FWH General Policies
Types of penalty
❌ Slots removed — Olio will remove one or more slots from the volunteer.
📢 Reminder — This is a communication from Olio to remind you of a rule that we believe is not being followed. Reminders are generally sent for rules that are low-risk and unintentional. Reminders are recorded and failure to improve can lead to the following formal penalties.
⚠️ Formal Warning — This is like a yellow card. After the first warning, you will be removed from your current Squad Captain positions. If you collect a second formal warning within 6 months, your account will be suspended from the FWH programme for 90 days.
🟠 Suspension — This is like a time-out. After 90 days, the suspension is reviewed by the Community Experience team, giving users another chance. This could be immediate, the result of two warnings or missed collections, depending on the infraction.
We can review your suspension for the following infractions;
- Missed Collections
- Skipping Collections
- Food Safety (Unsanitary Surfaces, Food on the Floor, No Date in photo, etc.)
🔴 Ban from Food Waste Hero programme — This is like a red card. You will not be able to volunteer as a Food Waste Hero indefinitely with Olio, but can use the app as a regular user.
🗒️ Please note:
🌟 While Olio may lift your suspension after 90-days, you will need to ensure that your rating is above 4 stars in order to reactivate your Food Waste Hero account.
❗ Warnings issued within the last six months are still in effect. Therefore, if you've had a suspension lifted but have received a warning during that period, any further rule violations will result in an immediate suspension of your account.
Becoming a FWH
🔴 FWHs must have an average rating of 4* or above. Users with a lower rating will not be able to sign up as a FWH. FWHs whose rating drops below 4* will be removed from the programme until their rating improves.
🔴 One account per person. If we find someone actively using multiple accounts on Olio, all accounts will be permanently banned.
Being a Squad Captain
❌ Squad captains must not go more than 30 days without messaging in the squad chat. Unresponsive squad captains will be removed from their position in the squad chat.
Food Safety
For all our Food Safety rules, please read this FAQ
Conduct
For all our rules on conduct between volunteers, business partners and Olio staff, please read this FAQ
Collection Slots
❌ FWHs must skip their collection on the Volunteer Hub if they cannot attend a collection. FWHs that send another FWH to their collection will be recorded for a missed collection.
Click here to see how to skip a collection
Click here to see how we record missed collections
⚠️ FWHs cannot skip more than 3 consecutive collections (for the same collection slot) within 24 hours of the collection time. Failure to comply with this rule will result in a formal warning and your slot will be removed.
⚠️ FWHs cannot swap slots without consent. FWHs that swap slots without written consent in the squad chat from the person they are swapping with will receive a formal warning.
Full FAQ on how to swap slots.
Sharing with the community
🔴 FWHs must list 90% of collected food on the app. 10% of the food collected is for you to use as you wish, and doesn't need to be listed on the app. If your collection is less than 10 items, you can keep 1 item and share the rest.
*For late collections the policy is slightly different, read here for more information.
🔴 All listed items must be shared outside your household. Only the unlisted 10% personal allowance can be kept for yourself, family, friends, or donated locally.
Please refer to our full FAQ for more details on keeping collection items
⚠️ FWHs must share widely — Sharing only among a small group and rejecting other requests will result in a formal warning.
Refer to our FAQ for more details on how to share widely.
⚠️ Fly Tipping of food from collections
Fly tipping (illegally dumping food in public places) from your Olio collections is strictly prohibited. Food Waste Heroes are responsible for distributing collected food safely through the Olio app. Volunteers will receive a formal warning if we receive reports or evidence of food being fly tipped.