Who is covered by the procedure?

This procedure applies to all employees regardless of length of service. It does not apply to agency workers or self-employed contractors. However, it does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment. It may be amended at any time and we may depart from it depending on the circumstances of any case.

Using the grievance procedure

Most grievances can be resolved quickly and informally through discussion with your line manager. If this does not resolve the problem you should initiate the formal procedure below reasonably promptly.

Step 1: written grievance

You should put your grievance in writing and submit it to your line manager. If your grievance concerns your line manager you may submit it to the Office Managing Director.

The written grievance should set out the nature of the complaint, including any relevant facts, dates, and names of individuals involved so that we can investigate it.

Step 2: meeting

We will arrange a grievance meeting, normally within one week of receiving your written grievance. You should make every effort to attend.

You may bring a companion to the grievance meeting if you make a reasonable request in advance and tell us the name of your chosen companion. The companion may be either a trade union representative or a colleague, who will be allowed reasonable paid time off from duties to act as your companion.

If you or your companion cannot attend at the time specified you should let us know as soon as possible and we will try, within reason, to agree an alternative time.

We may adjourn the meeting if we need to carry out further investigations, after which the meeting will usually be reconvened.

We will write to you, usually within one week of the last grievance meeting, to confirm our decision and notify of you of any further action that we intend to take to resolve the grievance. We will also advise you of your right of appeal.

Step 3: appeals

If the grievance has not been resolved to your satisfaction you may appeal in writing to the Office Managing Director, stating your full grounds of appeal, within one week of the date on which the decision was sent or given to you.

We will hold an appeal meeting, normally within two weeks of receiving the appeal. This will normally be dealt with impartially by a more senior manager who has not previously been involved in the case. You will have a right to bring a companion.

As senior management are based in a number of locations, appeal meetings may be conducted by Skype or video conferencing. All attempts will be made by the Company to hold the appeal meetings in person where possible.

We will confirm our final decision in writing, usually within one week of the appeal hearing. There is no further right of appeal.