HRS 1:2026 — Annex G forms
G-F1 … G-F6 — Complaints, appeals, reporting
Public consultation draft — draft v0.1 — issued 2026-09-07
This is a consultation draft, not an operative standard
The scheme described here is not yet certifying. No certificates have been issued and the Approved Supplier Register is not yet populated. Nothing in this document may be relied on as evidence of certification.
It is published for comment before it is finalised, because a certification standard that cannot be read by the people it governs is not a standard. Clause 12.2 commits us to publishing it; we would rather publish it early and be corrected.
Comments are invited until 2 November 2026. See How to respond. Passages marked ⚖️ are open questions on which we are specifically seeking views. Passages marked 📋 will be reconciled against OIC/SMIIC standards before issue.
This document is a scheme design. It is not a fatwa and does not purport to state Islamic law; questions of Shari'ah are for our Shari'ah Committee, whose rulings will be published with their reasoning.
G-F1 — Public report form (web and in-app)
"Report a concern" — linked from every register entry and every Süfrə listing.
Screen 1 — What are you reporting?
☐ A certified establishment ☐ A supplier ☐ A business displaying our mark that may not be certified ☐ Something about us (→ routes to G-F3, not here)
Screen 2 — Which one?
Search by name, or scan the QR. Pre-filled when opened from a register entry or Süfrə listing.
Screen 3 — What happened?
☐ Non-halal food served or on the premises ☐ Halal claim that looks wrong (e.g. alcohol served but presented as fully halal) ☐ Certificate expired, suspended, or belongs to another business ☐ Hygiene or food safety (→ we will direct you to AQTA) ☐ Something else
| What did you see? | free text |
| When? | date, approximate time |
| Where exactly? (which counter, which dish, which menu, which language) | |
| Photos | optional upload |
Screen 4 — About you
☐ Report anonymously — we cannot tell you the outcome, but we will investigate ☐ Leave contact details — we will tell you the outcome within 30 days ☐ I work here → routes to the whistleblower path (G-F5). Your identity is never disclosed to your employer.
The "I work here" option must be visible and plainly worded. Kitchen staff are the people best placed to see a breach and the least able to afford being identified — many on insecure contracts, some migrant. A form that only reads as a customer complaint form will not reach them.
Confirmation
Reference number · what happens next · triage timescales · that reports are investigated whether or not the reporter is named.
G-F2 — Triage matrix and investigation procedure
Triage — within 2 working days
| Grade | Criteria | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | Prohibited material alleged served · false claim reaching consumers now · falsified records alleged · mark displayed by an uncertified business | Unannounced audit within 5 working days |
| Standard | Procedural breach without immediate consumer impact | At or before next surveillance audit |
| Out of scope | Food quality, price, service, staff conduct | Reporter informed; directed to AQTA where food safety is alleged |
Triage decisions are recorded with reasons, including out-of-scope ones.
Investigation
- Assign to someone who did not perform the last audit of that establishment (G2.3).
- Do not forewarn where the report is credible and urgent.
- Do not disclose the reporter's identity, or anything from which it could be inferred.
- Widen the scope. Where the report came from an employee, fold the issue into a broader unannounced audit rather than arriving to inspect one station (G5.3).
- Findings graded per HRS 1 clause 11 as at any audit.
- Malicious or competitor-driven reports are still investigated. A pattern from one source is recorded — never grounds to stop investigating.
Outcome
| Named reporter informed, in outline | ≤30 days |
| Register updated where status changes | Same day |
| Nothing found | Recorded — so a pattern of unfounded reports about one establishment is visible |
| Closed | Reason recorded |
Log fields
Ref · received date · channel · anonymous Y/N · employee Y/N · subject · triage grade · triage reason · assigned to · conflict check done · investigation date · findings · outcome · register updated Y/N · reporter informed date · closed date
G-F3 — Complaint templates (complaints about us)
Acknowledgement — within 5 working days
Complaint received — [ref]
We received your complaint on [date] about [subject].
It is being handled by [name], our complaints officer, who is not part of our audit or certification team.
We will respond by [date, ≤30 days]. If we cannot, we will write to you before then and explain why.
If your complaint concerns our impartiality, an undisclosed interest, or conduct under clause 12 of our standard, it goes directly to our Technical Committee, not to management.
Outcome
Complaint outcome — [ref]
What you told us: [summary] What we did: [investigation] What we found: [findings] Outcome: ☐ Upheld ☐ Partly upheld ☐ Not upheld What changes as a result: [action, or "no change, because…"]
This complaint and its outcome will appear, anonymised, in our annual transparency report.
