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Dealing with grievances: What do managers need to know?

21 June 2010

In this article we set out some guidelines for managers dealing with employees’ grievances.

A ‘grievance’ is simply any concern, problem or complaint an employee raises with their employer.

Often a grievance will be addressed to an employee’s line manager and they will then be required to investigate the complaint and reach a decision on what if any action should be taken.

The way in which a grievance is dealt with can create legal liability for the employer. Therefore, managers should not attempt to deal with grievances without first speaking to their HR or in-house legal team. It is particularly important to do so if an employee’s grievance appears to involve a potential legal claim for example, if there is a possible discrimination angle to the complaint.

In an ideal world managers would be aware of issues and pro-actively try to mediate informally before things escalated. However, where a formal grievance is received the following suggestions may assist managers in navigating the process.

Guidelines for managers dealing with grievances

When an employee raises a formal grievance, do not ignore the issue and delay dealing with it. An employer is under a duty to deal with a grievance in a timely manner: failure to do so could ultimately enable an employee to resign and claim constructive dismissal.
Check the requirements of any written grievance procedure which applies to employees in your organisation to ensure that both the employee and you are complying with its requirements. For example, does the policy make a commitment to deal with grievances within a specified timeframe?
Invite the employee to a formal meeting to explain their grievance and how they want it resolved. This meeting should be conducted like any other formal meeting. It would be helpful to have a third party such as HR present to act as a witness and note taker.
At the grievance meeting an employee should be given the opportunity to fully explain their complaint. Your role is to listen and ask questions if necessary in order to be totally clear about the matters they are raising.
Remember that the purpose of the grievance procedure is to enable issues to be resolved in the workplace. Be clear about the outcome that the employee is seeking. For example, do they want a specific management decision to be overturned or do they just want an apology? Often employees do not actually think about what it is they want, so ask them if they have not been clear about this.
If you feel you need further clarification on any point raised during the meeting go back to the employee and ask.
In some cases it will then be necessary to adjourn the meeting to conduct an investigation, including interviewing witnesses, in order to establish the facts of what the employee is complaining about before reaching a decision.
Depending upon the complexity of the matter it may take some time for the grievance investigation to be completed. Make sure you keep the employee informed of the likely timescale and any changes to it.
In serious cases where the employee is very distressed consider if it is appropriate to send them home (on full pay) for a short while.
After the meeting has concluded and any investigation is complete you will need to consider the facts and decide whether the grievance is well founded. If so, you will then have to decide whether to take the action which the employee has requested or whether some other action might be more appropriate.
Many grievances arise out of management decisions with which the employee disagrees. It is therefore important that the employee fully understands why such decisions have been made. It may be that once they've vented their frustration and heard the employer's explanation they are content to leave it there.
Where the grievance essentially involves a ‘clash of personalities’ between two employees consider whether mediation (either by an unconnected internal person or an impartial external person) might be beneficial.
Make sure you are consistent in any decision you take i.e. treat similar situations in a similar way – if an employee perceives that their grievance outcome is less favourable than any other similar grievance matters are unlikely to be resolved satisfactorily and, in the worst case scenario, a discrimination claim could follow.
If you think it could be helpful, invite the employee to a meeting to explain your decision before confirming it in writing.
Communicate your decision clearly and promptly in writing setting out the reasons for your decision and giving details of any actions you intend to take to resolve the grievance.
Consider whether there are any follow-up actions you need to take, for example, are there any ‘lessons to be learned’ for the organisation? Do internal processes need to be changed? If there is a discrimination angle to the grievance, does disciplinary action need to be instigated against the perpetrators?
If the grievance concerns other employees or requires you to talk to witnesses bear in mind data protection and confidentiality issues. While you may be able to grant anonymity to witnesses internally, if the matter ultimately ends up in an employment tribunal you will not be able to preserve that anonymity. It is important to manage expectations in this regard and not make promises that you can’t keep later on.
Sometimes an employee may only wish to raise a grievance if they themselves can be granted anonymity. This can raise difficult issues for an employer. Not only may agreeing to such a request prevent an employer from adequately investigating the matter but, once they are on notice that there is an internal problem, for example bullying, they will have a duty to deal with it and could incur legal liability if they do nothing.
Don't forget to let the employee know in writing that they have a right of appeal. If the employee does so the appeal meeting should be conducted by a more senior manager who has not previously been involved with the matter.
Any appeal should be dealt with promptly and the outcome should be communicated to the employee in writing.
Employees should be given the opportunity to bring a work colleague or trade union representative to all meetings held under a formal grievance procedure.
Make sure you keep a written record of the actions you have taken in respect of the grievance, including notes of conversations, meetings and phone calls.

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Dealing with grievances: What do managers need to know?

21 June 2010

In this article we set out some guidelines for managers dealing with employees’ grievances.

Guidelines for managers dealing with grievances

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