The law provides for the opportunity for citizens to contact various authorities with various claims, requests, and wishes. In many cases, several people have the same opinion on a particular issue. In such situations, it is advisable to draw up a collective letter.
It is worth saying that it can be sent not only to the authorities. In practice, cases of drawing up collective letters to directors of schools, institutes, representatives of public organizations, and heads of enterprises are common. Let us consider further how to draw up such a document correctly.
Sample collective letter
The document consists of 2 parts - text and annex with signatures.
The content is presented in a free, business-like manner. The signature form must contain requirements (without motivation), as well as a table. It consists of the following columns:
- FULL NAME.
- Address.
- Telephone.
- Painting.
The text of the subscription form must be kept as short as possible. In this case, you can place more signatures on it. However, this recommendation is relevant for cases when there are a lot of people signing up. In a collective letter from parents to a teacher or director, signatures and the text of demands with motivation can be placed on one sheet.
Delivery to the addressee
The document is not necessarily duplicated for all participants. Two copies with original signatures are enough.
The message can be sent to the addressee:
- Russian Post;
- courier service for delivery of correspondence;
- personally, by one of the team members;
- via electronic communication channels.
It is better to use the method of sending a letter via the Internet as a duplicate message. A high-quality scan of a document can be sent through the appropriate portals and services of organizations. If you apply through the public services portal, or from the prosecutor’s office website, be sure to wait for the notification that the application has been accepted and recorded with the assigned number.
After sending the collective letter to the recipient, save the second sample and other evidence of transmission of the complaint. Russian legislation provides for the consideration of a complaint by organizations within ten days, and by government agencies - within thirty days.
When the requirements are stated clearly and competently, all formalities are met, you can count on a high-quality and prompt consideration of the application. If there is no response in due time, or the decision made does not satisfy your requirements, you can contact the judicial authorities. It is also permissible to appeal unlawful decisions to higher authorities.
In any case, collective statements are an effective method of appeal. A united group of citizens has greater opportunities and resources to solve common problems.
Management of an economic entity is carried out by the director of the company, who works on the basis of the company’s charter and makes all decisions on the management of the organization, including regarding labor relations. Enterprise personnel may disagree with them, especially when their rights are violated. Then a collective complaint is drawn up by the organization’s employees against the manager.
Important information
If any problem arises, as a rule, you have to contact different authorities. For example, the activities of an enterprise cause damage to the environment. Citizens gather and write a collective letter to the head of the organization.
Usually in such situations their requests remain unfulfilled. Then people write a new collective letter in defense of their rights addressed to the head of the local government agency responsible for monitoring the implementation of environmental standards. In order not to collect signatures again, it is advisable, firstly, to provide separate sheets for them, and secondly, to make copies of them. The original applications will be kept by the most active of the group of signers.
Reasons for filing
A collective complaint is filed for completely different reasons, depending on the type of activity of those filing or another factor connecting the filers.
It is possible to identify the conditions under which an application is submitted by at least two citizens:
- Systematic violations by someone of legislation or moral principles that discredit representatives of the social group from which the collective appeal is submitted.
- The problem is widespread, that is, when a violation affects not one, but several people at once.
The object of a complaint can be anyone - a medical worker who has fulfilled his obligations in bad faith, a government official who has abused his official powers, or simply a neighbor who plays music loudly or litters the entrance.
Of course, the desire to file a complaint against someone appears after crossing the rubicon of patience, when it is not possible to reach a consensus in words and there are no more options (except for illegal ones) to deal with the troublemaker. Then the statement becomes a real way out of the situation for a whole group of interested people.
Read more: How to divide housing and communal services receipts between two owners
Text Features
Before writing a collective letter, you need to think through the wording.
The requirement text should be short. At the same time, it is necessary to select clear wording. There should be no double interpretation of words. In addition, phrases should be chosen as general as possible. In this case, more signatures can be collected and a wide range of issues can be resolved.
Let's look at an example. In one of the settlements, people collected signatures against the construction of a shopping center. The procedure took place during public hearings on the issue of issuing a document on the basis of which a construction permit is issued. This document is the urban planning plan of the site. As a result of the hearings, it was decided that the residents spoke out against the construction, but not against the registration of the GPZU. Accordingly, the issuance of this document automatically implies construction.
Who is serving?
