Buddy says: Yes, the EAT has recently held in Lipscombe v Forestry Commission UKEAT/0191/06/DA, 28 September 2006, that if an employee's resignation letter contained a passing reference to a past grievance it was sufficient enough to comply with step one of the statutory grievance procedure.

Employer information:The Standard Grievance Procedure (SGP) and the Modified Grievance Procedure (MGP) were introduced under the Employment Act 2002 (EA 2002).

A grievance is defined under Regulation 2(1), the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/752) (the Dispute Resolution Regulations), as being: a complaint by an employee about action which his employer has taken, or is contemplating taking in relation to him."

In order for step one of the SGP to be complied with, an employee must: "set out the grievance in writing and send the statement or a copy of it to the employer." (paragraph 6, schedule 2 EA 2002). However, it has been left to case law to determine how much detail the employee must go into in order to fulfil the step one requirement as neither the EA 2002 nor the Dispute Resolution Regulations stipulate this. The principal cases that have dealt with the issue of resignation letters and SGP's are: Shergold v Fieldway Medical Centre [2006] IRLR 76 and Canary Wharf Management Limited v Edebi [2006] IRLR 416.

It may be sensible to suggest that where an employee's resignation letter mentions a complaint about working conditions, the employee's conduct towards the employee or a reference to a past grievance, the employer should treat it as a grievance and promptly invite the employee to a grievance meeting. Failure to do so could breach the statutory grievance procedure and moreover, increase the likely damages payout if the employee brings a successful claim at Tribunal.