Regulations

Terms of an ordinary association called the Polish Association of Wedding Consultants.

I. General Provisions

1. The Association bears the name of the Polish Association of Wedding Consultants and is further referred to as the Association.

2. The Association is a voluntary, self-governing, stable, non-profit union without any legal entity.

3. The Association is an association in the ordinary meaning of the Polish statute on the Law on Associations.

4. The basis of the Association is the provisions of the statute dated 7 April 1989. Law on Associations (Dz. U. of 2001. No. 79, pos. 855,) and the provisions of these Regulations.

5. The Association unites and brings together individuals engaged in the professional organisation of weddings and wedding receptions, through services of Wedding Consultants – in an effort to enable them to acquire knowledge and skills to improve the qualifications required for their profession in accordance with highest professional standards, best practice and ethics and, above all, while respecting the interests of customers.

6. The area of ​​the Association is the Republic of Poland and, if it is necessary to achieve the purpose of the Association, action abroad is also permissible.

7. The headquarters of the Association are in Warsaw.

8. The agent representing the Association is  Magdalena Kamila Kenig.

9. The Association shall be appointed for an indefinite period of time.

10. The Association may use the abbreviated name in the form of “PSKŚ”, seal, logo and markings.

11. The Association’s activity is financed by membership fees.

12. A member of the Association may be a person with full legal capacity, enjoying full civil rights, accepting objective of the Association, and thus the provisions of these regulations, as well as providing professional services as a wedding consultant.

13. The Association in calling on Art. 2 of the statute Law on Associations, may establish a separate  internal organisational structure, mode of joining the Association as well as depriving of membership and conditions of validity of its resolutions.

II. Aim and means of action

14. The aim of the Association is to integrate wedding consultants, in particular for the purpose of ​​raising the standards of their operations.

15. The Association pursues its objective by:

a) promoting the profession of wedding consultant and the services provided by them in society;

b) The progressive and efficient raising of skill levels, knowledge, professionalism and quality of services provided by the members of the Association;

c) Developing  the principles of professional ethics and working in compliance with them;

d) Building and strengthening public confidence in the profession of a Wedding Consultant and the services provided by them;

e) Promoting fair competition and respect for mutual interests;

f) Organizing free publishing activity;

g) Organizing free presentations, workshops and training;

h) Collaborating with representatives of the mass media;

i) Protecting of the rights and interests of all the members of the Association;

j) Organising meetings;

k) Cooperating with individuals and institutions of similar objectives;

l) Running the website of The Polish Association of Wedding Consultants;

m) Exchanging experiences between the members of the Association.

Regulations of procedure of the Polish Association of Wedding Consultants

“Regulations” – means the Rules of the ordinary association, the Polish Association of Wedding Consultants, registered in the records of ordinary associations supervised by the President of Warsaw under no. 1167.

§ 1

Members – rights, responsibilities, qualification criteria

1. Members of the Association are divided into:

a. Ordinary Members,

b. Associate Members

2. An ordinary member of the Association may be a person who meets the criteria set out in part I paragraph 12 of the Rules of Procedure, having to their credit not less than 20 comprehensively organized and documented weddings and having a positive credit balance of an interview completed before a committee appointed by the Board; in that order and holding for at least one year, the status of Associate Member of the Association.

a. A comprehensive organization of a wedding should be understood as a provision of at least 7 wedding services and coordinating the course of the wedding and reception. The verification of this data will be carried out by the Board of the Association through contact with customers appointed by the person retendering for the Association and by submitting to the Board references from at least two subcontractors and from the places in which the organized weddings and wedding receptions took place.

3. An Ordinary Member of the Association has:

a. Active and passive voting rights for the bodies of the Association,

b. The right to benefit from activities of the Association,

c. The right to use the logo and signs of the Association on terms specified by the Board,

d. The right to participate in meetings, training courses, workshops, conferences, and other activities of the Association, organised for the implementation of statutory objectives,

e. The right to suggest proposals, opinions and offers on the activities of the Association,

f. The right to obtain information from the Association regarding its operations and justifications of the decision taken by the Board,

g. The right to make available to them and enable them to use all the standardised documents for the planning, budgeting and coordination of the events in terms of services provided,

h. The right to promote their services and their activities in marketing materials issued by the Association.

