Grievance procedure - witness anonymity

[boymama55]

Hello,

Before I left work yesterday my line manager asked to speak with me to explain that a colleague who left the business on Wednesday has put in a formal complaint about another colleague. The complaint is related to bullying.

This colleague has named me as a witness and as part of the investigation my line manager is asking anyone who has been named as a witness to write a statement.

As I work directly with the person that the grievance has been raised against and I feel like if they knew I had given a statement they would not be happy about this and use it as a reason to make my life harder at work.

In light of this I did say to my manager yesterday that although I really feel for the colleague that has left I didn’t want to give a statement unless she could confirm that my name would not be mentioned. So for now I haven’t agreed to anything and my manager said she 100% understands and will find out for me in regards to where I stand on being named or not.

I’ve had a quick look on acas this morning and I found a paragraph that said that you have to get written consent from a witness to name them - I don’t know if by giving a written statement is a form of consent as it wasn’t clear.

Hoping someone on here may know?

Even if you're not named, surely you will be identifiable from any statement you give? If you're the only person who witnessed x and someone "anonymous" makes a statement describing x, it's pretty obvious you are the author of the statement.

Just say you decline to give a statement as you are worried about repercussions. At this stage, they can't force you to provide one.

If the person makes your life harder then that's a form of bullying! Don't be scared to write the statement because of what may happen. If it's proven that the person is bullying it needs to be stopped.

I put in grievance about my now ex boss, at times work means we have to talk to each other but unless there's management about the person ignores me completely. Management around its all - have a lovely weekend - I just walk away now, I was responding then thought why am I doing it when they can't be civil when managers not around - they can fuck right off. No one is fooled.

Assuming you did witness bullying, if you do nothing then nothing will change and this person will carry on bullying.

Did you witness the bullying?

Surely the management can address this without putting you into a position where the bullying will transfer to you?

The fact that you’re worried tells me the person is likely to be a bully? All you need to do is tell the truth- any come back from the person would be taken forward as further evidence of bullying. You may want to stay anonymous but remember everything is disclosable if anything went to employment tribunal so can’t always be promised. However as a employee it’s reasonable to be expected to give a truthful statement when asked

I’d ask your manager what process they are following. An ex employee cannot usually put in a complaint. So what is it? Ask for the policy and procedure to be clarified.

Why is anyone bothering with a complaint from an ex member of staff?

We had a similar situation at work where I was asked to provide a witness statement about something that had happened. I did so, assuming it would be confidential and part of a fact finding exercise.

What I did not know was:

-Every member of the team was asked to provide statements about the incident. Even people who weren't present were asked what they had been told.

-all of the statements were collated and presented to the individual at the heart of the incident. He knew exactly what everyone had said.

He was found to be only partially at fault and was not sacked. Luckily he's not actually a vengeful guy

I would be furious if a coworker did this about me!

Right, you don't want to get involved so you've published a detailed and identifiable account of the situation online. That makes sense.

If any of the people involved in this read your post they will know who you are and who you're describing. Posting about it online is probably misconduct.

I'm willing to bet that there are any number of venues in this country and others where receptionists have been pissed off with one another so much that one of them quit.

My main advice would be to start looking for other work now. Don't wait. There are so many things wrong with that situation.

If there were performance issues with the woman who left, they are for her line manager to deal with and shouldn't be the subject of gossip.

Likewise, if she raised concerns about bullying and they weren't addressed, that's a problem.

When the email came in, it should have been confidentially passed on to line management so that they can follow up with the customer and with whichever employee is involved. Reading it aloud in an attempt to intimidate or ridicule is definitely bullying and a disciplinary matter.

It sounds like you're hoping if you ignore it and don't make waves, she won't turn on you. But with ineffectual management, there's nothing to deter her from behaving however she wants to anyone.