Submitting a Grievance

The matter should, in the first instance, be raised verbally and fairly informally with your immediate supervisor/line manager, or direct with the person concerned, and hopefully this will bring about a speedy resolution or answer to your satisfaction.

It is expected that the majority of grievances can be resolved informally and without the need for anything more formal.

However, there will be occasions where an informal approach is not possible (e.g. the complaint may be about your immediate supervisor, or you feel threatened or intimidated), or where the informal approach has been tried and failed, or where you are not satisfied with the outcome.

In such cases you will need to use the formal procedure.

• You MUST put your complaint in writing (you can ask a colleague to help you with this, or a manager in whom you have trust, or your Human Resources Dept)
• Although the written complaint does not have to be detailed, you will need to identify who you are and give a broad outline of your complaint, which should include the identity of the person or persons against whom the complaint is made – if relevant
• The written complaint should then be sent/given to the next level of manager above your immediate supervisor (i.e. your boss’s boss). For particularly sensitive cases, such as harassment and bullying, you are expected to send your written complaint direct to a Senior Manager and/or the Human Resources Department
• For more detail refer to the Equality and Dignity at Work policies.
• The manager to whom the complaint has been sent will then arrange to have a meeting with you to discuss the matter in more detail. You will be entitled to be accompanied at this (and any subsequent meeting) by a work colleague or trade union representative/official
• Following the meeting and any investigation, you will be advised, in writing, of the outcome and what action if any will be taken.
• You will also be advised of the appeal process that will need to be followed if you are unhappy with the outcome.
• You should inform your manager in writing the grounds for your appeal within five days of receiving the decision.
• Appeals should be heard without unreasonable delay and should be dealt with impartially and wherever possible by a manager who has not previously been involved in the case.
• You will be advised in writing of the outcome of your appeal.