4. A member of the Association is obliged to:

a. Comply with the provisions of these regulations and comply with the resolutions adopted by the Association

b. Respect the code of ethics  of the members of the Association,

c. Successively expand their knowledge of the wedding industry, and thus improve the quality and level of services provided,

d. Take an active part in achieving the objectives of the Association described in par. II of the Regulations

e. Act in favour of the Association and take care of its good name,

f. Use clear and fair rules of settlement with clients

g. Respond no later than 10 days after receiving, with written answers, to any complaints and inquiries addressed by the authorities of the Association,

h. Provide the Association Board annually, and no later than the 30th of September each year, with written information about the state of their business in providing services as a wedding consultant, which should be understood as submission of documents certifying organisation in the previous year of at least 3 weddings – within the meaning of § 1.2.a. of the Regulations. Non-compliance with this obligation, after invocation of the Association, is equivalent to exclusion from the Association in accordance with § 4.3.c.

i. Regularly pay membership fees in the amount and terms set by the Board,

j. Actively participate in general meetings under pain of loss or suspension of membership under § 4.3.

5. An Associate Member of the Association may be a person that meets the criteria set out in  § 1 point 12 of the Regulations, having to their credit not less than 5 comprehensively organised and documented weddings – in accordance with § 1 section 2 point a. – and having a positive opinion on the membership issued by the committee, referred to in § 1 . 2.

6. An Associate Member of the Association have all the powers of an ordinary member, described in § 1. 3 with the exception of a passive voting rights and is obliged to comply with the obligations set out in § 1. 4.

§ 2

The acquisition of the membership

1. The admission of a person as an Ordinary Member of the Association is a decision made by the Board in the form of a resolution, on the basis of a written application from the candidate and their satisfactory fulfilment of the criteria described in § 1. 2.

2. The admission of a person as an Associate Member is a decision made by the Board in the form of a resolution of the written request of the person concerned, on their own initiative or at the request of at least 5 Ordinary Members of the Association after they have met the conditions set out in § 1. 5.

3. The Management Board is authorised to approve a person as an Associate Member of the Association also in a situation where the person does not meet the conditions described in § 1. 5, but through their ties to the Association positively influences its development and reputation.

4. In justified cases, despite the candidate meeting the circumstances described in § 1. 2 or by the candidate to the extraordinary circumstances described in § 1. 5, the Board may refuse to accept a person as an Ordinary or Associate member, if in its opinion, the membership of the person could have a negative impact on the business or the image of the Association.

5. Detailed conditions for procedures for admission of new members of the Association are determined by the Board of the Association.

6. The Board’s decision concerning the refusal of Ordinary and Associate Members may be appealed by the concerned to the General Assembly of the Association.

7. An appeal must be filed in writing by the Board, within 14 days of the receipt of the resolutions concerned.

8. A resolution adopted by the General Assembly is final.

§ 3 Special provisions concerning the activity of multiple members under one company

1. In the case of a business consulting provision run under one name, by two or more members of the Association, in the occurrence of one partner leaving the company and thus the Association, as in § 4. 2. a. assignment of their rights and obligations shall be permitted with the consent of the Board to a partner ascending to the company.

2. The Board, through a committee designated for this purpose, approves the assignment of rights and obligations after verifying the competence of the aspiring assignee.

§4

Loss of membership

1. The membership shall be lost by deleting a member from the list or by their exclusion.

2. The exclusion of a member of the Association approved by the resolution of the Board of the Association may be adopted by:

a. a written resignation from the membership in the Association, by the member and submitted to the Board,

b. The retention of membership fees payments for more than three months, the expulsion may take place only after a written request of the payment and unsuccessful expiry of the deadline for doing so.

c. The death of a member.

