Steering Group

In the winter issue of The Jeweller, we shared a top line view of the Association’s new strategy, built on compliance, profit and responsibility. Homing in on compliance, we look at what the Professional and Technical Standards Group will deliver for the membership in 2022.

Setting the (NAJ) Professional Standard

Compliance (noun) is defined as the state or fact of according with or meeting rules or standards. In NAJ membership, many of those rules or standards are legal practice and others are simply sector specific. All members sign the Association’s Code of Conduct based on the values of Honesty, Integrity and Professionalism.

This document covers the customer charter, the guiding principles and the disputes procedure. This means the document sets the necessary standards you must uphold to remain a member of the NAJ. Why? Well, without complying to the Code, we have a problem. Or rather, long story short, you have no membership.

The member logo gives your customer peace of mind that you follow the standards outlined in the document. That’s the power in the Association’s Find a Jeweller and Check a Member tool: live endorsement of a jewellery business to a customer. If you don’t directly link to your NAJ profile from your website, you might want to sooner rather than later, as well as display your membership logo at your most visible point and share what it means with your staff team.

So, what’s new?

Sometimes standards evolve, and other times standards aren’t so simple to understand. Over the next 12 months or so, the Professional and Technical Standards Group will prepare accessible documents representing codes of conduct to help you understand your obligatory responsibilities as a member. Topics will include things like pricing, hallmarking and even disclosure.

We will share all documents with every member and host them on a refreshed member document library for ongoing access. In addition, the Association will update its disciplinary procedure to ensure transparency and clarity should the Code of Conduct not be upheld.

Barry Sullivan, chair of the Professional and Technical Standards Group said:

“We need to be clear, here. We want to make it plain and simple to understand what responsibilities each member business has. I’d like to think that on the odd occasion members aren’t quite fulfilling what they should be, it’s duly unintentional. “Now our work will make it crystal clear what members should be doing, backed by trading standards. This will altogether strengthen what NAJ membership means to the customer, as well as member companies themselves.”

The themes for each code arrive from a combination of the NAJ’s in-house compliance officer, liaison with Trading Standards, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution and the representatives of the Professional and Technical Standards Group. All in all, a robust forum to benefit from.

As previously noted, the group will first prepare documentation on the membership disciplinary process, then move to pricing. The pricing document, although largely based on legal responsibilities, will set the blueprint for how the format of the document will work and be communicated to the membership. The Association will then move to other topics to include hallmarking and disclosure.

The NAJ Customer Charter

When joining the Association, each member agrees to:

1. Act with Honesty, Integrity and Professionalism

2. Describe fully and accurately jewellery, watches and other goods and services for sale

3. Abstain from any conduct or practice that may mislead or deceive

4. Act responsibly and sustainably to support the NAJ’s commitment to the standards of the Responsible Jewellery Council

5. Deal with any complaints in a timely and fair manner and, in the event of dispute, clearly explain the NAJ procedure for mediation, providing the NAJ compliance officer’s contact details to facilitate a timely resolution

6. Cooperate fully with any enquiry to resolve any disputes and abide by the findings and decision