Grievance at Work Employment Law
What is a grievance & how to lodge a grievance at work
If there is a concern, complaint or problem that you wish to raise with your employer, this is formally known as a grievance. This can relate to a wide range of situations and circumstances, ranging from working conditions to payments and any other aspect of how you are treated at work.
You can raise a grievance at any time, even in response to a disciplinary, if you believe that your employer’s actions are unwarranted or unfair.
A grievance is typically raised prior to claiming constructive dismissal, else the damages you are awarded at an employment tribunal will be lowered.
Lodging a grievance at work gives you the opportunity to protect your position by outlining why you are not happy. However, the actual timing of lodging a grievance is extremely important.
Lodging a grievance whilst you are in the process of poor performance allegations or redundancy will allow you to formally make your complaints known before your employer takes further action. Oftentimes this will halt the process of your employer taking further action whilst your grievance undergoes investigation.
A grievance process can also set the foundation for a negotiated settlement.
A formal grievance process isn’t mandatory. If you don’t lodge a grievance, you also aren’t prevented from bringing a tribunal claim.
However, bear in mind that if you don’t lodge a formal grievance, the damages you are awarded via a tribunal claim can be reduced by up to 25%. This is especially if the tribunal believes that you could have avoided the dispute by lodging a formal grievance. If you can prove that a formal grievance wouldn’t have made a difference, however, the reduction may be decreased.
It is not uncommon for a complaint against your employer to be resolved on an informal basis first. However, if that isn’t possible, you should write a formal grievance in a reasonable time and in accordance with the grievance policy set out by your employer.
Usually, this requires your grievance to be submitted to your line manager. If the grievance relates to your line manager, you should raise it with a more senior manager.
Depending on the terms of the grievance policy, you may be required to submit a copy to HR or in some cases only submit the grievance to the HR officer.
If no policy is in place, you should lodge the grievance with your manager/senior manager and/or HR officer.
When writing your formal grievance, you should include as much detail as possible as to why you are unhappy. You should include the following information:
Your employer should acknowledge the formal grievance and action any necessary investigations to establish the facts of your complaints and any other process as outlined in their grievance policy. Your employer should then notify you of the grievance meeting in a reasonable time.
You should be given the opportunity for a colleague or trade union official to be in attendance. They will also have the ability to participate in the meeting, provide support and raise questions to your employer; however, they cannot answer questions on your behalf. Furthermore, you should be given the opportunity to fully state your case as well as suggestions for a resolution.
Following the meeting, your employer should give you a written response, informing you of the outcome without unreasonable delay. In some cases, further investigation may be required in which case a further meeting may also be needed.
If your employer fails to follow the proper grievance process, including holding a hearing either in person or in writing, an employment tribunal may increase any damages awarded by up to 25%.
If you are looking for a No Win Fee Employment Law Solicitor to represent you at an employment tribunal, we need to assess the merits of your potential claim which we are normally happy to do free of charge.
In order to hear your grievance does your employer have to put a disciplinary process on hold?
Each case depends on the circumstances and facts surrounding it, however a dismissal is not necessarily deemed unfair if your employer fails to put a disciplinary process on hold whilst addressing your grievance. Your employer would have to show that not putting disciplinary processes on hold was reasonable and fair however.
Right of appeal
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the grievance process, you should be given the opportunity to appeal. Typically this involves a further meeting to discuss your appeal and the hearing should be held by a different and more senior manager if possible.
Can you raise a grievance after you have left the business?
Where possible a grievance should be lodged whilst you are still an employee (even if you are working your notice), however you can still raise a complaint after you have left. Your employer is not obliged to engage in the grievance process if you are no longer an employee, as they are meant for existing staff.
Negotiating an exit
Regardless of whether the grievance is successful or not, the option of attempting to reach a negotiated exit with our employer is available. A settlement agreement usually involves a lump sum financial package for waiving your employment rights. A settlement package is very common in grievances as usually a formal grievance means the relationship between employer and employee has been broken. We have successfully negotiated significant settlement packages for many clients, however the timing of the negotiations are vital.
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