How to Handle Grievances in the Workplace

April 23, 2025

News

Grievances at work are hard to deal with, no matter the situation. How you handle these employee grievances can severely affect the workplace culture, productivity and can lead to legal action.

This guide will advise you on how to correctly handle grievances in the workplace in-line with legalities and regulations.

Types of Employee Grievances

Some of the most common types of employee grievances you should be aware of are:

Individual Grievances: These are raised by an employee who is facing a specific issue at work. Examples may include disputes over pay and benefits, being treated unfairly, and discrimination.
Group Grievances: This type of grievance involves multiple employees who are dealing with the same or similar problems. Common concerns may include inequality such as wage disparities based in gender or dissatisfaction with changes implemented by the organisation.
Union Grievances: These are initiated by labour unions on behalf of their members when they believe the employer has violated the terms of a collective agreement or failed to uphold worker’s rights.

Legal Obligations for Grievances

To ensure that employees raise grievances following the right procedure, a written process must be put in place under the Employment Rights Act 1996. This is not only required by law but can also protect your business if a matter severely escalates.

How to Deal With a Grievance in the Workplace

1. Refer to Your Grievance Process

Check your current grievance procedure which tends to explain who to contact if someone has an issue, the steps to follow next, and the overall response time for each stage of the grievance process.

2. Start the Investigation

You will need to decide how the long the investigation will take and then contact all parties that are involved. If it involves other members of staff, you will have to spend time with each member involved for them to provide evidence and/or explanations.

3. Hold a Formal Grievance Meeting

A formal meeting will need to be held in which the employee sets out their grievance and provide evidence for the matter. In this meeting, everyone must attend, ask how the employees would like this resolved and the outcome they desire, and record these and send to all involved members.

4. Make Your Decision

Once the meeting has been held, make your decision and be sure to inform all the involved people, with reasons to the actions you decide to take.

Best Procedures for Employers to Follow

1. Encourage Open Communication

If employees feel like they’re being ignored when speaking up, they’ll stay quiet until a small issue becomes a big one. If you create an environment with one-to-ones and honest conversations, encouraging staff to raise issues when they first arise, you’ll create a comfortable environment where concerns are welcomed and addressed early.

2. Be Proactive

Instead of waiting for a formal grievance to be reported to you to act on, keep an eye on team dynamics, listen to feedback in the workplace and make sure to deal with smaller issues straight away. Approaching issues in this way can potentially avoid larger issues and disputes down the line.

3. Be Fair & Consistent

It can be tempting to be drawn into bias when handling grievances, particularly when it involves individuals who are high performing or senior employees. It’s important to maintain consistency when dealing with grievances and not downplay any issues. If you follow the same process each time with no bias and not downplay issues, the grievance process can flow easier and more professionally.

4. Document Everything & Keep it Confidential

Gossip in the workplace can spread like wildfire and can possibly prevent employees coming forward about an issue. Ensure your conversations with employees are strictly between each other and remind them about the importance of confidentiality. As well as this, be sure to document everything from the first to final conversation. This gives you protection if issues arise further down the line

In some cases, grievances can be more than just a disagreement at work; they can be cases of discrimination, bullying or serious misconduct. With this being a possibility, it’s important to get legal advice as early as possible so that the situation can be dealt with efficiently.

At Premier Legal, we help employers with challenging grievances, navigating them through each hurdle. Get in touch today if you need help with a grievance at work.