Does this merit a grievance?

[Titterofwit]

Settle down - this could be long.

We have had several deaths in our office recently. The normal process is that the manager (HEO) sends out an email informing everyone of the sad occurrence and then a second one regarding the funeral arrangements. As its a large office with several sections there is the likelihood that only a handful of close colleagues would wish to go. Occasionally there have been higher profile people die and the office has actually closed so that everyone who wished to attend the funeral could do so. There is no expected level of attendence.

The most recent funeral was for a long standing colleague who wasnt well known in the office.He was well liked and respected by those who worked directly with him though - he was just a low profile person. However he wasnt much liked by the HEO nor his line manager (EO) and the feeling was definitely mutual. HEO sent out the usual email informing the office and followed with an email also informing the office that the funeral was to be a quiet affair and therefore only 2 people would attend the funeral due to the wishes of the family. These 2 people were to be HEO and EO. His colleagues accepted this until the notice was put in the paper which made no reference to being a quiet affair and with the usual date time and place references so that anyone could attend. At this several close colleagues booked time off so they could go. HEO was furious at the 'disobedience'.

The family however were delighted that they got to speak with colleagues and were very happy to meet them.In fact were surprised that more didnt attend.

The colleagues who attended and those who didnt get the chance to attend are not happy and feel they want the HEO to be taken to task about this but they dont want to put their necks on the line individually. They arent sure how to progress without bringing war on themselves.

Is it worth bringing a collective grievance? or should it be many individual grievances . Or none and let the whole thing die down - but not be forgotten.

Sorry for the length and congratulations on getting this far.

Surely it's up to individuals if they want to book time off to go to a funeral. As long as they're not expecting to be given time off work without booking it, I can't see that it's any of the Management's business.

How did the HEO show that they were "furious"?

Depending on the answer to this question, it doesn't sound like it's something to raise a grievance about.

No there are no grounds for a grievance

I think I'd have other battles to fight.
Something to file away when you're thinking about whether it might be better to work somewhere else.

littlefish The HEO was generally storming around in a foul mood and was overheard by another HEO talking scathingly about those who had stated they were going to the funeral. Hence the reference to disobedience. They had 'words' as equals .

2014newme The Union rep was asked for his opinion and he thought a collective grievance might be the way to go but he is inexperienced so no-one wants to start the process if it would have repercussions.

I don't think there are grounds for collective grievance based on the funeral stuff. There may be grounds if the HEO is acting unpleasantly and making remarks about his direct reports. Have you spoken to the SEO or G7? As the funeral took place outside of work, then it isn't a work related grievance as such. It's not required to allow time off for funerals of colleagues so unless the HEO refused to grant annual leave there's not much can be done. You could possibly argue custom and practice if the office has always closed, but I'm not sure that the union would be guaranteed success on it so may only offer limited support.

What would you want to achieve by raising a grievance?

Would the deceased really want people to make a fuss about it, when a) they themselves were a low profile person.
b) they were a work colleague and not someone who was in the social scene (it doesn't sound like)

I know if I died I wouldn't want people to jeopardise their employment position.

Pick your battles in life.

Why not all those who didn't attend the funeral collectively go along on a Saturday or Sunday to pay their respects as a team. It will amount to the same thing, expressing your sadness.

lljkk Yes it will be filed away by those involved and not forgotten for one minute but why should one persons deliberate lie result in lots of other people having to leave their place of work?

The main problem people have is that it was a repeated lie . The email stated the fact and then when approached by colleagues who werent sure it was repeated .This information was passed on to ex colleagues who didnt attend as they had been told not to. It was making a difference to all the previous funerals when no directives had been issued.

The deceased would have been thrilled to have this HEO on a grievance as there was no love lost. He was a low profile person in the office but no pushover hence the mutual dislike.

But maybe this is colouring the response. Knowing the relationship and that the HEO and EO were the corporate attendees when they were the last people who should have been there.

Those that didnt attend have subsequently made their own arrangements.

Are you Civil Service? Surely it is at the line manger's discretion to allow time off depending on business need.

While saying that, I have never known people not to attend a funeral but it is always taken as flexi or TOIL. Perhaps the manager genuinely made a mistake here?

Perhaps clarify with HR or your Business Unit Head what the position is going forward, but I don't think you have grounds to raise a grievance.

Is it the dishonesty you are unhappy about? You could write a letter collectively to state how upset you all are about XYZ but that you do not wish to invoke the grievance procedure at this time? That way you get your point across but don't have to go through all the hassle of the process.

You can raise a collective grievance if you wanted to do so. I don't know if I would in your shoes - it depends.

What are you looking for from the grievance?

Lying about whether colleagues would be welcome seems an odd thing to do. Why do you think the 'HEO' (sorry, no idea what the acronyms in your post mean) would do this? Understanding someone's motive for an action is often key in identifying how best to respond.

A collective grievance is quite a big deal, and on the face of it, doesn't seem a proportionate response. If people booked annual leave and then were disciplined for attending the funeral, they can and should appeal. But if people aren't being penalised, and it's just a case of the HEO being in a strop, I'm not sure a grievance is the best course of action.

I think I can see where you are coming from. The custom and practice is that when a colleague dies, arrangements are made to allow those who would like to attend the funeral to do so. In the main, funerals are well represented.

When colleague X died, deliberate misinformation was given to prevent usual custom and practice from occurring, but in any event, when some colleagues found out the details from the newspaper, they booked time off independently, then the Manager was cross with them for 'disobeying instructions'. Furthermore, family members at the funeral expressed gratitude and surprise that others didn't attend.

So your Manager's lies have been exposed, you can't undo the effect of them, and you can't show the family that you cared about your colleague by attending the funeral, when they may well know the tradition in the office.

You don't say how he died, but it is possible that it isn't a lie? If he died of a long term condition they may have talked? I'm not sure that a grievance would help or change anything in any event.

I apologise for not clarifying the acronyms . They mean EO=line Manager . HEO = the EOs manager and SEO is the HEOs manager.

lougle You have it right mostly. It was a deliberate and repeated lie and prevented those who wanted to attend from attending. Yes all those who DID attend did so on their own time . The death was not expected ,colleague was 40s ,and there would have been no prior conversation with HEO as any interactions would have been terse .

Lord only knows why they chose to lie about the funeral. There is no reason for it as it was possible that the family would have been in contact with colleagues after the funeral and found out that way. Which would have been even more upsetting for those who followed directive and didnt go.

But on reflection and with help from your responses I can see there will probably be no good outcome from this if a grievance is entered. Maybe a letter from those concerned would work although no-one is seeking an apology as such . The HEO is known for insincere responses which would only infuriate recipients.

Just thinking about your situation further, Titter it is shocking when a colleague dies, especially when it's so sudden and I'm sure there must be a lot of sadness in your office.

The HEO should have been a lot more supportive, but do you think they tried to put everyone off because he was concerned about a mass exodus from the office and just told porkies to get the troops back to work.

Some people in companies have a heart of granite, other times tragic circumstances bring out the very best in people. Shame your HEO did not seem to fall into the latter category.

You'd never be able to prove the manager lied, they'd just say that was their understanding of the funeral arrangements at that time

Am a bit shocked that you working an office where there have been several death recently. Surely that isn't usual in a work environment? Unfortunately, I do not think that this merits a grievance. Manager will say that he misunderstood the wishes of the family or that he is clear that is what they said at the time and they must have changed their mind later. So where do you go from there? You can't drag the bereaved family into this so it's just a he said/she said situation.