Grievance Procedure

Grievance whilst employed

The grievance procedure enables an employee to raise any concerns he/she has about the job, terms and conditions or the way in which a colleague or employer treats him/her.
 
If an employee has a grievance with his/her employer, he/she should try to raise this informally to begin with either by raising it with the line manager or person specified in the grievance procedures.

It is advisable to keep all correspondence and notes of meetings and conversations relating to any work problems as these may be useful at a later date should a claim arise.

When dealing with a grievance, three minimum steps must be followed, called the Standard Procedure:

• The employee should provide a written statement which should detail the grievance(s) that the employee has. As a general rule, an employee will not be able to make a claim to the Employment Tribunal until they have submitted a grievance and given the employer 28 days to respond.
• Arrange a meeting – the employer should invite the employee to a meeting, giving him/her the right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative to discuss the grievance. The employee has a duty to attend this meeting or re-arrange if he/she cannot attend on the specified day.
• Arrange an appeal meeting – the employer must give the employee a chance to appeal the decision made about the grievance. An employee also has a duty to appeal the decision before a tribunal claim can be made. If this is not followed then there is a possibility that any Tribunal award made may be reduced for not completing the procedure properly.

Grievance after employment has terminated

An employee can raise a grievance even after leaving his/her job. The correct procedure must still be followed otherwise any future Employment Tribunal claim may be jeopardised.

If the three step procedure above has not been instigated before an employee has left his/her employment, a shorter two-step procedure can be used if the employer agrees, called the Modified Grievance Procedure.

The two minimum steps are:

• The employee should provide a written statement of grievance to the former employer detailing the grievance and requesting for the modified procedure to be followed;
• The employer must respond in writing, answering the points raised in the grievance letter. An employee still needs to wait for a period of 28 days to elapse before he/she can make a claim to an Employment Tribunal.

An appeal can be offered but there is no obligation to do so.

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