Keeping you company and protecting your interests at workplace hearings.
Grievance hearings
A good grievance procedure often helps to resolve issues, complaints and problems between employers and employees at an early stage, without need for more formal action. But the procedure – and following it correctly - is also important if you intend or later need to take a claim to an Employment Tribunal.
When to use a grievance procedure
Problems that you may want to raise with your employer could include:
- Your terms and conditions of employment
- Your pay and working conditions
- Discrimination and/or harassment
If you have concerns about any of these issues it is usually well worth raising them informally with your employer first to see if they can be resolved that way. But if you’ve already done this and there’s been no improvement in the situation you may wish to raise a formal grievance.
Statutory grievance procedures
If you raise a grievance with your employer your employer is required to follow the statutory procedures. These are however only a minimum standard, and your contract of employment may contain a grievance procedure that is superior. If it does, your employer must apply those higher standards when dealing with your grievance.
You have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or a trade union representative, at both the initial grievance meeting to discuss the allegations and the appeal meeting. While the choice of the accompanying person is up to you, you’re not entitled to be accompanied by anyone other than a fellow worker or trade union official unless your contract or a general agreement allows it. Employers may allow you to be accompanied by a solicitor, but they’re not legally bound to do so
The three main steps
The standard statutory procedure which applies in the vast majority of cases contains three main steps which must be complied with and which can be summarised as follows:
- Step 1: you must set out your grievance in writing and send the statement or a copy of it to your employer.
- Step 2: Your employer must invite you to attend a meeting to discuss your grievance. This meeting must not take place unless: (a) you have informed your employer what the basis for the grievance was when you made your original written statement; and (b) your employer has had a reasonable opportunity to consider his or her response to the information that you provided. You are required to take all reasonable steps to attend this meeting. After this meeting your employer must inform you of his or her response to your grievance, and point out your right to appeal against the decision.
- Step 3: If you wish to appeal you must inform your employer. Your employer must then invite you to attend a further meeting, which you must take all reasonable steps to attend. After the appeal meeting your employer must inform you of his or her final decision.
There is also a modified grievance procedure which applies in cases where:
- You are no longer employed by your employer and your employer was either unaware of your grievance before your employment ended;
- Or was aware of your grievance but the standard grievance procedure was either not commenced or completed before your last day of employment;
- You and your employer have agreed in writing that the modified procedure should apply.
There are also a number of cases to which neither the standard nor the modified statutory procedure applies. Many of these exceptions are quite technical and unlikely to apply in the vast majority of cases.
The most important situation in practice to which the grievance procedures do not apply is where your grievance is that your employer has either dismissed or is contemplating dismissing you.
Another important exception is where you feel that by going through the grievance procedures you may be exposed to a significant threat, such as violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour, or that you will be harassed.
Why is it important to comply with the statutory procedures?
A Tribunal will, other than in exceptional circumstances, increase any compensation to be awarded to you by 10-50% if your employer has not complied with these procedures, for example, by failing to offer you a right of appeal. But if the Tribunal finds that you have not complied with these procedures, by failing to attend a meeting to discuss your grievance without good cause for example, your compensation may be reduced by 10-50%.
So it is clearly crucial to comply with all the steps of the above procedures.
Time limits for bringing claims
If you raise a grievance with your employer within the “normal” time limit for bringing an Employment Tribunal claim (i.e. three months less one day after the act which is being complained of took place) you do not need to present your claim to the Employment Tribunal until six months after that time.
Once you have raised you grievance with your employer it is important that you wait 28 days before bringing your complaint in the Employment Tribunal. If you do not do this the Employment Tribunal will reject your claim and you will be required to wait the remainder of the 28 day period before re-submitting it.
Another very important point in relation to time limits is that if you have a number of complaints - some of which the grievance procedures apply to and some of which they do not - (for example, a complaint of discrimination and a complaint of dismissal) you may need to issue two separate sets of proceedings in the Employment Tribunal to comply with all the relevant time limits.
The reason for this is that complaints running through grievance procedures apply will attract a three month extension, whilst complaints to which the grievance procedures do not apply will not benefit from any time extension. Whether or not it will be necessary to issue two sets of proceedings will depend on when you raise your grievance with your employer.
Grievance meetings
ACAS has produced a guide entitled “Discipline and Grievance at work” in which it sets out good practice in dealing with grievances. This guidance is very detailed and is helpful in highlighting what you can and cannot expect after you have raised a grievance. The most important points contained in the guide are summarised here:
Before the meeting
On receiving your formal grievance, a manager should invite you to a meeting as soon as possible. It is good practice for your employer to agree with you a time and place for the meeting.
You should be told that you have the statutory right to be accompanied at the meeting (see above for details).
If you have special requirements – for example, if English is not your first language or you have a disability which may make participation at the hearing difficult – you may request relevant assistance. For instance, you can ask your employer for a translator or sign language interpreter to be present at the meeting.
At the meeting
You should be allowed to explain your complaint and how you think that it should be resolved.
If your employer reaches a point in the meeting where they are not sure how to deal with the grievance, or feel that further investigation is necessary, the meeting should be adjourned
How will you be informed of the outcome of the grievance meeting?
Once the decision has been made you should be informed in writing as soon as possible.
The ACAS Code of Practice considers that five working days is normally long enough to wait for a decision. It goes on to state that if it is not possible to respond within five working days you should be given an explanation for the delay, and told when a response can be expected.
Appealing the outcome of the grievance
You have a statutory right of appeal against the outcome of the grievance meeting, and your employer must let you know you have this right.
As far as is reasonably practicable, the appeal should involve a more senior manager than the one who dealt with the original grievance. In small organisations, even if there is no more senior manager available, another manager should, if possible, hear the appeal.
You are also entitled to be accompanied at any appeal meeting by a colleague or trade union representative, in the same way that you are entitled to be accompanied at the original grievance meeting.
As with the original meeting, the employer should write to you with a decision on your grievance as soon as possible. They should also tell you if the appeal meeting is the final stage of the grievance procedure.
Further information
For further information, please contact the employment department on 0870 143 0970.
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