GRIEVANCE AND REDRESS PROCEDURE

Created: 18/01/2023

A. Purpose

This procedure governs the process for resolving complaints received from stakeholders/partners who are natural or legal person customers of the Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC) and/or who benefit from services provided by FCC.

B. Definitions

Complaint is:

  • A request by any stakeholder dealing with FCC to resolve situations they consider to be a deviation from the legal or contractual terms of service provision, to which a response or resolution is expected or an expression of dissatisfaction through feedback, complaints or grievances from a stakeholder related to any aspect of Foundation Conservation Carpathia as an organization or related to a person working for or on behalf of FCC.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Perceived failure to do something agreed upon
  • Failure to comply with relevant international/national laws/policies
  • Failure to comply with FCC policies or procedures
  • Mistakes made by a person working on behalf of FCC, especially employees, board members and advisory group members
  • Perceived unethical behaviour of a person working on behalf of the FCC or perceived unethical treatment of stakeholders/partners
  • Misconduct by a person working on behalf of the FCC

Compensation/remedies:

Actions, remedies or resolutions designed to rectify the effect of reported grievances

C. Principles and requirements

1. FCC reports external grievances

All those working for or on behalf of FCC report identified external grievances, perceived grievances and related deviations.

2. The FCC encourages external stakeholders to report grievances

All stakeholders are encouraged to use this procedure to report grievances, perceived grievances and related deviations. Information on the Grievance and Redress Procedure is distributed to all those working for or on behalf of FCC, as well as project partners and other relevant stakeholders. The information is accessible and easy to understand both in terms of channel usage and language. Any complaint may be submitted through any of the channels listed in D.1.

3. The FCC maintains confidentiality

Reports of violations or alleged violations will be kept confidential to the extent possible consistent with the need to conduct a proper and impartial investigation.

4. The FCC acts promptly, respectfully and without retaliation

Complaints shall be promptly, thoroughly, and resolved as quickly as possible by appropriate persons designated by the FCC. No person who reports grievances or misconduct in good faith shall suffer harassment, retaliation, or adverse consequences related to employment with FCC. An FCC member who retaliates against someone who has reported a complaint in good faith is subject to corrective action.

The review and investigation of grievances shall be conducted fairly, impartially and respectfully to all relevant stakeholders. This includes providing complainants with clear and understandable reasons for decisions regarding their grievance. Updates are provided to complainants pending resolution of their concerns or complaint as necessary.

5. FCC learns from grievances and remedies

Grievances and their resolution are used as a basis for learning and improving future activities, policies and procedures.

D. Ways in which interested persons/customers can file a complaint

For various complaints or grievances, the interested person/customer may contact us by telephone, fax, email or postal service.

1. Contact details for receiving complaints:

The telephone numbers and email address where interested persons/customers can contact us are:

2. Name, address and working hours of the department responsible for receiving and registering complaints:

The department in charge of dealing with complaints, grievances reported by any interested persons who have relations with FCC will be determined later internally so that the complaint is forwarded internally to the responsible person.

Working hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm.

Correspondence address: Mun. Brasov, Calea Feldioarei, nr. 27, room 1, Jud. Brasov

3. Maximum time limit for the settlement of complaints:

FCC undertakes to examine the complaints and requests of interested persons/customers and to resolve them within a maximum of 30 days from the date of registration, it being noted that, depending on the complexity of the intervention, this deadline may be extended by a maximum of 48 hours. An exception to this rule is when the occurrence of a case of force majeure prevents the problem/malfunction/malfunctioning that is the subject of the complaint/request from being remedied within the time limits referred to in the previous paragraph.

In this case, the deadline for resolving the complaint/complaint shall be a maximum of 30 days from the end of the force majeure event.

4. Registration and settlement of complaints:

The procedure for registering and settling complaints consists of:

To carry out the complaint resolution activity, the FCC makes the complaint form available on the website www.carpathia.org/contact/sesizari.

a) Registration in the Complaints Register maintained by the FCC.

The register will include the following:

  • registration number and date
  • the name of the complainant
  • contact details
  • the subject of the complaint
  • number and date of response

b) The number and date of registration of the complaint shall be communicated to the data subject/customer immediately after registration, but no later than the second working day after the date of receipt of the complaint. Complaints may be made on their own behalf or through authorised representatives, in which case the authorisation shall be attached.

c) After registration, complaints will be referred to the responsible persons appointed and/or mandated by the FCC.

d) The interested party/customer will receive a response within a maximum of 30 (thirty) calendar days from the date the FCC registers the complaint.

e) The FCC will notify the interested person/customer:

  • the response to the complaint, if the complaint relates to FCC products/services, or
  • information that the complaint has been forwarded to the service provider/supplier or service package agency, which is required to respond or, as appropriate, resolve the matter.

f) The response of the service provider/supplier or the agency organising the service package, communicated to the FCC, will be sent to the consumer no later than 3 working days after receipt. If the response deadline falls on a non-working day, the response will be delayed accordingly, starting on the first working day.

5. Investigation and settlement of complaints

Following registration of the complaint, FCC staff responsible for investigating the issues raised and the supporting documents provided by the person concerned/customer shall determine the measures to be taken to resolve the complaint. Depending on the outcome of the complaint analysis, the following actions may be taken:

  • If the complaint is found to be well-founded, a work plan on how to resolve the complaint shall be established and implemented by the complaint resolution officer. This work plan may include direct organisational action, stakeholder assessment and involvement, mediation, investigation or other forms of consultation and implementation. After corrective and preventive actions have been implemented, the stakeholder/customer is informed in writing of the successful resolution of the complaint;
  • If the case cannot be easily resolved by the responsible party, it is referred to the Compliance Officer for resolution. If, however, the complaint concerns the Compliance Officer, it is dealt with by the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.
  • If the complaint is deemed to be unfounded or not within the FCC’s competence to resolve, a reply to this effect will be sent to the interested party/customer.

If the resolution of the complaint is not within the competence of the operator, the complaint shall be forwarded to the competent authorities, notifying the customer in writing.

The conclusion of the examination of the complaint, the way in which the complaint has been dealt with and, where appropriate, the action taken shall be recorded in the Complaints Register, with a reference to the number and date of the reply.

Disputes concerning the resolution of complaints may be settled amicably by agreement between the person concerned/customer and the FCC.

6. Dispute resolution procedures

If the data subject/consumer is not satisfied with the way their complaint has been dealt with, they may use the following alternative dispute resolution options:

  • referral to the National Authority for Consumer Protection;
  • mediation, in accordance with the provisions of Law No 192/2006 on mediation and the organisation of the profession of mediator;
  • filing a claim before the competent courts.