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Resolving a Grievance End to End

This tutorial follows a standard (non-sensitive) grievance from take-over to closure, in the order the screens appear. It complements the reference page Processing grievances, which describes each action in detail.

Overview​

A standard grievance goes through three phases in at most 20 days:

PhaseDueWhat lets you leave it
1. AcknowledgementD+30Acknowledgement sent
2. Analysis and proposalD+10no condition
3. Resolution and notificationD+20Resolution recorded and complainant notified

Statuses follow: Open → In progress (from take-over) → Resolved or Not eligible → Closed (closure by an administrator).

A grievance is only resolved if the MIS knows it

A grievance settled in the field but left In progress in the MIS, with no resolution recorded, stays open for everyone: it counts in the backlog, and the SLA digest reminds the agent and the coordinators as soon as the workflow's resolution due date is exceeded. Steps 4 and 5 below are the ones that count.

Prerequisites​

  • Access to the grievance: the component permission (one of the Access to Education / Health / Social Protection / Other grievances permissions) matching the grievance's component.
  • For the final closure: an administrator.
  • Network: the acknowledgement, the notification to the complainant and the escalation are immediate sendings, unavailable offline. The other steps work offline and are sent when the network returns (see Working offline).

Step 1: Open the grievance and take it over​

Videos

The videos below were recorded on the test environment with a fictitious grievance, with the interface and narration in English; the text of each step remains the reference.

  1. Menu Grievances (GRM) → My Assignments if the grievance is already assigned to you, otherwise Grievances (GRM) → Grievances with the filter Handled by → Unassigned.
  2. Click View to open the record.
  3. If the grievance is Open, click Take over: it becomes In progress and is assigned to you. To hand it to someone else, use Assign (or Reassign, with a reason).

If the workflow timeline is missing and an Initialize workflow button is offered (old grievance), click it first.

Read the record before acting

Check the component, type and priority under Grievance information, and the Linked beneficiary if any: a wrong component is fixed with Edit, before any other action.

Step 2: Send the acknowledgement and move to analysis​

  1. Click Send acknowledgement. An e-mail goes to the complainant if an address is recorded; in every case the date is recorded and the phase 1 condition “Acknowledgement sent” is met.
  2. In the timeline, click Move to next phase, add a comment if useful, confirm. The grievance is in the Analysis and proposal phase.
No e-mail address

If the complainant has no contact details, the record shows “Without contact details, the complainant will not receive automatic notifications”. The acknowledgement is still recorded; inform the complainant through the channel they used and note it in a comment.

Step 3: Analyse and propose a solution​

During the Analysis and proposal phase:

  • record your checks under Internal comments (visible to the team only);
  • attach evidence under Supporting documents (10 MB per file);
  • if the grievance belongs to another agent, Reassign with a reason;
  • if you are stuck, Escalate with a reason: the grievance goes up to the Component coordinator, then to the National coordinator if escalated again (see Escalation). Automatic escalation takes the same path when the due date is exceeded.

When the investigation is done, click Move to next phase: phase 2 has no condition, the grievance enters Resolution and notification.

Step 4: Document the resolution and decide​

  1. Click Process: the Resolution process window opens. Fill in the Proposed solution, the Agreed solutions with the complainant and the Complainant's response. Save and continue saves and keeps the window open; Proceed to processing moves on to the decision.
  2. Decide:
    • Resolution: enter the resolution text, then Resolve. The grievance becomes Resolved and the phase 3 condition “Grievance resolved” is met.
    • Not eligible: enter the Reason for non-eligibility. The grievance becomes Not eligible. Reserve this for requests outside the project's scope, not for well-founded grievances that cannot be satisfied.
The resolution text is read by the complainant

It is what goes out in the notification of step 5. Write it for the complainant: what was found, what was done, what they need to do if anything.

Step 5: Notify the complainant of the decision​

  1. Click Notify complainant of decision.
  2. The Confirm before notification window shows the complainant's contact details: check them, then confirm. The e-mail goes out with the resolution (or the non-eligibility decision), the date is recorded and the condition “Complainant notified of decision” is met.
  3. With both phase 3 conditions met, the timeline can be advanced; the workflow is complete.

If the complainant has no e-mail address, inform them through their original channel and record it in a comment; the condition is still met through the button, which records the notification date.

Step 6: Closure by the administrator​

An administrator closes a Resolved or Not eligible grievance with Close (confirmation required): it becomes Closed. This is the final state.

If the complainant disputes the decision, the administrator can Reopen the grievance with a Reopening reason: it goes back to In progress and the Reopened grievance phase (15 days) starts. Resume from step 3.

What not to do​

MistakeConsequenceDo instead
Leaving the grievance In progress in phase 2 when it is settled in the fieldIt stays in the backlog; the SLA digest reminds every two days once the resolution due date is exceeded, first the agent then the coordinatorsMove to phase 3, record the resolution, notify (steps 4 and 5)
Declaring Resolved without a Resolution processThe complainant receives a decision without explanationDocument first (step 4.1)
Using Not eligible to close an awkward grievanceFalse reason, challengeable in auditResolve or escalate
Closing before notifyingThe complainant is never informedNotify (step 5) before Close
Escalating without a precise reasonThe coordinator does not know what is expectedState what was tried and what blocks

Checking your work​

In My Assignments, the Overdue counter should go down; in the record, the History tab should show in order: take-over, acknowledgement, phase changes, resolution, notification, closure.

Going further​