Daily Bread Food Bank Complaints Policy and Procedure

This policy and procedure applies to complaints received from interested parties about our activities, programs, services, staff or volunteers. Interested parties may include donors, clients, volunteers, customers, suppliers, and other parties that have dealings with Daily Bread.

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 must be fair, impartial and respectful to all parties.
• Complainants must be advised of their right to escalate their complaint to a more senior staff person if they are dissatisfied with treatment or outcome.
• Complainants must be provided clear and understandable reasons for decisions relating to complaints.
• Complainants must be provided with updates.
• The history of complaints will be used to assist Daily Bread in improving its services, policies and procedures.

Complaint Receipt and Handling

A complaint may be received verbally (by phone or in person) or in writing (by mail, fax, email). An employee or volunteer who initially receives a complaint should put the complainant directly in touch with the Director of Human Resources, who will log the complaint, confirm to the complainant that the issue will be dealt with in a given time frame and get any contact information needed to maintain contact.

Complaint Resolution

Every effort will be made to resolve complaints received in a timely fashion.

Verbal Complaints

When receiving a verbal complaint, the Director of HR will listen and seek to fully understand the complaint and, if practicable, take the issue up immediately with the Manager or Director responsible for the department where the issue originated.

Written Complaints

Complaints received in writing should be acknowledged within 2 business days and the Director of HR will attempt to resolve the matter and respond to the complainant within 10 business days.

Escalation of a Complaint

Where the Director of HR is unable to resolve the complaint, he will escalate it to the relevant Director, or Executive Director as appropriate. If the complaint is about the Executive Director, it will be referred to the Chair of the Human Resources Committee.

Communication with Complainant

Complainants will be kept informed of the status of their complaint. Every attempt should be made to resolve escalated complaints within an additional 10 business days.

Documenting the Complaint

It is necessary to keep a record of any complaint that involves a dispute over money as well as any complaint that cannot be resolved on the same day it is received. Information about such complaints must be recorded on the complaints tracking worksheet, including the issue, who handled it, what was done to resolve the complaint, timeframe, and a description of the resolution.

Reporting Complaints to the Board of Directors

The Director of HR will prepare an annual summary of the complaints received, including number and type, and send it to the Human Resources Committee, who will report their conclusions to the Board of Directors in sufficient detail for board members to understand the overall nature and impact of complaints received.