A written complaint can count as a grievance even without the right wording
“A written complaint counts as a grievanceA formal complaint raised by an employee against their employer, triggering a legal obligation to investigate and respond. if its substance is clear, even with no set format or wording.”
A written complaint can count as a grievance even without formal wording or a full list of every incident.
- Put your concerns in writing as soon as you can, even briefly, since this may protect your position later.
- Do not assume an email or resignation letter does not count as a grievance just because you did not call it one.
- A refusal to engage with your complaint is itself a sign that the situation needs a second, informed opinion, don't navigate that alone.
The situation
A practice manager at a medical centre resigned and later brought a claim for constructive unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi.... Before resigning, she had put a complaint in writing about how a manager had treated her, but she had not labelled it as a formal grievance, and some of the incidents she later relied on in her tribunal claim were not spelled out in that letter. Her employer argued that she had not properly raised a grievance first, so her claim could not go ahead.
What the tribunal found
The Employment Appeal Tribunal disagreed with the employer's argument. It held that the requirements for a valid written grievance were minimal. All that mattered to the EATStands for Employment Appeal Tribunal. It hears appeals from employment tribunal decisions on points of law, not on the facts. It is not a way of simply asking for a second opinion on the outcome. was that the complaint was written down and covered the same ground as the later claim, the letter's label, its wording, and its level of detail were beside the point. A letter of resignation could itself count as a valid grievance letter. What mattered was that the complaint was in writing and that its substance matched the substance of the later claim. The EAT also found that once an employee has raised a grievance about an ongoing course of unreasonable treatment, they do not have to raise a fresh grievance every time something similar happens again.
Shergold v Fieldway Medical Centre [2006] IRLR 76; [2005] UKEAT 0487_05_0512. Employment Appeal Tribunal. 2005.