Grievance Procedure

Purpose
Sapphire aims to ensure that employees with a grievance relating to their employment have access to a fair and effective procedure to resolve concerns promptly and consistently.

Informal Resolution
If an employee has a grievance, they should raise it informally with their senior manager where possible. Many concerns can be resolved at this stage.

Stage 1 – Statement of Grievance
If the matter is not resolved informally, the employee should set out their grievance in writing and submit it to their senior manager.

Stage 2 – Grievance Meeting
The senior manager will acknowledge the grievance and invite the employee to attend a grievance meeting without unreasonable delay. The meeting will normally be arranged with reasonable notice and the employee will be informed of their right to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative.

Employees should take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting. If either party is unable to attend for a valid reason, the meeting will be rearranged. Where an employee’s chosen companion is unavailable, the employee may suggest an alternative reasonable date within five working days of the original meeting date.

Following the meeting, the senior manager will confirm the outcome in writing without unreasonable delay and will inform the employee of their right to appeal.

Stage 3 – Appeal
If the employee is dissatisfied with the outcome, they should submit their grounds of appeal in writing within a reasonable period following receipt of the grievance decision.

An appeal meeting will be arranged without unreasonable delay and, where practicable, will be conducted by a manager who was not involved in the original grievance.

The outcome of the appeal will be confirmed in writing without unreasonable delay. The decision at appeal stage is final.