An appeal drawn up in the form of a letter to a government authority or organization with demands to eliminate the causes of illegal actions or compensate for the damage received is called a complaint. Often individual complaints do not bring the desired result.
Single requests are simply lost or left unaccounted for. However, sometimes situations arise in which citizens find like-minded people with similar, or even identical, requirements for the same government body or organization. In this case, you can unite and solve the problem with common forces.
On behalf of all citizens dissatisfied with a certain situation, a collective complaint can be drawn up. When drawing it up, it is necessary to come to a common opinion, otherwise the claim will not be signed by all members of the team.
Since any person can write a collective complaint, the person responsible for this important task should be identified. In order for the addressee to properly respond to these requirements, the document must be drawn up and signed in accordance with certain rules.
Compilation rules
First of all, a collective letter is a business document. It should contain polite requests to take into account some of the nuances of the case, show compassion towards the employee, or take into account his positive qualities.
Under no circumstances should you use colloquial expressions, become rude, threaten or be rude. This will not contribute to making a constructive decision on any issue.
The most effective collective letters in defense of an employee are written competently, reasoned, with a specific statement of the problem and a polite request. The attached sample and letter form, of course, are not the only possible form of presentation. They only outline the line of presentation.
Deadlines for responding to collective letters
Article 12 of the law “On the procedure for considering citizens’ appeals” normatively establishes the general period for considering a complaint and receiving a response from the applicant. Officials are given only 30 calendar days to do this. There is also a procedure for extending the general period by another month, but with mandatory notification of this to the applicant.
For example, the state reserves the right to submit requests to various authorities to clarify the subject of the petition (conduct its own investigation). The regulatory legal acts of some entities establish the obligation to transmit the response of the head of the unit to which the appeal was forwarded within the same period with a simultaneous response from the addressee of the complaint.
Destination
A collective letter in someone's defense can be addressed to both a legal entity and an individual. It can be compiled by both employees of an individual entrepreneur and an LLC. Moreover, a collective letter can unite employees from different departments of the same organization.
Any citizen of our country has the right to express his opinion regarding any actions or intentions of another. Therefore, a collective letter in defense of an employee can be drawn up by any group of people who have the same position on this issue. As for the number, two signatures are enough for a collective letter.
The only requirement is accuracy and specificity. Emotional remarks and digressions are useless in an official document.
You can also send the paper to authorities (a specific official in this organization), managers of various ranks and levels.
What points should be included in the document: content, structure and sample
If two people are puzzled by a problem, then it’s worth thinking about how to write a common collective complaint.
The document must have a clear structure, be understandable and logical. Unlike an individual complaint, a letter from a group of people must not only state the problem, but also ways to eliminate it.
So, the collective letter is drawn up according to the following model:
- in the upper right corner indicates the name of the body, position and full name of the addressee;
- below is the full name of the person who represents the interests of the public mass and identifies what exactly unites citizens (living in the same apartment building, the presence of hazardous production near a certain halo of life, and others);
- in the middle of the sheet the name of the document is indicated (depending on the content, it can be: an appeal, a complaint or a statement);
- the text of the petition itself usually begins with a description of the essence of the problem faced by the people; when such a problem was discovered and how it violates the legitimate interests or rights of residents;
- if attempts to resolve the problem were used, then it is indicated what resources were involved and why other methods could not help resolve the issue (for example, people verbally contacted some authorities or pointed out the problem through a personal meeting);
- after the descriptive part there is a requirement or request to eliminate violations and specific methods are proposed that could be implemented;
- before the signature is affixed, attachments are indicated (for example, responses with refusals from lower authorities or registered but not considered petitions); The number of subscription sheets is also indicated, indicating the mass appeal.
It is generally accepted that emotional connotations are not inherent in the official business style, but you can deviate a little from the template and use epithets that clearly characterize the threat to normal life. This is acceptable in extreme cases.
Please note that the text should not contain additions or erasures. Otherwise, such a document will be recognized as unreadable and in violation of the procedure for citizens’ applications, and subsequently returned to the applicants.
Particular attention should be paid to the main application - the sheet with signatures. If there are many sheets, then each of them must have a serial number following the last number affixed to the appeal or the last application. In the page footer you should indicate that each page is attached to a specific document and write the essence of the appeal. People who sign a document simultaneously give permission to process their personal data, so you should not “press” if a person does not want to indicate their phone number or other details. The main thing is that you can clearly identify the person and exclude suspicion of falsification.
Elements of writing
The document is formatted in the same way as most business letters. The header indicates the address: from whom and to whom the letter is sent. If an organization appears (for example, a letter is addressed to the boss), then its name must be indicated.
Formulation
The main part states the request and briefly describes the employee’s merits and positive qualities. In order for a letter to have the necessary effect, you need to adhere to certain principles:
- Respectful, adequate wording of phrases.
