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contracts of employment and in our disciplinary policy will be
applied, and the relevant
course taken with the discretion of the chief executive and
Board where required.
Complaints about volunteers will be taken seriously and
investigated appropriately by a
member of South London Cares staff, including the chief
executive where appropriate.
These complaints may take various forms:
Informal or off the cuff comments will be acknowledged
conversationally and
dealt with by a member of staff if required, with justifications
or explanations
provided.
Private and direct complaints will be heard fully by a member of
staff, with due
consideration for the complaint made and justifications,
explanations and informal
apologies given if necessary. No further action shall be
taken.
Telephone or written complaints will be investigated formally,
with a short report
written and presented to the board if the issue is decided by
the chief executive to
be sufficiently serious. Participants making this type of
complaints will receive an
answer within 10 working days, and a full apology if
necessary.
If there is sufficient evidence that a volunteer has acted
inappropriately, that individual will
be struck off the South London Cares volunteer database
immediately and without
warning, and will not be eligible to participate in future South
London Cares programmes.
Complaints made by volunteers about the neighbours they spend
time with will be
investigated in the same way. Where evidence is presented to
suggest that a neighbour
has acted inappropriately, that neighbour will not be invited to
return to South London
Cares events in future, nor will they be permitted to receive
support from South London
Cares centrally or from our volunteers. The reasons for this
will be explained in full.
There may be discretionary circumstances in which South London
Cares does not
choose to respond to a complaint at all. These circumstances may
include:
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When someone pursues a complaint that we have already responded
to
reasonably;
When a complaint is obviously abusive, prejudiced or
unfounded;
When a complainant is harassing a South London Cares employee,
volunteer or
neighbour;
When a complainant is incoherent, illegible or aggressive;
When a complainant is not specific or has clearly been sent to
complain to other
organisations simultaneously as part of a coordinated campaign;
or
When a complaint is anonymous or unsubstantiated.
If a complaint is made by any party and subsequently dropped, we
will do all we can to
move on from the situation without further investigation, action
or residual feeling.
However, it is our priority to protect all South London Cares
stakeholders according to
our safeguarding policy and to ensure they are receiving a safe
and enjoyable experience
from our work. Discretion will therefore be applied, and the
decision of
the Chief Executive and Board is final.
CHIEF EXEUCITVE, NOVEMBER 2013
