Complaints Policy and Procedure
Alberta Museums Association Complaints Policy and
Procedure
The Alberta Museums Association (AMA) is committed to providing
quality service for its members and working in an open and
accountable way. One of the ways in which the AMA can continue to
improve our service is by listening and responding to the views of
our members, customers, and stakeholders, including responding
positively to complaints and correcting mistakes.
Our Commitment
The AMA defines a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction
with the AMA, a member of the AMA Secretariat, or a member of the
AMA Board of Directors that relates to the AMA's work and that
requires a formal response. This Policy and Procedure is intended
to ensure that all complaints are handled fairly, consistently, and
in a timely manner, and that, wherever possible, complaints are
resolved confidentially and to the complainant's satisfaction.
This policy is limited to complaints received about the AMA's
service, the AMA Secretariat, and the AMA Board of Directors. This
policy does not cover complaints about AMA Members.
The AMA recognizes that issues or concerns not requiring a
formal response may be raised with individual members of the AMA
Secretariat or AMA Board of Directors. Where appropriate, the AMA
will aim to resolve such issues and concerns quickly and
informally.
AMA Complaints Procedure
You are encouraged to address issues informally by directly
contacting the individual member of the AMA Secretariat or AMA
Board of Directors with whom you have a concern or complaint.
Informal complaints may be received verbally or in writing.
Wherever possible, the AMA will aim to resolve complaints
informally.
If you are unable to resolve the issue informally, you should
submit the complaint in writing to the Executive Director / CEO of
the AMA. If the complaint is against the Executive Director / CEO,
you should submit the complaint in writing to the President of the
AMA Board of Directors. In your letter, you should set out the
details of the complaint, the consequences for you as a result, and
the remedy you are seeking. You can expect the complaint to be
acknowledged within fourteen working days of receipt. You should
receive an initial response and an explanation within four weeks.
The AMA aims to resolve all matters as quickly as possible;
however, inevitably some issues will be more complex and therefore
require more time to be fully investigated.
If you are not satisfied with the initial response to the
complaint, you may ask for the complaint and the response to be
independently reviewed. If the complaint is against the Executive
Director / CEO or a Board Member, the President of the AMA will
appoint two Board Members to investigate. If the complaint is
against the President, the Executive Director / CEO of the AMA will
appoint two Board Members to investigate.
Our Responsibility
The AMA's responsibility is to acknowledge the formal complaint
in writing; respond within a stated period of time; deal reasonably
and sensitively with the complaint; and take action where
appropriate.
Complainant's Responsibility
A complainant's responsibility is to bring their complaint in
writing to the AMA's attention, normally within eight weeks of the
issue arising; explain the problem as clearly as possible; include
any action taken to date; include the remedy being sought; allow
the AMA a reasonable amount of time to deal with the matter; and
recognize that some circumstances may be beyond the AMA's
control.
Confidentiality
Except in exceptional circumstances, every attempt will be made
to ensure that both the complainant and the AMA maintain
confidentiality. However, the circumstances giving rise to a
complaint may be such that it is not possible to maintain
confidentiality. Should this be the case, the situation will be
explained to the complainant.
AMA Contact Information
General contact information for the AMA can be found here.
Contact information for individual members of the AMA
Secretariat can be found here.
Contact information for the AMA Board of Directors can be found
here.
Changes to This Policy
All changes to the AMA's complaints policy will be posted on
www.museums.ab.ca. The AMA's formal policy document can be found here.