A glance at the headlines will tell you that the employee’s lot at work is often not a happy one. The Metropolitan Police, McDonald’s and the NHS are just some of the organisations that have recently been in the glare of the media spotlight, amid criticisms of racism, misogyny and bullying behaviours.
Hardly surprising then that, according to a recent XpertHR survey, employee grievances are on the rise. Nearly a third of employers questioned reported an increase in the number of grievances lodged. Bullying or harassment and relationships with managers or colleagues were the most common catalysts, with concerns over pay or grading also featuring heavily.
A worrying amount of these cases fail to be resolved internally and end up in front of an employment tribunal. As a result, we have a tribunal system that is bursting at the seams. Latest figures from the HM Courts & Tribunals Service show that more than 50,000 cases were awaiting a hearing or decision at the end of last year, with complex cases often taking more than two years to get to final judgement.