When is a Grievance not a Grievance?
by Emma
The EAT has held in a judgment published yesterday that a grievance in writing expressly described as informal and not a statutory grievance can nevertheless be treated as a statutory grievance.
In this case the Claimant had raised a grievance stating specifically that that it was informal and not a statutory grievance. The Employment Tribunal held that it could not therefore be treated as a statutory grievance and that it therefore had no jurisdiction to hear the race discrimination claim.
However, the EAT upheld the Claimant’s appeal concluding that because the grievance was set out in writing and sent to the employer it met the requirements laid down for a Step 1 grievance letter and whether or not it was stated to be a statutory grievance did not affect that conclusion.
What the EAT left open was if it would be unjust to subject an employer to an increase in compensation if they did not deal with the grievance in these circumstances.
See here for more detail.
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