Top 20 Tips How to Write a Grievance Letter:

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My wife Amy and I are employment consultants with 26 years combined experience helping people like you.

Amy & I took our own employers to the Employment Tribunal as litigants in person.

We built this website in 2011 to assist you on knowing your employment rights UK, including what to say and what not to say in a grievance letter to your employer.

Amy & I have created some new webpages for 2026 for you to look at:

• Read This First!
• Don’t use AI to write your grievance letter.
• 15 steps to take before you write your grievance letter.
• 20 Tips on writing your grievance letter.
• Free grievance letter example for ‘work-related stress, bullying, harassment and discrimination’.
• What not to say in a grievance meeting.
• How to win a grievance appeal.

Over the past fifteen years Amy and I have helped thousands of clients with internal employment disputes covering bullying, harassment, discrimination, unfair treatment at work, unfair dismissal, suspension from work, unfair capability, unfair disciplinary, being put on a performance improvement plan, being made redundant, blowing the whistle, work-related stress, sickness absence, pay, occupational health, and unfair workplace investigations.

We charge only £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour where we can talk through your employment situation and discuss next steps. After the initial consultation we charge £50 an hour. You can reach out to us on 07775943414 (9-5 UK time) or email us at samandamy@pm.me

If you can’t face this process alone and would like to discuss your workplace problems with us, reach out to us. Sometimes, just talking through your employment issues can give you a new perspective on what to do, and furthermore, how to go about doing it. We can write your grievance letter for you. We can hold your hand throughout the entire grievance process from beginning to end. We can assist you in avoiding the common mistakes which we see employees make when going through the grievance process with their employer. You don’t have to be alone in this process. Reach out to us on 07775943414 or email us at samandamy@pm.me

We work 7 days a week, 9-5 UK time, because we know all too well that your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon! Go on, pick up the phone and call us! 

Word of Caution:

• Do NOT use AI to generate your grievance letter.

20 Tips on Writing a Grievance Letter to your employer:

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Grievance Tip 1 – Should I Raise a Formal Grievance Letter? Unless your employer has ‘breached’ a Statutory Act or Regulation, it would be best to attempt to remedy your situation informally, i.e., without raising a written formal grievance. If you are not sure whether your employer has breached a statutory Act or Regulation, then please reach out to us to book a telephone consultation on 07775943414 (9-5 UK).

Grievance Tip 2 – In order to actually raise a ‘formal grievance’ you must put your grievances in ‘writing’ to your employer. This complies with the ACAS Guidelines. If your grievance letter is not outlined in written form, your employer could argue that you have not raised a ‘formal grievance’. We suggest that when submitting your grievance letter to your employer, that you make it clear you are raising a “formal letter of grievance”, and furthermore, submit your grievance letter to your employer via email.

Grievance Tip 3 – Remember, your employer’s HR Department exists to protect your employer from any liability. The HR Department are not your friends. The HR Department’s job is to mitigate your employer’s liability. Do not underestimate the skullduggery, which your employer and its HR Department are capable of. Your employer will very likely take ‘all necessary measures’ to diminish its liability, usually at the aggrieved employee’s expense. My wife Amy & I cannot stress enough the dirty tricks which we see the HR Department play once an employee has submitted a formal letter of grievance. This is where Amy & I can assist you in avoiding the common mistakes, which we often see employees make, not only in writing their grievance letter to their employer, but also when attending a grievance meeting too. Please visit our webpage what not to say in a grievance meeting.

Grievance Tip 4 – If you are complaining about harassment, discrimination or victimization within your grievance letter, you may be surprised to know that in accordance with s.136 of The Equality Act 2010, the ‘Burden of Proof’ is on you to prove that on the balance of probabilities, you have been subjected to harassment or discrimination. In this regard, we draw your attention to the case authority of Madarassy v Nomura International Plc [2007] EWCA Civ 33 (26 January 2007) whereas the Court of Appeal held the following position at paragraph 12:

“I do not underestimate the significance of the burden of proof in discrimination cases. There is probably no other area of the civil law in which the burden of proof plays a larger part than in discrimination cases.”

