provider program.

Overview and Introduction

The HRCI professional community is a cloud-based platform hosted by HRCI’s trusted service provider Circle, which users may access on a computer or through a downloaded app on a mobile device, to participate in and/or facilitate professional development discussions, professional education and networking in a welcoming and inclusive environment for HRCI-certified HR professionals and HR profession community stakeholders ( the “Community”). The HRCI professional community Guidelines (“Community Guidelines”) establish the expectations for how users of the Community will communicate with each other and share content within the Community. We require all authorized users of the Community (“Users”) to adhere to the Community Guidelines and maintain professional, responsible, and courteous etiquette at all times. Please read the following information carefully. The RP Space falls under the HRCI professional community, and in addition to the general policies, RPs, as commercial institutions must take into consideration their role as contributors to professional development and maintenance of the standard of HR education HRCI has established through verified recertification programs.

Access to the HRCI Professional Community

The Community is made available by HRCI as a benefit for HRCI-certified professionals and other HR profession community stakeholders authorized by HRCI. Users of the Community who are not already authorized by HRCI must be approved by HRCI community administrators.  No authorized User is allowed to share their User credentials for the Community with any other person.  All Users of the Community are bound by and must abide by the Community Guidelines, Circle’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, as well as all applicable HRCI policies and terms, including but not limited to the HRCI Certification Policies and Procedures Handbook, the HRCI Code of Ethical and Professional Responsibility, the HRCI Complaints and Disciplinary Policy, the HRCI Website Terms of Use and the HRCI Privacy Policy (collectively, “Additional Terms”).

Posting Content

For all content that you post on the Community, including but not limited to text, articles, essays, commentary, publications, slide shows, graphic images, photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, multi-media content, electronic files and all other content and materials incorporated into, made part of or used, broadcast, played or displayed in connection with the content you post (collectively or individually, “Content”), you are making the following representations about the Content:

  1. The Content does not violate the intellectual property rights of a third party, including copyright, trademark and trade secret rights;
  2. The Content does not include or incorporate the material, literary work, creation, photograph, graphic image, illustration, video, audio, recording, media, choreography or artwork of a third party without the explicit written permission and license of any such third party, and User has sought and obtained all required clearances, permissions and licenses before including any such licensed content in the Content and paid any required fees for any such licenses;
  3. The Content does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of a third party;
  4. The Content does not include any confidential, inaccurate, false, misleading, defamatory, libelous, unlawful, scandalous, offensive or actionable statements, images or allegations; and
  5. The Content complies in all respects with all applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and regulations.

In addition, please consider the following requirements when posting Content:

  • Post Content in the most appropriate Spaces.
  • Use clear headings for the topics. Consider using words that others might search for to find the post.
  • In public communities, only post Content that you would be comfortable having reproduced or shared outside of the Community.
  • Never post HRCI certification examination content, in whole or part, or discuss or disclose topics contained in HRCI certification examinations that are more specific than the information publicly disclosed by HRCI about its examination content.
  • Never post confidential information of your own or any other person, company or organization.
  • Never post inaccurate, false or misleading information.
  • Never post photographs of any person without their explicit permission in writing.
  • No information from these groups should be shared publicly by any User of the Community without prior written permission from the User that posted the information in the Community.
  • Do not share or disclose any person’s personal information (name, date of birth, cell phone number, address, or any other personal identifying information) without their express advance consent.
  • Do not engage in “trolling,” or posting deliberately disruptive statements meant to hijack comment threads or throw discussion off-track.
  • Do not post links or comments containing sexually explicit or otherwise potentially offensive material.
  • Do not bully your peers; do not post language that is threatening or meant to attack another person.
  • Do not post spam, link baiting files, phishing links or files containing viruses that could damage the operation of other people’s computers or mobile devices.
  • Community groups may not be used for the furtherance of commercial activity (e.g., the buying and selling of goods and services).
  • Exercise discretion when discussing products. Users are strictly prohibited from selling, advertising, or otherwise promoting for their own profit any products through the Community.

Objectionable Content

HRCI has a zero-tolerance policy for the posting or further distribution of Content that violates any aspect of the Community Guidelines.

