Why is it important to ensure grievances are dealt with effectively within a business?

Grievances are concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their employers about any aspect of their employment.   

Sometimes these frustrations are hidden, leading to a difficult working environment where resentments fester and build that no one knows about. An open culture is a lot more productive, where employees know they can raise any concerns and that meaningful steps will be taken to try to resolve them.  

Working for a diverse, inclusive organisation is more and more important for employees, and having a clear and well-thought-out grievance procedure helps with that. If your people feel like they work in an environment where people are valued and their voices and opinions are encouraged and heard, you’re more likely to build a positive working environment with an engaged workforce, who will be less likely to leave – and new candidates will be easier to recruit!

Include your grievance procedure should in the written particulars of employment you give to your employees, or set it out in a reasonably accessible document.  

Step one: Grievance raised 

If one of your employees raises concerns, it’s important that you deal with it as soon as possible.

Always maintain confidentiality during the process, and securely store all records/notes/witness statements in your employee’s personnel records. 

Every situation involving conflict will be different. Complaints can be raised by an individual but can sometimes be raised by a group, like a whole department.  

Concerns at work can come from loads of places, but the most common are:

• Poor management 
• Unfair treatment 
• Unclear job roles 
• Inadequate training 
• Poor communication 
• Poor working environment 
• Lack of opportunities 
• Bullying or harassment 
• Personality clashes between individuals 
• Unreasonable expectations of what the employee can achieve 
• Differing values 
• Needs and expectations at work 

Notification of a grievance/complaint 

If a manager becomes aware of a complaint or grievance, it’s important to establish: 

• Whether the employee wants the matter to be dealt with informally,
• Whether the employee wants the matter to be dealt with through the formal grievance procedure

If the employee decides to only complain informally, they could still choose to submit a formal grievance later on.   

Sometimes, an employee does not want to discuss the concerns further, but just wants to flag them with management.  Whilst there would be no need to meet with the employee, internal steps may still have to be taken to rectify the situation – for example if they have flagged that a manager is behaving inappropriately, this will need to be investigated and dealt with appropriately.   

Whether a grievance is being dealt with formally or informally, it is essential that it is established at the outset of the process, what the individual who is raising the grievance sees as a successful outcome to the concerns that they have raised. This will assist the person who is hearing the grievance to deal with this effectively and consider what action may be taken.

Informal complaints process 

If an employee raises concerns and it seems appropriate, they can be asked if they want to deal with the matter informally rather than via the formal grievance procedure.   

It should always be the employee’s decision about which process is used.  Further, if they do raise what seem to be only informal concerns, it is good practice to double check that they do not wish to access the formal grievance procedure. 

If the employee is still dissatisfied following an informal process, they could of course still choose to submit a formal grievance. 

Informal process 

The advantage of the informal process is that issues may be resolved more quickly and potentially without as many repercussions as using the formal procedure, for example there may be less risk that working relationships will be damaged.  

The informal route is most commonly used: 

• Where the employee wishes to try to resolve matter via more relaxed means.  
• Where the concerns do not seem particularly serious. 

Beginning the informal process 

If the employee wishes to proceed informally, it should first be decided who will deal with their concerns.  This must be someone more senior to the employee and would usually be their line manager, unless they are involved in the complaints.   

As the employee could still submit a formal grievance, it is important to consider who would conduct any formal hearings, as they should not have been involved in the informal meeting/s – for further details see our guide to Formal grievance procedure. 

Meeting with the employee 

The manager should meet privately with the employee and ask them to present their concerns. These should be discussed in full, along with how they want the issues resolved.  

This meeting should be arranged promptly.  It would not be appropriate to delay dealing with the concerns until later at (for example) a scheduled/routine employee development review/appraisal.  

Preparing for the meeting 

Sufficient time should be set aside to meet with the employee.  There is no right for the employee to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative at an informal meeting but this may be appropriate in some circumstances and may assist in the meeting going as smoothly as possible.

In preparing for the meeting, the meeting chair should review what they know about the employee’s concerns together with any relevant evidence.  It may be helpful to consider in advance some questions to ask at the meeting.  However, these questions should not be taken as a script or a definitive list and it is important to ask any further relevant questions during the meeting, as these arise.   

Conducting the meeting 

It is still good practice to keep written records of all informal discussions and any decisions taken, in case a full history of events is needed later.  If it does not feel appropriate to have a note taker present, rough notes could be taken during the meeting and these written up afterwards.  