3. Exclusion of the Association member by way of a resolution is adopted in case of:

a. The resolution made by the Board about the cessation or suspension of wedding services business provision by the member.

b. Conducting of the business by the member in a manner that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Regulations and the code of ethics, or failure to comply with the provisions of internal rules.

c. The situation described in § 1. 4 item h.; i.e. failure to provide information about the status of their activities in the provision of services as a wedding consultant.

d. Commitment of an act which would disqualify a person as a member of the Association or be harmful to the good name of the Association,

e. A final judgment by a court of law against a member, that is of a criminal measure, in the form of deprivation of civil rights,

4. Before the resolution referred to in paragraph. 3 The Board will enable the member concerned to submit written or oral explanations.

5. On the resolution adopted on matters referred to in paragraph. 2 point b. And paragraph. 3 the member concerned shall have the right to appeal to the General Assembly within 14 days from the date of receiving the Resolution. Until the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly the member concerned by this resolution is to be suspended in their rights as a member. A resolution adopted by the General Assembly is final.

§5

Penalties

1. In the case where the member of the Association acts as described in § 4. 3, the Board, having regard to their previous attitude and their contribution to the Association, may decide to provide them with a written warning or suspension of their membership for a period of 3 months to a year.

2. Having obtained another warning within 6 months of receiving the first, the member concerned is to be suspended in accordance with the principles described in §1 or excluded. The final decision in this regard – given the nature of offences -is made by the Board with the appropriate use of the provisions of § 4. 4 and  5.

3. Suspension of a membership results in:

a. For an Ordinary Member – deprivation of the right to vote for the period of suspension,

b. For an Associate Member –  deprivation of active and passive voting rights, for the period of suspension,

c. Deprivation of the right to use the Association’s logo for or the period of suspension

4. The suspension of membership shall not discharge the member concerned from the obligation to pay membership fees during the suspension period.

§ 6

Organizational structure

The bodies of the Association are:

a. The General Assembly of Members,

b. The Board,

c. Audit Committee,

d. Public Relations Manager.

§ 7

The General Assembly of Members

1. The General Assembly is the highest authority of the Association and consists of all members of the Association.

2. The General Assembly shall be gathered by the Board, which shall notify the members of the Association about the place, date and the agenda at least one month prior the scheduled date of the General Assembly. Notification occurs via registered letter and by e-mail.

3. The General Assembly may be ordinary or an emergency assembly.

4. The Annual General Meeting shall be gathered by the Board once a year, in the manner described in §2.

5. An Emergency General Assembly may be gathered in particularly justified cases:

a. by the Management Board, on its own initiative,

b. On a written request of at least half of all the members of the Association with simultaneous indication of the subject and agenda,

c. At the request of the Audit Committee.

6. If an application referred to in §5 b. or c. the Management Board is obliged to gather an emergency General Assembly not later than one month from receiving the request. In the event of evading of the obligation indicated above, gathering an emergency General Assembly may be executed by the applicants or the Audit Committee.

7. Duties of the General Assembly of the Association’s members include in particular:

a. Determining directions of the Association’s activities,

b. Adoption of the Regulation, internal regulations and changes,

c. Selection and dismissal the Association’s members,

d. Consideration and approvals of Association authorities’ statements,

e. Provision of the Management Board and its individual members to discharge at the request of the Audit Committee,

f. Examination of appeals against the resolutions of the Board in cases specified in the Rules of Procedure,

g. Making a resolution to dissolve the Association and allocation of its assets,

h. Making resolutions on other matters not reserved for other bodies of the Association.

8. General Assembly, after opening it by the President or another member of the Management Board shall elect from among the members The Chairperson of the General Assembly, who chairs the meeting of the General Assembly.

§ 8

Conditions for the validity of resolutions

1. Resolutions of the General Assembly – if other provisions do not apply – are passed in an open vote with a simple majority of votes of at least half of the total number of members of the Association. In the event of a tie, the binding decision is made by the President of the Association.

2. The General Assembly may  decide secret voting in relation to certain matters, which are the subject of the meeting and vote.

3. If  unable to adopt a resolution in the mode described in point 1. in the absence of a quorum, the resolution can be again put to the vote except as described in point 1, i.e. It can be taken by a simple majority of the members participating in the vote.

§ 9

Voting

1. Each member has one vote at the General Assembly.

2. In the case of economic activities led by two or more members of the Association in  joint company, they are required, for the purpose of voting, to choose a representative from among themselves to represent their common interests and to present the representative selection to the Chairman of the Assembly.