What this means in plain English, is that it is incumbent upon you as the complainant to provide both facts and information within your grievance letter to support your grievances for harassment, discrimination, or victimization. The onus is on you to outline examples of harassment, discrimination or victimization within your grievance letter to your employer, in order to prove that on the balance of probabilities, your statutory rights under the auspices of The Equality Act 2010 have been breached. Amy and I can assist you in constructing your grievance letter and frame your grievance letter in a way that puts the HR Department between a rock and a hard place. Not only can we assist you in identifying the sections of the relevant Acts, which have been breached, we can also assist you in putting case law into your grievance letter to back up and support what you are saying.

Grievance Tip 5 – In invoking the grievance procedures, you have to look down the road and prepare yourself for all the possibilities. By this, we mean that should your employer whitewash your grievances, your grievance letter may end up being exhibited in the Employment Tribunal. Therefore, you have to think that one day an Employment Tribunal Judge may read your grievance letter. As such, your grievance letter really needs to outline the contraventions of the relevant Acts. This is because the Employment Tribunal is a ‘creature of statute’. Put shortly, all the Employment Tribunal Judge is really looking for within your grievance letter are the contraventions of the statutory Acts and Regulations, which the Employment Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear. This is the very reason why you must not waffle when writing your grievance letter. Amy & I have prepared a free grievance letter example, which you can send to your employer, which grievance letter example covers – (1) work-related stress; (2) bullying and harassment, and (3) discrimination. The free grievance letter example can be used in any country. However, the breaches of the law outlined within the free grievance letter example are relevant to England, Wales and Scotland.

Grievance Tip 6 – First and foremost, consult your doctor BEFORE submitting your grievance letter. Whether it be work-related stress, bullying, harassment or discrimination, get your GP to update your medical records and outline what is happening to you and how it is affecting you emotionally i.e. not eating, sleeping, exhibiting a heightened state of anxiety, restlessness, not coping, not going out, avoiding crowds, not socialising etc.

The case authority of Veitch v Red Sky Group Ltd [2010] NICA 39 (1 December 2010) demonstrates the importance of getting your doctor to make sure your medical records are up to date, and furthermore, to make accurate notes on your medical records:

“While the tribunal considered it more likely than not on the balance of probabilities that the claimant did have a mental impairment resulting from a mental illness, it had insufficient medical evidence upon which it could make findings as to the long-term effects of the impairment on the claimant’s normal day-to-day activities….The tribunal considers that this is insufficient to put the respondent on notice that the claimant had any deeper problem.  While the claimant’s General Practitioner suggested in broad terms that the claimant’s symptoms appeared to have been exacerbated by 2007-2009, the tribunal considers that it has insufficient evidence to make a finding on this point, especially as he does not say how and to what extent they were exacerbated.”

Thus, discuss with your doctor what is happening at work, and most importantly, how it is making you feel. This is very important, as the Tribunal takes into account injury to feelings, which can payout up to £60,700 in exceptional cases.

In the event you do end up submitting a claim in the Employment Tribunal, you will be asked by the Employment Judge to provide a copy of your medical records to your employer’s solicitors. If your employer is asking you to furnish them with medical disclosure during the grievance procedure, contact us to arrange a telephone consultation. The initial telephone consultation is only £35 up to one hour, and £50 an hour thereafter. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no legitimate reason for your employer to have carte blanche access to your medical records. This could amount to a breach of your Right to Privacy under Article 8 of The Human Rights Act 1998. However, be warned, there is a difference between your employer obtaining your ‘medical records’ and obtaining a ‘medical report’. If your employer wants you to be assessed by occupational health, please visit our webpage what not to say to occupational health.

When consulting your doctor, discuss the adverse effects, which your working environment is having upon both your psychological and physical health. You need to establish a connection (causal link) between the events at work, and the impact it is having upon your psychological and physical health and wellbeing. Again, elucidate within your grievance letter how what is occurring to you at work is making you feel. In the case of Spring v Guardian Assurance plc, (1994) 2 All ER 129 the House of Lords held:

“The changes which have taken place in the employer-employee relationship, with far greater duties imposed on the employer than in the past, whether by statute or by judicial decision, to care for the physical, financial and even psychological welfare of its employees”.

