Grievances

[AvonCallingBarksdale]

Hi. Can someone talk me through what happens when someone makes a grievance at work? What if the people named are completely unawares that anything was up and it is essentially a “she said” “he said” scenario with no paper trail?

Your grievance procedure should outline the process, but basically the employer will need to investigate, which will involve talking to those concerned, and there will be a hearing for the employee raising the grievance to be able to explain their concerns. The employer will then need to decide the outcome.

By rights (if the policy aligns to ACAS good practice) grievances should start out as informal, with very little paper trail, perhaps an email or two. The best case scenario is that things are resolved and back on track with the informal, lightly documented stage, as it enables the air to be cleared quickly if everyone is willing to play fair.

If the informal route is managed well, the involved parties get their equal say and feel they have been listened to. The "he said, she said" is avoided because that often happens if there is favouritism, only one side gets their say and the process is skewed.

Do you suspect the process is biased and not everyone has been given the chance to explain their side?