Grievance policy and procedure

Introduction

At Lancashire County Council (LCC), we strive to create a positive working environment, with a culture that is focused on resolution. However, we recognise that from time-to-time issues can occur within the workplace and you may wish to raise a concern or complaint. In these circumstances, we will work with you to address matters swiftly and in the most effective way possible. This is particularly important if you experience or witness any behaviours at work which may amount to bullying.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all grievances are dealt with in a fair and consistent manner and at the earliest possible opportunity. Our intention is to try to resolve all work-related concerns in an informal setting through constructive dialogue, which can lead to a much quicker resolution and positive outcome for everyone concerned. Therefore, all employees and managers are expected to make every effort to resolve issues informally, without recourse to the formal process.

This policy does not form part of your contract of employment, and we reserve the right to amend or withdraw it at any time.

Scope

This policy applies to all employees on LCC terms and conditions, excluding teaching and non-teaching staff employed by schools and employees who transferred to the council in accordance with TUPE regulations and who remain on their previous terms and conditions of employment.

It does not apply to workers, contractors, consultants or any self-employed individuals working for the organisation.

Principles

We are committed to promoting a culture of open communication where concerns, problems or complaints can be raised without fear of victimisation or reprisal.

We expect all individuals to raise concerns, problems or complaints in good faith, with the aim of resolving matters informally and therefore restoring good working relations.

The grievance process is not a substitute for good day-to-day communication about workplace issues and it is important to recognise that it may not always be possible to resolve concerns or complaints to everyone’s satisfaction.

If we determine your complaint and/or the circumstances relating to it are complex or, in the interests of impartiality we reserve the right to commission an external independent third party to investigate your complaint. This third party will not act as an additional decision-maker.

Definitions

A grievance is defined as a concern, problem or complaint that an employee raises with their employer.

Bullying is defined as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. Bullying also comes within the Health and Safety Executive’s definition of violence at work, that is ‘any incident in which a member of staff is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances arising out of the course of their employment’. Bullying can be either a single factor in the above definition or a combination where there is an intention to undermine a fellow employee.

Harassment is a term defined by law to refer to many types of behaviour and can be defined as any 'unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual'. For example, sexual harassment refers to uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical behaviour of a sexual nature.

An individual complaint relates to any matter which is grounds for a complaint between an individual employee and the council in its capacity as the employer. Examples may relate to terms and conditions of employment, health and safety issues, revised working practices, bullying or victimisation.

A collective complaint is defined as a complaint from a number of employees which is common to the employees concerned and related to their employment, unless referred to as an exclusion, detailed below (see 'When this procedure does not apply').

A vexatious complaint is one that is not made in good faith and is raised without sufficient grounds for the employee to consider that the complaint is likely to be true or one with the primary purpose of delaying other procedures. A vexatious complaint can also be a complaint that continues to be presented having exhausted internal procedures. This does nothing to undermine an employee’s statutory rights. We take all complaints seriously but will not tolerate the behaviour of anyone who maliciously raises a complaint they know to be false. Vexatious complaints may result in formal disciplinary action and may be considered as gross misconduct. This is in no way intended to discourage employees from raising a genuine concern in good faith, and all such concerns will be dealt with appropriately.

Responsibilities

You will

Where possible, work collaboratively to resolve grievances at an informal stage, discussing directly with the individual involved or entering into mediation.
Talk to your manager, or where the grievance is about your manager, talk to their manager about any concerns or complaints you have and support you may need in order to address these concerns.
Understand that although you can submit a grievance anonymously, it may make it more difficult for us to resolve the issue.
Ensure that when the grievance is raised or discussed you have an idea of the desired outcome that would resolve the grievance and raise this.

Your manager will

Take a proactive and supportive approach to managing grievances, aiming for early resolution at an informal stage.
Offer support to both parties by providing them with the details of the employee assistance programme and or other relevant bodies.
Carry out regular one-to-ones and informal ‘catch-ups’ to support an environment where you feel you can raise a concern with them as soon as it arises so that it can be proactively and informally addressed.
Be sensitive to your needs and be discreet and consistent in their approach towards all employees who are involved in a grievance.
Remain impartial to all involved in the grievance.
Facilitate mediation as appropriate, with People Services' advice.
Carry out necessary risk assessments.
Monitor grievance levels and reasons in their own teams and seek advice from their People Business Partner to put in place solutions as appropriate.
Where a grievance appears resolved, follow up with you later to ensure that it has actually been resolved.
Notify their People Business Partner when a formal grievance is raised and the subsequent outcome.
Take responsibility for either undertaking or commissioning a fact-finding investigation.