It is well known fact, that anxiety and stress are ‘prejudicial’ to the health, safety and welfare of persons at work. However, where harassment and/or discrimination has triggered or exacerbated a medical condition, impairment, or disability, it may make your employer potentially liable for the ‘injury’ which you have suffered. Put shortly, within your grievance letter, you need to outline a ‘causal link’ between what has happened to you at work, and the manifestation or exacerbation of your medical condition/s i.e., a ‘causal link’ exists between the bullying and harassment, which you have been subjected to, and you having more frequent anxiety or asthma attacks. Notwithstanding, the stress, anxiety and distress of being bullied and harassed at work may make your diabetes, cancer or thyroid condition more difficult to manage.

Make sure you consult your doctor: (i) before lodging your formal grievance letter, (ii) throughout the grievance process, and (iii) after the grievance procedure has concluded. Where you feel you are going to pursue a Tribunal claim, continue to see your doctor for as long as possible, and get your doctor to put on your Fit Note what all your impairments are, viz: work-related stress has caused depression, anxiety, panic attacks etc,.

Where your employer has triggered or exacerbated your medical condition, request that your doctor/s puts this information on the Fit Note, viz: “work related stress has triggered frequent panic attacks and depression” rather than the GP just putting “work-related stress” as the cause of your sickness absence.

Grievance Tip 7 – we suggest obtaining Witness Statements before submitting your grievance letter to your employer. Get any work colleague/s who have witnessed what has happened to you to provide you with a ‘witness statement’ before you lodge the grievance letter, where possible.

You ought to obtain witness statements prior to invoking the grievance procedure, due to the very fact that once you invoke the grievance procedure your employer will likely ask you not to discuss anything with your workplace colleagues. Should you do so, your employer will infer that you have breached the implied term of ‘mutual trust and confidence’ by interfering in the grievance procedure. This could potentially give them reasonable grounds to dismiss you for SOSR (Some Other Substantial Reason).

In truth, your employer does not want you to discuss anything with your workplace colleagues, as the employer wants to mitigate its own liability. This will involve your employer asking questions to potential witnesses in a way which helps diminish the employer’s own liability. Remember, you have no control over how your employer conducts the grievance investigation. This is why it is so very important to put the burden of proof upon your employer.

In addition, your workplace colleagues will be very reluctant to provide you with a witness statement or come to your aid after the grievance procedure has been invoked. The witness statement should be as short as possible outlining ‘facts and information’ with each paragraph numbered.

In our own case, a workplace colleague where my wife Amy used to work stated in his witness statement that he had not heard any sexual remarks being made to my wife Amy. In fact, he was telling the truth, but not the whole truth! For example, the workplace colleague had previously informed me that he had seen Amy’s manager sexually harass her whilst at work. You see, what the witness saw and what the witness heard are equally as important when establishing the ‘facts’!

Grievance Tip 8 – Policies and Procedures. Get your hands on your employer’s most recent Policies & Procedures prior to invoking the grievance procedure. Once you have the policies in your possession, you want to read through (i) your contract of employment, and (ii) your employer’s policies on:

• Health and Safety at Work Policy
• Grievance Handling Policy
• Equalities Policy / Equal Opportunities Policy
• Bullying & Harassment Policy
• Dignity at Work Policy
• Discrimination Policy
• Stress Management Policy
• Whistle-Blowing Policy

You are looking to discover which of your employer’s policies are contractually binding. This means that should your employer fail to follow its own procedures within its policies, your employer may be in Breach of Contract of Employment. This may give rise to claim for constructive unfair dismissal.

You also want to know the specific procedures, which your employer should follow after you have lodged your written formal grievance, and moreover, make sure your employer abides by its own policies and procedures. Where your employer is failing to follow its own procedures during the grievance procedure, you can write an appendage to your formal grievance, outlining this fact, and draw an ‘adverse inference’ against the employer for failing to comply with its own policies and procedures. Remember, we are here to assist you. As stated above, Amy & I have already been through the grievance process ourselves with our former employers, and know all too well the stress and anxiety which you are feeling. We have also assisted thousands of clients like you over the past 13 years. Amy & I charge £50 an hour, a hell of a lot cheaper than a solicitor!

