In simple terms, a grievance is a complaint about the injustice behaviour done to the employee in a workplace. It refers to any type of problems in the work environment related to the safety, development or training, allocation of leave, duration of work, performance appraisal, promotion or salary/wages.
According to (Armstrong, 2012), “It is the policy of the company that employees should be given fair hearing by their immediate supervisor or manager concerning any grievances they may wish to raise.” Grievances procedure are the means for presenting and settling disputes at the workplace. It can also be part of collective bargaining. The procedures can be both formal and informal. Hence, Grievance procedures are a means of dispute resolution that can be used by a company to address complaints by employees, suppliers, customers, and competitors (Inc., n.d.). For example, an employee working for two years in an organization complaining to increase his/her salary and if not approved by the manager then he/she might leave the organization The Grievance procedure includes the following:
Discuss Complaint with Immediate Supervisor
The employee should first contact with their immediate supervisor because they are the ones whom they communicate daily. In this procedure, the manager discusses the issue with the person against whom the complaint is made and with the one making the complaint. The supervisors then try to resolve the issue between them. If the problem is not solved then the employee can move to step two.
Prepare and Submit Complaint Procedure Form to an HR Consultant for Review by Second-Level Supervisor
If the employee problem is not solved talking to the immediate supervisor, they can prepare a formal written complaint to the HR Consultant to whom their supervisors report. The investigation generally involves collecting information about the grievance and then making a finding based on the available information (College, 2016). For this, the employees prepare a Complaint Procedure Form and submit it to the HR Consultant.
Submit Complaint Procedure Form to Human Resource Director of HR Consultants for Review by Third-level Manager
If the employee is not satisfied with the decision of HR Consultant, he/she may submit the complaint to the Human Resources Director of HR Consultant for review within five days of the receipt of the decision of step two. A meeting will be held between the employee and the director within five business days. Then the director will issue a written decision within five business days of the meeting.
Submit Complaint Procedure Form for Final Appeal to the Appropriate-Level Vice President
The employee still has the chance to resubmit the complaint to the appropriate level Vice President responsible for their department or, for academic units, the Office of the Provost, within seven business days of receipt of the Step Three decision. The Vice President will provide the final written response within fourteen business days.
How is it different than redundancy procedure?
Redundancy Procedure, on the other hand, is defined as the situation in which management decides that an employee or employees are surplus to requirements in a particular occupation and cannot be offered suitable alternative work (Armstrong, 2012). A fair redundancy process should be followed for employees working for a longer period in the organization. For example, an employee working for 12 years in an organization is suddenly dismissed from the organization. At this very time, the employee has the right to ask the reason for his dismissal. People are redundant in following cases such as:
Age
Disability
Pregnancy
Race
Trade Union Partnership
Redundancy in the workplace should be fair. Following are the procedures of redundancy:
The employer first need to send a letter including the reason behind the dismissing. The letter includes the reasons for redundancy. The meeting is arranged to discuss the matter. However, the power to decide on redundancies lies with employers (Wells, 2014)
The employee after sending the letter must hold a meeting with the employee and discuss the reasons behind the dismissal. This meeting can not take place until the employer has informed the employee about the dismissal. Here the employee must get sufficient time to prepare for his response to the information provided. In the meeting, the employer decides, if he/she wants the employee to exit or stay. After the meeting, the employer must communicate the result to the employee and notify him of his right appeal.
After the above two procedures, at final step the employer hold an appeal meeting if the employee appeals against his dismissal, and then inform the employee of its final decision.
In this way, both Grievances and Redundancy are different from one another but important to follow the procedures.
References
Armstrong, M. (2012). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 12th Edition. London: Kogan Page.
College, A. P. (2016). Stff Grievance Procedure. Executive Management Team.
In simple terms, a grievance is a complaint about the injustice behaviour done to the employee in a workplace. It refers to any type of problems in the work environment related to the safety, development or training, allocation of leave, duration of work, performance appraisal, promotion or salary/wages.
According to (Armstrong, 2012), “It is the policy of the company that employees should be given fair hearing by their immediate supervisor or manager concerning any grievances they may wish to raise.” Grievances procedure are the means for presenting and settling disputes at the workplace. It can also be part of collective bargaining. The procedures can be both formal and informal. Hence, Grievance procedures are a means of dispute resolution that can be used by a company to address complaints by employees, suppliers, customers, and competitors (Inc., n.d.). For example, an employee working for two years in an organization complaining to increase his/her salary and if not approved by the manager then he/she might leave the organization The Grievance procedure includes the following:
Discuss Complaint with Immediate Supervisor
The employee should first contact with their immediate supervisor because they are the ones whom they communicate daily. In this procedure, the manager discusses the issue with the person against whom the complaint is made and with the one making the complaint. The supervisors then try to resolve the issue between them. If the problem is not solved then the employee can move to step two.
Prepare and Submit Complaint Procedure Form to an HR Consultant for Review by Second-Level Supervisor
If the employee problem is not solved talking to the immediate supervisor, they can prepare a formal written complaint to the HR Consultant to whom their supervisors report. The investigation generally involves collecting information about the grievance and then making a finding based on the available information (College, 2016). For this, the employees prepare a Complaint Procedure Form and submit it to the HR Consultant.
Submit Complaint Procedure Form to Human Resource Director of HR Consultants for Review by Third-level Manager
If the employee is not satisfied with the decision of HR Consultant, he/she may submit the complaint to the Human Resources Director of HR Consultant for review within five days of the receipt of the decision of step two. A meeting will be held between the employee and the director within five business days. Then the director will issue a written decision within five business days of the meeting.
Submit Complaint Procedure Form for Final Appeal to the Appropriate-Level Vice President
The employee still has the chance to resubmit the complaint to the appropriate level Vice President responsible for their department or, for academic units, the Office of the Provost, within seven business days of receipt of the Step Three decision. The Vice President will provide the final written response within fourteen business days.
How is it different than redundancy procedure?
Redundancy Procedure, on the other hand, is defined as the situation in which management decides that an employee or employees are surplus to requirements in a particular occupation and cannot be offered suitable alternative work (Armstrong, 2012). A fair redundancy process should be followed for employees working for a longer period in the organization. For example, an employee working for 12 years in an organization is suddenly dismissed from the organization. At this very time, the employee has the right to ask the reason for his dismissal. People are redundant in following cases such as:
Redundancy in the workplace should be fair. Following are the procedures of redundancy:
References
Armstrong, M. (2012). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 12th Edition. London: Kogan Page.
College, A. P. (2016). Stff Grievance Procedure. Executive Management Team.
Inc. (n.d.). Grievance Procedures . Retrieved from Grievance Procedures: inc.com/encyclopedia/grievance-pro...
Wells, P. (2014). Spill and Fill: A Fair Redundancy Process. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations Volume 39, No.3 .