Grievance
Policy
Version:
2.3
Status:
Final
Title of originator/author:
Human Resources Directorate
Name of responsible director:
Executive Director of HR and Organisational Development
Developed/revised by
group/committee and Date:
HR Transitional Workstream Group
Approved by group/committee and
Date:
Transitional Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee
28 November 2012
Joint JNCC / PRAG – 15 July 2015
Effective date of issue:
15 July 2015
Next annual review date:
July 2017
Date Equality Impact Assessment
Completed
tbc
Regulatory Requirement:
Trust Policy Foreword
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) has a number of
specific corporate responsibilities and obligations relating to patient safety and staff
wellbeing. All Trust policies need to appropriately include these.
Health and Safety - SWASFT will, so far as is reasonably practicable, act in accordance
with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999 and associated legislation and approved codes of practice. It will
provide and maintain, so far as is reasonable, a working environment for employees which
is safe, without risks to health, with adequate facilities and arrangements for health at
work. SWASFT employees are expected to observe Trust policy and support the
maintenance of a safe and healthy workplace.
Risk Management - SWASFT will maintain good risk management arrangements by all
managers and staff by encouraging the active identification of risks, and eliminating those
risks or reducing them to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable through
appropriate control mechanisms. This is to ensure harm, damage and potential losses are
avoided or minimized, and the continuing provision of high quality services to patients,
stakeholders, employees and the public. SWASFT employees are expected to support the
identification of risk by reporting adverse incidents or near misses through the Trust webbased incident reporting system.
Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty - SWASFT will act in accordance
with the Equality Act 2010, which bans unfair treatment and helps achieve equal
opportunities in the workplace. The Equality Duty has three aims, requiring public bodies
to have due regard to: eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimization and
any other conduct prohibited by the Act; advancing equality of opportunity between people
who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and fostering good
relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not
share it. SWASFT employees are expected to observe Trust policy and the maintenance
of a fair and equitable workplace.
NHS Constitution - SWASFT will adhere to the principles within the NHS Constitution
including: the rights to which patients, public and staff are entitled; the pledges which the
NHS is committed to uphold; and the duties which public, patients and staff owe to one
another to ensure the NHS operates fairly and effectively. SWASFT employees are
expected to understand and uphold the duties set out in the Constitution.
Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy - The Trust Code of Conduct for Staff and
its Conflict of Interest and Anti-Bribery policies set out the expectations of the Trust in
respect of staff behavior. SWASFT employees are expected to observe the principles of
the Code of Conduct and these policies by declaring any gifts received or potential
conflicts of interest in a timely manner, and upholding the Trust zero-tolerance to bribery.
Information Governance - SWASFT recognises that its records and information must
managed, handled and protected in accordance with the requirements of the Data
Protection Act 1998 and other legislation, not only to serve its business needs, but also to
support the provision of highest quality patient care and ensure individual’s rights in
respect of their personal data are observed. SWASFT employees are expected to respect
their contact with personal or sensitive information and protect it in line with Trust policy.
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CONTENTS
PREFACE ............................................................................................................................ 4
1. PURPOSE ....................................................................................................................... 4
2. SCOPE ............................................................................................................................ 4
3. DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................. 4
4. AIMS................................................................................................................................ 4
5. EXCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................. 5
6 ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURE ........................................................................................ 5
7 RIGHT TO BE ACCOMPANIED ..................................................................................... 5
8 PROCEDURAL ARRANGEMENTS ................................................................................ 6
9 COLLECTIVE GRIEVANCE ............................................................................................ 9
10 GRIEVANCES AGAINST THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE ....................................................... 9
11 TRAINING REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................... 9
12 MONITORING ................................................................................................................. 9
13 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 9
APPENDIX A ..................................................................................................................... 10
GRIEVANCE REPORT FORM .......................................................................................... 10
APPENDIX B ..................................................................................................................... 11
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE FLOWCHART ...................................................................... 11
APPENDIX C ..................................................................................................................... 12
VERSION CONTROL SHEET ........................................................................................... 12
Page 3 of 13
Preface
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is committed to providing
a suite of employment policies designed to give staff a clear and consistent
framework through which they are supported to carry out their roles and
responsibilities safely and effectively. All policies are developed in consultation with
Staff Side Representatives and are approved through the recognised Joint
Negotiating and Consultative Committee and Directors group.
1.
Purpose
1.1.
This procedure has been agreed between the Trust and the Staff Side
Representatives of the Transitional Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee
(TJNCC). It takes into account the Advisory, Conciliatory and Arbitration Service’s
(ACAS) Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures March 2015.
