Company Grievance Policy Guide

Overview

From time to time employees may wish to seek redress for grievances relating to their employment. In this respect, the Company’s policy is to encourage free communication between employees and their managers to ensure that questions and problems arising during the course of employment can be aired and, where possible, resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of all concerned. 

To this end, the following procedure should be adopted where an employee has a grievance arising from their employment, except where the matter constitutes an appeal against a disciplinary decision which should be taken up in accordance with the Company's separate disciplinary appeals procedure.

The grievance procedure will be carried out in confidence wherever possible, unless otherwise agreed with the parties involved, and will not prejudice the aggrieved employee's current employment or future career prospects. Some grievances may be of a sensitive or controversial nature and therefore a balance must be drawn between the need to preserve this confidentiality and the need for informed discussion on the issues raised.  It is anticipated that most grievances will be resolved through informal discussion and the normal management channels without the need to invoke the formal grievance procedure.  

Principles:

• This policy is for guidance only and does not form part of the contract of employment.
• The Company may vary this policy as appropriate to particular case.
• The Company reserves the right to vary this policy from time to time.
• This policy is designed to establish the facts and to deal consistently with grievance issues. 
• Grievances should, wherever possible, be resolved informally.  Human Resources is available to assist employees who have grievances/ issues deal with them in an appropriate informal manner.

Raising a Grievance Informally 

Employees should always attempt to resolve their grievances informally by speaking to their line manager.  If the employee feels unable to speak to their manager, for example, because the complaint concerns him/her, then they should speak informally to their manager’s manager.  If the employee is unable to resolve their grievance through the informal process they should follow the formal process.

The Formal Grievance Procedure 

Stage 1 - INFORM THE COMPANY OF THE GRIEVANCE IN WRITING

The employee should put their grievance in writing to their line manager. If the first line manager has failed to produce a mutually satisfactory solution in the informal process (or the grievance relates to him/her) then the employee should send this

written grievance to the next higher level of management.  The line manager will inform the employee within 5 working days in writing of the process that they (or an equivalent level of manager) will follow. 

Stage 2 - INVITATION TO A MEETING TO DISCUSS THE GRIEVANCE

The employee will normally be invited in writing to attend a meeting with the manager and Human Resources (whose role is as a supporter for both parties), to discuss the grievance; The employee will be entitled to be accompanied by a work SAP employee or appropriately certified trade union official at this meeting however the Company reserves the right not to allow a particular accompanier where it has reasonable grounds to do so.  After investigation the employee will be notified of the outcome in writing within 5 working days where possible, and the process for appeal.

The employee has as the right to appeal the decision if they feel that the grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved.

Stage 3 - THE RIGHT TO APPEAL

Should the employee wish to take the issue to appeal, they must inform the Company in writing within 5 working days of receiving written notification of the decision stating their reasons for the appeal.  The appeal should be addressed to the member of the Human Resources team who attended the original grievance meeting. 

The appeal will be heard by an appropriate manager.  The same Human Resources representative may continue to advise. In the event that it is not possible for an appeal to be heard by a more senior manager, the Company shall ensure that it is heard by someone with authority to overturn the original decision. The employee will be invited in writing to attend a meeting with the manager and Human Resources, to discuss the appeal, where the same right to be accompanied as set out above will apply. 

After investigation the employee will be notified of the outcome in writing within 5 working days where possible.  This is the final stage of the grievance policy and the decision of the manager hearing the appeal will be final.

Formal grievances will be placed on the employee’s personal file along with a record of any decisions taken, any appeal notice and the outcome of any appeal. The Company reserves the right to vary this policy from time to time.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, follow the steps in this section.