Anyone in HR Can you help? Grievance started, but notice handed in

[cofingalthetime]

So just hypothetical here, but if someone has had a grievance brought against them, but they have handed in their notice, will that be on their HR record.

some Companies would log that as “resigned during investigation/proceedings” or similar, but others won’t. You would need to check with the HR team

I filed a grievance against someone for sexual harassment and he then handed his notice in and left. The investigation still happened even after he had left and an outcome of gross misconduct was still recorded on HR files. May vary from company to company though.

What do you mean by "om their HR record"?
Of course there will be record of it.

Yes, generally, the grievance will still be investigated. Resignation shouldn't be automatically seen as an indicator of guild though.

In your hypothetical situation, would you be the complainant or the resigning one?

Do you mean will it appear on a future reference? It depends. I’ve seen people agree to resign in these circumstances on the proviso that the company agrees a reference which doesn’t mention the investigation process. Would only work pre-resignation obviously.

Well of course there would be a record of it. The alternative is that there is a purge if every document, memo or email that related to it and I cannot see any reason why that would happen.

There would be a record of it, but in my large former employer it wouldn’t be mentioned on the reference and wouldn’t be widely known in the company. (Ex union rep)

It depends … Is it a regulated industry? Regulators might need to be informed so investigation will continue / disciplinary process followed (if applicable). Regulators informed if necessary and depending what it is could be something that has to be mentioned to future employer.

Most workplaces would continue with the investigation/hearing and yes it will be on the HR file of the person the grievance was taken out against, including whether or not the grievance was upheld.

As PP have indicated, it may or may not be acknowledged in a reference request, that will vary from employer to employer and industry to industry. Maybe ask your own HR department?

Thats interesting, and maybe hopeful. No it's not for me am "asking for a friend"

The thing about these grievances is that there's automatic assumption of guilt if a grievance is brought against you. I wonder if it stays on your record if it is not upheld.

I'm really hoping that common sense prevails. It was brought about some very trivial things and I'm not sure why they couldn't have been talked about and resolved over a coffee rather than jumping into the whole procedure and involving HR. JMO though of course. I feel like there's a bit of a rush to "bring it to HR" at our workplace at the moment, and normal conversations and disagreements can often be sorted out with a bit of goodwill and common sense.

I would think that it's in someone's interests to have it formally recorded so that there is a clear decision made about innocence - otherwise there is a tendency towards a 'no smoke without fire' reputational damage that can't be undone because there is no evidence.

I think it really depends on the organisation, where I work (in HR) we would be unlikely to do a formal investigation into this kind of 'petty' grievance, especially if the subject has moved on or resigned, we would probably encourage the complainant to sort it out informally with the individual or might offer mediation or some kind of counselling or other support in the first instance, and particularly given the person is leaving anyway would probably struggle to see the value in further investigation - so while we would of course have a record of the grievance existing it wouldn't be mentioned on the person complained about's references or anything - it wouldn't be fair to do so without them having the right to reply. But other organisations might take a different view I guess, or if the complaint was alleging sexual harassment or discrimination or bullying that would be a different kettle of fish and we might need to pursue an investigation after they've left or mention they resigned pending an investigation into allegations (particularly the case as we're NHS so have safeguarding/clinical care responsibilities to other organisations). But otherwise it probably would get filed in the 'no further action' pile!

I do get the wanting to clear your name thing but TBH I don't think it's a 'no smoke without fire' thing at all, I see so many of these sorts of grievances I absolutely don't believe that. It's not that the complainants are making it up or vexatious as such, it's just a lack of communication often and an inability of people (or managers!) to sort things out amongst themselves that leads to the 'run to HR' culture and HR validating that by investigating each and every complaint does nothing to sort that out. Plus pretty much every successful senior manager I've ever worked for has had a grievance out against them at some stage, usually because they've tried to tackle some issue or poor performance that's been brushed under the carpet previously - it doesn't mean they're bad people or bad at their jobs!