Buddy Says:  The submission of a written grievance does extend the time limit for lodging claims, however the statutory grievance procedures do not apply where the grievance is that the employer has dismissed or is contemplating dismissing an employee.

Employer information:

Employers need to beware of the situation where a grievance brought against dismissal is actually an appeal, as an appeal triggers additional  duties on the employer to comply with the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures.  Failure to comply with the statutory procedures can result in an uplift of compensation and an automatically unfair dismissal.

In the recent case of Harris v Towergate London Market Limited an employee failed to appeal her dismissal for redundancy under the employers procedures, however after her employment ended she sent her employer a grievance challenging the dismissal.  The employer then provided her with further information about the process, and a meeting was held.  The employee made a claim to a tribunal for unfair dismissal, which was out of time.  If the statutory grievance procedures applied then the time to bring a claim would have been automatically extended, and hence the claim would have been in time.  However, the statutory grievance procedures do not apply where the grievance is that the employer has dismissed or is contemplating dismissing the employee (regulation 6(5) of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004).  The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the employee had in fact presented her employer with an appeal against dismissal.  Also because of the employer's follow-up, the employee had ‘reasonable grounds for believing that a dismissal procedure, whether statutory or otherwise, was being followed’, which allowed for an extension of the time for bringing a claim (regulation 15(2).

Had the employer in this case not provided further information, it might have avoided triggering the automatic extension provision.  However, a failure to provide relevant information or meeting with her in line with the statutory dismissal procedures might trigger an automatic unfair dismissal.