We are now well through the journey of the stages of the employment cycle, and at the stage where grievances might be raised.
Grievances are defined as ‘complaints that the employee has regarding their employment, that are so serious they cannot be addressed informally’.
Having a formal grievance policy is an essential way in which smaller organisations ensure they can address issues fairly, consistently and in compliance with employment law.
Should an employee feel that their complaint cannot be addressed informally, or informal resolution has been attempted and was unsuccessful, a formal grievance will be followed.
This will likely mean the employee has provided their employer with a letter or email outlining their grievance in writing. An employee may want to use a social media message or a text to communicate their formal grievance, and this should be permitted.
Once the written grievance has been received, the employer will invite the employee to attend a grievance hearing. This will be the employee’s opportunity to verbalise their grievance and for the employer to ask questions so they can investigate the issue.
Employees should be given the right to be accompanied to a grievance hearing by a work colleague or trade union representative.
Keeping an employee on track is an essential skill for any chair of a grievance hearing. And as with disciplinary and conduct matters, with grievances it is important that the ACAS Code of Practice is followed.
Outcomes to grievances tend to be either upheld or rejected. Sometimes it is the case that a grievance is ‘upheld in part’. In such circumstances, it is likely that the employer has found that something it has done has contributed to the employee having a complaint, and that while not fully upheld, the employer wants to acknowledge that the grievance has given it an opportunity to learn and make changes going forward.
