Grievance raised

[thegreenestbear]

My colleagues and I have had grievances raised against us by a lower grade employee with a grudge. There is nothing in her claims. She had mentioned another colleague in her grievance who she is calling as a witness. We have been told we cannot call anyone as witnesses to back up our side of the issue. Is this correct? TIA.

Have you seen the actual grievance yet? It would depend on what it was how this would be handled

Yes, I've seen it. She said she was being bullied by X Y and Z. She said A witnessed it.

X Y and Z were doing nothing of the sort, this is the first we've heard of it nine months later.

A is completely under her thumb and would swear black was white to not fall out with her, yet we can't call X Y and Z to corroborate what we are saying.

Your company should have some sort of process? Also.., are you in a union. That's so valuable.

Are you in a union? Call them if you are.

Firstly try not to worry- easier said than done I know- but the business have a legal duty to investigate the grievance.

You and other respondents and witnesses should be invited to interviews so you can give your version of events.

If you have witnesses who can back up your version of events then do tell the grievance manager at the meeting who they are and say that they should interview them to get the full facts- otherwise it may just be one word against another.

In that way if your employer were to take action against you as a result of the investigation and you feel this was based on incorrect or a lack of information, you could appeal and say 'x saw this incident and could give you a truthful account but you decided not to interview them'

Thanks everyone. Yes, I am in PCS. Hadn't gone to them initially because it seemed so clear cut but now the guy investigating it has gone down a very strange route so I'm getting concerned.

X, Y and Z should be interviewed as part of the process anyway (seeing as the grievance is against them) so they do not need to call each other as witnesses, the person raising the grievance will also be interviewed

The only additional people that need to be brought in are people that are external to the situation (such as A)

X Y and Z are not the people who the grievance is about. They are mentioned in the grievance and in our statements but are not being interviewed. We want them to be interviewed to confirm our statements.

The only person apart from us being interviewed is A who will paint a different picture about what X Y and Z did and our reactions thereafter.

Have you been interviewed yet? If not then no one will be considered your witness until after the interview

Isn’t there a time limit in raising a grievance of 3 months?

@Tangohead

Isn’t there a time limit in raising a grievance of 3 months?

No there isn't.

OP I am not clear because it seems that you originally said that X Y and Z were being accused of bullying but then say that they weren't. But if this is at the investigation stage then you don't call witnesses. You can tell the investigating officer your version of events including who may of witnessed it, and that is all. If it proceeds to a disciplinary, which it may not, and those people have not provided witness statements, then you may call witnesses. But you need to be very careful that you are not interacting inappropriately with the witnesses because it could be suggested that you are trying to influence what they said. So you shouldn't be discussing this with them - or anyone else really, with the exception of your union .

@Tangohead

Isn’t there a time limit in raising a grievance of 3 months?

You thinking of the 3 months less 1 day to lodge an action at Employment Tribunal.

I raised a grievance 2 years ago. I had (reluctant) witnesses who I named and HR did not give them the option of refusing to be a witness (HR fucked up my grievance and I got a big payout but I'm glad the witnesses could not wiggle out of it).

Those I complained about were not allowed to have witnesses unless they raised a counter grievance (they didn't).

That could be your route of defence perhaps?

I would say however, that bullies always say they aren't bullied. I was a victim of mobbing, where everyone ganged up on me to say I was the problem and my allegations weren't true. However, getting them to give witness statements individually where they couldn't check their answers with each other, worked in my favour. Plus I had years of email evidence I'd been gathering.

Harassment is about how the person feels, not about intent. So bear that in mind.

Maybe its all made up, but that's your version of events. It still needs to be investigated.

*they aren't bullies - not bullied - typo!