If you remain dissatisfied: [escalation route, including to our accreditation body].
Clause 12 referral — internal
To the Technical Committee. Complaint [ref] alleges breach of clause 12: [which sub-clause]. Referred under G3.4 without management review. Attached: complaint, factual chronology, any related audit or commercial record.
G-F4 — Appeal forms and panel terms of reference
Notice of appeal (appellant submits within 21 days)
| Field | |
|---|---|
| Appellant, certificate/register no. | |
| Decision appealed | ☐ refusal ☐ NC grading ☐ suspension ☐ withdrawal |
| Date of decision notice | |
| Grounds | ☐ factual error ☐ standard misapplied ☐ procedural unfairness ☐ religious-question interpretation ☐ proportionality |
| Submission | free text + evidence |
| Attending? | ☐ Yes ☐ No · Accompanied by: |
Reminder printed on the form: an appeal does not suspend a suspension or withdrawal (G4.2). The register will show "suspended — under appeal" while it is decided.
Panel terms of reference
| Composition | 1 Technical Committee member · 1 Shariah Committee member (where a religious question is in issue) · 1 person independent of us |
| Disqualification | Anyone who took the original decision or conducted the audit (cl. 12.5) |
| Chair | The independent member |
| Powers | Confirm · vary · reverse · commission a fresh audit by a different auditor |
| Timescale | Decided within 45 days of notice |
| Standard | Was the standard correctly applied to the facts? Not: would we have decided the same way? |
| Decision | Majority; reasons recorded in writing |
| Publication | Anonymised where it turns on interpretation (G4.6) |
| Further appeal | None. Ordinary legal rights unaffected |
Decision notice
Appeal [ref] — decision
Panel: [names, roles] · Heard: [date] · Grounds: [summary]
Decision: ☐ Upheld ☐ Partly upheld ☐ Dismissed Reasons: [in full] Effect: [register corrected / grading amended / decision confirmed]
Where upheld, the register correction is published with the same prominence as the original entry (G4.5). Where this decision turns on interpretation it will be published anonymised and becomes guidance for future cases.
G4.6 is how the standard acquires case law instead of drifting. Publishing reasoning means the next auditor and the next applicant read the same interpretation — and it lets anyone see whether we apply our own rules consistently.
G-F5 — Whistleblower handling procedure
Not published. This procedure describes how we protect the identity of employees who report concerns, including how investigations are designed so that a visit does not reveal who reported. Publishing it would tell an employer what to look for.
Its substance is stated in Annex G, section G5, which is public: identity is never disclosed to the employer at any stage; anonymous reports are investigated with the same seriousness as named ones; and evidence that an establishment has penalised an employee for reporting to us is itself a Critical non-conformity against that establishment.
G-F6 — Annual transparency report template
Published annually (G3.5). Implements clause 12.2.
1. The register in numbers
Certificates active at year end, by class · issued · expired without renewal · suspended · withdrawn · provisional granted / converted / lapsed · suppliers by category and route
2. Audits
Initial · surveillance announced · surveillance unannounced · re-audits · investigations from public reports · % of establishments that received at least one unannounced audit (target: 100% — cl. 10.2)
3. Non-conformities
By grade · the five most frequent findings · median days to close · number leading to suspension
Publishing the most frequent findings tells the whole sector where the weaknesses are and raises the floor. It costs nothing and is worth more than any guidance document we could write.
4. Public reports
Received · anonymous · from employees · by triage grade · investigated · substantiated · unfounded · median days to first action for urgent reports (target ≤5 working days)
5. Complaints about us
Received, by category · upheld / partly / not · complaints alleging clause 12 breach, and their outcomes · what we changed as a result
6. Appeals
Lodged · upheld / partly / dismissed · median days to decision · published interpretations issued
7. Independence and governance
Revenue concentration: largest client %, top 3 % (F4.1 limit and whether met) · breaches and action taken · Shariah Committee: members, meetings, rulings published · Technical Committee: same · declared conflicts of interest and how handled · consultancy requests received and declined (cl. 12.1)
8. Accreditation
Status against OIC/SMIIC 2:2019 · assessments undergone · findings and closure
9. What went wrong this year
A plain-language section. Mistakes we made, what we changed.
Section 9 is the one that will be argued about internally and the one that makes the rest credible. Every other section can be presented favourably. A report with no section 9 reads like marketing, and §15.10 of the Wiley handbook is a catalogue of certifiers who published only good news until the problem was too large to publish at all.