A grievance is a complaint or concern raised by an employee regarding the conduct of his employer or a colleague, a condition of employment or any other issue regarding the employee’s employment.

An employee’s written statement of terms and conditions of employment must refer to a person to whom the individual can raise a grievance.  It is best practice for this simply to refer the employee to a non-contractual grievance procedure, under which employees can raise grievances, setting out how the grievance can be raised.  Since 1 October 2004, it is a legal requirement for such procedures to be in place, and for these to comply with the Statutory Grievance Procedure as a minimum.