No one wants to think they will have a need for a grievance procedure in the future, and it is much more pleasant to assume that all employees are happy in their role and within your business. However, each company has to have a grievance procedure in place to safeguard employee rights and to encourage companies to solve their issues in respect to grievances swiftly within the workplace.
It doesn’t matter how large or small your business is, if you employ staff they need to have access to their grievance procedure.
Issues that can lead to a grievance procedure
When the following issues occur, you may find yourself at the receiving end of a grievance claim:
- Bullying in the workplace
- Health and safety concerns
- Harassment or discrimination of any kind
- Unclear or unfair workplace rules and conditions
- Significant amendments to working conditions and roles
The most common mistakes in grievance management
- Making the grievance process more formal than is necessary
Your response and the time it took you to respond to a raised grievance can say a lot about you as an employer and will unlikely go unnoticed amongst your staff.
Often, when dealing with grievances, an informal chat, some simple changes or monitoring certain processes or staff is enough to handle the issue adequately. Sometimes the disgruntled employee just needs the opportunity to tell someone about their issues and know that they are being taken seriously and listened to.
Making use of your formal procedure should be a last resort for any business. However, if cases of discrimination, harassment or bullying do occur you would be wise to instantly start your formal procedure and handle the issue swiftly with focus and care. If formal procedures are activated unnecessarily it can as a result quickly escalate simple matters into heated and complex disagreements.
We always advise businesses to keep their grievance procedures as simple as possible. The procedure needs to be easy to read, easy to understand and stored in an easily accessible place for managers and staff alike. Where possible handle grievances in an informal manner, and always deal with any issues in a personal and caring manner.
- Allowing the wrong people to manage and assist with the process
There are multiple important roles within the grievance management process
- The investigator
The person that will look at the facts of the case in depth
- The decision maker
Typically the employer themselves or the employees direct line-manager
- The appeal manager
In the event that an employee wishes to appeal the decision of the decision maker, an appeal manager will decide on the final outcome
The above roles can never be taken on by a person personally involved with the case at hand. They must be able to remain objective throughout the process in order to ensure a fair outcome for the employee and employer.
When you run a small business with only a few employees this can become significantly more complex to do, as each person is likely to be involved. In this case you will need to consider hiring external consultants to assist you.
- Allowing the process to take too long
Handling grievances through your formal procedure will often be quite time-consuming, however necessary. In order to manage the amount of time a procedure should take and minimise any frustrating extensions you may want to set specific time frames that you inform all employees of before any grievance procedure commences.
Whilst the process is ongoing, employers are advised to keep employees in the loop as much as possible, and avoid long durations without any communication. It leaves employees in the dark and is likely to add to their negative feelings.
- Not following your own grievance procedure
In the 2013 case of Blackburn v Aldi Stores Ltd it was proven how vital it really is that employers follow their own set policies and procedures.
In this case the claimant has raised a grievance against Aldi which the store chain heard but later rejected. On appeal the claimant was heard by the exact same person that heard his original case and therefore had his appeal rejected without further investigation. As a result of the failed grievance claim the employee left the company and claimed constructive dismissal at the employment tribunal.
If an employer fails to adhere to their own set grievance procedure the claimant can submit a claim to the employment tribunal claiming a breach of conduct.
