Complaints Policy
Guiding Principles
It is in the interest of all parties that complaints are dealt with promptly and resolved as quickly as possible.
Review of complaints is fair, impartial and respectful to all parties.
Complainants are advised of their options to escalate their complaint to a more senior staff person if they are dissatisfied with treatment or outcome.
Complainants are provided clear and understandable reasons for decisions relating to complaints.
Updates are provided to complainants during review processes.
Complaints are used to assist in improving services, policies and procedures.
Definition
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the service, actions, or lack of action by Rexdale Women’s Centre as an organization or by a staff or volunteer acting on behalf of Rexdale Women’s Centre. Complaints may come from the general public, donors, participants, clients, researchers, and/or volunteers. (Employees wishing to make a complaint should follow the appropriate Personnel Policy.)
Procedure
Many concerns or informal complaints can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise, by speaking with your contact at Rexdale Women’s Centre. You can choose one from among these three options:
You can contact us by telephone at Rexdale Women’s Centre’s main number at 416-745-0062 and ask for the Program Director
Or, you can visit us at any of our locations and speak to a senior staff person.
Or, you can email us at admin@rexdalewomen.org
Or, you can write to us at our head office and any of our locations.
If a problem cannot be resolved in this way or if a member of the public wishes to make a formal complaint, they may do so in writing us at admin@rexdalewomen.org or by mail to:
Rexdale Women’s Centre
Head Office
925 Albion Road, Suite 309
Etobicoke, ON
M9V 1A6
Attention: Executive Director
If the complaint is about the executive director, please write to us at:
Rexdale Women’s Centre
Head Office
925 Albion Road, Suite 309
Etobicoke, ON
M9V 1A6
Attention: Chairperson-President, Board of Directors
Please include your name, address, email address and contact telephone number in your email or letter so that we can contact you easily.
How long will it take to receive a response?
We will try to respond to all formal complaints within 10 business days. However, you will receive an acknowledgment within the first 5 days of receipt. If the process takes longer, we will let you know.
What will we do?
We will work as quickly as possible and diligently to fix problems, correct mistakes and address concerns. We will treat you with courtesy and respect, listen to what you say, keep you informed about our progress, and finally provide you with a response.
From time to time we receive complaints that do not relate directly to something that Rexdale Women’s Centre is responsible for. There may be rare occasions when we choose not to respond to a complaint.
These include:
When a complaint is about something that Rexdale Women’s Centre has no direct connection to, we may choose to reply to clarify the situation but may choose not to do so.
When someone unreasonably pursues a complaint that we have already responded to. They will be given escalation points, but we may choose not to reply again and we will always inform them of our decision to do this.
When a complainant is being obviously abusive, prejudiced or offensive in their manner.
When a complainant is harassing a staff member.
When a complaint is illegible or incoherent.
When a complaint has been sent to us and numerous other organizations as part of a bulk mailing or email. We can choose whether it is necessary for us to reply or not.
Rexdale Women’s Centre cannot respond to a complaint made anonymously. However, we will investigate the complaint and use the information to improve in any way that we can.