Grievance Tip 9 – Health & Safety at Work. If you are suffering from work-related stress caused by a workplace colleague or manager bullying you, or from unreasonable and excessive demands placed upon you, we suggest you ‘assert a statutory right on grounds of health and safety’ within your grievance letter. In your grievance letter to your employer, we suggest you cut and paste the following statement into your own letter of grievance:

I am asserting a statutory right on grounds of health and safety in accordance with s.44(1)(c) of The Employment Rights Act 1996. I am bringing information to my employer’s attention within my grievance letter by reasonable means, that circumstances connected with my work are harmful or potentially harmful to my health, safety, and welfare at work.

By cutting and pasting the above statement into your letter of grievance to your employer, you are protected by The Employment Rights Act from being subjected to a ‘detriment’ done on the grounds that you have asserted a statutory right on grounds of health and safety. For the avoidance of doubt, being subjected to a ‘detriment’ done on the grounds that you have asserted a statutory right on grounds of health and safety allows you to make a claim to the Employment Tribunal.

We can assist you in beefing up your own grievance letter or custom drafting a grievance letter for you. Amy & I can hold your hand throughout the grievance process from start to finish. Not only can we assist you in drafting your grievance letter, we can prepare you for the grievance meeting, and also when appealing the grievance outcome too. Many people use AI to draft their grievance letter, but AI won’t hold your hand throughout the grievance process or alert you to the dangers and pitfalls, which you will encounter along the way, but we can!

Grievance Tip 10 – You want to gather as much ‘evidence’ as you can to support your written formal grievance before submitting your grievance letter to your employer. If you are going to discuss with your colleagues what is happening to you at work, then consider recording your conversations with them. Please visit our webpage on ‘Covert Recordings’.

Case in point: my line manager had a propensity to undermine and belittle me during meetings. This created a ‘hostile, undignified, intimidating and oppressive working environment’ for me, not least because stress triggers my asthma attacks (a recognized disability under the Equality Act 2010). What my line manager failed to articulate, was that I was surreptitiously recording her on my mobile telephone. I had catalogued the conversations over many weeks. I was subsequently able to use these recordings to ‘shift the burden of proof’ that I had been subjected to a ‘course of conduct’ of harassment by my line manager, which was discriminatory; by reason that the unwanted conduct significantly influenced my disability (asthma). This fact was substantiated by consultations with my own GP, and furthermore, had been ‘imputed’ onto my medical records by my GP.

Furthermore, my line manger had a habitual proclivity to hug me. This was not undertaken because she liked me; it was undertaken to humiliate and embarrass me in front of my workplace colleagues. The ‘practice’ of hugging me in the mornings created an undignified working environment for me, which amounted to unlawful sexual harassment. I found my line manager’s conduct ‘unwanted, uninvited and unwelcome’. Fortunately, prior to invoking the grievance procedure, I had asked a workplace colleague to film my line manager hugging me using my mobile telephone. As such, I had hard evidence of sexual harassment. (Please visit our webpage on covert recordings). It was due to the audio and video evidence, which I believe forced my employer to settle my claims for (i) a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence (ii) sexual harassment / sex discrimination, and (iii) disability discrimination. A picture really does paint a thousand words!

Grievance Tip 11 – Prior Acts of Harassment/Discrimination. We suggest you quietly assimilate and establish whether any other employee’s (past or present) have previously lodged a formal grievance at your place of work, due to work-related stress, bullying, harassment or discrimination. Where an employer has failed to have taken ‘reasonable and practicable steps’ to prevent further acts of bullying, harassment, discrimination or work-related stress from reoccurring it would demonstrate that your employer had failed to promote a ‘safe system of work’ in accordance with s.2(1)(2)(a)(e) of The HSAWA 1974. It would also outline that under s.109 of the Equality Act 2010, your employer had failed to take ‘reasonable steps’ in the prevention of conduct prohibited under the auspices of The Equality Act 2010, which is a legal requirement.

In my own case, I was aware that another employee had raised a grievance against my line manager within the past year. In the previous incident, my employer alleged it was unable to find ‘any evidence’ to substantiate the aggrieved employee’s grievances. However, the fact remained that my employer had still omitted to introduce any preventative measures to eradicate and eliminate bullying and harassment from reoccurring. Therefore, my employer had failed to render me with ‘a safe system of work’, viz: being a working environment free from bullying and harassment. This also contravened s.109 of the Equality Act 2010, which the Employment Tribunal does have jurisdiction to hear. See Waters (A.P.) v. Commissioner of Police For The Metropolis [2000] 1 WLR 1607; [2000] UKHL 50; [2000] IRLR 720:

“If an employer knows that acts being done by employees during their employment may cause physical or mental harm to a particular fellow employee and he does nothing to supervise or prevent such acts, when it is in his power to do so, it is clearly arguable that he may be in breach of his duty to that employee. It seems to me that he may also be in breach of that duty if he can foresee that such acts may happen and, if they do, that physical or mental harm may be caused to an individual.”

