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Formal grievance letter to your employer (Great Britain)
England, Scotland and Wales · in English · for employees
€2.00Fill it in online free — pay only to download
11 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in England, Scotland and Wales
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For a worker in England, Wales or Scotland with a problem at work that talking has not solved — treatment by a manager or colleague, workload, pay, bullying, a change imposed without agreement: a formal written grievance under the Acas Code of Practice, saying what happened and what you want, asking for a meeting without unreasonable delay and to bring a colleague or union representative. Acas's Code and guidance are free. Hand it in and email it.
- Made for use in England, Scotland and Wales
- Last updated October 29, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- Your manager in England keeps belittling you in front of colleagues and talking has not helped.
- Your employer has changed your shifts without your agreement and you want to raise it formally.
- You raised a problem informally with HR weeks ago and nothing has changed.
- You want to put a grievance in writing in Wales or Scotland and bring a colleague to the meeting.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Town or city
- Employee's postcode
- Date
- Person at your employer you are writing to, as you would greet them (e.g. Priya Patel)
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (street and number, postcode and town on separate lines)
- What your grievance is about: what happened, when, and who was involved
- What you would like to happen to resolve it
- Anything else you want to add (optional)
Common questions
- How do I raise a formal grievance at work in Great Britain?
- Put it in writing to your manager, or to the person your grievance procedure names; if the grievance is about your manager, send it to someone more senior or to HR. The Acas Code of Practice, free online, expects the employer to hold a meeting without unreasonable delay, let you bring a companion, decide in writing and offer an appeal. Keep a copy, and notes of what happened and when.
- Does raising a grievance stop the employment tribunal time limit?
- No. The time limit for a tribunal claim keeps running while a grievance is dealt with — six months less one day for most claims about acts on or after 1 October 2026. If you may need to claim, start Acas early conciliation in time. A tribunal can increase an award by up to 25% if the employer unreasonably failed to follow the Acas Code, and reduce it if the worker unreasonably failed to.
- Can I bring someone with me to a grievance or disciplinary meeting?
- Yes, if you ask reasonably: a fellow worker, a trade union official or a trained union representative (section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999). The companion may put your case, sum it up and talk to you during the meeting, but not answer questions for you. If they cannot come at the time set, you can propose another time within five working days.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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