Staff Grievance
Policy and Procedures

The Japanese School

Approved by:

SMC

Last reviewed on:

February 2024

Next review due by:

February 2025

Date: February 2024

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Version Number
1.0

Modified By
K. Okamoto

Modifications Made
Creation of Staff grievance policy and procedures

Date Modified
24/11/2023

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Contents
1. Aims .............................................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Legislation and guidance .............................................................................................................................. 3
3. Definitions and scope .................................................................................................................................... 3
4. Roles and responsibilities ............................................................................................................................. 3
5. Grievance procedures ................................................................................................................................... 4
6. Overlapping procedures ................................................................................................................................ 5
7. Record keeping ............................................................................................................................................. 5
8. Monitoring arrangements .............................................................................................................................. 5
9. Links with other policies ................................................................................................................................ 6Appendix 1: staff grievance notification form ............................................................................... 7

1. Aims
This policy aims to enable employees to raise concerns about workplace issues without fear of victimisation andrepercussion, and to ensure all grievances are dealt with fairly, fully and objectively.

2. Legislation and guidance
These grievance procedures are based on the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

3. Definitions and scope
A grievance is a concern, problem or complaint raised with the school by an employee. It can be caused byissues such as working conditions, health and safety concerns, bullying, discrimination or working relationships.
This policy does not apply to:• Issues raised by people who are not an employee of the school, for example volunteers or parents/carers, as
this would instead fall under our complaints procedure.
• Redundancy dismissals.
• Non-renewal of fixed-term contracts.
• Collective grievances, raised on behalf of 2 or more employees by a representative of a recognised tradeunion or other appropriate workplace representative.

4. Roles and responsibilities
Being internal matters, grievances may involve a number of people in the school. There is an emphasis on
dealing informally with grievances, and so it is not practicable to prescribe specific roles. However, the following
guidelines may be useful.

4.1 The line manager
Provided they are not the subject of the grievance, the line manager will be the first point of contact for theemployee raising a grievance. If the grievance is about the employee’s line manager, the employee will raise thegrievance with their line manager’s manager.

4.2 The headteacher or member of SMC
Provided they are not the subject of the grievance, the headteacher or a nominated member of the Senior
Management Committee (SMC) will consider the grievance at the formal stage (see 5.2).

4.3 Chair of governors
Where the headteacher is the subject of the grievance, the chair of governors will be responsible for appointing
an appropriate governor who has not been directly involved in the grievance to oversee the procedure at theformal stage.

34.4 Investigating officer
At the formal stage, the headteacher (or appointed governor, if the headteacher is the subject of the grievance)
will appoint an investigating officer to collect and present the facts of the grievance in an investigation report. The
investigating officer will be someone who has not been directly involved in the grievance.

4.5 Grievance panel
The headteacher (or appointed governor if the headteacher is the subject of the grievance) will appoint agrievance panel consisting of 3 people with no prior knowledge of the grievance. These people will be separate
from the investigating officer and will be chaired by an independent individual.

4.6 Other members of staff or trade union staff
A work colleague, trade union official, or trade union representative who has been certified as being competent toattend such meetings may accompany the employee raising the grievance at a formal grievance meeting.

5. Grievance procedures
We are committed to dealing with grievances fairly and objectively. Employees will be protected fromdiscrimination or victimisation after raising a work-related grievance.

5.1 Informal stage
In the first instance, an employee will aim to resolve their grievance informally with their line manager. If theemployee’s concerns relate to their line manager, they should discuss the issue with the line manager’s manager.
It may be necessary for the employee who has raised a grievance to attend a meeting to discuss the concerns inmore detail. However, this will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
It’s anticipated that a number of grievances will be resolved at this informal stage with no need to progressmatters further. However, if the matter has not been resolved at the informal stage, it may then proceed to theformal stage of the procedure.

