Letter rejecting repeated grievance

Where an employee raises a new grievance which simply repeats issues that have already been raised, and dealt with, in their earlier grievance, you can use our letter to reject it as you don’t need to go over the same issues again.

Grievance procedure

Your grievance procedure enables employees to raise formal grievances about workplace issues. It probably provides for you to hold a grievance meeting with the employee and then to notify them of the outcome in writing, with a right of appeal to a higher level of management if they feel their grievance hasn’t been satisfactorily resolved. So, they get two bites at the cherry to seek a satisfactory resolution of their grievance. Of course, their grievance may not be resolved to their satisfaction if they don’t like, or agree with, the grievance outcome or the appeal outcome, but your decision is final and that’s the end of the matter. You just need to be confident that the grievance subject matter was thoroughly investigated, you considered all relevant factors, you permitted the employee to explain their grievance and you reached a reasonable and balanced decision which you notified and explained to the employee, having followed a fair grievance process.

The phoenix grievance

However, occasionally you may come across a situation where an employee raises another grievance a few weeks or months later but, when you look into it, it seems to raise exactly the same complaints as the earlier grievance, just regenerated in a new letter or e-mail. Usually, this is because the employee wasn’t satisfied with the original grievance and appeal outcome and so they either want a third bite at the cherry or they want to cause you a bit more trouble. If you’re faced with this situation, first ask the employee to provide further written details of their grievance and to also explain in writing how, if at all, if differs from their earlier grievance, for example, have there been any new incidents or events which need to be investigated or has any new evidence come to light which casts doubt on your earlier grievance decision?

Rejection letter

If, following receipt of the employee’s further details and explanations, it’s clear that there’s nothing new, you can reject their latest grievance using our Letter Rejecting Repeated Grievance. It’s safe to do this provided the complaints and issues raised are the same. However, if there is anything new, then simply deal with that new part of their grievance under your grievance procedure and disregard any old, repeated issues (unless the new information casts a wholly different light on the old issues such that it would be reasonable for you to re-open them). Our letter outlines that the employee’s latest complaint doesn’t differ from their earlier grievance which has been concluded, as it simply repeats matters that have already been dealt with. It then states that as nothing new is being raised, you won’t be taking the matter any further on this occasion, i.e. you’re rejecting their grievance without holding a grievance meeting. It also encloses a copy of the previous grievance and appeal decision letters. Finally, it provides that you’ll consider the matter again if new issues do come to light.