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When Does a Grievance Become a Formal Grievance?
16th February 2009
The Employment Act 2002 obliges employers and employees to follow the statutory grievance procedure in relation to any grievance...
The Employment Act 2002 obliges employers and employees to follow the statutory grievance procedure in relation to any grievance about action, or contemplated action, by the employer that could form the basis of a complaint to an employment tribunal. Step one of the standard, three-step procedure requires the employee to set out the grievance in writing and send it to the employer. Before an employment tribunal has jurisdiction to hear a claim, the employee must comply with step one of the procedure.
When does a grievance become a formal grievance?
A recently published employment law case, Procek v Oakford Farms Ltd helps to clarify when a grievance becomes a “formal grievance” under the current statutory grievance procedures.
The case is that of a polish employee, Mr Procek, who submitted a race discrimination complaint in writing to his employer. In the complaint letter he stated he wanted the points he was raising to be addressed informally. He also stated that if his complaint was not dealt with in an efficient manner, within 14 days, he would submit a claim to an Employment Tribunal.
Mr Procek’s grievance was thought to be unfounded by his employer and Mr Procek subsequently resigned and submitted a claim to an Employment Tribunal.
Key points
The Employment Tribunal had to determine whether Mr Procek had submitted a valid complaint under the statutory grievance procedure. If he had not done this, the Tribunal would have no power to hear the grievance.
Given the facts of the case, the Employment tribunal agreed with the employer’s defence that the letter could not be deemed as a statutory grievance, due to the fact that Mr Procek had clearly indicated in his letter that he wished the matter to be dealt with informally.
However, the case was subsequently referred to an Employment Appeal Tribunal which overturned this decision giving the verdict that the employee had in fact complied with step one of the statutory grievance procedure.
It was clarified by the Employment Appeal Tribunal that in order to satisfy step one of the statutory grievance procedure, all the employee needed to do was to submit their complaint in writing to their employer, outlining the specific issues of the case. The fact that the employee in this particular case had indicated a wish for the complaint to be addressed informally was judged to be irrelevant for the purposes of his claim.
Forthcoming legislative changes
It is important to note that as of April 2009 the statutory procedures currently in place are to be repealed and replaced with a revised code of practice on discipline and grievance.
Following these changes, employers will still be required to deal with complaints from employees, although there will be more emphasis on resolving the grievance informally through mediation prior to instigating a more formalised process.
Further Information
For further information about the forthcoming changes to the statutory procedures, please refer to the separate article in this newsletter titled “Revised Acas Code on Discipline and Grievance”.
Further information can also be obtained from your HR Department in respect of these forthcoming changes. For NorthgateArinso clients, our NorthgateArinso HR Outsourcing team are able to provide specific support in providing fully compliant policies and procedures, and customised training packages, to manage disciplinary and grievance issues within your business. If you would like to discuss this matter further, or wish to discuss an existing issue around this subject, please call the NorthgateArinso Advice Line on 0845 299 0243 who will be happy to help.
References
Procek v Oakford Farms Ltd
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