A grievance is simply a formal complaint from an employee — about their treatment, a colleague’s conduct, their pay, or working conditions. How you handle it says a lot about your business, and getting it wrong can turn a manageable issue into a much bigger one, including a tribunal claim.
What counts as a grievance?
Any formal, usually written, complaint an employee raises about something at work that concerns them. It doesn’t need to use the word “grievance” — if an employee puts something serious in writing and asks for it to be addressed formally, it should generally be treated as one.
The basic process
- Acknowledge it promptly. Confirm receipt and explain what happens next.
- Investigate. Gather relevant facts, documents, and witness accounts before any meeting.
- Hold a meeting. Give the employee the chance to explain their complaint fully, with the right to be accompanied.
- Decide an outcome. Confirm what you’ve decided and why, in writing.
- Offer an appeal. Give the employee a route to challenge the outcome if they’re not satisfied.
This mirrors the disciplinary process in structure — see our guide on running a fair disciplinary process — because both are covered by the same ACAS Code.
Common mistakes
Letting it drift. Grievances that sit unanswered for weeks tend to escalate, and delay itself can become part of a tribunal claim.
The person complained about handles the grievance. Whoever hears the grievance shouldn’t be the subject of it, or closely connected to them — this undermines the whole process.
Treating it as a distraction rather than a signal. A grievance is often the first sign of a wider issue — a manager style problem, a pay inconsistency, a bullying pattern. Dismissing it as one person being difficult is a common and costly mistake.
No paper trail. Verbal-only handling leaves you unable to demonstrate a fair process took place if the matter is later disputed.
Grievance and disciplinary at the same time
Sometimes a grievance is raised in the middle of a disciplinary process — for example, an employee facing disciplinary action raises a grievance about the manager running it. Where the two are closely linked, it can be reasonable to deal with them together; where they’re not, it’s usually better to pause one while the other is resolved. There’s no single right answer here — it depends on the facts, which is exactly where getting outside advice pays for itself.
Why this matters beyond compliance
A grievance handled well — promptly, fairly, taken seriously — tends to resolve issues and rebuild trust. A grievance handled badly tends to do the opposite, and often ends up costing far more in time, morale, and legal risk than the original complaint.
Support when you need it
Our Grievance Pack covers the letters, meeting notes, and outcome templates you need to run the process properly. If a grievance is live and you’d rather have expert support running it, our Grievance Support service is built for exactly that.