Grievance appeal meeting

What happens when you disagree with a grievance outcome letter?

If you don't agree with your employer’s decision as set out in the outcome letter, you should write a letter of email appealing the decision.

The appeal letter should set out the grounds for the appeal as to why you disagree, for example this could be:

That there was not a full and reasonable investigation.
No reasonable employer would have reached the conclusion based on all the evidence you provided.
The investigation and process were flawed.
You disagree with the decision and explain why.

Your employer should then write to you to arrange a further meeting to discuss your appeal. Where possible, a different and more senior manager should deal with this appeal someone who has not been involved in the process, where possible.

Who can attend a grievance appeal meeting?

The grievance appeal process is very similar to the grievance meeting and process apart from a more senior manager dealing with the process. You should be formally invited to the appeal meeting and the letter from your employer should set out who will be in attendance, this would normally be a more senior manager who will be investigating your grievance and a note taker or someone from HR to keep a record of the meeting.

You will also be entitled to be accompanied by a companion which would be a work colleague, trade union representative or an official employed by a trade union.

What is the role of the companion?

The role of the companion is to support you as with the grievance hearing to take notes, and they are entitled to address the hearing to sum up your grievance, respond on your behalf to any views expressed at the meeting and confer with you during the hearing. However, the companion does not have the right to answer questions on your behalf.

It is important that you take someone with you to the grievance meeting as sometimes these meetings can be difficult, and that extra support is often needed.

If you are not in a trade union, please give us a call as we will be able to provide you with a representative to support you.

What happens at the grievance appeal meeting?

The typical grievance appeal meeting may follow the following steps:

The senior manager investigation your grievance will introduce everyone at the meeting, and they should explain the roles of everyone present and how the process will run.
The manager will then ask you to explain your grounds for the appeal in more detail, asking for any supporting evidence and what you will want to resolve your grievance.
You or your companion will set out all the details of the grievance and how it can be resolved.
The manager will have some clarification questions for you to respond to.
The grievance meeting will be adjourned whilst the manager to carries out any investigations before concluding the grievance.
The manager would normally respond in writing within a reasonable amount of time, as set out by the company policy.
The outcome of the appeal will normally be the final decision and you will not have any further rights of appeal unless your company policy allows this.

What can you do if you disagree with the grievance appeal decision?

After this appeal meeting, your employer informs you that they are not upholding your grievance and you have no further rights of appeal, what can you do if you still disagree with the decision?

If you are still not happy with your employer’s decision, you may want to think about other ways of sorting out your problems with your employer.

Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to use mediation or make a claim to an employment tribunal.

If you do end up making a claim to an employment tribunal, there is a strict time limit within which you'll need to make your claim. This is usually three months minus one day from the date that the thing you are complaining about last happened.

The time limit still applies even if you're taking out a grievance. This means you need to make sure that you don't run out of time while going through the grievance procedure.

If you take out a grievance, it's always a good idea to keep a note of exactly what happens and when.

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Grievance appeal meeting

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