Grievances
Any employee or worker may at some point during their career have issues or concerns with their work, working conditions or relationships with colleagues that they wish to raise with management. They want to put their side of the story over and for the grievance to be addressed, and if possible, resolved. It is also clearly in an organisation’s interests to resolve problems before they can develop into major difficulties.
Potential reasons for bringing a grievance against your employer include acts of discrimination, a dispute with your colleagues or an issue over the terms of your employment, pay or working conditions.
If you are an employee and you want advice on how to lodge a grievance and would like guidance through the process then please contact us. It is important to note that failure to follow the correct procedure in bringing a grievance can lead to the Employment Tribunal reducing an award in your favour by up to as much as 25%.
Similarly, if you are an employer who is being asked to deal with a grievance then you need to ensure that you follow the correct procedure as failure to do so can increase the level of any successful award made by the Employment Tribunal in favour of an employee - being forewarned is to be forearmed!
Disciplinary
If you are an employer considering taking disciplinary action against one of your employees or you are an employee who has been disciplined or are in the process of being disciplined for matters you consider as being unreasonable or inappropriate, then please contact a member of our Employment department to discuss the matter further.
As with most areas of employment law, it is better to get legal advice (whether you are an employer or employee) before taking action or responding to a formal disciplinary claim. From an employer‘s perspective you need to ensure that you do not create unnecessary issues by failing to follow the correct procedure. From an employee‘s perspective you need to ensure that you take maximum benefit from the disciplinary process to achieve the best outcome for you.