The Grievance Procedure: Handling Complaints Fairly

When someone comes to you with a problem, the next move matters

Every employer hopes their team will tell them when something is wrong, and a fair grievance procedure is what you reach for when they do. The trouble is, the moment someone actually raises a complaint, it rarely feels welcome. A grievance lands at the worst possible time, it is usually about something awkward, and there is a strong temptation to either wave it away or take it personally.

Neither of those reactions ends well.

A grievance is simply a formal complaint from an employee about something at work: how they have been treated, a decision they think is unfair, a colleague's behaviour, their conditions. Handle it fairly and you often defuse the problem and keep a good employee. Handle it badly and a small grumble can grow into a resignation, a damaged team, or a tribunal claim. The procedure is what keeps you on the right path.

Hazel, our Chief Wellbeing Officer, raises grievances by sitting pointedly next to her empty bowl. Human grievances need a touch more process.

Quick Answer Box

• Do this: try to resolve it informally first where sensible, then take a written grievance seriously, meet promptly, investigate, decide, and offer an appeal.
• Avoid this: ignoring it, retaliating, prejudging the outcome, or having the same person hear the grievance and the appeal.
• Write down: the grievance as raised, what you investigated, the meeting notes, your decision and reasons, and the appeal outcome.

What does the law actually say?

As with disciplinaries, there is no single statute that scripts a grievance procedure. The benchmark is the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

The Code is not the law in the strictest sense, but tribunals weigh it heavily. If a related claim reaches a tribunal and you have unreasonably failed to follow the Code, the tribunal can increase the award by up to 25%. So while you will not be fined simply for handling a grievance badly, it can land you with a far bigger bill if the underlying dispute escalates.

Running alongside the Code is the statutory right to be accompanied at a formal grievance meeting, under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. More on that shortly.

The grievance procedure: a fair step-by-step

Step 1: Try to resolve it informally first, where appropriate

Not every concern needs the full formal machinery. Many are best dealt with by a quiet, prompt conversation. If an employee mentions a frustration, a quick informal chat to understand it and agree a way forward can resolve things before they harden into a formal complaint.

A word of caution, though. Informal does not mean dismissive, and it certainly does not apply to everything. A complaint involving alleged discrimination, harassment, bullying or whistleblowing usually needs to go straight into the formal process. Use judgement, and never push someone towards "keeping it informal" to avoid dealing with it properly.

Step 2: The employee raises the grievance in writing

If informal resolution is not appropriate or has not worked, the employee should set out their grievance in writing. They do not need legal language, just a clear statement of what the problem is and, ideally, what they would like to happen.

Acknowledge it promptly. Even a short note confirming you have received it and will arrange a meeting reassures the employee they have been heard, which already takes some of the heat out.

Step 3: Hold a grievance meeting without unreasonable delay

Arrange a meeting as soon as you reasonably can. The point of the meeting is to let the employee explain their grievance fully, in their own words, and for you to ask questions and understand it properly.

Listen more than you talk. Resist the urge to defend or explain in the moment; this is their chance to be heard, not the moment to deliver your verdict. Take careful notes, and if you need to investigate before deciding, say so and give a realistic timescale.

Step 4: Allow the right to be accompanied

At a formal grievance meeting, the employee has a statutory right to be accompanied by a work colleague or a trade union representative or official. Mention this in the invitation so it is not a surprise.

The companion's role here mirrors their role in a disciplinary: they can put and sum up the employee's case and confer with them, but cannot answer questions on their behalf. For the full detail on who qualifies and what a companion may do, see our guide on who can accompany an employee to a disciplinary meeting, which applies equally to grievance meetings.

Step 5: Investigate

Unless the facts are entirely clear from the meeting, you will usually need to investigate before you can fairly decide. That might mean speaking to other people, reviewing records, or checking what your own policies say.

Keep it impartial. Look for what supports the grievance as well as what does not. If the grievance is about a specific person, that person should have a fair chance to respond, and you should be mindful that you may end up running the disciplinary procedure separately if the investigation uncovers wrongdoing.

Step 6: Respond in writing with your decision

Once you have investigated, write to the employee with your decision: whether the grievance is upheld, partly upheld or not upheld, and your reasons. If you are taking action, explain what and by when. If you are not, explain why, fairly and without sarcasm or defensiveness.

