These top tips came out of one of Judicium’s HR’s ‘Sofa Sessions,’ which invited experts from the team at Judicium Education to discuss the stages of HR grievance processes in education, focusing on effective management to ensure concerns are addressed and staff wellbeing is supported. Here’s their expert advice:
1. Have a clear policy and familiarise yourself with this
The DfE requires all schools to have a policy on dealing with both disciplinaries and grievances. These policies should follow, at a minimum, the best practice steps that are outlined by Acas, an impartial conciliation service, as in the event that a claim is issued, the Tribunal will look to see if the best practice steps outlined by Acas have been followed.
In general, a policy should allow for:
- A meeting for the concerns to be heard – often called a grievance hearing or meeting
- An investigation into those concerns where required – in most cases an investigation of some sort will be required, but the scope and depth of the investigation will of course vary, depending on the circumstances
- An outcome to determine whether these concerns should be upheld (along with any recommendations)
- The opportunity to appeal if the employee is dissatisfied
What does tend to vary from school to school is who will be a decision maker in the process, as the approach to grievances is different to that of a disciplinary process. In a disciplinary process, the investigating officer cannot both investigate and decide on the potential sanction to be applied.
In a grievance process is it possible to have two approaches:
- The first is similar to that of a disciplinary process, i.e. someone will be tasked with being the decision maker, an independent investigation will take place to undertake all the ‘fact finding’ and the report would be passed back to the decision maker, who would decide whether or not the grievance should or should not be upheld, along with any recommendations.
- Alternatively, unlike the disciplinary process, you may have a policy that allows the investigator to be both the investigator and decision maker.
You need to ensure that you are familiar with the policy, so that you are clear on the approach and that the school is appointing the right person to the role – it may be that internally you revisit or reconsider who should investigate if the investigator is also the decision maker. It may be that you choose to escalate the level of seniority or look to utilise someone who is fully impartial, such as a Governor or Trustee, if you think the ‘fallout’ of any decision is likely to be political.
Knowing your policy will allow you to lay the correct groundwork from the start of the process.
2. Encourage informal resolution wherever possible
A common misconception from staff is that if they raise a grievance or concern, the person they complain about will be dismissed. This is of course possible, but only in very rare circumstances for the most serious of complaints – for example, those related to discrimination.
Therefore, in most cases, regardless of whether a grievance is or is not upheld a resolution moving forward will be looking at ways in which staff can work together. As a result, wherever possible we would suggest that exploring the possibility of informal resolution or mediation should be discussed with the employee who has raised the concern wherever possible. If the matter can be dealt with informally, this can save all parties lots of time and avoid further escalation or counter grievances, which can further impact on working relationships and staff morale.
3. Make sure that the grievance has been understood – always confirm with the employee
We often receive copies of grievance letters from clients that have been written by staff when they are highly emotive and upset, and it can quite often be difficult to see ‘the wood for the trees’ in their writing.
It is crucial that whoever is investigating the concerns (whether this is the decision maker or someone tasked with the investigation) knows the remit of their investigation from the outset. This avoids the complaint snowballing.
Whenever a meeting with the employee has taken place to hear the concerns, we would always advise that this meeting is followed up in writing with an email or letter to make sure all parties understand the key grievance points, the main concerns raised, and the outcome the employee is seeking, before any investigation begins. Not only will this help to avoid the expansion of the grievance beyond the original concerns, but it may also reduce the chances of an appeal, as all parties will be on the same page.
4. Document everything
It is hoped that by going through a grievance process a satisfactory resolution can be achieved. Unfortunately, that is often not the case where concerns are between or about colleagues. It is therefore crucial that notes of all meetings are kept, that the investigations are fully documented and that any feedback meetings are also noted.
If an employee appeals or seeks to bring a claim for discrimination, for example, and you have documented the fair process and steps you have taken, it will put you in the best possible position to defend any claim moving forward.
5. Provide support to both parties throughout
It’s crucial that both the person who raised the concern and the person the complaint has been raised against are supported throughout the process. It may sound obvious, but it’s something that can often be forgotten when members of senior management are moving through the time-consuming and difficult process of a grievance alongside a full time job.
Support could be provided in a number of ways, including:
- Contact with a member of SLT who is not involved with the process
- Details of any employee assistance programme
- Details of any counselling support that may be available
- Welfare meetings
- Referrals to Occupational Health
If additional support is provided it can help to reduce or prevent absences, which unfortunately often go hand in hand with grievances.
Common questions
Can the employee bring a parent or a friend?
There is no legal right to be accompanied by a parent or a friend, but it is at your discretion to allow this.
The legal right to be accompanied extends to a grievance meeting or appeal and the employee can be accompanied by a workplace colleague or trade union representative. However, you can choose to extend this right to a wider group and in some circumstances, this may be helpful or an adjustment to support a member of staff to attend an fully engage in the process.
When can the meeting be arranged?
A meeting should be arranged as quickly as it reasonably can be, bearing in mind any notice of the meeting as required in the policy. The meeting should take place during the normal working hours of the member of staff being spoken to.
Do all meetings regarding the grievance have to be in person?
No, the meetings can take place online via Teams or Zoom. Ideally, a meeting would take place, but on some occasions, it may be that discussions and investigation take place via email or in writing.
We suggest that investigators notify any parties spoken to that there may be follow-up questions and confirm if they are happy to liaise via email for these.
Can I still investigate the grievance if the employee is off sick?
Yes, and in many cases if the absence is related to the grievance, an Occupational Heath referral will state that an employee cannot return until the workplace issues are resolved.
Therefore, you should do all that you can to progress a grievance whilst an employee is off sick. If the employee does not wish to engage seek advice from Occupational Health about their fitness to attend meetings – as noted above these do not have to be in person – it could be done remotely, online, in writing etc. It is very rare for an employee not to engage in a process in any format.
Does the grievance have to be in writing?
No, a grievance is a concern about work. Ideally the grievance should be put in writing, so that the school has a record of this, but a grievance can be written or verbal concern.
The employee hasn’t completed the correct form/document – do I need this?
No, if your policies specifies that certain forms should be completed, the employee should ideally follow the policy. However, if you have a member of staff who is upset to the extent that they wish to raise a grievance, asking them to repeat what’s happened in a different format is likely to create more annoyance. If you have enough information from the email/letter/discussion, use that as the basis for the process and get the ball rolling.
What if there is a disciplinary process that is also ongoing – does the grievance need to be resolved before the disciplinary can proceed?
This depends on the circumstances and the content of the grievance itself, so is very fact specific. However, as far as is possible we would suggest that both processes run concurrently. An example of when a disciplinary process may need to be placed on hold could be where the investigation is underway and allegations of discrimination are raised against the investigating officer. If, however, the investigation had not yet commenced, a new investigating officer could be appointed and the grievance investigated alongside this.
Does the grievance have to be upheld to make a recommendation?
No. Recommendations can be made as part of a grievance process regardless of whether the grievances are upheld, as there are always ways in which we can improve. Often, making a recommendation in a situation where a grievance has not been upheld can sometimes help to appease the member of staff and allow them to feel that they have been heard.
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