Ti	=	ARTICLE 1 - Membership
1.Ti	=	Classes of Members
1.sec	=	The Cooperative shall have one class of Members.
[Explanatory Note: A class of members is a group of people or organizations who all have the same specified rights and responsibilities according to the Bylaws. Some cooperatives may have more than one class of members depending on their needs. For example a cooperative may wish to create a class of worker-members and a class of consumer-members.]	=
2.Ti	=	Becoming a Member
2.0.sec	=	To become a Member of this Cooperative, a person must:
2.1.sec	=	Be a resident of California;
2.2.sec	=	Pay an Initial Capital Contribution; the amount of the Initial Capital Contribution will be determined by the Board of Directors;
2.3.sec	=	Work for the Cooperative for 650 hours or six months, whichever period is longer; this period of time is called the “Candidacy Period;”
2.4.sec	=	Be approved by the existing Members, by means of the process described in Section 1.3; and
2.5.sec	=	Receive a copy of the Cooperative's Disclosure Statement, Bylaws, and a receipt for payment of the Initial Capital Contribution.
2.	=	[G/Z/ol-a/s5]
[Explanatory Note: Although the Statute does not require these qualifications for membership, most cooperatives list a set of membership qualifications. Limiting membership to California residents is helpful, because the cooperative might otherwise have to deal with federal securities law issues. Cooperatives are not required by statute to have an initial capital contribution or membership fee, but these kinds of payments are helpful to cover initial start-up and operating costs. If your cooperative does want to require an initial capital contribution or recurring membership fee, the bylaws should provide for it. (See 12400 and 12401).]	=
3.Ti	=	Acceptance of Members
3.0.sec	=	The application review and approval process for a Prospective Member is as follows:
3.1.sec	=	The Board of Directors or an empowered hiring committee shall receive the membership application from a Prospective Member and shall submit it to the Members for approval.
3.2.sec	=	The Members shall then decide by the decision-making process described in {DecisionMaking.Xref}.1 whether to approve the application.
3.3.sec	=	If the application is not approved, the applicant’s employment shall be immediately terminated, unless the Members choose to specify a further Candidacy Period to be followed by a second decision of the Members on whether to approve the application.
3.4.sec	=	Upon approval of the application, and meeting the qualifications listed in Section 1.2, the applicant shall immediately become a Member.
3.5.sec	=	The Cooperative may waive the Candidacy Period and renew a former Member’s Membership immediately by a 75% vote of all the Members.
3.	=	[G/Z/ol-a/s5]
[Explanatory Note: A cooperative may choose to design its membership application process and approval process in whatever way it chooses.]	=
4.Ti	=	Members May Not Transfer Their Memberships
4.sec	=	No Member may transfer her or his Membership or any right arising from that Membership. Any attempted assignment or transfer of Membership shall be void, and will not confer rights on the intended assignee or transferee.
	=	[G/Z/ol/4]
[Explanatory Note: The Statute generally prohibits transfer of memberships unless the cooperative’s articles or bylaws allows for transfers. See 12410.]	=