As the meeting is informal, it may be preferred to not make it too structured.  However, it is good practice to: 

• Open with some pleasantries and thank the employee for attending. 
• Confirm the understanding that the employee does not wish to raise a formal grievance at this stage.  
• Explain that this meeting is the employee’s opportunity to set out their concerns. 
• Ask the employee to also confirm what outcome they would like from the meeting. 

The employee should then be given a full chance to set out their issues.  The chair should ensure that they understand all the concerns raised and ask any appropriate questions.  If the employee mentions any evidence, for example a problematic email, then a copy should be obtained.

If there is anything that the chair needs to look into after the meeting, then they should confirm this to the employee: 

• This is particularly important if they need to check facts with other employees.  If this is the case, this should be agreed with the employee and anyone spoken to should be asked to keep such discussions confidential.   
• The chair may also need to look at evidence such as the employee’s contract, staff handbook, work schedules, duty rotas, operational policies/procedures, as well as any relevant emails, computer records or receipts.  Recordings such as CCTV or call recordings may also need to be reviewed.   

The meeting should be concluded by asking the employee if they want to add anything and then confirming the next step.   

Decision 

The chair must decide whether they agree with the employee’s concerns and if they do, what steps can be taken to remedy these concerns.  It is important to keep in mind what the employee wants and even if the chair is not upholding the complaints, they should still consider suggestions to improve the working relationships. 

If there is nothing else to investigate, the chair could make a decision at the meeting.  However, it would usually be expected that they would need to take some time to think through the situation or carry out some additional investigation.   

It is good practice to discuss the decision in another informal meeting and this could be following up with a letter/email confirming what was discussed.  

If the chair does believe that the concerns are valid, they should consider how they could improve the situation – some of the following may help: 

• Conciliation meeting/s between colleagues. 
• Agreeing to employee’s request – e.g. a holiday request. 
• Disciplinary action against a perpetrator. 
• Mediation. 
• Providing counselling/a mentor for the employee. 
• Exploring if a colleague will apologise. 
• Providing new equipment/software. 
• Proposing a change to the employee’s terms and conditions of employment. 
• Giving the employee a strategy to approach a difficult colleague. 

Issues not resolved  

The employee does not have any right of appeal against an informal decision about their concerns, but of course it would be good practice to still try to resolve them (to a reasonable point), if they continue to be dissatisfied.   

Alternatively, they could choose to submit a formal grievance.   

Who should deal with the formal grievance  

There are two stages to the formal grievance procedure: the grievance hearing and the appeal. 

The written particulars of employment or the employee handbook should specify who will deal with a formal grievance, but it would usually be the line manager of the person who has raised the grievance. 

If the complaint is against the line manager, or there is another reason why the employee does not wish to raise it with their manager, an alternative person should be chosen.  

The size of the business and how many members of management there are will affect who should carry out each stage: 

• As a minimum, the person conducting each stage must be more senior to the employee and to any employees who are being complained about. 
• Wherever possible, a different person should carry out the different stages, with the person holding the appeal being the most senior.   
• Each person should only deal with their allotted stage of the process and should not get involved in the other stage.   

Written grievance 

To start the formal process, the employee should set out their grievance in writing, stating the nature of the grievance and any supporting facts or circumstances. 

Following receipt of the grievance, the grievance chair should write to the employee acknowledging the grievance and arranging a formal grievance hearing. 

The employee should be given a minimum of two working days’ notice to allow them time to prepare. The invite letter should: 

• Confirm the nature of the hearing.
• The date, time and location of the hearing.  
• Who will chair the hearing. 
• Who will be present for note taking purposes. 
• A reminder that the employee should be prepared to provide dates, times, witness names and any supporting documentation of each allegation. 

The right to be accompanied – an overview 

If an employee requests to be accompanied at a grievance hearing, the employer must allow them to be accompanied by either a colleague or a trade union official.   

Sometimes a wider choice of representative may be appropriate, for example a relative or a friend.  These could include where: 

• The employer allows this as part of their internal procedures. 
• The employee is young and needs the support of a family member.   
• The employee is disabled and needs a wider choice of representative to participate fully in the process.  For example, a sign language interpreter or a family member/friend if an employee suffers from mental health issues.  It should be remembered generally that disabled employees must be given the opportunity, time and support to request and receive reasonable adjustments necessary for them to participate fully. 
• The employee has a first language other than English and requests an interpreter. Where possible the employer should provide an interpreter but if not, the employee should be allowed to bring their own interpreter. 

