# Escalation Policy

## Purpose
This policy explains when team members should escalate an issue to Mike beyond Slack.

Mike may not monitor Slack continuously during focused work blocks. The goal of this policy is to ensure urgent issues are brought to his attention quickly, while routine matters stay in normal team channels.

## Escalation Levels

### 1. Call Mike immediately
Call Mike right away if any of the following happens:
- Injury, medical issue, or safety incident involving a customer, contractor, or anyone on site
- Property damage
- Police, fire, legal, or other serious safety issue
- Customer lockout, access failure, or alarm issue that causes a live appointment to fail
- Cleaner no-show or same-day staffing failure when no replacement is available
- Serious live customer incident that could escalate badly without immediate intervention
- Lost keys, unauthorized entry, or any other security-sensitive incident

### 2. Text Mike
Send Mike a text message if the issue is urgent, but not a full emergency:
- Major customer complaint needing same-day judgment
- Customer threatening cancellation, chargeback, legal action, or a public negative review
- Refund situation with meaningful financial or reputational risk
- Cleaner issue likely to turn into a no-show or failed appointment
- Sensitive issue involving money, brand risk, or judgment where waiting too long could make it worse

### 3. Use Slack only
Keep the issue in Slack if it is routine:
- Regular scheduling changes
- Normal customer service issues
- Minor complaints that are contained and acknowledged
- Cleaner lateness that is being handled
- Admin questions
- Non-urgent updates and status notes

## Simple Rule
- If it cannot wait 30 minutes, call Mike
- If it matters today but not right this second, text Mike
- If it can wait, use Slack

## Required Information When Escalating
When calling or texting Mike, include:
- Customer name
- What happened
- Whether the job is happening today
- What has already been done
- What decision, approval, or action is needed from Mike

## Notes
When in doubt, use judgment. The purpose of escalation is to protect safety, service delivery, customer trust, and the business.