The Complaints Process

• Author: Marilyn J. Samuels/Elayne M. Tanner
• Pages: 30-39

Chapter

4

The

Complaints

Process

A.

The

Registrar's Role

A

new

complaint usually goes

to the

registrar

first. It is

natural

to

assume

—

although

this power

is not

specified

in the Act —

that

the

registrar reviews

the

complaint

after

receiving

it to

determine whether there

is

enough

infor-

mation

for the

complaint

to

proceed.

If in the

registrar's

opinion there

are

rea-

sonable

and

probable grounds

to

believe

that

a

social

worker

has

committed

an

act of

professional misconduct,

or is

incompetent

or

incapacitated

as

alleged

in the

complaint,

he or she has the

option

to

have

the

complaint for-

mally

investigated. These powers

of

investigation

are

discussed more

fully

in

chapter

7.

Although some complaints

of a

less serious nature,

for

example

minor

fee

disputes, could

be

resolved

by the

intervention

of the

registrar,

there appears

to be no

formal provision

in the

Act, however, that would allow

the

registrar

to

initiate steps

to

resolve

the

complaint

at

this point.

It

appears

that

the

only power

the

registrar

has is to

refer

the

complaint

to the

Com-

plaints Committee.

B.

Form

and

Content

of the

Complaint

The

complaint must

be in

writing before

the

College will

act1

and has to

relate

to the

provision

of

services

by a

social worker.

The

Complaints Com-

mittee will

not

take action unless

the

complaint

is in the

form prescribed

by

the

College

by-laws.2

The

College's By-law

No. 1

outlines

the

necessary

contents

of a

complaint.

It

must contain

the

name, address,

and

telephone

1.

Social

Work

and

Social Service

Work

Act,

1998

[SWSSWAct],

S.O. 1998,

c.

31,

s.

24(1).

2.

Ibid.,

s. 24

(3)(a).

30