Before an issue arises, make sure that you have strong grievance handling policies and procedures in place. These documents let employees know what to expect when they file a grievance. In addition, they protect your organization should the employee file a lawsuit.
Grievance handling procedures should list processes for:
- filing a grievance
- investigating a grievance
- grievance resolution meetings
- appeals
Need for Formal Procedure
There should be a formal procedure to handle grievances:
- All employee complaints and grievances are in actual practice not settled satisfactorily by the first level supervisor, due to lack of necessary human relations skills or authority to act.
- It serves as a medium of upward communication, whereby the management becomes aware of employee frustrations, problems and expectations.
- It operates like a pressure release valve on a steam boiler, providing the employees with an outlet to send out their frustrations, discontents, and grips.
- It also reduces the likelihood of arbitrary action by supervision, since the supervisors know that the employees are able to protest such behavior and make their protests heard by the higher manager.
Steps in Grievance Handling Procedure
At any stage of the grievance machinery, the dispute must be handled by some members of the management. In grievance redressal, the responsibility lies largely with the management. The steps to deal with grievances usually are
- Acknowledge Dissatisfaction: Managerial/supervisory attitude to grievances is important. They should focus attention on grievances, not turn away from them.
- Define the Problem: Instead of trying to deal with a vague feeling of discontent, the problem should be defined properly.
- Get the Facts: Facts should be separated from fiction. Though grievances result in hurt feelings, the effort should be to get the facts behind the feelings. There is a need for a proper record of each grievance.
- Analyze and Decide: Decisions on each of the grievances will have a precedent effect. While no time should be lost in dealing with them, it is no excuse to be a slip-shod about it. Grievance settlements provide opportunities for management to correct themselves, and thereby come closer to the employees.
- Follow up: Decisions taken must be followed up earnestly. They should be promptly communicated to the employee concerned.
Grievance Handling Levels
The details of a grievance procedure/machinery may vary from organisation to organisation. Here, four levels are suggested. The first and the last stages have universal relevance, irrespective of the differences in the procedures at the intermediate stages. The four stages of the machinery
The level at which grievance occurs :
Intermediate Stage :
At the intermediate level, a grievance can be settled with or without union involvement. Excessive reliance on the supervisor at this stage can jeopardize the interests of the employee and affect the credibility of the procedure.
Organisation Level:
If a grievance is not settled at the intermediate level also, it will be referred to as the top management. By now, the grievance may acquire some political importance and the top leadership of the union may also step informally, if the procedure provides for it and informally, if the procedure prohibits it. At this level it is very difficult to reconcile the divergent interests.
Third Party Mediation:
At this stage, the parties concerned lose control over the way the grievance is settled. In case of mediation (conciliation or arbitration), the mediator has no authority to decide, but in case of labour court or an adjudicator, the decision will be binding on the parties, subject to statutory provisions for an appeal to higher courts.
Grievance Filing Methods
Customize employee grievance filing methods to the size of your organization and your employees’ needs. You may ask employees to file a grievance directly with Human Resources or contact their manager about it first. A formal, dated grievance letter may be required. On the other hand, you might allow employees to file grievances using an online portal.
Many employers require employees to file their grievance no later than 30 days after the most recent action that caused the problem. All grievance reports should include:
- the employee’s full name
- the date of the grievance
- a summary of their complaints
- witness details
- copies of supporting documents for the investigation
- details of action steps they have taken to solve the issue, if any
- their preferred resolution
Informal Resolution
If your workplace is not unionized, consider asking employees to try to informally resolve their grievances before filing a formal complaint. This is not always possible, however. Still, many issues can easily be resolved between the employee and his or her manager without going through the formal grievance handling process.
Grievance Meeting Procedures
After an employee files a grievance, plan the resolution meeting for no more than five working days afterward. Hold the meeting in a private, distraction-free environment. Before the meeting, communicate to the employee, in writing, the meeting’s details. Include the time and date of the meeting, where it will be held, and who will hear the grievance. In addition, remind the employee of his or her right to be accompanied.
Further Investigation
After the grievance meeting, take up to five more business days to come to a decision. This may require further investigation of the grievance based on new information that came to light in the meeting. Keep lines of communication open with the aggrieved employee throughout the grievance handling process. Be available for questions and concerns. Listen well to the employee, too.
Successful Grievance Handling
When dealing with employee grievances, employers may feel a wide range of emotions from fear to anger to enlightenment. Keep a calm, positive attitude and following your grievance handling policies and procedures to help you reach a resolution that everyone is satisfied with. Remember:
- Don’t take anything personally. Most of the time, employees are not trying to be malicious.
- Stick to the subject at hand. A grievance meeting is not the time to bring up other issues. Focus on resolving the concerns outlined in the grievance without getting sidetracked or assigning blame.
- Respond to the grievance quickly. Employees want to feel heard. A fast response shows that you respect and care about them. Putting off a response to the grievance could lead to more complaints on the employee’s list or worse, a lawsuit.
- Fairness is needed not only to be just but also to keep the procedure viable, if employees develop the belief that the procedure is only a sham, then its value will be lost, and other means sought to deal with the grievances.
- Follow up: The Personnel Department should keep track of the effectiveness and the functioning of grievance handling procedure and make necessary changes to improve it from time to time.
- It is very important, not just as a matter of record or for future reference, but to be kept apprised and up to date on the progress of the process. A similar grievance may crop up in the future, and so you already have something to start on.
- Finally, the best thing that a company can do to handle employee grievances is to have sound grievance machinery or system in place. This is to avoid complications in the future when employees file more complaints because there is already a guide or a roadmap that can be followed by the grievance committee.
Pitfalls in Grievance Handling
Some of the common pitfalls that management usually commit are
- stopping the search for facts too soon
- expressing a management opinion before gathering full facts
- failing to maintain proper records
- arbitrary exercise of executive discretion
- settling wrong grievances