1.2.
This procedure enables employees to raise any concerns that they have about their
employment with the Trust.
2.
Scope
2.1.
This agreement applies to all staff who hold a contract of employment with the
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. It does not apply to
private contractors including those employed on a self-employed basis.
3.
Definitions
3.1.
A grievance is defined as ‘a complaint by an employee about action which his/her
employer has taken or is contemplating taking in relation to him/her’ - the
‘Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004’.
3.2.
A grievance or collective grievance relates to an individual or a small group of
employees respectively whereas a trade dispute relates to most or a large group of
employees.
3.3.
Grievance hearings are defined as meetings where an employer deals with an
employee’s complaint about a duty owed to them by the employer, whether the duty
arises from statute or common law – e.g. contractual commitments.
4.
Aims
The aims of this agreement are to:
4.1.
Enable employees to resolve grievances promptly, fairly and informally with their
line manager or within their Directorate. This has the advantage of strengthening
good working relationships between managers and their staff and allows for
problems to be resolved quickly. Wherever possible grievances should be resolved
informally without recourse to the formal procedure.
Page 4 of 13
4.2.
Provide employees who feel they have a grievance concerning their working
conditions with a procedure for pursuing it in a systematic way without fear of
recrimination.
4.3.
Allow the Trust to deal with grievances fairly, consistently and quickly.
5.
Exclusions
5.1
The following matters are specifically excluded under this procedure:
5.1.1 Disciplinary, secondary employment and flexible working requests for which there
are a separate appeals procedures described within those policies.
5.1.2 The employee wishes to complain about (actual or threatened) action short of
dismissal to which the standard disciplinary procedure applies, unless the grievance
is that this involves unlawful discrimination – including under the Equal Pay Act – or
is not genuinely on grounds of capability or conduct.
5.1.3 Matters over which the Trust has no control, e.g. deduction of income tax, national
insurance contributions, court orders, Government policy, etc.
5.1.4 If the employee is no longer employed, the alternative procedure set out in section 6
can be applied.
5.1.5 The employee raises a concern as a ‘protected disclosure’ in compliance with the
public interest disclosure provisions of the 1996 Act. See the Trust Whistleblowing
Policy
6
Alternative procedure
6.1
Where an employee leaves employment and Stages 1 to 3 of this policy have not
been completed before the last day of employment then the grievance will be
considered in the absence of the ex-employee and the outcome confirmed in
writing. There will be no right of appeal.
6.2
The Trust will only consider, under these arrangements, grievances raised by exemployees whilst still in employment and will not consider new complaints raised
post termination.
7
Right to be accompanied
7.1
At all stages in the formal procedure, including formal investigation interviews, the
employee will have the right to be accompanied by an employed trade union official,
a trade union representative that the union has certified as competent, or a fellow
worker, not acting in a legal capacity. The employee is responsible for arranging the
attendance of their representative.
7.2
If a workers chosen companion will not be available at the time proposed for the
hearing the Trust will rearrange the meeting on one occasion.
Page 5 of 13
7.3
Where it is determined that an investigation is necessary the relevant Director or
Head of Department is responsible for identifying and nominating a suitably
experienced Investigating Officer who, wherever practicable, should be external to
the area or function being investigated. Every practicable step should be taken in
order that internal bias is avoided and independence is achieved throughout the
investigation.
7.4
Prior to any hearing, the employee should inform the HR representative to the
hearing of their representative’s name, status and contact address. All subsequent
relevant information will then be copied to the employee and representative.
7.5
Trade unions recognised by the Trust will provide a list of representatives that have
been certified as competent annually and will inform the Trust’s HR department of
changes when necessary. Representatives of unions not recognised by the Trust
will provide evidence of certification of competence at the initial stages of their
involvement with a case.
7.6
Fellow employees or trade union officials do not have to accept a request to
accompany an employee and they should not be pressurised to do so.
7.7
Line Managers are not usually permitted to accompany staff at hearings as they
may have a role in subsequent stages of this, or other policies.
7.8
A companion can put the case, sum up and respond to a view expressed by the
employee. They cannot, however, answer questions on behalf of the employee.
8
Procedural Arrangements
8.1
A grievance should be raised as soon as reasonably practicable after the event in
order that the Trust may take action as appropriate. It may be difficult for the Trust
to properly deal with a grievance that has not been raised in a timely manner.
