Praise and Complaints Policy

1. Aim of the Praise & Complaints Policy

We value your comments and feedback, and we use these to improve the service that we offer to all our learners, employers and partners. We have implemented the following procedures to ensure that any complaints or issues raised are dealt with promptly and in a responsible manner.

We recognise the rights of learners, staff, visitors, sponsoring employers and users of any of our services to complain about, or praise, the service we provide.

2. Process

In the event of a positive experience or just wish to say thank you – please, wherever possible complete the attached ‘appendix 2’ to feed this back to us in order that we can pass on this praise to our staff member(s).

In the event of a complaint we strongly recommend that you talk to a member of our staff to try to resolve any issues immediately. However, if this is not possible (the complaint, for example, may be about a member of staff), then the following procedure should be followed to help you obtain a satisfactory solution/response:

Stage One:

• Complaints should be addressed to the Individual’s Tutor. This should be done by telephone or in writing and you are welcome to use our telephone if you wish.
• Apprenticeship Employers and Individuals should follow Schedule 5 (Dispute Resolution Procedure) of the ‘Contract for Services Agreement’.
• When you contact us, please give us your full name, contact details, and include a daytime telephone number along with:
• A full description of your complaint (including the subject matter and dates and times if known);
  Any names of the people you have dealt with so far; and copies of any papers or letters to do with the complaint.
• The Centre Tutor will respond to you within 24 hours to acknowledge your complaint and will offer/provide a solution by telephone or email within 48 hours of the acknowledgement.

Stage Two:

• Should you find the result unsatisfactory, please contact:-

Sarah Qazi
Head of Operations
Think Employment Ltd
140 Victoria Street
Grimsby
DN31 1NX
Tel: 01472 898221

• The Complaint will be handled by the Head of Operations, who will acknowledge your complaint (by telephone or email) within 24 hours. He or she may wish to discuss the details of your complaint and will do so by telephone within 48 hours of the acknowledgement of your escalated complaint.
• Further investigation will be instigated and a Senior Manager will respond and offer a solution/explanation again by telephone if possible. Once agreement has been reached we will write to you detailing the findings and the solution agreed.

Stage Three:

• Should you still be unhappy, then you are requested to write to the Complaints Department, who will make a final decision on any complaint and write to you with any recommendations/solution within ten working days of receipt of complaint.

Complaints Department
Think Employment Ltd
140 Victoria Street
Grimsby
DN31 1NX
Tel: 01472 898221

• Think Employment Ltd will attempt to rectify all complaints to your satisfaction. However, Think Employment Ltd will not reprimand or discipline staff where a complaint is found to be unjustified.
• Any actions resulting from a disciplinary hearing will be confidential and not disclosed to complainant or others.
• Apprenticeship Employers and Individuals can also at any point use the
  Apprenticeship helpline at:

  nationalhelpdesk@apprenticeships.gov.uk
  Telephone: 0800 015 0400
  8am to 10pm, 7 days a week

3. Review of the policy

A Senior Manager will review this policy annually or more frequently where there are significant changes in circumstances.

Complaints Flowchart:

We recognise the rights of learners, staff, visitors, sponsoring employers and users of any of our services to complain about, or praise, the service we provide. In the event of a complaint we strongly recommend that you talk to a member of our staff to try to resolve any issues immediately. However, if this is not possible (the complaint, for example, may be about a member of staff), then the following procedure should be followed to help you obtain a satisfactory solution/response:

Appendix 1: Complaints / Praise form

To download our complaints / praise form click here.