- Use of factual data: dates, numbers, listing the general list of merits of the protected employee.
- It is possible to use compliments to the recipient. This is not about rude flattery. Acceptable expressions are: “Knowing your great capabilities” or “Admiring your organizational skills.”
- Number of participants. It is known that a single appeal will not have the same effect as a letter signed by 100 or more people.
It is worth keeping in mind that even with a strong desire to protect and save a fellow employee from dismissal, the result of such assurance is not guaranteed. After all, if an employer decides to resort to dismissal for a gross violation of labor duties, then he has the right to do this, regardless of the opinions of employees.
This possibility is clearly stated in Article 81 of the Labor Code (specifically, in its sixth paragraph).
Where to submit the document: submission procedure
Today, the Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrines an unshakable rule on the possibility of collective appeals of citizens to various authorities. But circumstances do not always require this, because any legal entity serving the population has a controlling or supervisory body:
- A collective letter about rowdy behavior by noisy neighbors can be submitted to the local police officer (formerly the police). Silence in an apartment building is an important indicator, which is why systematic violations of this indicator do not allow such inconveniences to be ignored.
- Residents can submit a request for repairs in the morning or evening to the management company. Such an appeal will be especially effective if employees of the service organization itself or its contractors are making home repairs (replacing heating systems, for example).
- Write an application for suspicion of fraud on the part of the same management company to the Housing Inspectorate or the Prosecutor's Office. In addition to conducting an inspection, the supervisory authority will transfer the case to its jurisdiction to initiate a criminal case and the process of bringing the leaders of such an organization to punishment.
- A complaint about the employer’s illegal actions regarding massive non-payment of wages or dismissals of workers is written to the State Labor Inspectorate or the Prosecutor’s Office. Among the illegal actions of employers is systematic withdrawal from annual paid leave without providing time off. It is not worth asking your work colleagues to simply join “for the sake of numbers”, otherwise it will be recognized that the petition was submitted in violation of the requirements for such requests. When children's rights are violated, for example, by kindergarten teachers, parents can complain to the management of the preschool institution or to the education department.
There is even the concept of a class action, which can be considered in administrative proceedings. But such a document has its own form, which is subject to the general procedural framework. If people collectively complained before filing a claim, then we can talk about compliance with the correct claim procedure for a dispute that could not be resolved peacefully. This does not mean a mitigation of the punishment for the offender, but closes the issue of compliance with the legal process.
If the prosecutor’s office of a city or region only received replies, then you can safely appeal such refusals to the authorities of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Complaints are also filed here about the inaction of the regional administration, for example, when laying or repairing roads.
There are two ways to submit such an application:
- through a personal reception (you can contact the secretariat or the registration department of the administrative body, you can also make an appointment with an official);
- draw up a registered letter with registered notice.
Using the first method is much more reliable. However, you will need to make a second copy (without signature sheets) to put the incoming registration number. Complaint forms are more difficult to find on the Internet than to look at a sample.
Time
In business correspondence, the timing within which certain actions are taken is of particular importance. In order to prevent, for example, the signing of a dismissal order, petitioners can politely ask for a response to the collective letter within a specific time frame.
You can specify “soon” or “immediately” as a reference point. The beauty of writing such letters is that the free form of presentation does not impose significant restrictions on the author.
Collective appeal to the administration
Application to the labor inspectorate The application is drawn up according to the form of application to the housing and communal services authorities. The name of the local government body in respect of which the document is being written is written in the header. A list of persons participating in this procedure is compiled along with contact information. The following is information about the applicants - owners of apartments and premises. The address of the housing construction whose owners are participating in the appeal is entered.
Usually they start complaining to higher authorities and, in the absence of an adequate response, go to court.
Signatures
At the end of the letter in defense of the employee, there must be signatures of all persons who share the point of view presented on paper. Moreover, they should be named both generally (for example, “warehouse employees”) and by name.
After the main content of the document there is usually a special list or, for convenience, a table. It lists:
- Full name of the signatory;
- his position in the organization (if any);
- contact phone number, address;
- and the signature itself.
The presentation of this data is necessary in order to avoid the unfoundedness of the compiled documentation.
There are times when one collective letter does not bring the desired result. If this is the case and the decision is made to write something new, then it may be more convenient to have a ready-made list of signatures.
In order not to collect signatures several times, it will be more convenient to place the table with “autographs” on a separate sheet and call it “Appendix 1”.
The text of the letter contains a link to the generated application.
If signatures are drawn up on a separate sheet, then when generating the next letter to another person (for example, to a higher, controlling organization), you will not have to collect them again.
What is a collective statement?
A group petition to the prosecutor is one of the forms of application to this government agency.
