Letter informing employee of grievance against them

Where a grievance has been raised by one employee against another, you’ll need to notify the latter employee of the grievance allegations and that they’re to be investigated.

Grievance process

Employees can raise grievances about a variety of matters in the workplace. This can include making allegations about a fellow employee’s conduct or behaviour, either towards them or otherwise generally. Where an employee (X) raises a grievance against a work colleague (Y), the first steps are to hold a formal grievance meeting with X and to conduct a fair investigation to determine whether there’s any substance to the allegations. If there is and there’s evidence of misconduct by Y, you’d then institute your disciplinary procedure against Y in the normal way.

Allegations, investigation and outcome

Our Letter Informing Employee of Grievance Against Them informs an employee about whom a grievance has been raised of the allegations contained in the grievance. Although you should maintain confidentiality during the grievance process to the extent that it’s possible and appropriate in the circumstances, you will need to reveal X’s identity and the exact nature of their allegations to Y so that they have the full and fair opportunity to respond to them and to provide their version of events. Our letter also gives the option of providing X’s grievance letter to Y - only do this if you have X’s consent, otherwise just provide a detailed summary of their allegations. Our letter goes on to outline that you will shortly be holding a formal grievance meeting with X and you now want to interview Y as part of your investigatory process with a view to obtaining a statement from them. It sets up a date and time for that investigatory interview and makes clear that it’s purely a fact-finding exercise, with no statutory right to be accompanied, to establish their version of events. Our letter also emphasises that, at this stage, you’ve not yet made any findings or reached any conclusions on the validity or merits of X’s grievance. You don’t want Y to be under the impression that you’ve already made up your mind against them. Note that if X’s line manager is the subject of the grievance, the grievance should, where possible, be dealt with by an alternative manager. Finally, our letter outlines the potential outcomes of the grievance process, provided to Y for information purposes only. It warns Y that, even if X’s grievance is dismissed, they still have a right of appeal. Conversely, if X’s grievance is upheld, this might result in the disciplinary procedure being instigated against Y, if there’s evidence to support that course of action.