People Services will

Provide support and guidance to managers on the implementation and application of this policy.
Attend formal meetings where required in an advisory capacity.
Facilitate and/or support mediation where suitable and mutually agreed.
Regularly review and update this policy.

When to use this procedure

This procedure deals with any concerns, problems or complaints relating to employment matters and relationships at work, including allegations of bullying.

It can be used for individual grievances or collective grievances held by more than one employee about a particular issue concerning their employment.

When this procedure does not apply

In relation to the content of a council policy or procedure.
In relation to complaints about an internal procedure which has its own appeal process, for example, the disciplinary procedure or redundancy procedure. In these cases, you should follow the relevant procedure to raise any complaints or concerns.
In relation to complaints about harassment, which should be raised via the dedicated Anti-harassment policy and procedure.
In relation to issues which would fall under ‘whistleblowing’ which should be dealt with under the Whistleblowing policy

Normal management action would not ordinarily be a reason to raise a grievance and so if you have any concerns in relation to any action or decisions taken by your manager, you should discuss this directly with them.

The grievance procedure must not be used to raise complaints in a malicious manner, for example, complaints that are intended to cause distress to others or delay another process. Inappropriate use of the procedure may result in disciplinary action being taken against you. However, no action will be taken if a complaint which proves to be unfounded is judged to have been made in good faith.

Grievances that have already been considered and responded to cannot be raised again under this or any other council policy or procedure.

This procedure does not apply to grievances initiated after the end of employment and the procedure may be modified for grievances submitted during an employment notice period.

Timescales

Tackling issues at an early stage is key to preventing them from becoming more serious problems and so it is important that you raise the matter with the appropriate person / manager at the time the incident occurs to allow it to be dealt with swiftly. Intentionally delaying reporting matters to collate a series or list of events in order to strengthen a claim is not something we would advise or recommend, as it does not allow for the matter to be nipped in the bud.

Grievances should be raised without unreasonable delay following the event or action that led to the complaint. We reserve the right not to pursue historic matters, that is, grievances submitted more than three months after the incident(s) took place.

Every effort will be made to comply with the timescales outlined in this procedure, however it is recognised that on occasion these may need to be modified within a reasonable timeframe dependent on the nature of the complaint.

Allegations of bullying

Wherever a grievance involves allegations of bullying, the manager considering the matter must take advice from their People Partner as soon as possible to agree how the allegations are handled.

In the case of an allegation of bullying, where the manager has good cause to believe that there is a risk of further bullying, they will inform their manager (or a more senior manager if they are the perpetrator) who will take interim steps, regardless of the final conclusions, to avoid any future occurrences.

Grievance procedure

This procedure is intended to enable grievances to be resolved at the earliest opportunity and at the lowest appropriate supervisory level.

Stage 1 - Informal resolution

If you have a complaint, it's recommended to address it informally before escalating to a formal grievance. Handling a grievance informally doesn't mean you are solely responsible for resolving it. Instead, you should bring the issue to an appropriate manager or directly to the individual involved and be open to discussing a resolution. Sometimes, you might resolve the issue yourself, such as by giving feedback to a colleague about their behaviour. Often, grievances stem from misunderstandings or poor communication that can be easily resolved.

When a complaint is raised with your manager or another appropriate manager, they will discuss it with you and make initial enquiries to gather more information and take steps to address it. If the grievance is resolved informally, the manager will confirm the actions taken in writing (for example, by email) to ensure the matter is concluded. This confirmation helps both you and the manager feel confident that the issue has been addressed and that agreed actions will be followed through.

If your complaint involves another council employee, try to approach them directly, either in person or in writing, to explain that their behaviour is unwelcome and should stop. You might find it helpful to discuss this with a work colleague, manager, member of the Wellbeing Team or trade union representative beforehand. If approaching the person directly feels too difficult, you can ask your manager, or another appropriate manager, to address the issue on your behalf. Your manager can also facilitate a discussion or mediation to help resolve the complaint and rebuild working relationships and can be supported by the Wellbeing Team or People Business Partner to facilitate this.

