I agree with many of the points raised by others. One thing you should consider is how your letter will be received. If you do go ahead and send a letter, try to put yourself in the shoes of the recipient. How is he/she going to take it and what is he/she going to think? Are you leaving scope for compromise? Is there scope for compromise? Could they turn the tables on and make you look like the villain?
Considering how the other party will react might make re-consider the approach you are taking, which, of course, is not to say it is wrong.
From my experience, to win a grievance you have to have clear evidence that an employee/company have acted wrongly. Employers will side against most people unless this is the case - so make the issues you have clear and witnessess who can back you up are good.If it is your wrod against theres you have no hope. It is best to try to resolve a grievance informally first, and you could refer to how you have tried this in your grievance.
If there is a possibilty this could go to a tribunal - it is important you have raised a grievance and tried to resolve with your employer previously.
Just be carefull if u still value ur job As u will find if u send it to hr u are opening a can of worms and u Will find urself singled out Good luck anyway remember life's about choices
I would also bear in mind that it is not uncommon for those that bring a grievance to be 'sacked' for something completely unrelated. This could leave you out of a job with your only recourse to be to seek compensation for unfair dismissal. The company might not allow grievances from former employees, so you need to be sure that giving you what you want will be cheaper than defending a claim for unfair dismissal.
I am not suggesting that those running your employer's business are anything other than fair and honest, just that I have seen disgruntled employees 'invited' to leave their job and the alternative is so harrowing that taking the offer to go becomes the best option.
Sadly when it gets to the stage that a grievance is a genuine option the relationship is often already damaged beyond repair.
I would also bear in mind that it is not uncommon for those that bring a grievance to be 'sacked' for something completely unrelated. This could leave you out of a job with your only recourse to be to seek compensation for unfair dismissal. The company might not allow grievances from former employees, so you need to be sure that giving you what you want will be cheaper than defending a claim for unfair dismissal.
I am not suggesting that those running your employer's business are anything other than fair and honest, just that I have seen disgruntled employees 'invited' to leave their job and the alternative is so harrowing that taking the offer to go becomes the best option.
Sadly when it gets to the stage that a grievance is a genuine option the relationship is often already damaged beyond repair.
And, in my experience, there are some companies who believe that raising a grievance can itself be used as a basis for dismissal. But of course those companies may have been run by incompetent or unethical individuals ...
Thank you all again for your input. Just to answer a few points.
I have tried to deal with this with my employer previously. The problem is with the owner of the business who is my line manager. The UNITE person I spoke to said there was no way that they would represent me and there is a 4 week period before they would after I started to pat subs. The situation cannot continue, so I have little choice but to do this although I will alter my wording based on advice on here.
Does Unite have an agreement with your company or would this be their first experience with them. Unions don't represent people who join after they have a problem but if the union is present in the workplace then that means there is more chance of the grievance procedures carrying weight. However, the first thing they would ask you is what you hope to acheive by taking out the greveance and the fact that "The problem is with the owner of the business who is my line manager" means that you are very very unlikely to achieve an outcome which would be to your satisfcation.
Is there a reason why you want to stay working for this company? What are your chances of seeking employment elsewhere. After all if it was your company and one of your staff complained about you, what would you do?
No unions where I work DRF. I have tried the reasonable, informal option and I understand what you are warning me of, but there are times when you are given no choice. I think this is one of them.
There is writing a grievance to resolve a problem, and knowing the writing is on the wall and writing a grievance with one eye on an Employment Tribunal. As somebody has said – the relationship has usually broken down to an unfixable point when this step is taken. If it hasn’t I would suggest trying to resolve informally.
I have never seen a grievance won, unless some clear unarguable procedural irregularity has been shown. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking HR are neutral. They will always side with who pays them when push comes to shove. But if you do take them to a tribunal - you have to show you tried to resolve first. Sometimes they way a tribunal is dealt with can provide you with further evidence.
If you want to PM me with your company grievance policy I can tell you want should go into a grivance letter but you really need to give consideration to the expected outcome. Do you really believe the owner of the company is going to change his or her ways and your situation will improve? Or do you believe they are going to sack you anyway and need to gather evidence for a tribunal (and if so have you looked at how much these cost now and what you are likely to win?).
