Solving work place disputes
This article summarizes what you can do if you have a dispute with your employer about your employment rights.
UK employment law covers areas such as:
- unfair dismissal
- redundancy
- wages or taking money off your wages without asking you
- time off and hours of works
- trade union rights
- discrimination: age, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
If you have a problem at work, such as a complaint about how your employer is treating you, or you are facing dismissal or disciplinary action, there are several ways to get help to sort it out:
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you can talk it over informally with your line manager or supervisor; you may be able to settle the matter straight away
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you can contact your trade union representative (if you have one) for advice
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you can make a formal complaint through your company's grievance procedure.
All employers must have legal minimum procedures for dealing with grievance, dismissal and disciplinary action and all employees must use these formal procedures to make a complaint.
At the moment, there are at least three stages in any formal grievance procedure:
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You must complain in writing to your employer, and give him or her at least 28 days to respond.
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Your employer must arrange a meeting to discuss your grievance. You have the right to have someone with you at this meeting, a colleague or a trade union official, for example.
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If you do not agree with any decision made by your employer at this meeting, or after it, you have the right to appeal against it. You must appeal in writing, and your employer must arrange a further meeting to give you the final decision.
Note: The law will change and revised statutory procedures will be introduced in April 2009.
If you are still not satisfied, and believe you have a grievance, you may then be able to take your complaint further. There are independent outside agencies you can go to:
- The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), which aims to improve organisations and working life through better employee relations. ACAS provides a range of services to companies and individuals, helping to prevent problems happening in the first place and helping find solutions when things do go wrong.
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The Employment Tribunals Service (ETS), which acts as a kind of independent court to solve disputes between employers and employees. If your claim is successful, the tribunal can award you compensation.
Details of all the services that both ACAS and the ETS can provide are on their websites (see below).
Useful contacts
ACAS: http://www.acas.org.uk/
Tel: 08457 47 47 47
The Tribunals Service: www.tribunalsservice.gov.uk/
Employment Tribunals: www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/
Employment Tribunals: 08457 95 9775
Employment Tribunals (textphone): 08457 57 3722
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