You can make a whole list of persons from whom a complaint can be filed, but it would be more correct to consider the most common options:
- residents of the house who are dissatisfied with the behavior of a neighbor or neighbors (loud noise, a drinking neighbor, unclean behavior, maintaining a brothel that threatens other people’s property and people’s health);
— residents of the building who are dissatisfied with the work of the management company (lack of cleaning of staircases, delay in repairs, maintenance of the pipeline and other overpasses in disrepair, improper performance of their utility duties);
- people who have suffered from police or bureaucratic arbitrariness (extortion, provoking bribes, beatings, dereliction of duty);
- parents whose children are experiencing certain problems in kindergartens and schools (negligent attitude of teachers towards children, rude and unpedagogical communication between the class teacher and students, threats in the classroom, insults, etc.)
— subordinates whose boss violates labor laws and harms the production process (delays wages, forces them to work at unregulated hours, insults and morally humiliates employees, practices illegal dismissals or non-dismissals).
Although the list could be significantly expanded, the examples presented can provide an understanding of the subject of the complaint.
The importance of choosing common phrases
Suppose it is planned to build a shopping center on one of the streets of the city. It is inappropriate to collect signatures specifically against such construction. The fact is that the developer can build in this case any other non-residential building (office, for example). In addition, you should not indicate a specific address in a collective letter. It is better to formulate the requirement like this:
“We, who live in (name) district, are categorically against the construction of any capital construction project on the territory located within the streets of (specify names), or the issuance of any documentation permitting construction on this territory.”
In this case, signatures can be used as many times as necessary when contacting various structures.
STATEMENT OF CLAIM
The landscaping company fired a team of workers without explanation and has not paid wages to this day (almost 3 months have passed). You only have an employment contract in your hands, without an employment contract. What documents do I need to collect to file a claim in court?
on the collection of wages and monetary compensation for late payment
If wages are not paid on time or in full, the employee has the right to file a lawsuit to recover wages from the employer. In addition to recovery of wages, the employee may demand recovery of compensation for delayed payments. If the demands for recovery of wages are related to bringing the employee to disciplinary liability, look at this sample: https://vseiski.ru/iskovoe-zayavlenie-ob-otmene-prikaza-o-disciplinarnom-vzyskanii.html. If wages are collected simultaneously with reinstatement at work, then use this form: https://vseiski.ru/iskovoe-zayavlenie-o-vosstanovlenii-na-rabote.html
According to Art. 4 clause 4 of Federal Law No. 59 of 2021, a complaint from a team is a legitimate appeal to the appropriate authority to resolve any issue. The essence of the paper lies not only in the presentation of the issue that has arisen, but also in the collective proposal of ways to resolve it.
Specifics of filling out subscription forms
First of all, the text of the requirements must be provided on each sheet. You cannot sign a form that does not contain it. This is especially true for situations where the collection of signatures is carried out by unauthorized persons. You should also not put a signature on the reverse side of the sheet. It can be applied to any requirements subsequently.
It is important to keep the original signature sheets. When submitting a collective letter directly to a government agency or other organization, only copies must be attached.
Grounds for writing a complaint
The procedure for writing a collective complaint is considered by labor law.
They also define the grounds on which it can be compiled:
- Violation by the company administration of the obligations stipulated by employment agreements.
- Discrimination against company employees in the scope of labor relations.
- Coercion to perform labor functions, including under threats.
- Failure to provide information regarding compliance with the terms of the employment contract.
- Violation of the existing principles of social partnership.
- Establishment of labor functions by an employee that are not provided for by labor functions.
- Violation of the standard working day or week.
- Failure to comply with labor protection.
- Other violations of the collective agreement.
- Failure to comply with the amounts of remuneration for workers established by law and employment contracts.
- Refusal to compensate for damage caused to a company employee.
- Harassment by a manager against employees of the company.
Complaint about sabotage
The actions of the company's management may be deliberate in nature, aimed at causing harm to the entire team of the enterprise. This situation can occur when the management of a division of the company takes deliberate measures to disrupt the work of the department.
In this situation, employees of such a structural unit can collectively file a complaint addressed to a superior manager, attaching all orders, orders, memos issued by the head of the department and confirming the fact of sabotage at the enterprise by mid-level managers.
Complaints against managers by employees to a higher organization are less common than complaints against heads of structural divisions.
Violations of labor laws
The main grounds for filing a collective complaint are violations committed by the company’s management in the field of labor legislation.
The employer must comply with all conditions that he must provide within the scope of labor legislation.
Attention! Therefore, if employees see that such violations are being committed, they can file a complaint against the general director of the company as a whole.
Transfer nuances
The letter should be drawn up in 2 copies. Copies of signatures are attached to one. Any enterprising person can take documents to the required authority. Meanwhile, some authorities require the personal presence of applicants when submitting claims. If we talk about Moscow, then such bodies are the Prosecutor General’s Office and the President’s Reception Office.
On both copies the secretary of the body or institution must put a stamp or other mark with the date of adoption. The letter with copies of signatures remains with the organization. The second copy with a mark is taken by the activist.