Do not post Content that violates the rights of third parties or could be viewed as offensive, insensitive or discriminatory.

Examples of objectionable, offensive, and insensitive Content include (but are not limited to): harassment, dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, calls for exclusion or segregation, and targeting people or making any comment or statement related in any way to a person’s personal or physical characteristics or race, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, disability, political views or affiliations.

Examples of graphic Content include (but are not limited to): explicit language or imagery, vulgar or lewd speech, and graphic or violent images.

Examples of Content that violates the rights of third parties include (but are not limited to): false or misleading statements about a person or company that tend to paint the person or company in a negative light and/or photographs of a person posted without their permission. RPs are expected to lead by example in maintaining professional conduct, given their role in professional development.

RPs are expressly prohibited from using the Community as a platform for advertising or promotional purposes aimed at selling their services or programs. Posts primarily intended to solicit business or market programs to community members will be considered inappropriate and will be subject to prompt removal. Similar repeated activity may affect the RP status with HRCI. Recertification Providers are encouraged to contribute content that enhances knowledge and generates meaningful discussions within the HR community. Any content shared by RPs should provide genuine educational value without the intent of commercial gain. The Community aims to support HRCI's educational mission and RPs should align their contributions accordingly. Contributions should emphasize the educational benefits and learning outcomes associated with HR-related initiatives.

 

Copyrighted Content and Intellectual Property

Community moderators are able to exercise discretion in reporting Content that they reasonably believe infringes the copyrights of others to HRCI staff, who may request that it be taken down. Please note that HRCI and other community participants have the right to reproduce postings made to the public community groups.

Do not post any copyright protected Content without first obtaining permission to do so from the copyright owner, and please credit the Content owner and creator of the Content if you are posting another person’s Content with permission.

Community participants are encouraged to post links to free information and journal articles that are in the public domain. Users may post Content they have authored themselves, so long as the User retained the right to republish their own work.

Do not post the trademarks of any person or company without obtaining a license from the trademark owner.

Do not represent Content that you post as yours if you did not create it.

Warning Against Statements and Conduct that Could Violate Antitrust Laws

Users are prohibited from using the Community to encourage or facilitate Users or other individuals to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, anti-competitive conduct, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that could reasonably be interpreted to encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are strictly prohibited: prices; employee compensation; cost data; market shares, territories, or markets; allocation of customers, employees or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of identifiable employees or pricing of contracts with customers or suppliers.

While it is appropriate to discuss HR practices and policies as general topics, it is important that the discussions could not be perceived as an attempt to enter into agreements to create anti-competitive hiring practices.

Community Management

Community Reporting of Objectionable Content

Users and moderators have the ability to report potentially objectionable Content, including advertisers, and/or comments for HRCI staff to review and take action on. Please email us at HRCICommunity@hrci.org if you see a post that you think is not in adherence with the HRCI Community Guidelines and HRCI will review the post and exercise its discretion as it deems appropriate.

Violation of Community Guidelines

The consequences for violating the Community Guidelines will vary depending on the severity of the violation and a person’s history on the platform and is left to HRCI’s sole discretion. For instance, HRCI may warn someone for a first violation if it is not severe, but if they continue to violate the Community Guidelines, we may restrict their ability to post or terminate their ability to use the Community.  If a violation is severe, in HRCI’s sole discretion, HRCI may immediately terminate the User’s ability to use the Community.  Users have no recourse for or right to appeal HRCI’s decisions regarding violations. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in the restriction or removal of posting privileges to ensure the Community remains a space for impartial and non-commercial exchange of information and expertise.

HRCI Staff Engagement

Staff may contribute to a conversation in the instance that HRCI can provide support to our membership or stakeholder community in some way. Staff may also engage in discussions based around their areas of expertise or to provide clarifying information if the opportunity provides itself.

Community Creation Guidelines

New communities can be requested and will be created and approved at the discretion of HRCI staff. Niche topics of discussion or community ideas that do not clearly fit under a broader group are more likely to be approved. To request a new community, submit a request via email at HRCICommunity@hrci.org and a HRCI staff member will contact you with next steps.