Policy Adopted on 14/01/2021 / Revised on 04/07/2023 and will be reviewed Q2 20234– Revision 2.0
1. Policy Statement
The purpose of this policy is to provide employees with a readily accessible procedure for addressing any problems or concerns they may have while they are working for Revive Church.
2. Reason for Policy
This procedure should not replace normal employee–manager dialogue. However, where such informal dialogue has failed to resolve an issue of concern, then an employee may utilise this procedure in an effort to have an issue resolved to his/her satisfaction.
ACAS Code of Practice: Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
3. Who Should Read this Policy?
- All staff members
- Board of Trustees
4. Resources
- This policy is part of the Staff Handbook found on The Way We Work platform
- https://twww.revivechurch.uk
5. The Policy
It is accepted that when people work together there will inevitably be situations where misunderstandings, problems or concerns need to be resolved. It is the policy of Revive Church that a culture of good communication, openness and a willingness to co-operate and listen will exist. Therefore, it is envisaged that the majority of these issues or misunderstandings will be capable of being addressed informally in an efficient and effective manner. However, where such issues are unresolved, they may become grievances. Employees are encouraged to seek resolution of an issue by utilising this procedure.
At each grievance meeting held under the formal procedure, the employee has a right to be accompanied by a colleague.
The grievance procedure should not be used to lodge appeals against disciplinary sanctions. Our disciplinary procedure contains sufficient mechanism for dealing with an employee’s dissatisfaction at a disciplinary sanction applied to them.
We reserve the right to engage external third-party assistance at any stage of the grievance process. In addition, we may seek external HR advice if required.
This procedure does not constitute contractual terms and conditions. We reserve the right to amend any provision of this procedure subsequent to appropriate consultation.
Procedure
In order to provide an effective and timely resolution of employee concerns, the following procedure will be followed to ensure that employee complaints or problems receive full and careful attention.
Reasonable adjustments will be made to the procedure for disabled employees. Any employee who experiences difficulty with the procedure for any reason should seek assistance from their manager.
- Informal discussion
Employees are encouraged to approach their line manager in the first instance to discuss issues and attempt to informally resolve them. Informal discussion can frequently solve problems without the need for written record. Employees will receive an outcome within 5 workingdays.
If an employee is dissatisfied with the outcome, they may invoke the formal grievance procedure.
- Formal procedure
Stage one
The employee should raise the grievance in writing with the Senior Leaders. This should explain the nature and extent of the grievance and indicate the outcome the employee is looking for.
If the employee’s grievance relates to concerns regarding their Senior Leaders then the employee should raise the complaint to their manager or to the trustees of Revive Church. We reserve the right to have an external party hear the first stage of the grievance process.
Concerns regarding any matter which would fall within the scope of legislation on public interest disclosures (otherwise known as whistleblowing) must be raised directly using the Whistleblowing procedure.
Under stage one, a meeting will be arranged between the line manager and the employee. A minute taker will also be present. The employee may be accompanied by a fellow colleague or trade union official. The meeting will be held to discuss the grievance in detail and the employee should take any documents or evidence they have regarding the grievance to the meeting.
The line manager will complete a full investigation into the matter. This may involve holding investigation meetings with witnesses, requiring witness statements to be produced and reviewing written evidence. A decision will be taken by the line manager following the investigation and the grievance will be responded to, in writing, within 10 working days of the meeting being held. If there is a delay in the process, the employee will be kept informed of the reasons for the delay and the date that the outcome will be delivered. The employee will be informed of actions to take if they wish to appeal the outcome.
Minutes of the meeting will be taken and copies will be made available to the employee. A copy of the minutes will be stored securely by the appropriate person.
Stage two
If the employee is not satisfied with the outcome of stage one then they should write a letter of appeal. The employee should write to the Chair of the Trustees setting out the reasons for their dissatisfaction. Stage two will involve the same procedural steps as stage one, and the outcome will be provided to the employee within 10 working days of the hearing.
There will be no further appeal after stage two.
- Simultaneous grievance and disciplinary matters
We will make a decision on how to progress matters when an employee raises a grievance about a disciplinary procedure involving them. Acas guidance suggests that disciplinary hearings may be suspended for a short duration while the grievance is investigated. We will assess the exact nature of the grievance and will have the final say over suspension of a disciplinary procedure.
- Extending timescales under the procedure
The timescales outlined in this procedure will be adhered to whenever this is reasonably practicable. There may be extenuating circumstances that are outside of either parties’ control, for example, where a key witness is unavailable, or the grievance requires extensive investigation.
Where it is not reasonably practicable to adhere to the deadlines, both parties will discuss and agree any extension to the timelines.
- Mediation
We reserve the right to seek assistance from external mediators at any stage in the grievance procedure. Where both parties agree to undertake mediation, the grievance process will be suspended whilst this is ongoing.
- Protection against detriment
Nothing in this procedure is intended to prevent the employee from raising any concerns they have. Employees who raise concerns under this procedure will not be subject to any detrimental or less favourable treatment as a result of doing so.
Where the grievance is made with malicious intent, the employee will be subject to the Revive Church disciplinary procedure.
