Policy/Procedure Statement
RED OX GROUP LTD services the UK ltd has a formal grievance procedure that covers all employees within the company.
Any problem or concern that an employee may have, should wherever possible, be dealt with quickly and effectively on an informal basis and the grievance procedure is not intended to replace these informal discussions. However, situations may arise from time to time where the employee feels it is necessary to formalize their concern in order to resolve it to their satisfaction, and in these circumstances, the formal grievance procedure should be used.
RED OX GROUP LTD encourages the use of the procedure in order to settle grievances swiftly, fairly, and consistently.
The Grievance policy/procedure does not deal with disciplinary matters as these are dealt with by the Disciplinary Policy and the associated Appeals Procedure.
The Grievance policy/procedure will be applied to RED OX GROUP LTD without discrimination, in accordance with the company’s Equal Opportunities Policy, including the making of reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.
it is the responsibility of the Human Resources Department to ensure that a copy of this grievance policy/procedure is given to all new employees at the company induction and the responsibility of the manager to carry out a grievance hearing to ensure that, on implementation of the formal process, a full investigation is carried out and the procedure is followed. It is the responsibility of all employees to inform RED OX GROUP LTD
management of their grievances as outlined in the procedure.
The Grievance policy/procedure set out below does not form part of an employee’s terms and conditions of employment (it is non-contractual). The Company reserves the right to make additions or alterations to this policy/procedure from time to time.
This policy/procedure supersedes any previous similar policies/procedures
1. Introduction
The purpose of the grievance procedure is to ensure that all employees have access to a prompt, fair, and consistent process to deal with any complaints or grievances they may have about any aspect of their employment.
it should be remembered that by statute an employee has the right to have a grievance heard, and while there is an implied obligation on the employer to act in good faith and take all reasonable steps to resolve the matter, there may be times when a grievance cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the employee.
2. Informal action
In many cases, a grievance can be dealt with informally without an employee needing recourse to the formal procedure. Managers should be willing to discuss an employee’s concerns on an informal basis and try to resolve them wherever possible. If an employee is not satisfied they should be referred to the formal Grievance policy/procedure
The manager should take notes at the ‘informal discussions‘ concerning What was discussed to be taken for the employee’s file.
2.1 Options available to the employee
When discussing an employee’s grievance informally, the employee may choose to follow one of the following options in relation to his/her complaint and/or issue(s):
No action: the employee can decide not to take any action at that time, other than discussing the situation with his/her manager. However, should the manager believe the situation discussed could be (or has become) a risk to the employee, RED OX GROUP LTD and/or RED OX GROUP LTD employees, or clients the manager may at his/her absolute discretion deal with the matter formally, even without the employee authority.
Employee action: after (or before) discussing the situation with the manager the employee may choose to address the situation directly. if this involves a RED OX GROUP LTD colleague/manager the employee may approach him/her directly to discuss the situation in a constructive manner.
Management intervention: the employee may request that the manager intervene (informally) in order to resolve the situation. if this involves another person, the manager may hold an informal meeting with the person to discuss the matter objectively in order to ascertain the issues and attempt to resolve them in an appropriate manner; the manager should remain impartial.
Mediation Meeting: (for situations involving a third party). The employee may opt for a three-way meeting to be held between him/herself, the person with whom he/she has a grievance against and a member of the HR Department. Such meetings can only be held with the agreement of all parties.
Formal Grievance investigation: refer to 4. below. it should be regarded as important that the employee is able to air any grievance that he/she may have about their employment or working environment without feeling worried about making a grievance. it should be made clear to the employee that he/she will not be prejudiced by making a bona fide grievance.
3. Formal Policy and Procedures
4. Formal procedures
4.1 Collective grievances
it is not normal practice for Dardan Security to. hear ‘collective’ grievances, but, where the same grievance is raised by several employees the Company will consider this option on the condition that the grievance is relevant to the person raising and/or attending the Stage 1 and/or 2 grievance(s). Conversely, RED OX GROUP LTD reserves the right to refuse to hear collective grievances and, instead, to hold one-to-one grievance hearings (as
detailed below).
