	Acts of parliament
	Award
	Employment Issues
	Leave Information
	Policies
	Salaries and Allowances
	Workplace Issues

Health & Safety

Professional information

Employment Issues

Complaint - what complaint?

Some TCEEA members have reported an overload of petty complaints by students and parents. This is exacerbated if parents seem all too ready to threaten to remove their child from the school if a matter is not dealt with in a particular way.
The key focus of the work of teachers and support staff is human relationships.
School managers, however, seem increasingly under pressure to retain enrolments and soothe ruffled feathers - sometimes at the expense of commonsense and professional support of their staff.

The right to natural justice

Regular contact with parents is a part of school life. Addressing concerns about a child's progress, working with parents as volunteers, writing formal reports, and chatting informally with parents when they drop off and pick up their children - it's all part of the job.
It is not unusual in the course of this contact for parents to raise concerns about such things as teaching methods, discipline issues, incidents involving students, or, even in some cases, for there to be personality conflicts.
All schools need a fair and transparent process to deal with complaints by parents. Any process developed needs to consider the legal obligations of the school in relation to its duty of care to the children, while also guaranteeing procedural fairness and justice to the employee. Without such a process schools run the risk of being inconsistent when reacting to individual parental complaints.
When dealing with complaints from parents or when addressing any other concerns about an employee's performance, school administrators need to ensure they follow the principles of natural justice - a set of legal rights or rules governing procedural fairness which has been developed by the courts.
For employees this includes the right to know the nature and full details of any allegations, the opportunity to reply to any allegations, and an obligation on the part of decision-makers to act in good faith. The employee's reply to the allegations or complaints must be taken into account before any decision is made.
For parents natural justice may include the right to information about their child, to be involved in any decision-making process and to be informed of any decision.
Promoting open and effective communication
In many cases complaints can be avoided by promoting open communication within the school with parents.
This can be achieved by:
.Making policies relating to curriculum and discipline issues available to parents.
.Encouraging parents to become involved in curriculum and other policy developments.
.Implementing a policy of regular communication on academic, curriculum and management issues.

Managing complaints

Complaints need to be resolved as effectively as possible. Parents need to know that the person they are dealing with -whether it is the principal, deputy, teacher or non-teaching staff member - is willing to listen to their concerns and, where possible, help resolve the matter.
Often when a parent complains they are simply looking for reassurance that a particular situation won't re-occur or seeking an apology for a perceived wrong. Trivialising or dismissing a complaint can inflame a situation and reinforce the complainant's resolve to pursue a more formal solution.
Where parents wish to pursue a complaint they should be made aware that there is a published process for dealing with complaints, and that this document, endorsed by the school is available to them.
Document complaints
When responding to complaints, employees need to be aware that anything committed to paper may at some later state become public. Whilst it is essential to record important details, only the facts should be recorded in any documents. Emotional or judgmental comments should be avoided.

Developing a complaints procedure

Schools should put a fair process in place to deal with complaints about teachers, non-teaching staff or administrators. This should be developed in consultation with the parent body, employees, the employer and any other stake-holders.
Complaints procedures should be open and transparent, provide natural justice and procedural fairness and satisfy the school's duty of care requirements. The absence of transparency and fairness can lead to lack of trust, low morale and litigation.
Procedures need to be established for:
.Receiving complaints - so parents know where and to whom they should direct them.
.Establishing the basis of the complaint - this may need to be in writing if the matter cannot be resolved by a simple explanation of the facts.
.Finding out what is required to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of the person making the complaint - a simple apology may be all that is required.
.Investigating the complaint to establish if it has substance and whether it is criminal in nature.
.Identifying a suitable person to carry out and oversee the complaint process.
Any complaint procedure should:
.Address the complaint quickly.
.Avoid emotional distractions.
.Ensure confidentiality of sensitive issues.
.Be procedurally fair to both the person complaining and the person against whom the complaint is made.
.Deal with the complaint at the appropriate level of authority.
.Have an effective report back system.

Contact Details
Tasmanian Catholic Education Employees Association
Ph: (03) 6234 9970
Fax: (03) 6234 9505
Email: angbriant@tassie.net.au

© 2005 Tasmanian Catholic Education Employees' Association
379 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart
Tel. (03) 6234 9970 Fax: (03) 6234 9505
Last Modified: Tuesday, 11-Jul-2006 11:20:02 EST
Site proudly designed and programmed by Social Change Online