What to do when you get a Personal Grievance

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This should go without saying but disclaimer: The information provided below is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or other professional advice. You should consult with a qualified professional for specific advice tailored to your circumstances.

If you’re interested learning more about this topic, we have courses: Handling complex people problems and managing risk cover this, or you can find all of our courses here.

A personal grievance is a bombshell, which sets off large ripples through the business. Even if your company gets them frequently, it’s unlikely to be a ‘ho hum’ event.  There’s a good chance the manager has never had one before. 

This is what HR does- if you’re a manager, it may be a bit different, but the principles should be transferable or relatable. 

An employee raising a PG is laying down a challenge.  They’re disputing what you have done, challenging the employer’s version of events, and control of the narrative.  “Oh I’m no good at my job?  Nah”. 

See here for the fallout of a PG.

Upwards communication

Senior management needs to know these things, not just because of the potential cost, but because they will have factors outside of your scope to consider.  Ideally you have already communicated potential risk of this happening (should you get an inkling).  It’s no fun to tell the boss, but it’s worse for them to hear it from others.

See here for more on how to be a good partner.

Conduct a risk assessment

Employment law is a minefield of small rules to follow, and mistakes not to make.  Because it’s all about process, not outcomes, it’s not what you did, or why you did it, it’s mostly about how.  When the meeting was, what was told, who was listened to, and only a little about what the employee did or didn’t do.

Listen here for more on how to rethink your mindset to risk.

This invariably requires an impartial expert either in-house HR (if they know what they are doing) or from a lawyer.  Almost always a lawyer.

That expert goes through a) what the employee said happened, b) what the manager says happened, and c) what the paperwork says happened.  From that, they figure out the risk, or an approximation of your chances of winning. 

Listen here for how sometimes we are playing with less than perfect cards.

See our webinar on risk management for more on this.

 Gauge the business’ appetite for a fight and bad publicity

This bit the lawyer can’t do. Only HR can, but often doesn’t.

Once you have an idea of your chances of winning (strong, mixed, poor), you need to establish from the business what it’s appetite is for the fight, or for capitulation.  The key aspect is this- no one likes losing a case and being potentially painted as a bad employer, but some care more than others. 

The other aspect is how much is the company prepared to pay, and how much it is prepared to fight.  Most organisations aren’t in the business of giving money away, and none are in the business of rewarding employee behaviour they don’t like. 

Another spectre they worry about (but can’t quantify) is the risk of getting a reputation of paying ‘go away’ money easily.  IF a perception grows amongst employees that they settle easily, this will encourage chancers to give it a go and try on some spurious lawsuits. 

See here for more on how understanding the business plan informs EVERYTHING.

Listen here for how to strategise upwards.

Devise an exit strategy- and DON’T outsource this.

Have a plan for how you’d like this settle.  This could be settle early, settle at mediation, settle at mediation only if the price is good, or fight it all the way.  These plans are typically combinations of company policy/philosophy, the merits of the case, and the personality of the ultimate decision maker.  I’ve known big bosses who you’d never want to disappoint with a big pay out, and bosses who would never want to be on in the media for this.

This is an odd thing for me to say- don’t let us decide for you; stay away from the likes of us. The point is don’t be led by your lawyer- lawyers are trained to fight, and paid to do so, and so their bias is exercise all legal options available, but charge you all along the way. A big part of why small disputes get out of control is that- due to absence of decision by at least one of the parties, the lawyers called the shots.

Listen here for more on anticipating what an adversarial employee might do.

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