Grievance Tip 12 – Keep a Diary. Keep a diary of dates and times whilst at work. Write down who saw what, where it happened, the time it happened, the place it happened, and what was said. Also, look for CCTV coverage of the area. Also make a note who was on holiday, who worked, which persons were absent – etc,. Be aware that your diary could be admissible in the Employment Tribunal whether you want it to be or not. Some people will say in their grievance letter that they have kept a diary. However, be careful, as in the event matters do end up in the Employment Tribunal, your employer could ask the Judge to make an Order to provide the diary to your employer’s solicitors.

It is very important that you can refer back to dates and times. Keeping a diary also establishes to your employer that you have been cataloguing these events as they have transpired, and have not just fabricated them.

Make sure you write down in your diary how what has happened has made you feel. Did you cry? Who saw you crying? Did anybody pick up on the fact you were quiet or withdrawn? All of these things are vitally important with regard to ‘injury to feelings’.

We would also suggest that you email yourself the events, which have transpired at work by using your own personal email address (not work email). This way, you can always prove that the diary was not just created. Put shortly, being able to furnish your employer with emails, which are date and time stamped goes a long way in providing credibility in what you are saying, and furthermore, how you were feeling at the material time. However, DON’T send work emails to your personal email address as you could be in breach of contract. Use your own personal email address to email yourself so your emails are date and time stamped.

In the case authority of Intel Incorporation (UK) Ltd v Daw, Court of Appeal 2007, the Judge stated that Ms Tracy Daw demonstrated “visible signs of distress”. (A manager had seen Ms Daw crying). This was sufficient cause to trigger the employer’s duty of care to take reasonable and practicable steps. The Judge went on to say at paragraph 29(7):

“To trigger a duty to take steps, the indications of impending harm to health arising from stress at work must be plain enough for any reasonable employer to realise that he should do something about it.”

Grievance Tip 13 – Harassment & Discrimination. Where you feel you have been harassed or discriminated against, and are thinking about lodging a claim in the Employment Tribunal, it is important to note two things:

Firstly, to comply with the Tribunal rules, you must first commence pre-claim conciliation with ACAS within three months (less one day) of the date you were last harassed or discriminated against. Not from the date which you lodge your formal grievance letter. Also, you must have a certificate from ACAS before you can lodge a claim in the Tribunal, unless of course you are claiming ‘interim relief’ under s.128 of The ERA 1996.

Secondly, where the harassment or discrimination has been going on for a period of time, it is very important that you state within your formal grievance letter all the incidents where you have been subjected to a ‘course of conduct’ of harassment or discrimination. Thus, you are asking your employer to take into consideration not just the last act, but all the previous incidents of bullying and harassment too.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Tribunal is interested in the ‘course of conduct’ rather than the individual incidents of harassment. In this regard, we draw your attention to the authority of Iqbal v Dean Manson Solicitors [2011] EWCA Civ 123 at paragraph 25:

“The Act is concerned with courses of conduct which amount to harassment, rather than with individual instances of harassment. Of course, it is the individual instances which will make up the course of conduct, but it still remains the position that it is the course of conduct which has to have the quality of amounting to harassment, rather than individual instance of conduct.”

A similar position was also held in the authority of Green v DB Group Services UK Ltd [2006] IRLR 764 at paragraph 151:

“The question is whether his behaviour amounted to bullying within the ordinary meaning of that term. Bullying can take many forms. As I have already observed, and as was acknowledged by the claimant, the incidents upon which she relies when viewed individually are not of major significance. It is their cumulative effect that is of importance. His behaviour to her was domineering, disrespectful, dismissive, confrontatory, and designed to undermine and belittle her in the view of others. I am satisfied that such a course of conduct pursued over a considerable period amounted to bullying within the ordinary meaning of the term.”

