Grievance resolution

“Any member of a service body can petition that body for the redress of a personal grievance without fear of reprisal.” (Concept 10)

Although we generally work well together and complete our tasks in cooperation with each other, from time to time Australian Regional Service Committee (ARSC) participants may believe that they have not been fairly treated. Many of us use our program to manage our hurt feelings and ask our sponsor for support, however, sometimes we believe that we need to re-visit the circumstances of our hurt and ask those involved to help us understand or apologise to us. This is when we may decide to initiate a grievance process.

Any ARSC participant can initiate this process.

It is expected that the aggrieved member would have made attempts to address their concerns with the other member(s) involved without redress to the formal grievance process, however not having done this does not disqualify them from engaging in the formal process.

Initiation of a grievance process

1. The ARSC member makes their grievance known to the ARSC Chair, stating the nature of the grievance and indicating that they wish to use a formal grievance resolution process to resolve their concerns.
2. The ARSC Chair will confer with ARSC Admin to determine that the grievance falls within the responsibility of the ARSC. If the ARSC Admin Committee decides that it does not, the aggrieved member can appeal that decision to the ARSC as a whole. If they take this step, they must be willing to accept the decision of the ARSC.
3. If the ARSC Admin Committee decides the matter falls within the responsibility of the ARSC, under Concept 10, a coordinator for the grievance process is nominated.

Nomination of a grievance process coordinator

This is an ARSC Admin member or ARSC participant. The coordinator is appointed to ensure a fair hearing is given.

Members of ARSC Admin can disqualify themselves if they have a conflict of interest, or otherwise don’t believe they can fulfil the role.

If the aggrieved person believes there is a conflict of interest, they can appeal to Admin to have the nomination changed.
If consensus cannot be reached on a nomination, then Admin in full consultation with the aggrieved person can agree to nominate someone else to consider the matter. If no consensus is reached at all, the matter is referred to the ARSC as a whole.

Consideration process

1. The nominated coordinator will personally hear all parts or sides of the matter. The aggrieved member(s) can be assisted by another NA member if they wish and may tender any relevant documents for consideration. They may also request to have other ARSC participants or appropriate NA members provide documentation or a verbal report to help clarify the matter.
2. The nominated coordinator will consider all relevant information and make their recommendation to the ARSC Admin Committee for consideration.

Notification of results of the process

The aggrieved member(s) will be notified of the outcome of this deliberation by the nominated coordinator or the ARSC Admin Committee.

Reconsideration process

To have this matter reconsidered the member must have previously untended relevant information to present to the ARSC Admin Committee. Whether the information is relevant will be decided by ARSC Admin.

The guidance offered by ARSC if the aggrieved member(s) are unhappy with the outcome is that it is essential for us to accept that no matter how much attention we receive from individuals on the ARSC, we may not be satisfied with the results of a grievance process. This is when we apply the principles of our program, use our 10th Step, and speak with our sponsor about how we can move on.

Natural Justice

This Policy and Procedure document offers the principles of natural justice as a relevant guideline.

Before it can be said that someone has not performed their assigned task in the appropriate manner it must be proved that they had the opportunity to make themselves fully aware of what that task entailed. This is usually in the form of a job description, Subcommittee guidelines, adequate handover from the previous position holder, and/or relevant documentation and information.

If a person, with awareness of their task, did not adequately complete that task then they should be given appropriate time and adequate information and support to fulfil their responsibilities.

If they still fail to meet their responsibilities they may be asked to relinquish their position. This can be done through the involuntary resignation procedure.

Guidelines

• inform each new position holder of all elements of their job
• if they do not do their job give them a chance to fix the matter
• if after this chance they do not do their job, review