Personal Grievance's

If you’ve been treated unfairly by your employer through an unjustified dismissal, facing harassment at work or have been discriminated against then you may want to consider taking action via a Personal Grievance. This is a legal means to address these and other issues in the workplace that holds your employer accountable.

Essentially a personal grievance is a formal complaint you can make against a current or former employer when an employment-related issue can not not be resolved informally. These issues can range from wrongful termination, discrimination based on gender or political beliefs, sexual or racial harassment etc. The personal grievance process is designed to promote good faith in employment relationships and encourage open dialogue before they need to be escalated. All personal grievances need to be handled with care as any missteps can undermine your claim. 

There are several types of categories of personal grievances that you can make against your employer:

• Unjustified Dismissal: This is the most common and occurs when an employee believes that their termination was done using an unfair process or for an unfair reason. 

• Unjustified Disadvantage: This is applied when the actions of your employer cause an employee to be demoted, have their hours reduced or be constructively dismissed. Constructive dismissal is when the employee believes they have no other choice but to resign because of their working environment.

• Discrimination: This is where the employee has been treated in an unfair manner because of their sex, race, disability or political belief, which violates the Human Rights Act 1993 in an employment context. 

• Sexual or Racial Harassment: When an employee faces unwelcome, offensive and hurtful behaviour that is serious enough to harm their employment, job performance, job satisfaction, and  which is persistent. 

• Duress or Unjustifiable Pressure: When an employer pushes the employee into resigning or agreeing to  unfavourable terms in their employment contracts. 

How to Raise a Personal Grievance

To raise a Personal Grievance it’s important that you follow these steps:

• Document Everything: Ensure that you keep detailed records of any incident, communications such as emails, text messages in person interactions. If possible get witness statements if people are willing as well as recent performance reviews. 

• Raise the Incident with Your Employer: Notify your employer in writing, preferably email as this will be time stamped, within the required timeframe. Clearly outline the facts, the type of grievance being lodged and the remedy that you are seeking. This will then cause the employer to fulfill their duty and investigate the situation promptly. 

• Engage in Good Faith Discussions: Your employer will have 90 days to respond and attempt to resolve the situation you have presented them with. Ensure that you participate in meetings and ensure you have a support person or advisor as is your right in any meeting. 

• Seek Mediation if Needed: If talks with your employer fail, you can apply for free mediation through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). A neutral party will then facilitate negotiations which will often lead to a resolution. This is true in about 80% of the cases. 

• Escalate to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA): If mediation fails your last resort will be to take the case to the ERA. This needs to be done within three months of raising the issue with your employer. The ERA will investigate, hold a hearing and can also award the employee for damages like lost wages or humiliation. This can range from $10,000 - $30,000 depending on the severity. Appeals can also be made to the ERA. 

Timing is an important factor when dealing with a personal grievance. The ERA imposes a strict 90-day window to raise the issue with your current or former employer from either:

• The date of the grievance (eg the harassment or dismissal notice)

• The last day of employment, if you were forced to leave because of the incident 

This period can only be extended in exceptional circumstances such as serious illness or if your employer is being misleading. This is very rare so make sure you get an application through as soon as possible. If the deadline is missed the entire claim can be dismissed, so ensure you act quickly. 

Once raise you will have 12 months from the grievance date to apply to ERA, but as mentioned above mediation must precede this as part of the efforts made to find a resolution before it goes to the ERA. 

Recently some changes were made that saw the introduction of an income threshold under the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. Employees who earn over $180,000 annually will no longer be able to pursue an unjustified dismissal personal grievance. They will still be able to pursue claims for discrimination and harassment etc. The reason behind the reform was to allow balance and flexibility for employers whilst protecting lower-wage workers. 

Personal grievances can be tricky to get right so if you find yourself in a situation where you think you might need some help get in touch with Coromandel Workers Council for some free advice to see how we might be able to assist you. 

Visit our website www.cwc.org.nz/contact-us