Grievance Tip 14 – Ask Questions in your Grievance Letter. ACAS have endorsed submitting questions to an aggrieved party’s employer in order to obtain answers to their grievances, especially for harassment, discrimination or victimisation.

ACAS have provided clear advice of how an employer should go about answering an aggrieved employees questions. Amy & I would suggest in your grievance letter you ask questions like this:

• Why after informing my line manager that I felt stressed, was a stress specific risk assessment not undertaken and accordance with the health and safety executives management standards?
• Do you agree a reasonable adjustment would have been to have undertaken a stress specific risk assessment in accordance with The HSE’s ‘Management Standards’? If you disagree, how do you say undertaking a stress specific risk assessment was not reasonable to have undertaken?
• Specifically what steps (if any) has my employer taken to identify and ameliorate work related stress in the department where I work?
• Why does my employer not undertake regular stress tests and stress audits?
• Specifically what steps (if any) has my employer taken to eradicate and eliminate bullying, harassment and discrimination from the department where I work?
• What reasonable adjustments (if any), does my employer say it has implemented to accommodate my medical conditions?
• How have the adjustments, which have been physically implemented for me (if any), actually removed the substantial disadvantage?
• How do you say being subjected to a course of bullying and harassment at work has not created a hostile, oppressive and intimidating working environment for me?

Do NOT ask questions which elicit either a yes or no answer.

You may want to point out to your employer that a failure to answer your questions in accordance with the ACAS Code, could lead to the Tribunal increasing any award by up to 25%.

Grievance Tip 15 – By asking your employer to implement the following steps within your grievance letter, you are placing the onus on the employer to do so. If matters do proceed to the Employment Tribunal, the Tribunal will look at what ‘steps’ you asked your employer to take. Therefore, it is imperative that you have made some written suggestions within your grievance letter i.e. reasonable adjustments. Those adjustments could be:

• Flexible working hours.
• Working from home or hybrid working.
• Disability-awareness training for your manager.
• Reduced workload.
• More time to complete tasks.
• Regular stress tests / stress audits.
• Stress specific risk assessment being undertaken.
• Referral to occupational health.
• Not to apply timeframes with short notice.
• More frequent breaks.

Where your employer has failed to undertake reasonable and practicable steps and/or to have implemented your own requests for reasonable adjustments, the employer would have to explain to the Employment Tribunal why it failed to do so. The Judge will initiate a three-point procedure to decide what steps your employer (i) could have taken, (ii) should have taken, and (iii) ought to have taken, which adjustments were ‘reasonable’ to have implemented, given your employer’s (iv) size, (v) scope, and (vi) resources. Should the Judge decide that your employer could have reasonably granted your requests for adjustments, but failed to do so, then the Tribunal could draw an ‘adverse inference’ on your employer’s ‘omission’ to have taken such steps.

Grievance Tip 16 – In your grievance letter, ask your employer to act in ‘good faith’ and to observe the ‘implied term of mutual trust and confidence’ when investigating the grievances, which you have raised within your formal grievance letter. This is important, as you are placing the onus on the employer not to prejudice a fair and equitable grievance investigation and outcome by acting with bias or to sweep its Torts under the corporate carpet. An ‘adverse inference’ can be drawn against an employer who acts in ‘bad faith’.  For the avoidance of doubt, there is an ‘implied term’ in the contract of employment that the employer:

“Shall not, without reasonable and proper cause, conduct itself in a manner calculated and likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of confidence and trust between employer and employee.” 

Within your formal grievance letter you can ask your employer to take ‘reasonable and practicable steps’ to protect your psychological health. Should your employer fail to take reasonable and practical steps to safeguard your health or safety at work, it can be argued that any further risk/s of harm were reasonably foreseeable. This may make your employer liable for ‘personal injury’.

Ask in your grievance letter that your employer takes reasonable and practicable steps and introduces protective measures to ensure you are not further bullied, harassed or discriminated against. These ‘reasonable and practicable steps’ could involve your employer separating you from your alleged harasser. See the ruling in Mrs S Hill v Lloyds Bank Plc UKEAT/0173/19/LA.

Where the harassment is serious, your employer should not wait to initiate an investigation, but separate you and your harasser immediately [act with due diligence] viz: “indications of impending harm to health” [foreseeability]. Furthermore, you should not be moved to a new work location; it is the harasser who should be moved, otherwise you could argue ‘victimisation’.