This document differs in that it is submitted on behalf of 2 or more citizens. At the same time, the number of signatories does not matter - two or a hundred. The number of people who write a complaint is sometimes so large that they are able to create mass demonstrations based on the violation of their rights, which is a very effective means. The sample group appeal to the prosecutor's office has a number of important differences from the standard application. For example, an ordinary petition to the prosecutor's office is based on the point of view of one person defending his interests. In a group statement, it is required to write down all the signatories and group different opinions into one common demand.
Benefits of a collective complaint
A group request, drawn up according to the correct template and sent to the prosecutor by a group of people, has a number of advantages over an individual application, namely:
- A closer look . Here the facts of illegal actions in relation to a huge list of victims are checked. Under these circumstances, supervisory officers will need to check several violations at once that have some common connection. It must be said that such a connection greatly facilitates the work of inspectors.
- Practically not ignored . If individual claims may still not be paid attention to, then rejecting a collective claim will not work. In practice, a group claim can be returned only if it is incorrectly drawn up or errors in the materials are identified.
- Much more often they provide a positive solution . This is because it is much more difficult to resist against a collective of signatories, since the collective has pre-prepared arguments and defenses.
- With a group request, it is much easier to assert your rights . Nevertheless, considerable problems for the team may arise at the stage of drawing up such a claim. An illiterately written collective claim can stall the review and even cause it to be rejected.
Form
There is no unified form for either a group or a single petition addressed to the prosecutor.
Therefore, letters of this kind must be drawn up in an arbitrary official business form, without any emotions or unnecessary expressions. The application does not require the use of legal terms, legislative standards or one’s own assessment of the circumstances.
There is one more circumstance in favor of the collective claim - when studying it, they do not pay attention to spelling, grammatical and other errors.
Reasons for filing collective complaints
There are many reasons for writing collective complaints in practice. The most common ones include:
- Delay of salary.
- Ignoring the request for information by the public service.
- Wrongful dismissal.
- Refusal to accept any requests, etc.
A properly drafted claim should show:
- Name and location of the prosecutor's service.
- FULL NAME. authors of the claim and their contact information.
- Reasons for writing the appeal (illegal decisions, illegal refusal, wrong decisions of officials, etc.).
- Demands of the signatories (restore rights, stop unlawful decisions).
- Signatures of participants and date of application.
The processing time for a claim is 30 days.
Registration
In order for the document to have legal force, it is sufficient only to collect the signatures of all persons involved in the protection of the employee. However, for insurance purposes, so that it can later be possible to prove the existence of the letter, it is registered. It’s good if the company has a secretary position, and the letter is addressed to the manager. Then you can note the fact that the document exists with the secretary.
If desired, you can appoint one employee as an authorized person so that he accurately reflects the general opinion.
Actually, this is how it is always done. The most proactive, encouraged by a large number of employees with a coinciding point of view, forms a document, collects signatures, etc.
How to write a collective statement?
A request to the prosecutor's office, signed by two or more persons, has a lot of features when drafting it. Differences exist not only in the “header”, but also in the text section. Features of a standard collective statement:
- "A cap" . The name of the prosecutor's office, full name and full name are displayed here. leader. Then the list is listed (full name and addresses of the group of applicants). This point is difficult due to the possibly large number of applicants, therefore, sometimes a group of applicants appoints a representative of the team. You can write, “... From the team of the organization...”, however, in this example, in an additional document you need to display a list of persons filing a claim.
- Information section. There are some difficulties here. In one appeal it is required to display all the unlawful actions from which the complainants suffered. This is not easy to do, since it is necessary to simultaneously describe the interests of each person and combine these interests to satisfy the entire team. Therefore, as a rule, collective claims are quite voluminous.
- Final part. This section is also quite solid. It must display all the evidence supported by documents, certificates, certificates, and other materials that many citizens have applied to. After compiling a list of materials, it is necessary to establish the date of writing and signatures of all participants. All applicants must sign, otherwise the claim will be invalid.
Basic rules: is it necessary to put the request in writing?
When drawing up any official document, you must follow basic rules.
Based on the requirements listed in Federal Law No. 59, we can conclude that the format for writing a document is not regulated in any way. The main condition is to write the appeal in writing. Despite the collective nature of the complaint, it can be written by one person. After writing it, you need to familiarize other participants with the written version.
Important. In order to increase the likelihood of satisfying the demand, it is necessary to describe the entire situation in detail, as well as indicate what citizens are demanding and what rights have been violated.
The text should contain only facts, without unnecessary reasoning and emotions. It is necessary to maintain logical presentation and not embellish the facts. In this case, the information must be provided succinctly.
It is important to avoid mistakes in the text.
How to write an application to the administration?
- The header of the document should be located in the right corner; it indicates the name of the organization to which the collective appeal is sent. You should also indicate the name and position of the person heading this organization.
