Every employer should have a grievance procedure or they must follow the steps in the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.
If you want to complain about a colleague, a customer or how your company is treating you, you should try to raise your concerns informally if possible with you line manager or HR dept.
A grievance procedure is a formal way for you to raise a problem or complaint to your employer.
How to raise a grievance
You can raise a grievance if:
- you feel raising it informally has not worked
- you do not want it dealt with informally
- it’s a very serious issue, for example sexual harassment or whistleblowing
You should put your grievance in writing to whoever is most appropriate. You can check your organisations grievance policy to find out:
- how to raise a formal grievance
- who you should send it to
- what the full grievance procedure is
If there is no organisation grievance procedure, you should approach you line manager first. If you do not feel comfortable doing that, you should approach someone else you feel comfortable talking to, for example another manager or someone in HR.
There is a grievance letter template on the ACAS website
Your letter or email should include:
- what the grievance is about
- any evidence, for example a payslip or employment contract
- what they want their employer to do about it
It’s a good idea to be specific about what you want to happen, for example ‘I would like an apology’ or ‘I would like to be paid on time in future’
The grievance procedure
Your employer should carry out an initial investigation so that they can understand the grievance and how to deal with it fairly and impartially.
Your employer should then hold a meeting ‘without unreasonable delay’ – ideally within 5 working days. They should allow all parties involved enough time to prepare for the meeting. By law, any employee or worker can bring a ‘companion’ (relevant person) to a grievance meeting. This is known as ‘the right to be accompanied’.
The grievance meeting
The meeting is the chance for you to:
- explain the grievance
- show any evidence you have
It’s also the chance for your employer to ask questions, so that they know what steps to take.
In the meeting your employer should ask you to:
- provide more information about it
- discuss how it could be resolved
Your employer should also:
- remain impartial
- do their best to understand your feelings
- take notes or appoint someone else to take them
- go through the evidence
- consider if they need to investigate further
- take care in deciding on any actions – usually the employer will not need to make an immediate decision
- sum up the main points at the end
They should give you the chance to:
- explain your side
- express how you feel
- ask questions
- show evidence
- provide details of any witnesses your employer should contact
Your employer should fully investigate your complaint and speak to all the other people involved to ensure that they have a full and fair understanding of your complaint.
After the meeting and further investigation by your employer
After following a fair grievance procedure, your employer should decide on the best outcome based on:
- the findings from meetings and investigations
- what is fair and reasonable
- what their organisation has done in any similar cases before
Your employer should tell you and any other person directly involved in the procedure of the outcome as soon as possible and in writing, for example in a letter or email.
If the grievance involved other people in the organisation and it was upheld, the employer might need to start a disciplinary procedure.
Last Updated on May 12, 2026 by Ashford Advice