Always include the right to appeal and how to exercise it.

Step 7: Offer the right to appeal

If the employee is unhappy with the outcome, they can appeal. Wherever you can, have the appeal heard by someone who was not involved in the original decision, and ideally more senior. The appeal should genuinely reconsider the grievance, not just rubber-stamp the first answer.

In a small business with few managers, an independent appeal is the step most likely to be difficult. If you cannot find a neutral person in-house, external HR support is a sensible way to keep it credible.

Keeping it fair, impartial and confidential

A grievance procedure lives or dies on whether people believe it is fair. A few things protect that:

• Separate the roles. As far as your size allows, the person who hears the grievance should not be the person who hears the appeal.
• Do not retaliate. Treating someone worse because they raised a grievance is both unfair and, in some cases, unlawful. This matters especially where the complaint involves discrimination or whistleblowing.
• Keep it confidential. Share information only with those who genuinely need it. Gossip about a live grievance is poison to trust and can become evidence against you.
• Stick to sensible timescales. Acknowledge promptly, meet without unreasonable delay, and keep the employee updated if an investigation takes time.

Where grievances overlap with bigger legal risks

Some grievances are not just internal disputes; they touch areas where the law gives employees extra protection. Spot these early and slow down:

• Discrimination. If a grievance alleges unfair treatment linked to a protected characteristic such as age, sex, race, disability, religion or pregnancy, you are in Equality Act 2010 territory. Mishandling it can lead to discrimination claims with no upper limit on compensation.
• Whistleblowing. If an employee raises a genuine concern about wrongdoing, such as a legal breach or a health and safety risk, that may be a protected disclosure. Workers who make protected disclosures are shielded from being treated badly as a result.
• Harassment and bullying. These can engage both your duty of care and discrimination law, particularly the duty to prevent sexual harassment.

You do not need to be a lawyer to handle these well. You do need to recognise them, document carefully, and get advice before you act if you are unsure.

Common mistakes that make grievances worse

• Treating the grievance as an attack. Defensiveness shuts the employee down and signals that the process is not safe.
• Letting it drift. Silence feels like being ignored and pushes people towards external advice or resignation.
• Prejudging the outcome. If your mind is made up before the meeting, the meeting is theatre, and it shows.
• The same person doing everything. Investigating, deciding and hearing the appeal all yourself looks like a closed loop.
• No written outcome. A verbal "I've looked into it, it's fine" leaves the employee with nothing and you with no record.
• Breaking confidentiality. Discussing a live grievance with uninvolved colleagues undermines the whole process.

What to write down

A clean paper trail is your best friend if a grievance ever escalates. Record:

• The grievance exactly as the employee raised it.
• Your acknowledgement and the timeline you set.
• The invitation to the meeting and the notice given.
• Notes of the grievance meeting, including who attended.
• What you investigated, who you spoke to, and what they said.
• Your decision, the reasons, and any action agreed.
• The appeal request, the appeal meeting notes, and the final outcome.

A short example response line

When you confirm the outcome, keep it clear and human:

> "Thank you for raising your concerns about [the issue] and for meeting with me on [date]. I have now looked into this, including [what you did]. Having considered everything, I have decided to [uphold / partly uphold / not uphold] your grievance, because [reasons]. As a result, I will [action], by [date]. If you are not satisfied with this outcome, you have the right to appeal by writing to [name] within [period]."

Honest, specific, and respectful, even when the answer is not the one the employee hoped for.

Where to get this checked

Most grievance disasters are not caused by bad intentions; they are caused by good employers improvising under pressure. If you do not have a clear grievance procedure, or you have one but have never tested it, that is exactly what we look at in an HR Health Check.

For day-to-day backup, HR Protect gives you a grievance policy that follows the ACAS Code along with the rest of your handbook, while the HR Advice Line lets you talk through a live grievance before you respond, which is often when the most damage is avoided. Where a grievance signals that the relationship has broken down for good, settlement agreements can be a dignified way to draw a line under it. If you would simply like to discuss your situation, book a discovery call.

Handled well, a grievance is a chance to fix something and keep a good person. That is worth getting right.