Mediation

Mediation can often help resolve workplace difficulties involving two or more people. It is a voluntary process used as a dispute resolution tool used to help mend workplace relationships by improving communication and finding solutions that both parties can agree to. A third-party mediator, such as a People Business Partner or member of the Wellbeing Team, discusses the issues raised by your complaint with all involved parties and facilitates a resolution.

Mediation seeks to provide fuller solutions that address underlying causes and are more genuinely win-win than adversarial approaches. It’s not about judging who was right or wrong in the past, but instead, agreeing how the parties can work together in the future. Therefore, it requires the mutual agreement of the parties involved and it is important that both parties are prepared to listen to the other, contribute and potentially compromise or even concede on certain points.

The mediator, who is impartial, is in charge of the process will help both parties to hold an open conversation and ask them relevant questions, but the parties are responsible for finding solutions and reaching an agreement together. There is no right to be accompanied during mediation.

There are many benefits to mediation, including:

The two parties retain control of the outcome, unlike in the formal grievance process where the outcome is determined by the manager considering the matter.
Mediation is usually much quicker than raising a formal grievance, so it can be a more efficient way of resolving disagreements that allows everyone to move on from the problem sooner.
It can help maintain and improve relationships, which is particularly important where the parties will continue working together.

Mediation can be used at any stage in a dispute, but it’s best to start it as soon as possible. The earlier the disagreement is dealt with, the less chance there is of things getting worse. If you are interested in pursuing mediation, you can either contact the Wellbeing Team directly or notify your manager who will start the process with either the Wellbeing Team or People Business Partner.

Agreeing to mediation does not prevent you from withdrawing from the process later or from submitting a formal grievance if mediation is unsuccessful (keeping in mind the need to raise the grievance within a reasonable time frame).

If mediation is not necessary or suitable, managers should consider other creative solutions to resolve the situation. Sometimes, an apology or acknowledgment from one party to another can resolve a grievance. Managers can always seek advice from a People Business Partner or the Wellbeing Team to successfully conclude an informal grievance.

You should fully utilize the informal stage of the policy, except when the complaint is too serious for informal resolution.

Stage 2 - Formal resolution

If your grievance cannot be resolved informally, you may submit a formal grievance in writing to your manager. If the grievance relates to your manager, you should submit your grievance to their manager.

In setting out the nature of your grievance, you should:

be specific (explain what happened and when);
be mindful of the language you use and stick to factual details;
provide details of any witnesses and any relevant evidence to support your concerns, if applicable;
state whether you have attempted to resolve the matter informally, and be aware that if you have not, you may be asked to do so; and
explain what outcome you are looking for from this process and explain how you think the matter can be resolved.

Please be aware that if your grievance relates to another employee or manager within the council, we will need to share the details of the complaint with them and give them the opportunity to respond.

The manager considering the grievance will then invite you to a formal meeting; this is your opportunity to explain your grievance.

The meeting will be arranged without unreasonable delay; this will normally be within 10 working days from the date your grievance was received, however where this is not practicable because of the complexity of the complaint or operational factors, the manager will notify you of the reason(s) for the delay and the expected timeframe.

Once a meeting has been scheduled, you must take all reasonable steps to attend. If your work colleague, trade union representative or official employed by a trade union is unavailable on the proposed date, you may suggest an alternative date within five working days of the original. If your chosen companion will not be available for more than five working days afterwards, we may ask you to choose someone else. If you do not attend the re-arranged meeting, a decision on your grievance may be made in your absence and the outcome will be confirmed in writing.

It may be necessary for us to carry out an investigation into your grievance. The amount and length of any investigation required will depend on the nature of your grievance and will vary from case to case.

During the investigation you are encouraged to provide any information or evidence you wish to be considered to support your grievance. This may include informing us of the names of any relevant witnesses, disclosing any relevant documents to us and attending interviews, as part of our investigation.

We may initiate an investigation before holding a grievance meeting where we consider this appropriate. In other cases, we may hold a grievance meeting before deciding what investigation (if any) to carry out. In those cases we will hold a further grievance meeting with you after our investigation and before we reach a decision.

In exceptional circumstances the complexity and/or practicalities of the grievance may mean that convening a meeting with all parties present is not practical and may delay reaching a resolution. In such circumstances, agreement will be sought from all parties to conduct the meeting in writing, rather than in person. The manager considering the grievance will have access to the investigation report and any supporting documents to enable them to reach a decision and may ask you to provide written submissions.