- Next they write who the complaint is from. If the list of people is too large, then you can indicate by what principle they are grouped. Contact information includes only one person. This is necessary to notify you of changes on this issue.
- The document is given the title “Complaint”. Indicate what kind of relationship the victim has with the offender.
- Further in the text of the document the essence is indicated by questions with all violations and facts. You can provide links to legislation.
- At the end of the appeal, requests to resolve this situation are indicated.
- The date of preparation of the document is indicated. The time for the trial will be counted from it.
A sheet with the signatures of the entire team, as well as copies of documents with appeals to other departments and responses from them, are attached to the completed application. All this is drawn up as an attachment to the application. To do this, indicate a list of all attached documents. This is necessary so that documents do not get lost.
We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:
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Some useful tips
Before you write your own based on a sample collective complaint, you should take into account a few tips from experts:
- you need to communicate with the other participants, find out their opinion on the problematic issue and try to come to a consensus, a common opinion;
- Before making a collective complaint, be sure to write down the contact information of all participants so that if necessary you can contact them;
- it doesn’t make sense to write a complaint collectively in the literal sense, let one person do it, but at the same time objectively reflect all the significant circumstances and facts, the rest of the participants will read it and sign or make certain adjustments;
- in the text of the complaint, adhere to the use of the pronouns “we”, “us”, i.e. in plural;
- We recommend that all claims be stated on the merits, with as little emotion and as much facts as possible, references to legislation are welcome; do not pour water, voluminous text is not always good;
- Finally, put forward your demands;
- a mandatory attachment to the complaint is a sheet of signatures of all interested parties;
- Be sure to include contact information; if there are many participants, it is better to indicate only one – a representative.
The sphere of education
Unfortunately, dissatisfaction with the work of teachers, lecturers and kindergarten workers is not uncommon. But the form must be completed correctly.
A collective complaint, as a rule, is written to the director (rector). The essence of the claim is described in free form, without unnecessary details. Parents' signature is required.
The names of pupils, students and pupils whose rights are being defended should be listed. Typically, the problem is resolved quickly at the local level .
If the director is silent or does not give an intelligible answer, contact the local department of education or, as a last resort, the prosecutor's office. What reasons might prompt you to write a collective complaint against a teacher?
- Negligent treatment of wards, abuse of authority, assault.
- Unprofessionalism, behavior discrediting the honorary title of a teacher, violation of norms, rules and statutes of an educational institution.
If a student suffers moral or physical harm, you can immediately go to court.
Citizens can file a collective complaint with the prosecutor's office. The reason may be any conflict or controversial situation. But in most cases, the issue can be resolved by sending it to local organizations. There must be serious grounds for a collective complaint to the prosecutor's office
Links to regulations
They must be present in the letter. As mentioned above, the document must clearly indicate the nature of the violations of rights. This can only be done competently, guided by the law.
Selecting suitable regulations is quite difficult, since there are quite a lot of them. It is likely that you may need the help of a lawyer. If there is no money to pay for his services, you will have to spend energy studying the legislation on your own.
For example, the driver lit a cigarette in the minibus. In this case, the Law establishing restrictions on tobacco smoking will come to the rescue. This is Federal Law No. 15.
How to submit
A complaint to the administration can be submitted:
- Personally. The office hours of each official are indicated on the administration websites. The applicant presents his passport along with the complaint.
- Through the administration office. The applicant can bring 2 copies of the complaint, and keeps one with a signature confirming acceptance.
- By registered mail with notification.
- Online. The websites of many administrations have a special section for requests. In Moscow, for example, the “Internet Reception” operates on the portals of each district, district and city as a whole.
Additionally, oral appeals are provided, for example, questions asked during live broadcasts in the media, public events, etc. However, it is advisable to submit written complaints. Such documents are legally significant.
Important to remember! If the administration was unable or unwilling to solve the problem, the complaint and response to it will become the basis for an application to the prosecutor's office and a lawsuit.
Sample complaint against a manager
Prosecutor of Ensk
Smart P.D.
from employees
MBOU Lyceum No. 5 of Ensk
Collective statement-complaint
We, the undersigned employees of the Municipal Budgetary Educational Institution Lyceum No. 5 in Ensk, ask you to conduct an audit of the organization to ensure that wages are calculated correctly and to protect our constitutional rights.
The employer, represented by the director of Lyceum No. 5, Zhadny P.P., unreasonably underestimates the wages of his employees. However, we cannot obtain any clarification from him. If you request a pay slip, it will not be issued.
To employee Popova P.L. were denied annual paid leave, citing production needs.
We are forced by internal orders to work overtime, which is not stipulated by employment contracts, and are denied a copy of the order.
We ask you to understand the current situation and punish the perpetrators.
Signatures of applicants with transcript.