8.2
Wherever possible grievances should be resolved informally without recourse to the
formal procedure. However this Trust recognises a three stage grievance process
through which it demonstrates its commitment to resolving complaints for staff,
commencing at an informal stage but with mechanism for escalation should the
complaint remain unresolved after the informal stage.
8.3
Every opportunity should be taken to learn from Grievance investigations and
hearings. At the conclusion of a formal hearing a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) will be
completed by the Chair of the panel. The RCA outcome and related local or
organisational actions will be forwarded to the HR Department. All actions will be
allocated to appropriate managers with reasonable timescales for implementation.
8.4
Written records should be treated as confidential and kept in accordance with the
Data Protection Act 1998, which gives individuals the right to request and have
access to certain personal data. Copies of meeting records should be given to the
employee including any formal minutes that may be taken. In certain
circumstances, e.g. to protect a witness, the Trust might withhold some information.
Records should include the nature of the grievance raised, a copy of the written
grievance, the Trusts response, action taken, whether there was an appeal and of
so the outcome.
Page 6 of 13
Stage 1 – Notification and Informal Resolution
The aggrieved employee will:
Set out the nature of their grievance in writing using the Grievance Report Form
(Appendix A) or through a meeting with their own line manager, or where the line
manager is implicated within the grievance, to a more senior manager or to HR.
Within 10 calendar days of an occurrence or issue coming to light, informal
discussions between the manager responsible for the issue and the aggrieved
individual, or in the case of collective grievances, the nominated representative of
the group, should take place.
Following these discussions the manager responsible will provide a written
response to the complaint. This response will be provided within 7 calendar days of
the discussions, unless an alternative timeframe is discussed and agreed.
If the aggrieved party remains dissatisfied after informal discussion, they may
request in writing for the complaint to be escalated to stage two of this procedure.
Stage 2 – Formal Grievance Hearing
On receiving a formal grievance the appropriate Head of Service, in conjunction
with a member from the Human Resources Directorate, will appoint an appropriate
Manager to consider the grievance. The appointed Manager and Human Resources
representative will:
 Invite the employee to a meeting as soon as possible and agree in advance a
time and place for the meeting to discuss their grievance. Wherever possible this
meeting should take place within 28 days of the grievance being submitted.
 Inform them that they have the right to be accompanied.
 The employee must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting.
managers will assist to facilitate staff attendance where possible.
Trust
 Treat their grievance in a confidential manner.
 At the meeting the employee should be allowed to explain their grievance and
say how they think it should be resolved.
 If the Manager feels that further investigation is necessary the meeting should be
adjourned to make a further investigation, after which the meeting should be reconvened. Where it is apparent following the conclusion of the informal stage
that an investigation would be beneficial this may be carried out in advance of the
initial hearing being convened, and this approach will be discussed with the
individual and timescales and process agreed.
 The Manager shall consider the evidence, written and oral, put before him/her
and decide whether the grievance is well founded or not. If the grievance is
considered well founded, he/she shall consider what (if any) action should be
taken to redress the grievance.
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 Written notification of the Manager’s findings shall be sent to the aggrieved
employee, normally within 7 calendar days of the decision being made.
 The Manager will set out the right of appeal which should be addressed to the
Director of HR within 7 calendar days of the aggrieved employee receiving the
letter informing him/her of the decision, if they are not satisfied with the outcome.
Stage 3 – Appeal
Where an employee appeals to the Deputy Director of HR against the decision of
the Manager who has dealt with his/her grievance under stage 2 of the procedure,
the following will apply:
 The Chair of the appeal should be a more senior manager to the manager that
heard the grievance at Stage 2. The appeal panel should also consist of a
Human Resources representative. Also where, for example, additional technical,
professional or clinical knowledge is required it may be appropriate to appoint a
third panel member.
 The Chair will invite the employee to a meeting as soon as possible and agree in
advance a time and place for the meeting to discuss their grievance. Wherever
possible this meeting should take place within 28 calendar days of the appeal
being submitted.
 Inform them that they have the right to be accompanied.
 The employee must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting. Trust
managers will assist to facilitate staff attendance where possible.
 At the meeting the employee should be allowed to explain their reason for appeal
and say how they think it should be resolved.
 The Chair shall have reasonable opportunity to consider the evidence, written
and oral, put before him/her including the letters and notes from the Stage II
hearing and decide whether the grievance appeal is well founded or not. If the
grievance is considered well founded, he/she shall consider what (if any) action
should be taken to redress the grievance.
 If the Chair feels that further investigation is necessary the meeting should be
adjourned to make a further investigation, after which the meeting should be reconvened or agreement is made to confirm the outcome in writing.
