NOM-035, which enters its second phase this coming October 23, 2020, requires workplaces to give their employees a safe, confidential channel for submitting suggestions, complaints, or reports related to psychosocial risk factors or anything that affects the favorable organizational environment.
In this article, we'll look at what NOM-035 requires and the best ways to get real value out of this requirement.
NOM-035 Requirements
To comply with NOM-035, we need to make sure the following points are met:
a. A suggestion box is available.
Have safe, confidential mechanisms in place for receiving complaints about practices that go against the favorable organizational environment and for reporting acts of workplace violence.
It's important that every employee has unrestricted access to this mechanism.
b. Communicate how it works.
Once the suggestion box is up and running, it's important to let employees know how it works and how complaints or reports will be handled.
c. Report practices that go against a favorable organizational environment.
This requirement is aimed more at employees, where NOM-035 requires them to actively participate in reporting risk situations or workplace violence.
Best Practices
For a suggestion or complaint box to be effective, it's important to keep the following in mind:
a. A digital suggestion box.
Sometimes the easiest option is to buy a plastic box and put out slips of paper so each employee can write down their suggestions or complaints.
These boxes are usually placed in a public area where everyone has access, and that can create fear of being identified or seen while filing a complaint, especially if it's a sensitive one.
And although a digital suggestion box might seem less secure, or like it would be easier to identify who submitted it, when properly implemented it can guarantee complete anonymity.
For a report, submissions can be sent from any device and any network. For suggestions, it's much easier to send and process them when they're digital.
b. A follow-up committee.
For a suggestion box to succeed, and for employees to genuinely and proactively want to participate, it's essential to have a follow-up committee made up of at least 3 people.
This will help prioritize the most urgent suggestions or complaints, and make decisions about how to handle issues that may be sensitive within the organization.
c. Anonymity and confidentiality.
Confidentiality in a suggestion and complaint box is extremely important for employees to feel confident sharing their concerns.
Beyond that, it must also be possible to preserve anonymity for those who don't want to be identified in any way.
The importance of this point comes from the fact that if this confidentiality or anonymity were ever broken, it would be extremely difficult to regain that trust.