It is my belief that there is a clear case for constructive dismissal. I would rather it not come to to that and the issue resolved. I cannot continue with the status quo so believe that I am being pushed into this. A big if, is that if I can get my company to use an independent HR advisor to investigate, I might get somewhere. I have heard of 10-20% chance of winning constructive dismissal cases as an employee so I am under no illusions that it is a given I would win. I understand that the majority of wins are under £6k for these cases.
If you are anticipating a constructive dismissal case down the line, all the more reason to keep the letter as polite as possible as a stated above, clear concise and to the point do not get personal at all keep it formal. Keep hard copies of everything and make sure you know your rights before hand. Also, when you get a reply they may ask you to a grievance meeting, especially if they know you are not in a union, if this happens you are untitled by law to have someone in there with you even another employee, make sure you take advantage of this right as you may need a witness, also make sure you receive a copy of the minutes and take your own notes. Once again, best of luck.
Sadly you could probably remove the 0 from your percentage estimate for successful constructive dismissal cases. The awards are generally a percentage of salary (a small percentage!) but they take into account how quickly you find another job. Also the fee to just get started is £250 and costs can amount to thousands which you may not get back even if you win.
Is there are reason (apart from goodwill) that you emplouer would seek outside assistance to resolve this? For example is the busines heavily dependent on the public and therefore they could not risk the negative publicity?
You have to resign before you can make a claim for constructive dismissal. You have to show that your employer breached the employment contract so severely that you had no option but to resign. A claim to an ET will cost over £1000 and they are notoriously difficult to win. I am a TU rep and my advice to anyone considering this course of action is invariably don't do it.
But if you have a decent case, you might get your employer to settle without it going that far. A lot do - you don't have to go a million miles away from thi site to see an example. Sadie provided good advice - go out of your way to be reasonable and let them not be. If you think the outcome is nailed on anyway - you don't have anything to lose. But if there is still an alternative that saves your job - take it before going down this path.
Just a word of thanks once again for all your comments. I took a step back in the end and had one last attempt at the informal, before a formal grievance was started. This seems to be working so far.
Comments
Considering how the other party will react might make re-consider the approach you are taking, which, of course, is not to say it is wrong.
Best of luck.
If there is a possibilty this could go to a tribunal - it is important you have raised a grievance and tried to resolve with your employer previously.
As u will find if u send it to hr u are opening a can of worms and u Will find urself singled out
Good luck anyway remember life's about choices
I am not suggesting that those running your employer's business are anything other than fair and honest, just that I have seen disgruntled employees 'invited' to leave their job and the alternative is so harrowing that taking the offer to go becomes the best option.
Sadly when it gets to the stage that a grievance is a genuine option the relationship is often already damaged beyond repair.
I have tried to deal with this with my employer previously.
The problem is with the owner of the business who is my line manager.
The UNITE person I spoke to said there was no way that they would represent me and there is a 4 week period before they would after I started to pat subs.
The situation cannot continue, so I have little choice but to do this although I will alter my wording based on advice on here.
However, the first thing they would ask you is what you hope to acheive by taking out the greveance and the fact that "The problem is with the owner of the business who is my line manager" means that you are very very unlikely to achieve an outcome which would be to your satisfcation.
Is there a reason why you want to stay working for this company? What are your chances of seeking employment elsewhere. After all if it was your company and one of your staff complained about you, what would you do?
Id rather look for a new job.
I have never seen a grievance won, unless some clear unarguable procedural irregularity has been shown. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking HR are neutral. They will always side with who pays them when push comes to shove. But if you do take them to a tribunal - you have to show you tried to resolve first. Sometimes they way a tribunal is dealt with can provide you with further evidence.
Do you really believe the owner of the company is going to change his or her ways and your situation will improve?
Or do you believe they are going to sack you anyway and need to gather evidence for a tribunal (and if so have you looked at how much these cost now and what you are likely to win?).
I have heard of 10-20% chance of winning constructive dismissal cases as an employee so I am under no illusions that it is a given I would win. I understand that the majority of wins are under £6k for these cases.
Is there are reason (apart from goodwill) that you emplouer would seek outside assistance to resolve this? For example is the busines heavily dependent on the public and therefore they could not risk the negative publicity?
In other words, good luck.
If you have a good sick policy, like 6 months full.
You could go to your doctor & get signed off monthly, with work related stress.
That way you get 6 months full pay, whilst you search elsewhere.
Downside, is that it could be detrimental in getting another job.
NB Just a thought, not a recommendation.
This seems to be working so far.