3. In the event of the situation described in point 2. on two or more members of the Association conducting business under a joint company they are entitled to one vote at the General Assembly.

4. The rules of distribution of votes as described in paragraph. 2 and 3 shall apply accordingly at all votes at the General Meeting and voting in the field of active and passive voting rights for the bodies of the Association.

§ 10

Management

1. The Board of the Association is an executive-management body of the Association and works on the basis of the provisions included this document and the resolutions of the General Assembly of the Association members.

2. The Management Board supervises all activities of the Association between meetings of the General Assembly, represents it outside of the Association and bears responsibility for its actions to the General Assembly.

3. The office term of the Board lasts two years and ends with the election of a new Management Board by the General Assembly.

4. The Management Board is elected by the General Assembly from among the Ordinary Members of the Association by a simple majority of votes of at least half of the total number of members of the Association in a secret voting.

5. The Management Board consists of 3 to 5 members, and it includes the President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and possibly the Vice-President and the remaining member of the Board.

6. The members of the Management Board may not be members of the Audit Committee.

7. The President of the Association is elected by the General Assembly, however the Secretary,  the Treasurer and possibly Vice-President are selected from among the members elected in accordance with paragraph. 1. at the Board’s first meeting.

8. In the event of a reduction in the number of the Board members during a term, the Management Board shall be entitled to co-opt from among the ordinary members of the Association, but with the provision that the number of co-opted members shall not exceed 1/2 of the total number of Board members elected and the outgoing member of the Management Board  is not the President. Otherwise, the Board shall call a General Assembly, as stated in § 7. 5. a. in order to hold a by-election.

9. The resolutions of the Board shall be by an open vote, a simple majority of votes in the presence of the full composition of the Board.

10. In case of equal distribution of votes, the vote of the President is binding.

11. On the basis of the Full Board Resolution, the Board may adopt resolutions by secret ballot.

12. In urgent cases, or in case of inability to gather all members of the Board in one place, voting may take place through telephone, via email or correspondence and a notification should be sent to all members of the Board.

§ 11

President

1. The President directs the work of the Board and represent the Association in external matters.

2. To issue declarations of will on behalf of the Association, the President and another member of the Board should act together.

3. The Secretary shall organize the work of the Board and keeps records of the Board meetings.

4. The Treasurer is responsible for the financial affairs of the Association, primarily for collecting membership fees.

§ 12

Authority of the Board

1. The roles and responsibilities of the Board on membership matters are in particular:

a. Adopting resolutions in regards to recruiting new Ordinary and Associate Members of the Association according to the terms specified in § 1 and § 2,

b. Adopting resolutions concerning exclusion of members of the Association in the cases specified in § 4 and § 5,

c. Acceptance of statements of will for new Association Members,

d. Applying to the General Assembly with proposals on any matters related to membership.

2. The powers and responsibilities of the Board in matters of the General Assembly are:

a. Gathering the General Assembly on its own initiative, at the request of at least half of all members of the Association or at the request of the Audit Committee with the dates indicated in this document,

b. Preparing the organisation of the General Assembly,

c. Preparing the necessary materials, draft resolutions, rules and declarations of the General Assembly,

d. Providing clarification of the submitted reports and activities.

3. The roles and responsibilities of the Board on the functioning of the Association are:

a. Adopting plans of the Association’s activities,

b. Annual submission of reports on the Association’s activities to the General Assembly,

c. Determination of stamps, signs and logos of the Association,

d. Determining the means of conveying information and informing members of the Association of resolutions adopted by the Board which are important for the functioning of the Association,

e. Providing interpretation of the provisions of the Regulations and internal rules on a Member’s request.

f. Appointment of permanent or temporary teams for specific tasks,

g. Taking other activities for which the Management Board is obliged under the provisions of the Regulations.

4. The Management Board may, if necessary as determine by resolution, create regulations specifying in detail the scope of its activities and competence in accordance with the provisions of this document.