 Written notification of the Chair’s findings shall be sent to the aggrieved
employee, normally within 7 calendar days of the decision being made. A copy
of this record will be passed to the HR Department to place on the employee’s
personal file.
 This is the final stage of the grievance procedure and there is no right of appeal
beyond this stage.
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9
Collective Grievance
9.1
Where a group of staff have the same grievance (collective grievance), it should be
agreed that the group elect one of the group as their spokesperson(s) who may be
accompanied. The meeting will be held in accordance to the Stage II process.
9.2
In the event of any collective grievance which cannot be immediately resolved,
neither side will seek to implement any further changes to the existing situation
including recourse to breach of contract or industrial action until such time as
agreement has been reached or the procedures for resolving matters set out in this
agreement have been exhausted. In cases where this might be detrimental to the
health, safety and welfare of patients, staff or members of the public, or it would
post a financial or governance related risk, then the Trust would implement the
change but in a time limited basis pending conclusion of the grievance at Stage 3 of
this procedure.
This will not apply when;
 An administrative error in the application of employee Terms and Conditions has
been detected.
 There are changes to conditions of employment associated with handling
reductions in the workforce.
9.3
Where the procedure for the settlement of a collective grievance or trade dispute
has been exhausted or where Management and the Staff Side Representative(s)
appear to have reached deadlock, a joint request may be made to Advisory,
Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) before any further action is taken on
either side.
10
Grievances against the Chief Executive
10.1
Where the grievance is against the Chief Executive, or the Chief Executive has
been previously been involved, and the grievance has not been resolved, the matter
should be raised directly with the Chair of the Trust’s Board.
11
Training Requirements
11.1
Advice in relation to the application of this policy can be sought from the Human
Resources Department.
12
Monitoring
12.1
The effectiveness of this policy will be monitored and reviewed at the HR
Management team meeting three months before the review date.
Recommendations will be recorded and shared via the recognised policy approvals
process in time for the policy review date.
13
References
Page 9 of 13
13.1
ACAS Code of Practice
Appendix A
Grievance Report Form
South Western Ambulance Service Trust
Grievance Report Form
Section 1 – to be completed by the employee
Base
Department
Name of aggrieved
employee
Basis of grievance
(Please continue on
separate sheet(s) if
necessary numbering
each and heading with:Grievance by (Name)
Date grievance lodged
Employee signature
Date
Section 2 – to be completed by manager hearing grievance
Action taken in respect
of grievance
Manager signature
Job title
Date
Page 10 of 13
Appendix B
Grievance Procedure Flowchart
STAGE 1
Yes
Notification of informal grievance.
Informal discussion.
Resolution found?
10 calendar days
Response within 7
calendar days of
discussions
No
STAGE 2
Yes
Notification of formal grievance.
Stage 2 hearing heard by
Manager appointed by Service Head
Matter resolved?
28 days
Response within 7
calendar days of
decision being made
No
STAGE 3
Appeal
Notification of grievance to Director of HR.
Stage 3 hearing heard by more senior manager.
Matter resolved?
Yes
No
Case Closed
Page 11 of 13
28 days
Response within 7
calendar days of
appeal decision
being made
Appendix C
Version Control Sheet
Version
Date
Author
Summary of Changes
1st Draft
17/09/12
HR Directorate
New Policy
2
14/2/13
HR Directorate
Inclusion of Grievance Report Form and Flow Chart
Appendix A and B.
Reference to Grievance Report Form in paragraph
8.4 (Stage 1)
2.2
17.02.14
HR
In agreement with unions, policy adapted to align
and simplify timescales in employment relations
policies.
Agreed changes (the summary of main changes
were):
1- Outcome sent to employee within 7 calendar
days of the decision being made including for
appeals
2- Calendar days to be specified throughout the
policies
2.2
24.09.14
Executive
Director of HR
and OD
Section added at 7.2:
The relevant Director or Head of Department is
responsible for identifying and nominating a suitably
experienced Investigating Officer who, wherever
practicable, should be external to the area or
function being investigated. Every practicable step
should be taken in order that internal bias is avoided
and independence is achieved throughout the
investigation.
2.3
30.07.15
HR
1.1 – Date updated
5.4 – Sentence simplified
6.1 – Paragraph clarified
7.2 – New paragraph
2.4
06.08.15
HR
5.1.1 Sentence amended - Disciplinary, secondary
employment and flexible working requests for which
there are a separate appeals procedures described
within those policies.
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