If you are looking for advice on grievances from specialist Cambridge employment solicitors, call Cambridge Legal on 01223 776200 or email enquiries@cambridgelegal.co.uk

What is a ‘grievance’?

A grievance is an internal complaint made by a worker to their employer. A grievance typically raises concerns about work environment or work relationships. Grievances tend to be about matters such as changes in terms and conditions, excessive workloads, being refused holidays, unfair or discriminatory treatment by managers, and harassment from colleagues. The range of possible grievance complaints is unlimited.

If things aren’t going well at work grievances can be used tactically by employees. As specialist employment solicitors we can provide strategic advice at every stage of the grievance process.

Less commonly, collective grievances are sometimes brought by groups of workers.

Employers should have their own grievance procedures for the bringing and investigation of grievances. We advise workers on how to bring grievances and, for employers, draft grievance procedures and advise how best to address grievances.

Both parties should focus on what specific outcome the employee seeks. What would resolve the grievance?

ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (the ‘Code’)

The ACAS Code, which is available from the ACAS website https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-for-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures/html sets out basic principles of fair practice and natural justice which should form part of an employer’s grievance procedures. While the Code is not legally binding it does set out a general standard that an employment tribunal must take into account in deciding any unfair dismissal case. Employment tribunals see it as the touchstone of good personnel practice in dealing with grievances.

Employment tribunals can increase or reduce compensation by up to 25% in any successful case for unfair dismissal or discrimination if either party unreasonably fails to follow the Code.

The ACAS Code is short at only 49 paragraphs. More advice is in the 76 page guide called ‘Discipline and Grievances at Work: the ACAS Guide’ (the ‘Guide’). This can be downloaded from https://www.acas.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-03/discipline-and-grievances-at-work-the-acas-guide.pdf

Tribunals do not have to follow the Guide but it sets a standard and acts as a best practice framework on grievances.

Both the Guide and the Code can be downloaded from the ACAS website using the links above. The ACAS website provides additional useful information www.acas.org.uk

Grievances – ignored by employers at their peril

The ACAS Code seems to expect formal grievances to be brought if the problem is not resolved informally. There is a risk of compensation being reduced if an employee wins an employment tribunal without first bringing a formal grievance and appealing if the grievance outcome is unsatisfactory. Conversely, employers can suffer an uplift of up to 25% in the compensation they are ordered to pay the employee if they have not complied with the ACAS Code.

Employers must give employees an opportunity to obtain redress of any grievance. Employers should deal with grievances consistently and promptly. For grievances raised during a disciplinary process the Code suggests that it may be appropriate to suspend temporarily the disciplinary process to deal with the grievance. Alternatively, both may be heard together. Employers faced with this dilemma should seek advice from specialist employment solicitors.

Discriminatory handling of grievances

Employers may be guilty of further discrimination or victimisation in the way they deal with a grievance related to discrimination. This might involve failing to investigate properly or taking an exceptionally long time to deal with the grievance.

Right to be accompanied at grievance hearings

Employers must allow employees to be accompanied by a trade union representative or another employee at grievance meetings. The choice of companion is up to the worker, not the employer. Providing that the companion is a trade union representative or the employee’s colleague, the employer cannot object to their attendance at the grievance hearing.

Although the companion cannot answer questions on behalf of the worker, they may address the hearing, confer with the worker, sum up the worker’s case, and express the worker’s views.

The person chosen to accompany the worker must be allowed time off work to do so. If the chosen person cannot attend at the chosen time, the employer must postpone the meeting for any reasonable time proposed by the worker within five working days of the original date.

An employment tribunal may award compensation of up to two weeks’ pay where a worker has been denied the right to be accompanied at a grievance hearing.

A worker must not be subjected to any detriment because he or she has tried to exercise the right to be accompanied. The person accompanying the worker at the grievance hearing must not be subjected to any detriment either. Dismissal for exercising the right to be accompanied will be automatically unfair.

Grievance appeals

Employees should appeal if they feel their grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved. Failure to appeal a grievance may adversely affect later compensation arising from a successful employment tribunal claim. Cambridge Legal Practice can advise you how best to appeal.

Some grievance procedures have more than one appeal stage. If the grievance procedure does not permit an appeal, the employer will be in breach of the ACAS Code. Cambridge Legal Practice advises employers on drafting suitable grievance procedures.

Key points

Compliance with the ACAS Code requires the following:

Employers and employees should raise and deal with issues promptly and should not unreasonably delay meetings, decisions or confirmation of those decisions.
Employers should carry out any necessary investigations, to establish the facts of the case.
Employers should allow employees to be accompanied at any formal grievance meeting.
Employers should allow employees to appeal against any decision made.

The guidance above is necessarily general and is no substitute for specialist employment law advice based on your particular circumstances as employee or employer.

“Happiness is not the absence of problems; but the ability to deal with them“. Anonymous

For advice on grievances from specialist employment solicitors in Cambridge, call Cambridge Legal on 01223 776200 or email enquiries@cambridgelegal.co.uk