GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

The following grievance policy and procedures are not contractual and do not form part of your terms and conditions of employment.

“This Policy is designed to allow employees with a grievance or complaint to have it properly investigated and dealt with.”

The Grievance Procedure set out below is applicable to all employees. We appreciate that there may be occasions where you might have grievances or complaints arising out of your employment with the Company. This Policy is designed to allow employees with a grievance or complaint to have it properly investigated and dealt with. The basic aim of the procedure is to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution of the grievance as quickly as possible. In this context, you are encouraged to deal with problems informally in the first instance.

At each stage of the formal procedure outlined below, you have the right, if you wish, to be accompanied by a work colleague or a trade union representative. The Company reserves the right to refuse the chosen companion if they consider them to be unsuitable.

STAGES OF FORMAL PROCEDURE


Step one: You should raise your grievance, in writing, to your manager. If the grievance relates to your Manager, then you should bring it to the attention of a senior manager.

Step two: Tracklements will investigate the grievance and seek to arrange a meeting with you. If, for any reason, the meeting is likely to take longer to arrange, this will be communicated to you, for example, prior to the meeting the Company may carry out such reasonable investigation as necessary so that it can properly deal with your grievance.

Step three: The decision of the Company following the meeting will be conveyed in writing to you as soon as possible and in any event, within 10 working days. If, for any reason, this is not possible, you will be given an explanation for the delay and told when a response can be expected.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you may appeal against the decision.

Step four: If you wish to appeal, you should do so in writing addressed to the Managing Director within 5 working days of written notification of the grievance decision. The Company will hold an appeal meeting as soon as practicable. At this appeal meeting, you will be invited to put your case forward.

The Company is committed to ensuring that all grievances and associated appeals are investigated fully. This may involve carrying out interviews with the employee concerned and third parties such as witnesses, colleagues, and Managers, as well as analysing written records and information. The investigation report will be made available to all the parties concerned. The identity of witnesses will be kept confidential where necessary. It is not permissible to record, whether audio and/or visual, any meetings which take place as part of this procedure, without the express written authorisation of Tracklements.

The decision of the Company will be conveyed in writing to you as soon as possible following the meeting and, in any event, within 10 working days.  If, for any reason, this is not possible, you will be given an explanation for the delay and told when a response can be expected.

The decision at the appeal stage is final.

    • If your complaint concerns an alleged wrongdoing or criminal offence by someone within the organisation, you should raise it immediately with a Director. See the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (known as the Whistle-blowers’ Act, Appendix 17) for details of the additional protection available for protected disclosures.

    • The grievance procedure should not be used for appeals against disciplinary decisions, as that is the purpose of the disciplinary appeals procedure. If, however, you have a complaint against the behaviour of a Manager during the course of a disciplinary case, you may raise it as a grievance with a Senior Manager. The disciplinary procedure may be suspended for a short period, if necessary, until the grievance can be considered.

    • Employees are encouraged to raise grievances and will not suffer any detriment from doing so. If your grievance is found to be malicious or to have been made in bad faith, however, you will be subject to the organisation’s disciplinary procedure.

    • A second representative from the Company/HR may be invited to attend grievance meetings to act as a witness and note-taker.

    • The timescales listed above will be adhered to wherever possible. Where there are good reasons, e.g. the need for further investigation or the lack of availability of witnesses or companions, each party can request that the other agrees to an extension of the permitted timescale.

    • The organisation reserves the right to seek assistance from external facilitators at any stage in the grievance procedure.

    • For employees during their first 2 years of employment, the Company reserves the right to speed up the decision-making process and may choose to follow a shortened version of the above procedure.

    • If you experience difficulty at any stage of the grievance procedure (e.g. for a reason related to a disability or because English is not your first language), you should discuss the situation with the manager or HR as soon as possible.