The manager will then notify you of their decision in writing without unreasonable delay, and where appropriate, set out what action they recommend or intend to take to resolve the grievance, as soon as reasonably practical.

Stage 3 - Appeals

If you raise a formal grievance, you have a right of appeal against the outcome on the grounds that the procedure was not followed correctly, relevant information was not considered or that the matter has not been satisfactorily resolved.

You must submit your grounds for appeal in writing to the manager named in the grievance decision letter within five working days of the date that you received the outcome. It is important that you set out the grounds on which you are appealing so that the manager considering your appeal can prepare to address these at the appeal meeting.

The appeal will be conducted by a senior manager who has not been named in the complaint or involved in the decision-making process previously.

The manager considering the appeal will invite you to a meeting without unreasonable delay; this will normally be held within 20 working days of receipt of your appeal. If it is not possible to achieve this timeframe, this will be explained to you and the date will be confirmed. You have the right to bring a colleague or trade union representative to the meeting.

The appeal meeting is your opportunity to talk through your grounds of appeal, but it is not a re-hearing of the original meeting. The manager will consider evidence presented at the original meeting which is relevant to the grounds of appeal or any new information relating to your original grievance that could have had a bearing on the outcome but was not sourced at the time.

After the meeting, the manager will notify you in writing of their final decision without unreasonable delay. This decision is final and there will be no further right of appeal.

Other procedural matters

Counter grievances

If you raise a counter-complaint against someone who has raised a grievance against you, in most cases the two matters will be dealt with together within the original grievance; such complaints will not stop the original process.

Grievances raised during another procedure

If you raise a grievance during another procedure, for example the disciplinary procedure and the two matters are related, it may be appropriate for us to deal with both matters concurrently.

Sickness absence and the grievance process

Please be aware that if you are absent due to sickness during the grievance process, you must follow the normal sickness absence reporting procedure. It is in everyone's interest that concerns and complaints are resolved as quickly as possible and so the grievance process will continue while you are absent, and we will update and engage with you as required. If you do not feel well enough to attend a meeting during this time, we will invite you to make a written submission for the manager hearing the grievance to consider.

Grievances after employment has ended

Grievances will not be considered if they are received after you have left our employment, but if you raise a grievance during your notice period, we will aim to deal with your complaint before your employment ends. If this is not possible, we reserve the right to make any relevant enquiries into your complaint in order to conclude the matter and provide you with a written response.

Right to be accompanied

Everyone involved in this procedure, whether you are the complainant or the employee responding to the allegations, has the right to be accompanied at formal grievance meetings or appeals by a work colleague, trade union representative or an official employed by a trade union. The companion can present your case and respond to any views expressed at the meeting on your behalf, but cannot answer questions on your behalf or prevent others from explaining their case. It is your responsibility to arrange for a companion and you should inform the manager considering the grievance who they will be ahead of the meeting.

At our discretion, we may permit a companion who is not a work colleague, trade union representative, or official to accompany you to provide support and help facilitate the discussion.

Recording meetings

We will take a written record of the key points of all meetings conducted under this procedure. This will be done either by the person holding the meeting or by an additional person arranged by us to take notes.

We do not allow meetings to be recorded as this could make those present feel uncomfortable and therefore less willing to participate. Any breach of this provision may lead to disciplinary action, which could include dismissal.

Notes taken by the manager/note taker will not be verbatim detailed minutes, therefore, if you wish to make your own notes during the meeting, you are welcome to do so.

Confidentiality

It is important that all parties involved in these procedures maintain confidentiality when any issues, complaints or concerns are being considered to preserve the integrity of the process.

Statements, letters and other communications will be strictly confidential to those involved in the grievance procedure and records will be kept in accordance with data protection legislation. Any breaches in confidentiality may be treated as a misconduct issue.

Available support

We understand that this can be a difficult process, and so if at any point you need additional support, please speak to your manager or AskHR on 01772 535355. If managers need advice they can contact their People Business Partner.

If you need extra support and guidance remember we have an employee assistance programme, which gives you access to a 24/7 support helpline – 0800 0542 301 or live chat via the website www.employeeassistance.org.uk. Rest assured this is a completely confidential, independent helpline which is free to access.

You may wish to access our employee health and wellbeing resources and/or contact your trade union if you are a member. You can also reach out to our various support networks.