How to discuss complex issues in correspondence (spoiler - no way)
Let's say you want to talk to the director about raising wages or propose introducing EDI in the company. It is better to discuss such topics in person: it is easier to direct the conversation in the right direction. If the boss is irritated and can't hear you, you can reschedule the meeting.
In correspondence, you can only arrange a meeting, indicating the topic of the conversation: “Let’s meet, I want to talk about a salary increase.” If the director is busy and wants to discuss everything by correspondence, don’t be fooled: offer to meet when you have time. There will be no open conversation in correspondence. If the answer is “no promotion for you,” this is a reason to think about whether you are working in the right place.
Important point
After composing the letter and completing the collection of signatures, the number of sheets (including the first) is indicated on the title page, that is, on the application itself. A stamp confirming the acceptance of documents is also affixed to the first sheet. Indicating the number of sheets on it is guaranteed to prevent their loss.
In some cases, officials insist on providing original signatures. In such situations, they can be demonstrated, but under no circumstances should they be given away. In practice, there are cases when officials literally snatched documents from the hands of citizens.
Another recommendation: several people should go to the relevant authority or enterprise. In this case, if possible, you should videotape what is happening.
and examples
It is important to comply with all requirements for filing a collective complaint, as failure to comply may result in the complaint not being considered or being rejected.
It is imperative to take into account the body to which this collective statement is sent, since for certain authorities it is necessary to strictly adhere to the form of this document.
Let's take a closer look at the recommendations for drawing up a collective complaint.
Complaint structure
When drawing up a regular complaint against management on behalf of the team, a free form can be used.
The recipient of this application must be indicated. You don't have to include information about the senders in the header. It will be enough to write down that the application is submitted by a group of employees of the enterprise.
After the name of the document is reflected, the main part of this document is recorded. It describes the current situation, accurately and reliably states the fact of the violation committed by the company's management.
What follows is a list of the demands of the collective of workers to eliminate the violations committed.
After this the date is entered.
Each member of the workforce must sign the application. The employee not only puts his signature, but also indicates his personal data.
Then a list of appendices to the application is indicated, which includes evidence of violations committed by management.
Design nuances
There is no strict template for such an appeal; it is usually drawn up in free form.
Things to consider:
- The peculiarity of this complaint is that despite the fact that it is considered collective, the document is drawn up by an elected representative of the collective. When drawing up this complaint, he must take into account the opinion of the entire team.
- As soon as it is compiled, the entire team must familiarize itself with its contents, and as a sign of agreement with the information specified in the document, each employee participating in this process signs this document and deciphers his signature.
- All employees who signed the application can be drawn up as a list with their data and signatures, and then attached to the application.
- The text of the document should not contain insults, obscene language, curses, etc.
- All facts included in the application must be reasonable and have an evidentiary basis.
- According to the law, complaints submitted anonymously (i.e. without indicating the identity of the author) will not be accepted.
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.
Formulation of requirements
It is important to formulate phrases clearly. It is advisable to formulate requirements point by point. Typically, the requirements are stated in the following form:
“In connection with the above, guided by Federal Laws (names or numbers), I ask:
- Conduct an investigation into the issues outlined in this appeal, identify those responsible and bring them to justice.
- Ensure compliance with the requirements of the Federal Law (name, number).
- Send the response to the request to (address).”
The letter can indicate the form in which the response should be received. In some cases, it is better for it to be posted on the local administration website. Applicants can also indicate the specific address of one of the signatories.
Possible liability
Very often, not only colleagues, but also immediate superiors (foremen, heads of departments, etc.) behave rudely. Moreover, the higher the position, the more impudently the person behaves. This kind of attitude towards yourself and the people around you cannot be tolerated.
Even if you are not a fan of writing complaints, your dignity must be preserved and protected.
If the application is successfully reviewed, the boorish employee will be punished as follows:
- verbal remark, with a “promise” of further consequences;
- the employer has the right to reprimand “with entry into his personal file”;
- the violator will be deprived of the bonus;
- deprivation of a position;
- deprivation of work with an unflattering mark in the work book (or at your own request).
It also happens that the employer and employee have friendly or even family relations. This may be the primary reason for the employee's boorish behavior. Accordingly, everyone understands that it is useless to complain within the organization. But first, go through the authorities first:
- try to resolve everything amicably with a colleague to whom you (and the team) have complaints;
- write a complaint to your boss and wait for an answer. If the employer has not responded, then keep the second copy of the application, which will be proof of the fact of the request.
Then you can go to the labor inspectorate, prosecutor's office, police, court and even the tax office. By the way, there is criminal punishment for insulting a person and the recovery of money for causing material damage.