§ 13

The Audit Committee

1. The Audit Committee is an internal control body that monitors the activities of the Association and its bodies.

2. The term of the Audit Committee lasts two years and ends with the election of new members by the General Assembly.

3. The Audit Committee shall consist of a Chairman and two members to be appointed by the General Assembly from among the ordinary members of the Association by a simple majority of votes of at least half of the total number of members of the Association in a secret ballot.

4. The members of the Audit Committee may not be members of the Board.

5. In the event of a reduction in the number of members of the Audit Committee during a term, the Management Board shall be entitled to co-opt from among the ordinary members of the Association, but with the provision that the number of co-opted members shall not exceed 1/3 of the total number of Board members elected and the outgoing member of the Management Board  is not the President. Otherwise, the Board shall call a General Assembly, as stated in § 7. 5. c. in order to hold a by-election.

6. Resolutions of the Audit Committee shall be made by open voting, a simple majority vote in the presence of full Committee.

7. Resolutions on personal matters and on discharge or denial to grant discharge shall be made by secret voting.

8 In urgent cases, or in case of inability to gather all members of the Audit Committee in one place, voting may take place through telephone, via email or correspondence and a notification should be sent to all members of the Audit Committee.

§ 14

Scope of The Audit Committee

1. The duties of the Audit Committee include in particular:

a. Ongoing monitoring of the activities of the Board and the functioning of the Association, not less often than once a year, in terms of purpose, reliability, accuracy and compliance with the Regulations, internal regulations and resolutions of the General Assembly,

b. Control of the Board in respect of their financial management of the Association,

c. Reporting on its activities at the General Assembly and reporting applications for the grant or refusal of discharge to the Management Board or its individual members.

d. Submission of post audit reports with conclusions and possible suggestions to the Board.

e. Requesting to Gather an Emergency General Assembly if it finds it necessary in case of neglected duties by the Board, as well as in other urgent cases.

2. The Audit Committee members are entitled to participate in meetings of the Association’s governing bodies, and be team members for permanent or temporary teams appointed by the Board. 

3. The Audit Committee may, if necessary,  determine in detail the scope of its activities and responsibilities, in particular in regards to control procedures – in line with the provisions of these Regulations.

§ 15

Public Relations Manager

1. The PR Manager position is created to ensure adequate representation of the Association and its interests in the media and in the wedding industry market.

2. The term of the PR Manager lasts two years and ends with the selection of a new candidate by the General Assembly.

3.The PR Manager is appointed by the General Assembly from among the Ordinary Members of the Association by a simple majority of votes of at least half of the total number of members of the Association in a secret ballot.

§ 16

Scope of Public Relation Manager

1. The roles and responsibilities of PR Manager are, in particular:

a. Creating and implementing of a comprehensive strategy of the Association’s Public Relations

b. Representing the Association in the media,

c. Preparing and distributing press releases,

d. Organising information meetings and press conferences.

e. Media and press monitoring

2. PR Manager is entitled to participate in the Board’s meeting, while having an advisory capacity in scope of their competences and responsibilities.

§ 17

Changing the internal regulations

1. A resolution regarding adjustments to these Regulations  may be adopted by the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority with at least half of the total number of members of the Association present.

2. The Board or a group of at least half of the total number of members of the Association may come forward with a proposal on adjusting these regulations. Along with the submission of the proposal it is necessary to submit a draft of proposed changes.

3. Changes of the Regulations may be discussed by the General Assembly only upon placing this issue on the agenda. The draft of proposed changes is to be included in the notification of the General Assembly.

§ 18

Liquidation of the Association

1. A resolution on liquidation of the Association may be adopted by the General Assembly of the Association with two-thirds of the majority present with at least half of the total number of members of the Association present.

2. A request regarding the liquidation of the Association may be proposed  by the Board of the Association or a group of at least half of the total number of the Association’s members. Along with the submission of the proposal it is necessary to include a written justification.

3. The issue of liquidation may be discussed by the General Assembly only when it is placed on the agenda. The notice of the General Assembly  must be accompanied by a written justification for the will of liquidation of the Association.

4. Liquidation of the Association is conducted on the basis of the provisions of Chapter V of the Act of April 7, 1989. Law on Associations