When an employee raises a grievance, listen promptly, decide whether an informal resolution is appropriate and follow a fair formal process where it is not. A formal grievance should be put in writing, followed by a meeting, any investigation needed, a reasoned written outcome and an opportunity to appeal. Keep the people involved informed and make a confidential record of each stage.
What Is a Grievance?
A grievance is a concern or complaint an employee raises about work. It could relate to their terms and conditions, treatment by a manager or colleague, bullying, discrimination, working relationships or the way a decision was made.
Even if the concern initially sounds minor, the way you respond can affect trust, wellbeing and the chance of resolving it.
This guide is for employers and managers handling an individual employee grievance. Your own grievance policy should explain who an employee can approach, how to make a formal complaint, the stages of the process and how to appeal. It should meet the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures as a minimum. If you do not have a policy, follow the Code and put a clear procedure in place for the future.
Can the Issue Be Resolved Informally?
Many concerns can be settled through a private conversation, a clarification, an agreed change or, where everyone is willing, mediation. Listen without dismissing the issue, agree what will happen next and make a brief record. Do not insist on an informal route if the employee wants to make a formal grievance or the seriousness of the allegation calls for a formal response. A complaint about discrimination, harassment, a senior manager or a serious breach of contract may need careful investigation from the outset.
- ✓ Ask what has happened and what the employee would like to change.
- ✓ Consider whether an informal discussion is appropriate and acceptable to the employee.
- ✓ Take immediate steps if anyone’s safety or wellbeing is at risk.
- ✓ Record any informal action agreed and check whether it resolves the concern.
- ✓ Explain how to raise a formal grievance if the issue remains unresolved.
The Grievance Procedure, Step by Step
Receive and Acknowledge the Written Grievance
An employee should normally set out the nature of a formal grievance in writing and send it to a manager who is not the subject of the complaint. If your policy names only the line manager, provide an alternative contact when the grievance concerns that person. Do not reject a complaint simply because it lacks a preferred form or extensive evidence. Ask for clarification where needed.
Acknowledge receipt promptly. Confirm who will manage the case, what the next stage is and when the employee can expect an update. Choose someone sufficiently impartial and, where possible, keep an uninvolved manager available to hear any appeal. In a small business, an external HR professional can help provide independence.
- ✓ Date and securely record the complaint and any documents supplied.
- ✓ Check the policy and identify an appropriate grievance manager and appeal manager.
- ✓ Clarify the issues, dates, people involved and the resolution sought, without making the employee prove the case at this point.
- ✓ Acknowledge the grievance and give a clear contact and provisional timetable.
- ✓ Explain confidentiality and support, without promising absolute secrecy.
Plan the Process and Any Immediate Support
Work out what needs to be decided and what evidence could help. If the complaint is about another person, avoid assuming either account is correct. That person should be told enough to respond fairly at the appropriate stage and should also be treated with care. Consider adjustments or temporary arrangements if the parties cannot comfortably work together. Any change should be proportionate, kept under review and clearly explained as a temporary measure, not a punishment.
Think about who will investigate, whether a separate note taker is useful, and how records will be stored. The grievance hearing can help define the investigation, so you do not need to finish every enquiry before meeting the employee. Equally, preserve relevant material promptly, such as emails, rotas or messages.
- ✓ Set the issues to investigate and identify relevant records and witnesses.
- ✓ Preserve evidence and restrict access to those who need it.
- ✓ Consider immediate safety, wellbeing and reasonable adjustments for everyone involved.
- ✓ Agree a realistic plan and keep the employee updated if it changes.
- ✓ Avoid disciplinary conclusions before the facts have been established.
Invite the Employee to a Grievance Hearing
Arrange a meeting without unreasonable delay while allowing the employee reasonable time to prepare. Acas guidance says that, ideally, a formal grievance meeting should take place within five working days, but this is guidance rather than a fixed legal deadline. Send the time, place, attendees and purpose in writing. Ask the employee to share relevant documents and tell you about any witnesses or adjustments they need.
An employee or worker has a statutory right to be accompanied at a grievance meeting dealing with a complaint about a legal or contractual duty owed by the employer. The companion can be a colleague or an eligible trade union representative or official. If it is unclear whether the right applies, allowing a companion is usually sensible. Check whether your policy or a reasonable adjustment calls for additional support. If the chosen companion is unavailable, a reasonable alternative date within five working days of the original date must be accommodated under the statutory rule.
- ✓ Send an invitation with enough notice and explain the meeting’s purpose.
- ✓ Confirm the right to be accompanied and any applicable policy arrangements.
- ✓ Ask about accessibility, interpretation or other reasonable adjustments.
- ✓ Arrange a private room or secure video call and a note taker where useful.
- ✓ Allow reasonable preparation time and address requests to rearrange promptly.
Hold the Grievance Hearing
The hearing is the employee’s opportunity to explain the concern in their own words. Start by introducing everyone, explaining their roles and outlining the process. Ask open questions, listen without interrupting and distinguish what the employee experienced from what still needs to be checked. Explore each issue, the evidence, any witnesses and the outcome the employee hopes for. A companion may put and sum up the employee’s case and confer with them, but cannot answer questions on the employee’s behalf.
Useful questions include: What happened, and when? Who was present? What documents or messages might help? Have you raised this before? How has it affected you? What would a fair resolution look like? Is there anything else we need to investigate?