5.2 Formal stage
If it is not possible to resolve the matter informally, employees should set out their grievance in writing to their line
manager, in accordance with the staff grievance notification form at Appendix 1. If the subject of the grievance istheir line manager, the employee should submit the written grievance to an alternative, preferably senior,manager.
Upon receipt of a grievance, the headteacher (or appointed governor if the headteacher is the subject of thegrievance) will appoint an investigating officer. This will be an independent individual with no prior knowledge ofthe grievance.
The headteacher (or appointed governor if the headteacher is the subject of the grievance) will also appoint agrievance panel. This group of people will be separate from the investigating officer and will be chaired by anindependent individual, with no prior knowledge of the grievance.
1 person from Haslers HR, Chair of SMC, and employee’s line manager shall sit on the panel.
The investigating officer will undertake a grievance investigation and will make a recommendation.
The investigating officer, supported by HR colleagues, will also arrange a formal meeting (to be held in person, orover video conferencing if appropriate) within 10 working days after the grievance has been raised. At themeeting, the employee will be given the opportunity to explain their grievance and how they think it should beresolved, to the grievance panel.
Employees have a statutory right to be accompanied by a companion at a grievance meeting. The companion
must be a work colleague, trade union official, or trade union representative who has been certified as being
competent to attend such meetings.
The employee must let the investigating officer know that they request to be accompanied. If the chosencompanion will not be available on the initial date and time proposed for the formal meeting, the investigating4

officer must move the meeting to an alternative time proposed by the employee, provided that the alternative time
is both reasonable and no more than 5 working days after the date originally proposed.
The companion may address the hearing to put and sum up the employee’s case, respond on behalf of theemployee to any views expressed at the meeting and confer with the employee during the hearing. Thecompanion may not answer questions on the employee’s behalf, address the hearing if the employee does notwish it or prevent the employer from explaining their case.

5.3 Deciding on appropriate action
The meeting will be adjourned and the grievance panel will reflect on it before coming to a decision.
The chair of the panel will communicate the decision to the employee in writing within 5 working days. Thedecision will set out the action that will be taken to resolve the grievance. It will also inform the employee that they
can appeal if they are not satisfied with the outcome and explain how to do this.

5.4 Appeals
If the employee is not satisfied with the outcome of the grievance they have the right to appeal the decision.
The employee should set out their grounds of appeal in writing within 10] working days and submit this to theheadteacher.
An appeal is not designed to re-hear the matter but to examine the grounds of appeal. The employee should
therefore be specific about the grounds of the appeal.
However, a full re-hearing may be appropriate in exceptional circumstances.
The headteacher (or appointed governor if the headteacher is the subject of the grievance) will appoint agrievance appeal panel consisting of 3 people. This will be a group of people independent from any previous
stage of the grievance procedure, and the panel will be chaired by an independent individual.
Appeals will be heard without unreasonable delay and in any event within 10 working days of the date of theappeal notice. The headteacher (or appointed governor if the headteacher is the subject of the grievance) will tell
the employees the time and place of the appeal meeting in advance (to be held in person, or over videoconferencing if appropriate).
Employees have the same statutory right to be accompanied to the appeal meeting by a work colleague, tradeunion official, or trade union representative who has been certified as being competent to attend such meetings.
The outcome of the appeal will be confirmed in writing by the chair of the appeal panel to the employee within 5
working days of the appeal. The decision of the appeal panel will be final.

6. Overlapping procedures
If an employee raises a grievance after disciplinary proceedings have already started against them, thedisciplinary proceedings may be temporarily suspended in order to consider the implications of the grievance on
the disciplinary process.
If the grievance and disciplinary proceedings address related matters, it may be possible to deal with the issues
simultaneously as part of disciplinary proceedings.

7. Record keeping
Minutes will be kept of all meetings. Where possible, these will be confirmed as a record of what was discussed
during the meeting.
Records of all materials relating to the grievance process will be kept securely, only for as long as necessary andin line with data protection law, our privacy notices and records management policy.

8. Monitoring arrangements
This policy will usually be reviewed every 3 years, but can be revised as needed from time-to-time. It will bereviewed by the Secretary.

5This policy will be approved by SMC.

9. Links with other policies
This policy links with our policies on:• Complaints procedure, which sets out how grievances will be raised by those not employed by the school• Equality• Staff codes of conduct• Staff disciplinary procedures

6Appendix 1: staff grievance notification form
Name:

School:Job title:

Department:

Describe the nature of your grievance, including:• A full description of your grievance• Relevant evidence, such as facts, dates andnames of individuals involved

Please state the following:
The date on which you first raised your grievance,
and with whom

The action taken in respect of your grievance at theinformal stage

The outcomes you are seeking and the actions you
would like taken to resolve the situation

Whether you would like to explore a resolution
through mediation

Whether you would like accompaniment at agrievance meeting by a work colleague, trade union
official, or trade union representative - and if so,their name and position
Signed:Dated:

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