If you have a concern or problem at work which cannot be resolved informally, you can choose to raise a formal grievance. Your employer should follow its grievance procedure which will mean investigating your grievance and providing you with an outcome. However, if you are unhappy with the outcome of the grievance, what should you do next?
Raising A Grievance
There are lots of issues that give rise to grievances at work including bullying and harassment, new working practices and organisational changes. If you cannot resolve a grievance informally, you should raise the matter formally with a manager who is not the subject of the grievance. Your employer should have a grievance procedure in place and in any event should follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. In very general terms, the grievance process will involve investigating your grievance, inviting you to attend a grievance hearing and providing you with a written outcome telling you if your grievance is upheld, not upheld, or is partially upheld.
Grievance Appeal
The ACAS Code requires that you be offered a right of appeal. If you wish to appeal you should set out your grounds of appeal in writing and within any deadline set by your employer. If the time period for appeal is particularly short and you need more time to appeal then you should notify your employer. There is no prescribed period for appealing a grievance decision and it is good practice for your employer to still consider an appeal even if it is received after the deadline.
The appeal is not intended to simply be a reconsideration of your original grievance, but if you feel that there were errors in the process, there was not a comprehensive investigation for example, or your employer failed to take into account certain evidence or you have new evidence to present, you should include this in your appeal. If you do present new evidence it may be appropriate for the grievance appeal to be a re-hearing or, if the fresh allegations widen or change the scope of the grievance considerably, your employer may consider it appropriate to deal with any new allegations as a fresh grievance. The grievance appeal decision should be confirmed to you in writing as soon as possible after the grievance appeal hearing.
If you are still unhappy with the outcome on appeal, there may be further steps that you can take.
Claims Arising From Failure To Deal With The Grievance Properly
Discrimination And Victimisation
Your original grievance might have alleged discrimination. Your employer’s failure to properly investigate or deal with your grievance may not, in itself, be a further act of discrimination; it will depend on why the failure took place. However the way in which your employer carries out its investigation into a grievance alleging discrimination or harassment could in itself lead to a discrimination claim.
Constructive Unfair Dismissal
An employer’s failure to provide and implement a grievance procedure is a breach of an implied contractual term on which there may be grounds to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal. Likewise, a failure to deal with a grievance properly may also constitute breach of an implied contractual term, although it will not always. This is very fact specific. It may depend on the seriousness of the allegations that you raise in the grievance. You should seek specific advice before resigning following a grievance process. Constructive unfair dismissal claims are difficult because the onus is on you as the employee to show that you resigned in response to a fundamental breach of contract on the part of your employer.
If there are no grounds to support a discrimination or constructive unfair dismissal claim, your options are limited. You may no longer wish to remain employed by your employer but resigning without a job to go to is usually not an attractive course of action due to the financial implications. However, it is for you to decide whether you are able to continue in your role. If your grievance has involved complaints about other employees, even if your grievance was not upheld entirely or was only upheld in part, your employer may be able and willing to make changes to your working environment. For example, if your complaint was about bullying by your line manager, your employer might be able to appoint an alternative line manager.
Sometimes, it is possible to negotiate an exit with your employer, even where a grievance or grievance appeal has not been upheld.
As stated above, it is recommended that you take advice before resigning in anticipation of a constructive unfair dismissal claim or discrimination claim so that you understand the implications and merits of any claims and can make an informed decision.
Lincs Law Employment Solicitors Can Help You
If you would like advice on your own situation please contact us for a free enquiry on 01522 440512 or via the web chat or contact form on our website at www.lincslaw.co.uk.
Kathryn Bolton
Associate
Specialist Employment Solicitor
Lincs Law Employment Solicitors
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