The ACAS Code of Practice is not applicable to Collective Grievances.
4.2 Formal stages
Employees have the right to raise a grievance (which is unrelated a disciplinary matter as this should be dealt with under the Disciplinary and associated appeals procedure) through two formal stages in order to resolve the matter. it is hoped the matter Will be resolved at an early stage if possible.
4.2.1 Employee's written notification of the grievance
An employee who has. a grievance that has not been (or cannot be) adequately resolved informally must notify his/her line manager, in writing, of his/her grievance.
if the grievance concerns the line manager and/or if the employee feels unable to address the issue with his/her line manager directly, the letter should be sent to his/her
Alternatively, the letter can be sent to the HR department.
The letter should clearly state the grounds on which he/she is raising a formal grievance and where possible provide any evidence or details.
4.2.2 Arranging a Stage 1 grievance hearing
Where practicable, within 7 calendar days of receiving the letter, the manager should provide the employee With at least 48 hours’ written notice (Monday to Friday) of the requirement to attend a grievance hearing; the initial hearing should (where practicable) be scheduled on one of the employee’s rostered shifts. The written notification should confirm the employee’s right to representation.
4.2.3 Conducting a Stage 1 grievance hearing
At the grievance hearing, the issues/grievances raised by the employee will be restated and the employee Will be given an opportunity to discuss, in detail his/her issues. The manager hearing the stage 1 grievance hearing (“the Grievance Manager”) will ask questions where appropriate/necessary to ensure he/she fully understands the nature of the grievance.
4.2.4 Adjourning the Stage 1 grievance hearing
A grievance hearing may be adjourned to enable the Grievance Manager to review the information collated and for an informed decision to be made 93 to carry out investigations, further/additional investigations. in such cases the Grievance Manager may decide to reconvene the hearing if he/she deems it necessary/appropriate or the Grievance Manager may decide it is not necessary to reconvene the hearing and, instead, confirm the outcome of the Stage 1 Grievance investigations in writing to the employee (see below).If the
hearing is reconvened a letter should be sent to the employee detailing the date, time, etc.
4.2.5 Outcome of a Stage 1 grievance hearing
Where practicable, within 7 calendar days of the Grievance Hearing, the decision concerning the outcome of the grievance process, and the employee’s right of Appeal to (where possible) the next level of management (“Appeal Chairperson”) will be advised in writing. See 14. (Outcomes) below.
4.3 Stage employee’s written appeal
if the employee considers the grievance still to be unresolved he/she may, within 7 calendar days of receipt of the written confirmation of the outcome of the Stage 1 grievance hearing, raise the matter in writing to the person named (under the Appeal section) in the Stage outcome letter, giving full details of the grievance and what issues have not resolved. The Appeal Chairperson may choose to rehear the whole grievance if
he/she so decides.
4.3.1 Arranging a Stage 2 grievance hearing
Where practicable, within 14 calendar days of receiving the appeal letter, the Appeal Chairperson should provide the employee with at least 48 hours’ m notice (Monday to Friday) of the requirement to attend a Stage 2 grievance hearing; the initial hearing should be (where practicable) scheduled on one of the employee’s rostered shifts. The written notification should confirm the employee’s right to representation.
See 5. (Rights to be Accompanied), 6. (Management Witness) and 8. (Rights to Postponement).
4.3.2 Conducting a Stage 2 grievance hearing
At the Stage 2 grievance hearing, the issues/grievances raised by the employee Will be restated an employee will be given an opportunity to discuss, in detail his/her
Where practicable, within 7 calendar days of the Stage 2 grievance hearing, the decision concerning the outcome of the Stage 2 grievance process will be advised in writing. See 14. (Outcomes) below.
4.3.3 Adjourning the Stage 2 grievance hearing
The employee or Appeal Chairperson may request an adjournment at the Stage 2 hearing in order for further information /evidence to be collected. in such cases, the Appeal Chairperson may decide to reconvene the hearing if he/she deems it necessary/appropriate or the Appeal Chairperson may deCIde it is not necessary to reconvene the hearing and, instead, confirm the outcome of Stage 2.Grievance investigation in
writing to the employee (as above). if the hearing has reconvened a letter Will be sent to the employee detailing the date, time, etc.