Where your employer’s investigation is unable to find ‘evidence’ of harassment or discrimination having occurred, the employer ought to still separate you from your alleged harasser / discriminator, especially if the harassment was related to your sex or when receiving a complaint of ‘sexual harassment’ or ‘sex discrimination’. Your employer’s failure to do so could in itself amount to a discriminatory ‘practice’. The European Commission Code of Practice on Sex Harassment 1991 recommends separating the victim from the alleged harasser:

“Even where a complaint is not upheld, for example because the evidence is regarded as inconclusive, consideration should be given to transferring or rescheduling the work of one of the employees concerned rather than requiring them to continue to work together against the wishes of either party.”

In your grievance letter we would suggest that you ask your employer to observe and implement the recommendations within The Statutory Code of Practice on Employment 2011. This places the onus on the employer to observe the EHRC guidelines with regard to harassment and discrimination in the workplace. A failure to by your employer and the HR Department to observe and implement the recommendations within The Statutory Code of Practice on Employment 2011 could lead to the Tribunal finding in your favour if your employer fails to ‘observe and implement’ the recommendations by The EHRC.

With regard to ‘work-related stress’ ask that your employer observes the Health and Safety Executives ‘Management Standards’. Where an employee is known to be suffering from work-related stress, it is incumbent upon the employer to identify the hazards to minimise the risks to your health and wellbeing, bearing in mind the ‘magnitude of the risk of harm occurring, and the gravity of the harm which may occur’ should it fail to do so.

Where you have a mental or physical impairment, then make sure your employer knows about it. It is strongly suggested that you make suggestions to your employer of any reasonable adjustments it could make for you within your grievance letter. Furthermore, put in your letter of grievance what your employer could do for you to alleviate your work-related stressors. See Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT v Grey (IDS 875): at paragraph 11:

 “The duty to make adjustments does not apply if the employer does not know, and could not be reasonably expected to know, that the employee has a disability, and or is likely to be placed at a substantial disadvantage.”

If for any reason, you feel you need to take time off from work (sabbatical) then request it in writing within your grievance letter to your employer. This could amount to a ‘reasonable adjustment’. Likewise, you could also ask your employer to refer you to its Occupational Health Provider, and to undertake a risk assessment to ‘identify’ the root cause of the factors, which pose a significant risk of harm to your occupational health.

In this regard, we draw your attention to the authority of Tarbuck v Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd [2006] IRLR 664 at paragraphs 69 & 72 :

“There can be no doubt that any employer would be wise to consult with a disabled employee in order to be better informed and fully acquainted of all the factors which may be relevant to a determination of what adjustment should reasonably be made in the circumstances. If the employer fails to do that, then he is placing himself seriously at risk of not taking appropriate steps because of his own ignorance. He cannot then pray that ignorance in aid if it is alleged that he ought to have taken certain steps and he has failed to do so. The issue for the Tribunal will then be whether it was reasonable to take that step or not.”

“Accordingly whilst, as we have emphasised, it will always be good practice for the employer to consult and it will potentially jeopardise the employer’s legal position if he does not do so- because the employer cannot use the lack of knowledge that would have resulted from consultation as a shield to defend a complaint that he has not made reasonable adjustments- there is no separate and distinct duty of this kind.”

Grievance Tip 17 – Injury to Feelings. It is incumbent upon you to state within your formal grievance letter how the bullying, harassment or discrimination, which you have been subjected to is making you “feel”. You want to use the wording of the Equality Act 2010, which states:

“Harassment” is [unwanted conduct] which has the “purpose or effect” of:

1. “violating the victim recipient’s dignity” or:-
   

2. “creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the victim recipient”.

Employers are very canny here. In all three grievances which I raised against my employer, the employer tried to infer that the ‘unwanted conduct’ which I had complained about within my grievance letter was merely workplace ‘banter’. However, the law is very clear on harassment. In accordance with s.26(4) of The Equality Act 2010, it is up to the individual employee to determine for themselves how the ‘unwanted conduct’ made them feel – and not what the employer infers, avers, or alleges. See Chawla v Hewlett Packard Ltd UKEAT/0280/13/BA at paragraph 77:

“Whilst the perception of the Claimant, the first element in section 26(4), requires an ‘objective’ finding of the Claimant’s ‘subjective’ feelings about the act complained of, the elements in section 26(4)(b) and (c) require an objective assessment by the ET.”

