What to Know About Grievance Procedures
Employees may have issues with a company and file a complaint. Here’s everything you need to know about grievance procedures.
A grievance procedure is a way to resolve workplace issues through a formal structure outlined by an employer. Individuals, groups, or unions may file a grievance with the company, and the company’s grievance procedure allows the employer to solve the issue quickly, fairly, and effectively through conflict management. Grievance procedures prevent minor disputes from becoming a more severe issue, encourage employers to develop specific policies with clear expectation, and prevents workplace bias, discrimination, and harassment.
What is a Grievance?
A grievance is a formal complaint an employee or group of employees make when they are negatively affected by workplace issues or violations of policies or contract terms. Unionized workplaces may file grievances when employees do not meet the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. In contrast, non-unionized workplaces may file complaints when a written company policy is not applied.
Individuals, groups, or unions may file a grievance. The grievance may be a policy grievance where the individual, group, or union addresses the failure to uphold a pre-existing policy or the need to create a new policy protecting all workers.
Individual grievances occur when a single employee is solely experiencing an issue in the workplace, such as problems with pay, excessive workload, workplace favoritism, or discrimination. Group grievance occurs when employees have similar complaints about a workplace-wide issue, such as pay gap, schedules, or organizational changes. Unions may file a grievance on behalf of all company workers if they believe the workers’ rights are not protected.
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What is a Grievance Procedure?
A grievance procedure is a way to resolve workplace disputes which provides a formal structure for presenting and settling the complaint. A company uses the grievance procedure to address complaints by employees, suppliers, and even customers. The procedure allows the company to hear and resolve complaints quickly and cost-effectively before litigation.
A company’s grievance procedure states what type of grievance it covers, the stages all parties must follow to resolve the issue, the individuals responsible at each stage, the required documentation, the time limits for the grievance’s presentation, and each stage. Individuals may find a company’s grievance procedure in a labor union contract, an employee handbook, or through the HR department.
Benefits of a Grievance Procedure
Employees are often encouraged to raise concerns or question company policies if they know a formal procedure is available. The grievance procedure allows employees to resolve conflict quickly, fairly, and effectively through conflict management and may foster trust between the employer and employee.
Benefits of grievance procedures include:
- Preventing minor complaints or disagreements from spiraling into something more serious,
- Encouraging an employer to develop specific policies and employment contracts with clear expectations,
- Fostering a company culture of transparency, openness, and trust, and
- Preventing and addressing workplace bias, discrimination, and harassment.
Employee Grievance Procedure Steps
Each company handles grievances differently, but the grievance procedure follows similar steps.
Common steps of a grievance procedure are:
1. Conduct an informal meeting with a supervisor.
Employees are typically encouraged to talk with a supervisor before filing a formal grievance. The supervisor may resolve the issue after the conversation or assist the employee with the question,
2. Raise a formal grievance.
If the supervisor cannot resolve the issue, the employee may file a formal grievance. The employee should check the workplace grievance policy to learn how to raise a formal grievance and to who to send the complaint, such as the employee or human resources (HR) manager. The formal grievance should include what the grievance is about, evidence of the issue, and what the employee requests the employer to do to resolve the dispute.
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3. Evaluate the grievance.
The employer should evaluate the grievance before taking further action and avoid assuming anything about the grievance or the people involved. Evaluating the grievance may involve conducting an investigation. The investigation may include interviewing the employee and others involved with the issue, collecting evidence, or appointing an independent investigator,
4. Resolve the issue.
The person who heads the investigation will write a formal conclusion based on their findings to the employee. The conclusion will inform the employee of the decisions and the company’s actions. Employees who are not satisfied with the resolution may appeal the decision if it is in the grievance procedure policy.
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