Grievances

Reasons for raising a grievance

Grievances typically cover the following areas:

• Pay and working conditions.
• Terms of employment and workplace rules.
• Disagreements with co-workers.
• Allegations of unfair treatment at work.

The procedure for raising a grievance

Your employer’s grievance policy will likely be included in your contract, staff handbook or accessible on the staff intranet. If you are struggling to locate the policy, contact your UNISON rep. 

Here is a typical example of a grievance process in action:

• In the first instance, you can speak to your supervisor about your grievance informally.
• If you are unsatisfied with your supervisor’s response, or don’t receive any response within a reasonable amount of time, consider whether you should report your grievance to a senior manager.
• If you speak to a senior manager and are still unsatisfied with their response, or you don’t receive one, you can raise a formal grievance in writing.
• Once you submit your grievance, an investigatory meeting or other action may start to investigate your complaint.
• Once the investigation is over, a grievance hearing should be held to consider the case. You have the right to attend the grievance hearing with a trade union rep or workplace colleague.
• After considering the issues the employer will make a decision to uphold your grievance or not and confirm the outcome to you in writing.
• If your grievance is not upheld you may wish to appeal against the decision.

Before raising a grievance, find out what your employer’s grievance procedure is – and make sure you follow it. Every employer should have a written grievance procedure which may be found in the:

• company handbook;
• human resources (HR) or personnel manual;
• the organisation’s intranet;
• employment contract.

If you want to raise a grievance, you should speak to your UNISON rep. Your rep will help you follow the grievance procedure and can attend meetings with you and help you prepare for the grievance hearing.

Other ways to resolve the dispute

If your grievance can’t be resolved under the grievance procedures, alternative forms of dispute resolution (ADR), such as mediation, might be available to help the parties resolve their disputes. Ask your employer if such methods are used within your organisation.  

If you can’t resolve the dispute by using the grievance procedures and ADR (if available), you may need to consider whether your underlying issue forms the basis of an employment tribunal claim. 

There are very tight deadlines within which you must lodge a claim, normally three months less one day from the act of discrimination (or three months exactly in Northern Ireland), unless the claim is for disability discrimination, where Northern Ireland similarly apply a three months less one day time limit.

We strongly advise that you seek further assistance from a UNISON representative to explore what options might be available in your situation, including what would be involved in taking this further step.

What happens during a grievance hearing?

A grievance hearing is a meeting that deals with grievances raised by employees.

You have a legal right to take someone to the meeting with you under the Employment Relations Act 1999 or in Northern Ireland the Employment Relations (NI) Order 1999. To do so, you must make a request to your employer. The accompanying person could be:

• a colleague;
• your UNISON rep;
• a UNISON official.

The companion can help you present your case or speak on your behalf, but they cannot answer questions addressed to you directly.

There is a relationship between claims made in the employment tribunal and the use of grievance procedures. If a claimant is successful in the employment tribunal and the tribunal decides to award compensation, the tribunal may reduce any compensation awarded if the claimant didn’t first make use of the grievance procedures. This is important to bear in mind if you are considering whether to take the matter further.

Guidance and law on grievances

Acas has produced a Code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures for employers, employees and workers setting out minimum standards for dealing with grievances. 

The Northern Ireland equivalent Code of practice is prepared by the Labour Relations Agency. In Northern Ireland, employment tribunals may adjust compensation if a party has unreasonably failed to follow the LRA Code of Practice, although the code is not legally binding. 

It is important to consider the code’s guiding principles in your situation and also any grievance procedures used by your employer, if you are considering whether to file an employment tribunal claim. A UNISON rep will be able to advise you further and specific advice should always be sought before proceeding. 

Legal disclaimer 

The information contained within this article is not a complete or final statement of the law and is based on the laws of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

While UNISON has sought to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date, it is not responsible and will not be held liable for any inaccuracies and their consequences, including any loss arising from relying on this information. If you are a UNISON member with a legal problem, please contact your branch or region as soon as possible for advice, or for non-employment matters call UNISONdirect.