Any employee involved in this process should be reminded of the importance of confidentiality.  

A colleague who is acting as a representative can take paid time off work to prepare for and to go to the hearing. 

Case law has held that there is no requirement for an employee’s choice of a particular representative to be reasonable, provided that they are either a colleague or a trade union official.  If it is believed that the person selected is unreasonable, for example it is a colleague who has a similar grievance, advice should be taken XXXX

The representative can put forward the employee’s case, respond to any views expressed and confer with the employee. The representative cannot answer any questions put to the employee or address the hearing if the employee does not wish them to. 

If an employee’s chosen companion cannot attend a grievance hearing at the time arranged, then the employee can ask for a postponement of up to five working days. 

Preparation in advance of hearing 

The grievance chair should ensure they read through the grievance correspondence, accompanying evidence and any other relevant information, in advance of the grievance hearing.  

It is also useful to use the correspondence and evidence to prepare notes of questions that may want to cover.  However, it is essential that any prepared questions are not taken as a definitive list or as a script, particularly as this is the employee’s forum to present all their complaints.  It is important to probe and ask any further relevant questions as these arise at the hearing.   

The grievance chair should bring copies of all relevant documents they have available to the hearing. 

Note taker 

There should be a note taker at the grievance hearing who can take full notes of the hearing, leaving the grievance chair to concentrate on conducting the hearing.  The note taker does not make any decisions but must be told to keep the process confidential.   

The grievance hearing 

During the hearing, the grievance chair should: 

• Ensure the employee has full opportunity to present their concerns. 
• Be fair and objective, whilst gathering all necessary information. 
• Remain as impartial as possible and keep matters confidential. 
• Ensure that the hearing is conducted in an orderly manner and in line with the relevant procedures.   
• Deal with the issues sensitively. 

Action following a grievance hearing 

Following the hearing, the grievance chair must decide: 

• Whether to uphold the grievance or partially uphold the grievance; 
• If upholding, how the grievance should be resolved. 

It is advised that this decision is not made during the hearing, as proper time is needed to consider the matter, as well as potentially other evidence.  Further, a decision in the hearing could look pre-meditated. 

Even if the chair is not upholding the grievance, can they suggest recommendations that could improve the working relationship? 

If the grievance is being upheld, what the employee wants should be considered.  Is this something that can be accommodated?  It may be necessary to consider how similar issues have been dealt with in the past.

Potential outcomes could include: 

• Conciliation meeting/s between colleagues. 
• Agreeing to employee’s request – e.g. a holiday request. 
• Disciplinary action against a perpetrator. 
• Mediation – if the employee agrees, this could be conducted by someone within the employer or by using an external mediator.   
• Providing counselling/a mentor for the employee. 
• Exploring if a colleague will apologise. 
• Providing new equipment/software. 
• Proposing a change to the employee’s terms and conditions of employment. 
• Giving the employee a strategy to approach a difficult colleague.   

If disciplinary action is being taken against a perpetrator, then the employee who raised the grievance should not be informed of the details of this, as this is confidential information about the perpetrator.  However, the grievance chair could confirm that ‘appropriate action’ is being taken.   

Informing the employee of the decision 

A decision letter should always be sent to the employee within good time of the hearing date, confirming the chair’s considerations and decision and any actions that are to be taken.  

The decision letter should confirm: 

• Which concerns the employee raised. 
• What investigations were conducted. 
• What the chair has decided and why, for example lack of supporting documentation or contrary information being provided during investigations.  This should also include any resolutions.  
• If the resolutions are not as the employee requested, why their suggestions could not be agreed. 
• The letter should advise the employee of their right of appeal. 

Confidentiality should be maintained at all times during the process. All records/notes/witness statements should be securely stored in the employee’s personnel file, along with a copy of the decision letter and minutes of the grievance hearing.  The chair must ensure the grievance information is not passed on to any persons not involved in the process. 

Guide to conducting the grievance hearing  

The below is a guide on how the grievance hearing could be structured, but must not be taken as a script, particularly as this is the employee’s forum to present their concerns.  At any point, if new questions arise, the grievance chair should deal with these during the hearing. 