There is no further level of appeal.
5. Rights to be accompanied
Under Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, an employee has the statutory right to be accompanied at any formal grievance hearing by a work colleague, a full-time trade union official, or a lay trade union official certified by the union as having experience of or having received training in, acting as a companion(referred to as a certified trade union official).
The right to be accompanied applies to any formal grievance hearing, including an appeal hearing (stage 2), held as part of a formal grievance procedure.
The statutory right to be accompanied does not extend to legal re-representation.
The name of the companion must be provided to the person conducting the hearing at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled hearing. The certified Trade Union Official will need to present proof of ID prior to the commencement of the hearing.
5.1 Exceptional circumstances
In exceptional circumstances (i.e. where adjustments need to be made for reasons linked to a disability as defined under the Equality Act 2010), an authorization may be granted by a Head of Department, HR Manager, or a Company Director for a person to accompany the employee who does not fall into one of the above categories.
5.2 Role of the companion/representative
The companion/representative will be able to address the grievance hearing, put forward the employee’s case, sum up the employee’s case, respond to any view expressed, ask questions on behalf of the employee and to confer With the employee but not to answer questions on behalf of the employee nor disrupt the grievance hearing.
The employee and his/her companion/ representative can ask for the formal grievance hearing to be adjourned whilst they confer in private; this Will normally only be for short periods of time and the formal grievance hearing will resume.
5.3 Paid time off
The Company permits employees to take time paid off during working hours for the purpose of accompanying another of their employees to a formal grievance hearing.
6. Management witness
In all cases, a separate person should be present at the grievance hearing to take comprehensive notes on behalf of the Company. The person can address the meeting and, if appropriate, ask questions, and respond to questions.He/she can also ask for an adjournment for example to clarify the minutes or take a toilet break. However, it Is the role of the Grievance Manager (or Appeal Chairperson) is to make an informed decision on the outcome following a full and thorough investigation.
At the end of the hearing (when the hearing has been adjourned) where practicable, the employee may be asked to read the minutes or the minute taker may read them out to the employee. The employee (and their representative/companion if they are present) may be asked to initial the minutes.
Where practicable, the person who took minutes at the Stage 1 Grievance Hearing will be different from the person attending the Stage 2 Grievance Hearing. However, if this is not possible, the person attending the Stage Grievance Hearing’s sole purpose of attendance will be to take minutes on behalf of the Company. He/She will have no influence on the outcome of the grievance process.
In cases, where the grievance includes allegations of unlawful harassment/discrimination, a member of the HR Department should be present at the grievance hearing(s). If this is not possible, the HR Department should nominate a suitable person to attend the hearing(s) in their absence.
7. Raising a grievance during a formal disciplinary process
Where an employee raises a grievance during a disciplinary process the disciplinary process may be temporarily suspended in order to deal with the grievance or the disciplinary process may run concurrently with the grievance process.
8. Rights to postponement
If an employee has been given reasonable written notice (Monday to Friday) to attend a formal grievance hearing (stage 1/stage 2) he/she normally may only request a postponement due to circumstances out of their control, such as illness. An employee may offer a reasonable alternative time within 5 working days of the original date if their chosen companion or representative cannot attend.
A maximum of 5 working days’ postponement – in this instance, working days are Monday to Friday, regardless of an employee’s rostered shifts – will be permitted. A longer postponement period can only be authorised by a Head of Department, HR Manger and Company Director
The employee has no right for a second postponement if the request is due to the companion/representatives non availability.
9. Failure to attend
If an employee fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for failure to attend a scheduled grievance hearing (stage 1/stage 2) and/or does n_o_t contact the Company by the end of the [working] day on which the hearing was scheduled, a letter will be sent to the employee confirming the Company believes his/her grievance to be withdrawn.
if, on receipt of the withdrawn letter, the employee wishes to reinstate his/her grievance he/she must confirm his/her request in writing Within 7 calendar days of receipt of the Withdrawn letter (otherwise the grievance will be treated as Withdrawn) to the Grievance Manager who was scheduled to conduct the hearing; the grievance process would recommence at the stage at which the Company considered the employee’s grievance to be withdrawn, i.e. if the employee failed to attend a Stage 1 hearing the process would resume at Stage 1 or if the employee failed to attend a Stage 2 hearing the process would continue at Stage 2.
