Your employer is obliged to include a note in your written statement of particulars of employment specifying a person to whom you can contact for the purpose of seeking redress of any grievance you may have. The note should explain any further steps required to progress such a grievance, or refer to an accessible document that explains such steps.
A grievance process will usually involve the following steps:
- You setting out in writing to your employer the details of your grievance.
- Your employer will call you into a meeting to discuss the grievance. You are entitled by virtue of the Employment Relations Act 1999 to be accompanied by a fellow employee or trade union representative. Your employer must permit your companion to address the hearing, to put your case, to sum up the case, to respond on your behalf to any view expressed at the hearing and to confer with you during the hearing. Your employer does not have to allow your companion to answer questions on your behalf.