This is the complaints procedure for raising concerns and complaints under Rule 19G of the Rule Book. Although Community aims to provide the highest levels of service, there may from time to time be occasion where you have reason to raise concerns about the levels of service you may have received.
This complaint procedure is for complaints in relation to any service or benefit provided by or behalf of the union only under Rule 19G of the rule book. If the complaint relates to a matter falling under any other provision of the rule book, this procedure will not apply.
If you find that you need to raise concerns about the standard of service, or complain about any service or benefit, then please follow the below steps to bring the matter to our attention. A concern should fall under one of the following grounds:
- Membership services and benefits
- Workplace representation and support
- Legal assistance, support and representation
- Data protection
- Discrimination and equality
The process
In order to raise a concern you will need to contact the Complaints Administrator in writing who will then allocate your complaint to the nominated person.
Please email complaints@community-tu.org or contact us via our website.
You can also write to us addressed for the attention of:
Complaints Administrator
465c Caledonian Road
London
N7 9GX.
All complaints must be sent to the complaints administrator and will be dealt within a reasonable period of time and this shall be dependant on the nature of the concerns and the complexity of the matter.
The nominated persons who may be sent your complaint are listed below, and the nominated person shall respond to you.
Membership services and benefits
Membership fees and benefits are defined on our website. There are a number of benefits and services we offer to you as a member.
If you believe you have not received the correct service or benefit or wish to raise a concern on how these were administered, this will be dealt with by: David Fiddler Head of Membership Services.
Workplace representation and support
If you are not happy with the level of support you have received in the workplace or are not happy with the quality of service, this will be dealt with by your Regional Secretary.
- Scotland and Northern Ireland: Steve Farrell
- North of England Region: Paul Warren
- Wales: Rob Edwards
- Midlands: Gavin Miller
- London and South: David Weeks
- South West: Caroline Taylor
If you have any concerns with any support received from a Regional Secretary your complaint will be dealt with by: Sean Scorer, National Officer for Regions.
If your concern relates to assistance/support from a National Officer then the matter shall be dealt with by: Alasdair McDiarmid, Assistant General Secretary.
Legal assistance, support and representation
If you are not satisfied with the level of assistance, support or representation you have received in relation to any external solicitor, please contact the solicitor firm directly and copy in the Head of Legal.
If you are unhappy with any legal assistance, support or representation provided by the legal department, this will be dealt with by: Nazim Shah, Head of Legal.
Data protection
If you have concerns, which may be in relation to any communication, article, publication, or other matter involving the processing of any of your personal data, this will be dealt with by: Robin Marsh, Head of IT.
Discrimination and equalities
Community Trade Union tries to ensure that we do not treat anyone less favourably for any unlawful reason.
If you believe you have been treated in an unfair or discriminatory manner because of a protected characteristic – for example:
- Age
- Race
- Sex
- Gender
- Religion or Belief
- Disability
- Marital Status or
- Pregnancy/Maternity
Please let us know and this will be dealt with by: Jennifer Dean, Head of Equalities.
Stage 1
You must contact us in writing for us to be able to progress the matter. If the concern is not in a written form, we shall not be able to deal with it until such time as you provide a written complaint to the complaints administrator. Please email complaints@community-tu.org or contact us via our website. You can also write to us:
Complaints Administrator
465c Caledonian Road
London
N7 9GX.
This will then be referred to the nominated person for action. The nominated person will then deal with your concern and will ask the individual complained against to provide a report to your written complaint before deciding how to resolve the issues you have raised.
After having considered all the relevant and available facts, the nominated person will then respond to you.
This will be done within a reasonable period of time, which will be determined by the nature of the complaint and its complexity.
Stage 2
If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of stage 1, you can appeal the outcome.
This will again need to be in writing within 7 days of the receipt of the outcome at stage 1.
You will need to send the appeal in writing or by email to the person who determined your complaint in the first instance (the nominated person).
You will need to provide reasons why you disagree with the stage 1 outcome given by the person dealing with your complaint in detail.
The Appeal shall then be dealt with by someone the line manager of the person who determined the complaint at stage 1 and could be the National Officer for Regions or the Assistant General Secretary.
A response should be given within a reasonable period which will again be dependant on the complexity and nature of your original complaint and the points you raise.
The response will be in writing and will only consider the points you have raised. This will be a review of the complaint outcome and not a complete re-hearing.
Once you have your appeal outcome, this will be the end of the process and no further appeal will be possible unless you can show in writing any exceptional circumstances or manifest inaccuracies in the outcome at stage 2.
Stage 3
If you are not satisfied with the outcome at stage 2 and can evidence exceptional circumstances or a manifest error in the previous decision, you should email the complaints administrator who will pass this matter on to either the National Officer for Regions, Assistant General Secretary or the General Secretary.
This will be possible only in exceptional matters and will be entirely at the discretion of the General Secretary and MUST be done within 5 days of the decision at stage 2.
There shall be no further appeal from a stage 3 decision, which shall be final and conclusive of any complaint raised.
Accessibility
If you require assistance to access or engage with the complaints procedure please contact either the nominated person or the complaints administrator and necessary provisions will be made.
Click below to download a copy of our member complaints procedure.
© Community Trade Union 2023