Grievance Policy - Reviewed: June 2026

4. General Principles

Grievances should be raised at the earliest opportunity after the incident or issue arises and every effort made by the employee and their line manager to work at resolving the concerns promptly and informally where possible and appropriate. This approach has many advantages as it enables early and effective resolution and minimises disruption at work. The aim is to resolve concerns and improve working relationships at the earliest opportunity. 

All parties are expected to take concerns seriously, recognise their own contribution to the situation and work towards a positive and constructive resolution. Concerns will be considered impartially and fairly and resolved by implementing appropriate remedial action promptly. 

Where a grievance cannot be resolved at the informal stage an employee can progress their concerns to the formal stage of the Grievance Procedure.  At all formal stages of the procedure the employee will have the right to be accompanied by a companion. A companion may be a trade union¹ representative or official  or a work colleague.

Employees and managers should read the Authority’s Reasonable Adjustments guidance where an employee raising the grievance has a disability and consider what reasonable adjustments may be required to enable them to participate fully at all stages of the grievance procedure,  For example, if an employee is unable to put the grievance in writing (for example because of a disability or difficulty with expressing themselves in writing) support should be offered to enable them to formulate a written grievance or an alternative means of stating their grievance should be considered. For example, an employee may seek help from a trade union official or work colleague.     

If the employee is unable to attend a formal grievance meeting, they must advise of the reasons as soon as possible.  If the reason is outside the employee’s control and unforeseeable at the time the meeting was arranged (e.g., illness), another meeting will be arranged.  If the Trade Union representative or work colleague cannot attend, another date can be arranged, provided it is not more than seven calendar days after the original date.   

If it is decided to proceed with a formal grievance meeting without the employee being present, they should be given the opportunity of sending a representative to attend the meeting on their behalf or to make written representations which can be considered at the meeting.

Where an employee has not been notified of the decision following either of the meetings as defined in point 6, the employee may appeal to the next stage of the procedure.

If, during any disciplinary process, an employee raises a grievance, the Departmental Director or their representative must consider whether it is appropriate to temporarily suspend the disciplinary process to deal with the grievance. Where the disciplinary and grievance cases are related it may be appropriate to deal with both concurrently.  The suspension should not be unnecessarily protracted and should allow for the grievance to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Advice should be sought from the HR Team and reference made to the ACAS Guide.

Where a grievance concerns more than one employee in the same department the Collective Disputes Procedure will apply.  The Grievance Procedure relates specifically to individual and distinct grievances.

The Grievance Procedure directly applies to an individual and as such the existing terms and conditions of the aggrieved employee will be protected until the grievance procedure has been exhausted, (this is not meant to imply that a change is certain to take place) except where this would constitute a hazard, or where statutory obligations apply.  The above clause will also not apply in situations where changes are made to working arrangements and the change is in line with contracts of employment or job profiles such as a change of base for example.

Employees and managers must be allowed a reasonable time in which to prepare for a grievance meeting, therefore, in some circumstances, the timescales referred to in the procedure can be extended by mutual agreement.

Occupational Health Support may be offered to employees involved in grievance investigations and meetings.  Please contact the HR Team for advice.  

Line Managers, Investigating Officers and Grievance Hearing Panel members must consider disabled employees’ needs during the process and make reasonable adjustments as necessary.  For example, ensuring that locations have appropriate access, written information is provided in a suitable format, etc. 
 

^1.The TU representative who is not an employed official of a trade union must hold written certification from their Union that they have experience of or have received training in acting as a companion.  This may take the form of a card or letter.