AC3.2 Analyse the key cause of employee grievances
Topic: Analysing the factors contributing to employee grievances and distinguishing between individual and collective grievances.
Guideline:
In this question, learners are tasked with understanding the causes of employee grievances, both individual and collective. Learners should be informed about the prerequisites for education and training managers to use the complaint and dispute resolution process. This forms an important part of the course, demonstrating important skills which may include abilities such as good listening and good communication skills. Therefore, they are required to address the following area:
- Define grievance.
- Discuss individual and collective grievances to bring out their distinctions.
- Analyse the common causes of grievances.
- Give examples
- Provide evidence and references.
Definition of Grievance:
Learners are required to start by defining what constitutes a grievance in the workplace, emphasising that it represents a complaint or dissatisfaction.
Individual Grievances and Collective Grievances:
- Learners should analyse the causes of individual grievances, which include poor management, lack of flexibility, unequal treatment, unfair rules, workload issues, working conditions, grading disputes, interpretation of collective agreements, and incidents of bullying and harassment.
- They should also distinguish collective grievances from individual ones, highlighting that they involve issues affecting a group of employees or the workforce as a whole. These may include disputes over pay, working conditions, and collective bargaining rights.
Common Causes:
Learners should recognize that poor management practices can often lead to both individual and collective grievances. Among the common triggers that learners can discuss include poor communication, favouritism, and lack of transparency. This comprehensive approach helps the learners to identify, resolve and prevent complaints, hence developing a better understanding of how to deal with problems at the workplace.
Real-Life Example:
Among the individual grievance that learners can discuss may stem from an employee’s dissatisfaction with their workload, feeling overburdened, and seeking a resolution from people professionals. A collective grievance example that learners can use could involve a group of employees raising concerns about unequal pay for the same job role.
Sources of Evidence:
Learners can utilize academic research on employee grievances and industrial relations as primary sources of evidence. They can also refer to case studies and HR-related blogs that provide real-world examples of grievances and their causes. Among the reliable sources that learners can use include:
- ACAS, (2023) Discipline and grievances at work. Available from https://www.acas.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-04/discipline-and-grievances-at-work-the-acas-guide.pdf
- Suff, R. (2023) Discipline and grievances at work. Available from https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/discipline-factsheet/
Must Read:
5HR01 Employment Relationship Management Assignment Guideline Task One