Grievance chair’s role 

During the hearing, the grievance chair should: 

• Be fair and objective, whilst gathering all necessary information. 
• Remain as impartial as possible and keep matters confidential. 
• Ensure that the hearing is conducted in an orderly manner and in line with the relevant procedures.   
• Deal with the issues sensitively. 
• Ensure the employee has full opportunity to present their concerns. 

Breaks 

It is good practice to confirm to the employee that they can ask to take a break if they need to during the hearing, for example if they need a comfort break.  Equally, the grievance chair can choose to take a break if they feel this would be beneficial, particularly to gather their thoughts and consider if there is a need to ask any other questions or cover any other areas. 

Start the hearing 

• The employee should be thanked for attending the hearing. 
• All the parties at the hearing should be introduced and the roles of each person explained – e.g. notetaker, grievance chair, etc  
• Explain the minutes are being written verbatim and so the pace will be slowed to accommodate this.  On occasion, the notetaker may ask for a pause to catch up. 
• If the employee attends without a work colleague of trade union official, remind them that this right was offered in the invite letter and ask them to confirm that they are happy to proceed unaccompanied.  This should then be minuted in the notes. 
• If the employee is represented by a Trade Union representative, check their identification.   
• If the employee is represented, confirm that the colleague/trade union representative can address the hearing to ask questions, make representations and confer with the employee.  However, they do not have the right to answer questions on the employee’s behalf or address the hearing if the employee does not wish them too.   
• Explain that this is a grievance hearing. Its purpose is for the employee to present their concerns about their employment.  Explain its structure will be as follows:
  • The employee should set out their concerns, which will no doubt include those already specified within the grievance correspondence. 
  • The employee should confirm how they would like their concerns to be resolved/what action they would like to happen. 
  • Employee will have full opportunity to present their concerns and ask their own questions. 
  • The grievance chair will recap these concerns and then work through each concern in turn.  Explain the grievance chair will ask questions throughout to gain clarity. 
  • The grievance chair will confirm what (if any) further information they think they need to gather following the hearing and potential timescales for gathering this. 
  • Following gathering any further information, the grievance chair will carefully consider the employee representations and all information and make a decision about whether the grievances can be partially or fully upheld and if they can, what action should be taken to resolve them.  
  • This decision will be confirmed in writing and the employee will have a right of appeal.   
• Confirm either party can call an adjournment if necessary at any point during the hearing for personal break etc.. 
• Check that the employee understands and whether they have any questions? 

Presenting concerns 

• The employee should be asked to present their concerns and how they would like these to be resolved.   
• If the employee wants to raise additional points to their grievance letter, then this is their prerogative. 
• When considering each concern, the grievance chair should refer to any relevant evidence as they work through each concern.  

Types of questions 

It is useful to have a note of questions to ask, prepared in advance of the hearing, but more will no doubt arise as the employee presents their case.  It is essential that any prepared questions are not taken as a definitive list or as a script.  It is important to probe and ask any further relevant questions as these arise at the hearing.   

In terms of the questions: 

• Avoid leading questions, statements and/or multiple questions at one time. 
• Start with open questions to let the employee present their concerns – for example, ‘What were you asked to do that morning?’. 
• Once have obtained the employee’s version of events, closed questions can be asked to clarify information, to control the conversation and to establish facts.  Ask: Who, why, where, what, when, how questions, for example:
  • How were you asked to do that? 
  • Why did this situation arise? 
  • What training have you had?  
  • Who else was there that morning? 
• Clarify any contradictions/inconsistencies between any evidence and what the employee is putting forward. 

The notetaker should write down questions and responses in minutes. 

Concluding hearing 

• Ask the employee/representative if they have anything else they wish to add before the hearing closes? 
• Ask the employee/representative if they have any questions. 
• Consider whether there is anything else that needs to be asked. 
• Explain if there is any other evidence that now needs to be considered or any other employees who may need to be spoken to, because of what the employee has put forward. 
• Advise employee that their grievance will be fully considered and all they have said will be taken into account. 
• Explain the potential outcomes – namely grievance is not upheld, or grievance is partially or fully upheld and recommendations are made for how to move forward. 
• Conclude the hearing by letting the employee know that will be in touch as soon as possible to confirm the decision.  A decision should not be made during the hearing as this can look pre-meditated