[Q&A Policy Issuances] [Q&A Information Issuances]
Q & A Policy Issuance 05-08 Unified Career Center Complaint Process Revised
Issuance 05-08
Q	How do I access the Complaint Log to record and report and track complaints for my area?
A	The Complaint Log can be accessed by going to the Massachusetts Workforce Investment website at www.massworkforce.org. Click on “Issuances” then click on “2005 Issuances” under the “Policy Issuances” heading. WIA Communication 05-08 Unified Career Center Complaint Process is the first listing. Attachment B contains the Complaint Log form. Use this file to create a “template” for local use. Local Complaint Officers can use the “template” to create local area Complaint Log “files” that would be emailed to the State Monitor Advocate, Jose Ocasio (jocasio@detma.org) no later than the 15th day following the end of each calendar quarter. Remember, even if your local area has not received any formal complaints during a particular calendar quarter, a “blank” Complaint Log identifying the submitting Career Center, the Fiscal Year, the local Complaint Officer and the specific Calendar Quarter must be emailed to the State Monitor Advocate at the close of each calendar quarter.
Q	How do local Workforce Investment Boards fit into the Unified Complaint Process model?
A	As a direct recipient of WIA Title I funds, LWIBs are subject to the same Unified Complaint Process requirements as individual career centers. Complaints may be filed against the LWIB and its staff in conjunction with the delivery (or perceived non-delivery) of services provided under WIA Title I and/or the Wagner-Peyser Act just as they may be filed against a career center (or for that matter against any local service provider under contract to the WIB and/or career center to provide WIA Title I and/or Wagner-Peyser services) in a local area. Local workforce investment partners, including the LWIB should collaborate on the development of the specific local procedures, the choice of the local Complaint Officer and designated back-up(s) and the training of local staff once the local process is finalized.
Q	If no complaints were filed for the quarter, must a Complaint Log for the calendar quarter be submitted to the State Monitor Advocate?
A	Yes, a “blank” Complaint Log must still be emailed to the State Monitor Advocate. The top section of the Log indicating the name of the Career Center, the Fiscal Year, the Complaint Officer’s Name and the specific Calendar Quarter must be completed. Also if the status of a complaint that had been filed in a prior calendar quarter changed during the quarter being reported, the status change should be updated on the Complaint Log by “highlighting” the new/current status indicator. If a prior complaint was resolved during the reporting quarter, the correct Resolution indicator should be highlighted on the Log.
Q	May local areas continue to send a “hard” copy of the Complaint Log to the State Monitor Advocate to meet the quarterly reporting requirement?
A	No, all quarterly Complaint Log submissions must be emailed to the State Monitor Advocate no later than the 15th calendar day following the end of each calendar quarter.
Q	WIA Information Issuance 05-08 (formerly 04-88) requires local areas to complete the revision of the local complaint process no later than February 28, 2005 in conjunction with the Quality assurance revues that have been scheduled. As the quality assurance review schedule begins in January, what should a local area do if its quality assurance review is scheduled to be completed prior to February 28th?
A	For any local area whose quality assurance review is scheduled to be completed prior to February 28th and whose revised complaint process has not been completed to coincide with the scheduled review, a copy of the revised complaint process should be forwarded to Alice Sweeney, Director of Career Center Services Central Operations no later than February 28, 2005.
Q	The new Unified Career Center Complaint Process indicates that local career centers have 15 days (or, in the case of a Migrant Seasonal Farm Worker, 5 days) to resolve a complaint, informally. When does a customer complaint become a formal complaint?
A	WIA Issuance 05-08 revises the recently issued Unified Career Center Complaint Process Policy (WIA Issuance 04-88). The revision is necessitated by the need to exclude the term “informally” (p.4) in describing the local career center process in the resolution of customer complaints as neither the Workforce Investment Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act nor the related Federal Regulations include the accommodation of an informal process in processing customer complaints. Customer complaints relating to career center actions/services provided in conjunction with programs funded through the Workforce Investment Act and the Wagner-Peyser Act are to be formally investigated and resolved according to the processes described in Policy Issuance 05-08. The 15 day period for investigation and resolution of customer complaints (or, in the case of a Migrant Seasonal Farm Worker, the 5 day period) begins upon filing of a written complaint.