Handling An Employee's Grievance: The Grievance Hearing - GOV.UK

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2. Employing people
3. Dismissing staff and redundancies

Handling an employee's grievance Skip contents

Contents

1. Overview
2. Grievance procedure
3. The grievance hearing
4. Employers' decisions and appeals

The grievance hearing

Preparing for the hearing

Before holding a hearing, employers should:

• give the employee notice so that they can prepare their case
• carry out a full investigation if necessary and take statements from any witnesses who cannot attend
• make it clear that the employee can bring a colleague or union representative if they want to
• arrange for another manager to attend to make sure that the hearing is conducted properly
• arrange for someone to take notes

Delays

If the employee cannot attend the hearing (for example, because they’re ill), offer them a reasonable alternative date and time.

The employee can also suggest a different time for the hearing if the person accompanying them cannot attend. They must do this within 5 working days after you proposed the original meeting time.

You can make your decision without having a hearing if:

• you have already rearranged the meeting, but the employee fails to attend
• the employee is on long-term sick leave and unable to go to meetings in the near future (they can supply written information instead if they want to)

Previous:Grievance procedure Next:Employers' decisions and appeals View a printable version of the whole guide

Related content

• Being taken to an employment tribunal

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• Dismissing staff and redundancies

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• Formal grievance procedure: step by step

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