Grievance Procedure

  1. We recognise that you may have concerns, conflicts, or complaints about your employment with the University from time to time. Wherever possible, we wish to ensure that these grievances are resolved quickly and constructively to everyone’s satisfaction.
  2. The Grievance Procedure is intended to deal with any grievances relating to your employment.
  3. This procedure provides a framework for you to raise grievances about your employment to ensure that they are dealt with fairly and consistently.
  4. While we believe that most grievances about your employment can be resolved through early and open communication with your Line Manager, we also have a process to deal with any formal grievances you raise.
  5. We encourage you to exhaust the informal stages of this procedure before raising a formal grievance. However, if it is not possible to resolve a grievance informally you can raise a formal grievance.
  6. The Overarching Principles apply to the Grievance Procedure. Please ensure you have read and understood these alongside this procedure. The Overarching Principles cover:

    (a) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
    (b) Accessibility
    (c) Confidentiality
    (d) Data Protection
    (e) Support resources
    (f) Investigations
    (g) Witnesses
    (h) Companions
    (i) Timescales and methods of communication
    (j) Postponements of formal hearings/meetings
    (k) Recording of hearings/meetings
    (l) The role of HR
    (a) The role of the Appropriate Manager and the panel
    (m) The role of the Line Manager
    (n) Glossary of terms
     
  7. You should not use the Grievance Procedure as a secondary appeal process if you disagree with the outcome of any appeal you made under the Appeals Procedure. This does not affect your right to raise a grievance to deal with any concerns related to your employment.
  8. 1.8 The aim of this procedure is to deal with grievances brought by individual employees. This procedure does not apply to collective concerns from two or more employees raised by a representative of a Recognised Trade Union. Collective concerns should be raised through existing collective negotiation and consultation channels. However, where individual employees have shared concerns, that are not raised through a Recognised Trade Union, we will determine if the individual grievances need to be dealt with together.
  9. 1.9 In this procedure, the term “Appropriate Manager” means the individual who is the decision maker at the formal meeting as set out in section 7.2. The term “Line Manager” means the individual who is responsible for your practical day-to-day management and providing you with advice, assistance, and guidance. The term “you” refers to the employee who raises their grievance under this procedure. The term “Companion” refers to the trade union representative or a colleague that you have the right to bring to any formal meeting, as set out in section 9 of the Overarching Principles.
  10. 1.10 This procedure is supplemented by guidance and template documents, which are available on the HR website.
  1. 2.1 Your grievance may relate to people, policies and/or practices relating to the University. Issues that could cause grievances may include:

    (a) bullying, harassment, and victimisation
    (b) discrimination
    (c) health and safety
    (c) health and safety
    (d) new working practices
    (e) organisational change
    (f) terms and conditions of employment
    (g) working environment
    (h) work relations

    The above list is intended as a guide and is not exhaustive.
     
  2. We have a separate Report and Support tool. As well as the Grievance Procedure, you can also use this to report any form of bullying, harassment, discrimination or abuse you have experienced or witnessed. You can access information about the Report and Support tool here.
  3. We have a separate Inclusion and Respectful Behaviour Policy that you may find helpful if you have experienced bullying, harassment, or victimisation.
  4. We have a separate Whistleblowing Policy which you should use to report illegal activities, wrongdoing, or malpractice.
  5. The Appropriate Manager will place formal written grievances raised by you on your electronic central personnel file. This should also include any investigation report and the formal written grievance outcome.
  1. You can resolve most grievances quickly and informally through discussion with your Line Manager. You should raise your grievance with your Line Manager at the earliest opportunity so that we can seek to address the issue promptly.
  2. If you feel unable to speak to your Line Manager, for example, because the grievance concerns them, then you should speak informally to their Line Manager. Their Line Manager will usually be your point of contact for the remainder of this procedure.
  3. If you or your Line Manager need advice on how to have an informal discussion, please contact HR as soon as possible to discuss.
  4. We expect that you, your Line Manager, and any other individuals involved will work together to try and resolve any grievance you have.
  1. At any time during the informal discussion stage, your Line Manager should consider whether to use other early resolution methods to resolve your grievance. We use early resolution methods to try to resolve issues informally in the Grievance, Managing Performance, and Disciplinary Procedures. One or a combination of the following early resolution methods may be used to try to resolve your grievance:
    (a) facilitated conversation(s)
    (b) coaching
    (c) mediation via the University Mediation Service
    (d) mentoring
    (e) team-building exercises
     
  2. HR can advise on any agreed early resolution methods. Early resolution methods are voluntary and will only take place if everyone agrees. We may involve Trade Union colleagues in early resolution methods to help resolve your grievance informally. You can find more information on early resolution measures here.
  3. If the early resolution process still has not resolved your grievance, you should follow the formal procedure below.
  4. You can consider mediation via the University Mediation Service at any point of this procedure if all parties agree. If you enter into mediation after raising a formal written grievance, we may pause this procedure while mediation takes place. If mediation is not successful in resolving your grievance, the Appropriate Manager will resume the procedure.
  5. Usually, we expect both you and your Line Manager to try to resolve your grievance through the informal and early resolution stages before submitting a formal written grievance. However, informal action and early resolution may be inappropriate. If this is the case, the matter should proceed directly to the next stage. If your Line Manager is unsure about whether your grievance should be dealt with informally or formally, they should contact HR as soon as possible to discuss.
  1. 5.1 If we cannot resolve your grievance informally, you must submit your grievance in writing to initiate the formal process. The written grievance should contain a description of the nature of your issue, including any relevant:

    (a) facts
    (b) dates
    (c) names of individuals involved
     
  2. Should you find it helpful; we have a formal Grievance Form you can fill out and submit.
  3. You should submit your formal written grievance to:

    (a) your Line Manager
    (b) your Line Manager’s Manager, where your grievance relates to your Line Manager
    (c) your HR Business Partner, referral to your HR Business Partner is reserved for circumstances where the nature of your grievance means that you cannot submit your formal grievance within your Line Management structure
     
  4. If you submit your formal grievance to your HR Business Partner, they will review the reason for the referral. This review is to check that the circumstances of your grievance cannot be dealt with within your Line Management structure. If your HR Business Partner confirms this is the case, we will arrange for an alternative Appropriate Manager, outside of the immediate Line Management structure, to carry out the rest the procedure.
  5. The Appropriate Manager may ask you to provide further information.
  1. 6.1 The Appropriate Manager will arrange an initial formal meeting to discuss your grievance, usually within 5 working days of receiving your formal grievance. The Appropriate Manager will confirm these arrangements to you in writing.
  2. 6.2 You may bring a Companion to an initial and any subsequent formal grievance meeting under this procedure. You should tell the Appropriate Manager in writing who your chosen Companion is as soon as possible. This is normally at least 5 working days before the formal meeting.
  1. 7.1 The purpose of an initial formal grievance meeting is to enable you to explain your grievance and how you think it should be resolved. Formal meetings also assist the Appropriate Manager in gathering evidence and reaching a decision based on the available evidence and the representations you have made.

  2. 7.2 Formal meetings will be chaired by an Appropriate Manager, who will be more Senior than you in accordance with the following table:

    Appropriate managerLevels
    Formal grievances not related to your Line Manager

    1-3: Your Line Manager (Level 4 or above)

    4-7: Your Line Manager (Level 5 or above)

    Formal grievances related to your Line Manager1-3: Your Line Manager’s Manager (Level 4 or above)
    4-7:  Head of School / a head of within a Professional Service (or above)
  3. An HR representative will also be present.
  1. After an initial formal meeting, we may carry out investigations into your grievance.
  2. The Appropriate Manager will usually carry out the investigation.
  3. Investigations should be completed promptly without unreasonable delay. At the start of the investigation, the Appropriate Manager should give you an estimation of how long the investigation should take. The Appropriate Manager should also update you if this timescale changes.
  4. You must co-operate fully and promptly in any investigation to enable the Appropriate Manager to establish the facts of the case. Co-operation may include:

    (a) informing us of the names of any relevant witnesses
    (b) disclosing any relevant documents to us
    (c) attending interviews as part of the investigation
     
  5. How much we need to investigate will depend on the grievance and will vary from case to case. It may involve:

    (a) interviewing and taking statements from you, any individuals you named in your grievance, and any witnesses
    (b) obtaining and reviewing relevant documents
     
  6. When we ask any individuals named in your grievance or witnesses to provide information, the Appropriate Manager should explain to them how we may use their evidence in:

    (a) an investigation
    (b) any potential formal meeting
     
  7. Once the Investigation has ended and the Appropriate Manager has drafted the investigation report, they should share this with you ahead of holding any further formal grievance meeting as outlined in section 9.
  8. In the exceptional circumstances set out below, we may need to redact some evidence in the investigation report shared with you. Redaction will be based on legal advice. We may need to redact evidence if:

    (a) a witness who has given evidence has a genuine fear of reprisals if their statement is not anonymised
    (b) it would not be provided unless we redact the evidence
    (c) we need to redact evidence to comply with Data Protection legislation or protect Confidential Information
     
  9. After an investigation, the Appropriate Manager will hold further formal grievance meeting(s) as they consider appropriate with you before they reach a decision. The Appropriate Manager will arrange such meetings without unreasonable delay.

You have the right to appeal if your grievance has not been resolved to your satisfaction. Please see the Appeals Procedure.

  1. The Appropriate Manager will inform you in writing of the outcome of your grievance and any further action that we intend to take to resolve your grievance. You will receive this notification as soon as possible and no later than 10 working days of the final grievance meeting. Where possible, the Appropriate Manager will also explain this information to you personally.
  2. The possible outcomes of the formal grievance process are:
    (a) your grievance is upheld
    (b) your grievance is partially upheld
    (c) your grievance is not upheld
  3. If your grievance is upheld or partially upheld, the Appropriate Manager may take further actions to resolve your grievance. Examples of further action are:
    (a) feeding back any lessons learnt from your grievance to the appropriate parties
    (b) proposing a change to operational practices
    (c) initiating another procedure, such as the Disciplinary Procedure
    (d) revisiting any of the early resolution methods outlined in section 4
  4. The above list is intended as a guide and is not exhaustive. The example actions listed are at the Appropriate Manager’s discretion and may not be appropriate to use in your circumstances.