Employment Grievances and Claims for Employees
If you have a complaint or concern which you would like to raise at work, or which you have raised and would now like further support to pursue, we can assist you.
Whether your complaint relates to your pay, conditions or treatment at work, we can advise you on your options. It is best to seek professional advice before taking drastic action, such as resigning and claiming constructive dismissal, as an Employment Tribunal would usually expect you to have submitted a grievance and followed your employer’s internal procedure first. Failure to do this could lead to a reduction in future claimed damages.
How can we help you with your grievance?
If you would like assistance with how to deal with a grievance informally or with how to draft and submit a written formal grievance, we can support you. This is a part of your employer’s internal process and so the final grievance would have to be sent to your employer by you.
If you have already submitted a grievance and you are not satisfied with the grievance response or the process followed, or you would like assistance with appealing your grievance decision, this is also something we are experienced with.
Whilst it is advisable to submit a grievance whilst still employed and before giving notice, you are able to raise a grievance even after you have left your employment. Whilst former employers do not have to hear grievances, many do not take the risk of not hearing them, particularly if you have recently left their employment.
What if your grievance is not upheld?
If your employer does not uphold your grievance and there are outstanding matters to be resolved for you, if you are still employed you have the following options:
- accept the findings of your grievance and continue to work with your current employer;
- depending on the issue, you may be able to disagree with the findings but continue working and bring an employment claim, or ‘stand and sue’;
- resign your post with or without notice and with or without a claim for constructive unfair dismissal and other potential claims; or
- negotiate an exit package by way of a settlement agreement.
If you are considering the option to ‘stand and sue’, resigning and bringing an employment claim or negotiating a settlement agreement, our employment team can expertly guide you from an early stage to ensure that your positive outcome is maximised. We are experienced in negotiating settlement agreement terms on behalf of our clients across various industries and levels of seniority and can add significant value if involved as early as possible.
Employment claims are more likely to be in time and an employee’s negotiation stance is strongest at the time complaints contained in a grievance take place, and so this is generally a good time to speak to a professional. Contacting a lawyer earlier means that if an Employment Tribunal Claim is later required you have not done anything to prejudice your position and your case will be more likely to be clearly and consistently put across throughout.
If you have been dismissed and need advice on whether the dismissal was fair, whether this was for performance reasons, a disciplinary issue or by way of redundancy, the earlier you contact us the more time we will have to consider your claims and the less likely you will be to miss the three-month minus one day Employment Tribunal deadline for unfair dismissal claims. Similarly, if you have a potential discrimination claim the earlier you seek advice the better to ensure an Employment Tribunal is lodged in time.
Whether you are considering bringing a grievance at work, are going through the grievance process or have completed the grievance process and considering whether to resign, make an employment claim or to negotiate a settlement agreement, we can advise and support you.
Go back to: Employment Advice for Employees
How to Get in Contact
Key Contact:
Samantha Jolliffe
Partner