Employee Relations
The everyday matters that become expensive if they're handled badly.
Small problems escalate because nobody dealt with them small
Almost every serious workplace dispute began as something minor that could have been resolved in a conversation. A supervisor didn't raise it. Two people stopped speaking. A decision was made without explanation. Six months later there's a formal grievance, a divided team, and a matter that will take weeks to resolve.
We help WA employers deal with grievances properly, and, more usefully, reduce how many of them get that far.
You might be dealing with
- A written grievance you need to respond to properly
- A dispute notified under your agreement's dispute resolution procedure
- Conflict between team members affecting the work
- A grievance about a manager, where the usual reporting line doesn't work
- Multiple grievances from the same area
- A grievance raised in response to a management decision
- A matter that's been through your internal process and remains unresolved
- Repeat grievances suggesting something systemic
What's included
- Triage What kind of matter this actually is. A grievance requiring investigation, a dispute requiring the agreement procedure, a relationship requiring mediation, or a management decision requiring explanation. Getting this wrong at the outset wastes weeks.
- Grievance handling Running the process: acknowledgement, scope, enquiry, outcome and communication, documented throughout.
- Agreement dispute procedures Following the steps, levels and timeframes your agreement actually requires. Employers regularly damage a strong position by skipping a step in their own document.
- Independent review Where a grievance concerns a senior person or has already been through an internal process, an external reviewer removes the obvious objection.
- Resolution Practical outcomes that address the substance, not just the paperwork.
- Systemic findings Where a pattern points to a supervisor, a process or a site issue, we say so.
Common questions
Does every grievance need a formal investigation?
No, and treating every one that way is slow and often counterproductive. Many are best resolved through discussion, explanation or mediation. Serious allegations requiring findings are different.
What if the grievance is about the manager who normally handles grievances?
That's a common reason to bring someone external in. A process where the subject of the complaint effectively decides it isn't a process.
How quickly should we respond?
Acknowledge within a couple of days, and give a realistic timeframe for the outcome. Delay is what turns a manageable grievance into a claim.
The employee won't put it in writing.
You can still act on it. An obligation isn't suspended because the complaint was verbal, and insisting on writing before doing anything is often read as a barrier.
Ready to talk?
Tell us what you need and we'll take it from there.
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