8.6 Grievance Procedure |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
The purpose of the Grievance Procedure is to ensure that each employee has the opportunity to resolve problems in an organised and fair manner.
These procedures do not apply to concerns or suspicions of child abuse; please see separate procedure on this subject contained in Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedures.
The Grievance Procedure is not applicable to matters relating to disciplinary or absence management proceedings; or any other Company procedure or policy that contains an appeal mechanism. If in doubt about whether it is appropriate to raise an issue under the Grievance Procedure, or whether a separate procedure may be more applicable, employees should speak to HR who will be able to provide guidance.
This Grievance Procedure complies with the ACAS Code of Practice on Grievance Procedures and is indicative of how we wish to deal with grievances. The Grievance Procedure does not, however, constitute a contractual right.
Contents
1. Informal Grievances
If an employee has a grievance relating to any aspect of his or her employment the Company encourages the employee to try to settle the grievance informally by raising it with his or her line manager. If the employee does not wish to raise the matter informally or if a grievance which has been raised informally has not been resolved, the employee should pursue matters in accordance with the formal procedure set out below.
2. Formal Grievance Procedure
Stage One
- Let us know the nature of the grievance
To raise the matter formally, the employee must write to the Home’s Manager without unreasonable delay, setting out the nature of their grievance. If the Home’s manager is the subject of the grievance, then the employee should send their written complaint to the Designated Manager (Grievances);
- Hold a meeting to discuss the grievance
We will invite the employee to a meeting to discuss their grievance. The meeting will take place at a time and place which will be notified to the employee in advance. The employee must make every effort to attend this meeting.
The employee has the right to be accompanied at this meeting (see below).
At the grievance meeting, the employee will have the opportunity to explain their grievance and how they think it should be resolved;
- Decision
After the grievance meeting we will decide on what appropriate action, if any, which will be taken.
We will write to the employee as soon as possible informing them of our decision and, where appropriate, setting out the action we intend to take to resolve their grievance.
We will also inform the employee of their right to appeal this decision if they are dissatisfied with it;
- Appeal
If the grievance is not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction, they may appeal against the decision made.
To appeal, the employee should write to the Designated Manager (Grievances)setting out the grounds of their appeal within 5 working days of receiving the original decision.
We will then invite the employee to a meeting to discuss the appeal at a time and place which will be notified to the employee in advance. The employee will have the opportunity to explain their concerns at the appeal meeting.
The employee must make every effort to attend the meeting and has the right to be accompanied at the meeting (see below).
After the meeting, the Designated Manager (Grievances) will write to the employee as soon as possible to inform them of the outcome of their appeal.
There is no further right of appeal.
3. Right to be Accompanied
Employees have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or a trade union representative at formal grievance and appeal meetings.
The trade union representative can be a full-time official employed by a trade union or a lay official, so long as they have been certified in writing by their union as having experience of, or as being competent in acting as an employee’s companion at, disciplinary or grievance hearings.
To exercise the right to be accompanied, the employee must first make a reasonable request. The employee should do this by speaking to the person who will conduct the meeting in question to make their request at least 48 hours before the meeting is due to take place.
What is reasonable will depend on the circumstances of each case. However, it would not normally be reasonable to insist on being accompanied by a companion whose presence would prejudice the meeting, nor would it be reasonable for an employee to ask to be accompanied by a companion from a remote geographical location if someone suitable and willing is available on site. There may also be instances when the employee’s chosen companion cannot reasonably be released from their own work in order to attend the hearing.
The companion will be allowed to address the meeting, put and sum up the employee’s case, respond on behalf of the employee to any views expressed at the meeting and confer with the employee during the meeting. The companion does not, however, have the right to answer questions on the employee's behalf or to address the meeting if the employee does not want them to. The companion must not prevent us from explaining our case.
4. Collective Grievances
Note that this procedure does not apply to grievances raised on behalf of two or more employees by a representative of a recognised trade union or other appropriate workplace representative.
End