So, we suggest that you use ‘trigger words’ within your grievance letter, which are recognised as “bullying & harassment”. Here is a grievance letter sample:

“I felt humiliated and embarrassed by Mr. Shart’s conduct. I found it personally undignified, degrading and offensive. I found Mr Shart’s conduct unwanted, uninvited, and unwelcome. Mr Shart’s behavious created a hostile, oppressive, and intimidating environment in which to work and communicate with him”

Grievance Tip 18 – Detriment. In invoking the grievance procedure, it is unlawful for your employer to subject you to a ‘detriment’ for having raised a grievance. If the employer does subject you to a ‘detriment’ for raising a grievance, submit a new grievance letter for ‘victimisation’.

For the avoidance of doubt, raising a grievance for ‘harassment and/or discrimination’ is a ‘protected act’ in accordance with s.27(2)(d) of The Equality Act 2010. Sections 27 & 39(4) of The Equality Act 2010 protects you from being subjected to victimization or ‘detrimental treatment’ if you have raised a grievance for harassment or discrimination. If after raising your grievance letter your employer does subject you to victimisation, reach out to us on 07775943414 or email us – samandamy@pm.me to assist you. We charge £35 for an initial consultation up to one hour – 07775943414 or samandamy@pm.me

Tip 19 – Paragraphs. It is important that in writing your formal grievance letter you make your paragraphs short, and also number them. Preferably, put your grievances into sub-headings such as:

• Work-Related Stress
• Bullying and Harassment
• Discrimination
• Victimisation
• Breaches of Health and Safety

By putting your grievances into ‘Sub-Headings’ it makes it easier for both you and your employer to refer to individual paragraphs within your grievance letter when attending the grievance meeting. It also saves time at the Employment Tribunal, as you can easily refer the Judge to a particular paragraph, and the wording within that paragraph. Also, number the pages of your grievance letter too.

 Grievance Tip 20 – Defamation:

Finally, be very careful when writing your grievance letter to your employer not to write anything defamatory, or which could make you liable for libel.

In our own case, my wife and I sent “pre-action protocols” in accordance with The Ministry of Justice Civil Procedure Rules seeking ‘damages’ against those employees who had written, and furnished our employer with libelous statements, which were injurious to our professional reputations. Under the auspices of The Defamation Act 2013, even ‘stating an opinion’ can be libelous so be careful!

The best way to make a statement about a manger or workplace colleagues who is subjecting you to bullying, harassment or discrimination is to ‘blow the whistle’. Blowing the whistle affords you protection from ‘detriment’ which is unlawful under s.47B of The Employment Rights Act 1996. Please visit our webpage on whistleblowing at work.

Don’t forget to visit our webpage on the 15 steps to take before you submit your grievance letter to your employer.

You don’t have to go through the grievance process alone! We are here to help you. Amy & I can assist you in avoiding the pitfalls and common mistakes which we see employees make. You only get one chance to get your grievance letter right, so make sure you do just that!

My wife Amy and I have over the past 15 years helped thousands of clients address their grievances with their employers. Please read our testimonials page. Amy & I can assist you in writing a grievance letter for any of the following work-related matters:

• grievance letter for bullying and harassment
• toxic working environment
• grievance letter against a coworker
• constructive unfair dismissal
• work-related stress
• stress at work employee rights UK
• grievance for work-related stress
• Sickness absence meeting
• what not to say to occupational health
• resignation letter
• raise a grievance at work.
• unfair treatment at work
• performance improvement plan
• how to beat a disciplinary hearing
• disciplinary workplace investigation.
• suspended from work
• blow the whistle
• victimisation at work UK
• workplace investigation
• reasonable adjustments equality act 2010.
• pregnancy and maternity discrimination
• sexual harassment in the workplace.
• disability discrimination
• what not to say at a grievance meeting

Go on, pick up the phone and call us to arrange a telephone consultation on 07775943414.

We work 7 days a week (9-5 UK time) because we know that your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon!

We only charge £35 up to one hour for the initial consultation and £50 an hour thereafter.