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Formal grievance letter to your employer (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland · in English · for employees
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11 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in Northern Ireland
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For a worker in Northern Ireland 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 Labour Relations Agency's 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. The LRA's Code and helpline are free. Hand it in and email it.
- Made for use in Northern Ireland
- 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.
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When to use this document
- Your manager in Northern Ireland belittles you in front of colleagues and talking has not helped.
- You have been given far more work without agreement and without any change in pay.
- A colleague has been bullying you for months and you want your employer to deal with it formally.
- You want to put a formal grievance to your employer in writing.
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 Northern Ireland?
- 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 Labour Relations Agency's Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, free online, expects the employer to hold a meeting without unreasonable delay, let you bring a companion, decide in writing and offer an appeal. The LRA's helpline gives free, confidential advice. Keep a copy, and notes of what happened and when.
- Does raising a grievance in Northern Ireland stop the industrial tribunal time limit?
- No. The time limit for an industrial tribunal claim — three months for most claims — keeps running while a grievance is dealt with; since the statutory grievance procedures were repealed on 3 April 2011, a grievance no longer extends it. If you may need to claim, notify the Labour Relations Agency for early conciliation in time. A tribunal can adjust an award where either side unreasonably failed to follow the LRA Code.
- Who can I bring to a grievance or disciplinary meeting in Northern Ireland?
- If you ask reasonably: a fellow worker, a trade union official or a trained union representative (Article 12 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 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 reasonable time. You must not be treated worse for asking to be accompanied.
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
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