PROTOCOL P-11 | Grievance Redress System

Grievance Response & Closure Protocol

TRIGGER After every grievance intake, within the response timeline assigned at intake.

STEPS

1. Assign the response lead and confirm response timeline at intake

   Routine: response within 10 working days. Urgent: first substantive response within 48 hours. Sensitive: management notification within 24 hours; response timeline set by management.

2. Investigate the concern

   The response lead gathers information: What is the concern specifically? Who is affected and how? What caused it? What can realistically be done? Who needs to be involved in the response? For Sensitive concerns, this step includes legal or compliance review.

3. Determine the response action

   Three possible outcomes: (a) The concern can be fully addressed: specify what will be done, by whom, and by when. (b) The concern can be partially addressed: specify what will and will not be addressed, and explain why. (c) The concern cannot be addressed by this project: specify why, and identify who has the authority or capacity to address it (trigger P-17: Institutional Referral Protocol if applicable).

4. Implement the response action

   Take the agreed action. Do not mark the concern as resolved before the action is actually completed, not when it is planned, not when it is in progress.

5. Document the response

   Record: what was done, when, by whom, and what the outcome was. This documentation is the verifiable record of the GRM's function.

6. Trigger the Feedback Closure Protocol (P-04)

   Before the concern is closed in the register, confirm that the person who raised it has received a response. P-04 defines how this is done. A concern is not closed until feedback is confirmed.

7. Close the record and update the Grievance Register

   Record the closure date, response summary, and stakeholder confirmation. Mark status as 'Closed — Acknowledged' or 'Re-opened — Unsatisfied' if the person has not confirmed satisfaction.

PURPOSE

To define the steps, timelines, and accountability for investigating, responding to, and formally closing each grievance. The intake protocol opens the case; this protocol closes it. Without a defined response and closure protocol, concerns are received but not resolved, which is worse than a system that never received them.

Roles and Responsibilities

Primary:

Actor: ComRel Officer / PCO
Responsibility: Manages the response process, coordinates investigation, implements or coordinates response actions, and triggers the Feedback Closure Protocol.

Supporting:

Actor: Project Manager / Technical Lead
Responsibility: Provides technical information for the investigation; approves response actions that require project-level authority.

Supporting:

Actor: LGU Focal Person
Responsibility: Contributes to response for concerns within LGU jurisdiction; assists in community communication.

Notified:

Actor: Person who raised the concern
Responsibility: Receives a response confirming what was done, or explaining what could not be done and why.

Field Notes and Adaptation Guidance

• Field Note — Partial responses must be explained, not hidden

  When a concern can only be partially addressed (because of resource constraints, project scope limits, or regulatory boundaries) the partial response must be explained clearly and honestly. A community member who receives no explanation of why their concern was only partially addressed will experience it as dismissal. A clear explanation of what was done, what was not done, and why, maintains credibility even when the response is incompleteism.

• Field Note — Response timelines are a trust signal

  Communities notice whether commitments about response timelines are kept. A GRM that promises a response within 10 days and consistently delivers in 15 is a GRM that communicates: we are not serious about our commitments. Timelines should be set at what is genuinely achievable, and then kept. Realistic timelines delivered consistently build more trust than ambitious timelines regularly missed.

• Adaptation Guidance

  In projects with high concern volume during construction phases, consider a weekly GRM review meeting where all open cases are reviewed: which are on track, which are at risk of missing their timeline, which require escalation. This prevents the backlog of unaddressed concerns that is the most common GRM breakdown mode.

Required Output / Documentation

• Grievance Register entry updated with: investigation findings, response action taken, response date, and closure status

• Feedback confirmed (via P-04) before record is closed

• Escalation triggered if the concern could not be addressed (P-16 or P-17)