10. Grievance raised by ex-employees
Under the ACAS code of practice, the Company is not obliged to hear grievances from ex-employees.
11. Time limits
In order for grievances to be resolved quickly, it is important that the timescale laid down in the procedure are ahead to where reasonably practicable unless extended timescales are agreed upon by the employee and the Grievance Manager.
12. Investigating a formal grievance
At each stage the Grievance Manager hearing the grievance should carry out a full investigation before reaching an “informed” decision on the matter. The Grievance Manager where practicable, should carry out initial investigations prior to a grievance hearing (stage 1 and stage 2) as part of their preparation.if evidence is gathered §before a hearing, the employee should be given a copy in advance of the hearing (to be sent where the practicable with their invite letter).
if the grievance is against another person, the Grievance Manager should contact the HR department to discuss the allegations raised in order to ascertain if the person should be asked to attend a formal investigation meeting to ascertain the person’s views and comments and if appropriate to Offer that Person the opportunity make a written statement .
At each stage, a grievance hearing may be adjourned to enable an informed decision to be reached. Further to allow for additional investigations to be carried out.
13. Witness statements
During the investigation, the Grievance Manager should obtain all the relevant documentation, including witness statements. Where there have been witnesses to an event, they should each be asked to provide a witness statement, which should clearly state their account of events and should be dated and signed by them.
Should the situation arise whereby a witness is not prepared or is unwilling to make a statement, the Grievance Manager conducting the grievance hearing (stage 1 or stage 2) should contact the HR Department for advice.
The Grievance Manager should consult with the HR Department in respect of any evidence from third party
witnesses, for example clients or other service suppliers.
14. Outcomes
The possible options available to a Grievance Manager presiding at a formal stage (stage 1 or 2) of the Grievance Procedure are:
Dismissal of a Grievance:
A finding that the grievance is ill-founded and is regarded as unsubstantiated. The Grievance Manager should explain the reasons for reaching this conclusion.
Upholding a Grievance:
A finding that-the grievance is largely or fully substantiated. The Grievance Manager should consider the most appropriate way to remedy the cause of the grievance and take steps to do so as quickly as possible after notifying the outcome. if the grievance was against another person, the Grievance Manager may consider requesting an apology from that person and/or instigate the Company’s Disciplinary procedure
against that person; refer to 12. above.
in circumstances where serval allegations been raised (by the employee) and investigated, the manager following a full investigation may up hold some allegations but dismiss others. Where applicable this would be fully detailed and explained Stage 1 or 2 Grievance Hearing outcome letter.
Unfounded and /or malicious allegations:
1-A finding that the aggrieved employee has used the procedure in order to make unfounded and/or malicious allegations about a colleague or another person. in this case disciplinary action may be instituted against the person who brought the grievance.
15. Record keeping
Records will be kept by the Company of all grievances and investigations (Stages 1 and 2) These records will be kept confidential. Copies of all outcome letters and, on an employee’s request, minutes of the hearing(s) Will be given to the employee concerned.
There is no timescale for such records being held on an employee’s file. The documentation should remain on the employee’s personnel file indefinitely.
Records are kept in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.
16. Variations
if an employee wishes to make a complaint about discrimination/harassment, such as racial or sexual harassment, they may not wish to discuss the matter with their immediate manager and may instead raise the matter with the HR Department or a manager of their choosing.
In certain situations, i.e. due to the sensitivity of the complaint (discrimination/harassment) and/or due to business operational demands, the HR Department or another manager may chair a grievance hearing (stage 1and stage 2).
The Grievance policy/procedure as defined in this document is non-contractual. The policy, processes and any associated documentation are subject to review on a periodic basis at which time the Company reserves the right to alter the policy, processes and/or documentation in line with the needs of the business.