Do not promise a particular result or make a rushed decision during the meeting. Summarise your understanding, agree any next steps and say when the employee will hear from you. Provide meeting notes for the employee to check and explain any delay.
- ✓ Explain the process, take notes and give the employee time to speak.
- ✓ Work through each part of the grievance and ask about evidence and resolution.
- ✓ Check what further enquiries are needed and whether another meeting may be useful.
- ✓ Summarise the issues and give a date for the next update.
- ✓ Share the meeting record appropriately and invite corrections.
Investigate Fairly and Proportionately
The investigation should be thorough enough to make a reasonable decision. It may involve reviewing documents, speaking to witnesses and giving the person complained about a fair chance to respond. Keep an open mind and test accounts against the available evidence. Record what each person says, what documents were considered and any gaps that cannot be resolved. Some cases can be decided after a limited enquiry; serious or disputed allegations may require a more extensive investigation.
Tell witnesses why you are speaking to them and handle information sensitively. Do not promise that their account will never be disclosed. Share relevant material fairly while protecting personal information and following your data protection obligations. If new points emerge, consider whether the employee should have a further opportunity to comment before you decide.
- ✓ Obtain accounts from relevant people, including the person complained about.
- ✓ Check records and consider evidence that supports or challenges each account.
- ✓ Document findings, uncertainties and why certain evidence was given weight.
- ✓ Keep access to notes limited and update the employee on progress.
- ✓ Revisit any temporary arrangements and employee support as needed.
Decide and Communicate the Outcome
Consider each issue separately against the evidence. An outcome might uphold the grievance, uphold it in part or not uphold it. Explain the reasons in a written decision without disclosing unnecessary personal information about another employee. Set out the actions you will take, who is responsible and any timescale. These might include correcting a decision, clarifying a policy, training, facilitated discussions or changes to working arrangements.
If the investigation suggests misconduct by another employee, that may require a separate disciplinary process. Do not announce a disciplinary sanction in the grievance outcome or treat the grievance findings as a substitute for that person’s fair hearing. Sometimes no allegation is proven, but there are still sensible steps to improve communication or working relationships.
Send the outcome without unreasonable delay and tell the employee how and when they can appeal. A private conversation to explain the decision may help, particularly when the grievance is not upheld, but follow it with the written outcome.
- ✓ Reach a reasoned finding on each issue and check consistency with similar cases.
- ✓ Record the evidence, reasoning, action owners and review dates.
- ✓ Send a clear written outcome and explain the appeal route.
- ✓ Protect the privacy of other employees in the outcome letter.
- ✓ Refer any separate misconduct concern into the disciplinary procedure.
Hear Any Appeal
The employee should be able to appeal if they believe the decision or process was wrong or unfair, or if new evidence has emerged. Ask them to set out their grounds in writing. Arrange an appeal meeting without unreasonable delay, ideally chaired by someone more senior or otherwise independent who was not involved in the original decision. The employee has the right to be accompanied at the appeal hearing.
The appeal manager should review the grounds, the original evidence and any further enquiries needed. The appeal may confirm, change or overturn the outcome. Explain the final decision and reasons in writing as soon as possible.
- ✓ Acknowledge the appeal and appoint an impartial appeal manager.
- ✓ Share the relevant records and allow preparation and accompaniment.
- ✓ Hear the employee’s grounds and investigate new evidence where necessary.
- ✓ Give a reasoned final decision in writing without unreasonable delay.
- ✓ Update the action plan if the outcome changes.
Follow Through and Close the Case
A grievance is not finished when the letter is sent. Put agreed actions in place and check that they work. Follow up discreetly with the employee and, where appropriate, others affected. Watch for retaliation or a deterioration in working relationships, especially after a complaint about discrimination or harassment. Keep the complaint, meeting notes, evidence, decisions and appeal record securely in line with your retention policy.
- ✓ Confirm each agreed action has an owner and completion date.
- ✓ Check wellbeing and whether working arrangements are effective.
- ✓ Make sure no one is treated unfairly for raising or participating in a complaint.
- ✓ Review whether policy or manager training could prevent a repeat.
- ✓ Securely close and retain the case record.
Situations That Need Extra Care
A grievance during a disciplinary process
You may pause the disciplinary case to address the grievance or deal with related matters together. Make a reasoned decision about the order and preserve fairness in both processes.
Several employees raise the same issue
Check whether your collective grievance procedure applies. The Acas Code’s individual grievance provisions do not cover a collective grievance raised by a representative on behalf of two or more employees.
A complaint about bullying, harassment or discrimination
Respond promptly, consider protection from further harm or victimisation, and support both the complainant and the person complained about. A separate disciplinary process may follow the findings.
An employee is absent or unable to attend
Explore the reason, reasonable adjustments, remote attendance or a mutually suitable date. Keep in contact and document decisions rather than letting the matter drift.
You may also find our disciplinary procedure guide helpful, or explore our Disciplinary and Grievance training.
How Pure HR Can Support You
Handling a grievance well takes time, objectivity and careful communication. Pure Human Resources can help you review the complaint, plan a fair investigation, prepare for the hearing, draft the outcome and manage an appeal. We can also help you create or update a grievance policy and train managers to handle concerns with confidence.
Whether you need independent support for one case or ongoing HR advice, we will help you take the next sensible step. Contact Pure HR for an initial conversation.
