Managing Workplace Grievances: Best Practices For Employers In Australia

Even in a healthy, high-performing team, disagreements and complaints can crop up from time to time. What matters is how you handle them.

Managed well, a workplace grievance can be a chance to fix issues early, strengthen trust and reinforce your culture. Managed poorly, it can damage morale, escalate into legal claims, and consume leadership time and energy.

In this guide, we’ll explain what a workplace grievance is, clarify what Australian employers are (and aren’t) legally required to do, set out a practical, fair procedure, and outline the key documents and compliance points to help you manage grievances with confidence.

What Is A Workplace Grievance?

A workplace grievance is any concern or complaint an employee raises about their employment. It can be formal (in writing) or informal (raised in a conversation), and it may be about a single incident or an ongoing problem.

Common themes include:

• Bullying, harassment or discrimination (e.g. comments, exclusion, or conduct based on a protected attribute)
• Pay disputes, rosters, workloads, breaks, or overtime arrangements
• Performance management outcomes, warnings, or promotion decisions
• Health and safety issues (e.g. unsafe equipment or practices)
• Inconsistent or unclear workplace rules and how they’re applied
• Conduct concerns (including behaviour on social media or outside work that affects the workplace)

Grievances can be about real or perceived unfairness. Even if you believe a complaint has no basis, it still deserves a fair, timely response. That’s how you maintain trust and reduce the risk of escalation.

Do You Need A Grievance Policy In Australia?

There’s no blanket law that forces every Australian employer to have a standalone, formal “grievance policy.” However, you are expected to manage complaints fairly and lawfully. Depending on your workplace, you may also be bound by dispute resolution procedures in modern awards or enterprise agreements, and you’ll have obligations under broader employment, work health and safety, and discrimination laws.

In practice, most employers choose to implement a clear grievance procedure because it:

• Builds trust and transparency, so employees understand how to raise concerns
• Promotes consistency and procedural fairness across similar cases
• Helps resolve issues early, before they become bigger (and costlier) problems
• Provides a record of steps taken, which is useful if a complaint later becomes a dispute

If you’re setting up your policies, it’s smart to include a simple grievance process in your handbook alongside other core rules. Many employers choose to include this in their workplace policies or staff handbook so everyone knows the process from day one.

A Practical Procedure For Managing Grievances

Your procedure doesn’t need to be complicated. What matters is that it’s clear, proportionate to the issue, and consistently followed. Here’s a step-by-step framework you can adapt to your business.

1) Acknowledge The Complaint Promptly

Thank the employee for raising the issue. Clarify what they’re concerned about, how serious it is, and what they’re seeking (e.g. an apology, roster change, formal investigation).

Explain your process, confidentiality limits, and approximate timeframes. Prompt acknowledgement alone can ease anxiety and build trust.

2) Decide If Informal Resolution Is Appropriate

Some issues are best resolved quickly and informally (e.g. a misunderstanding between colleagues). In those cases, consider a facilitated discussion or mediation.

If the allegation involves serious misconduct, discrimination, bullying, safety risks or a pattern of behaviour, move to a formal process. Don’t try to “sort it out quietly” if that would be unsafe or unfair.

3) Plan A Fair, Proportionate Investigation

For formal matters, set out what will be investigated, who will be interviewed, and what documents you’ll review. Choose an investigator who’s impartial and has no conflict of interest. In more complex matters, consider external support (HR specialists or legal counsel) to keep the process objective.

If the concerns raised suggest work may be unsafe or the parties cannot work together temporarily, consider interim measures such as changing rosters or a short suspension on pay while you investigate. For guidance on when temporary removal from the workplace is appropriate, see options like suspending an employee pending investigation.

4) Give Each Party A Fair Go (Procedural Fairness)

Share the allegations (and enough detail) with the person responding, allow them reasonable time to reply, and consider their account before you decide what happened. Offer a support person for interviews where appropriate.

Keep records of what you asked, what was said, and what evidence you relied on. This is critical if decisions are later reviewed under unfair dismissal principles such as those in section 387 of the Fair Work Act.

5) Decide On Outcomes And Communicate Clearly

Once you’ve considered the evidence, make an outcome decision that’s fair and proportionate. This could include training or coaching, changes to rosters or supervision, mediation, warnings, or in serious cases, termination.

Communicate your findings to the complainant (respecting privacy), explain the outcome, and outline any review or appeal options. Provide support and set expectations for behaviour going forward.

6) Follow Up And Monitor

Check in with the parties after the outcome to ensure the solution is working and there’s no backlash. Monitor the team environment and address any further concerns quickly.

Finally, reflect on lessons learned. Do your policies need updating? Do managers need extra training? Continuous improvement is part of a healthy culture.

Legal Risks And Compliance To Keep In Mind

Grievances aren’t “just internal.” How you handle them can have legal consequences. Keep these risk areas front of mind as you design and run your process.

Adverse Action And General Protections

Employees are protected when they exercise workplace rights (for example, making a complaint). Taking adverse action (like demotion or termination) because someone raised a grievance can lead to general protections claims. Maintain a clear separation between the fact of a complaint and any performance or conduct issues you address, and document your reasoning.

Unfair Dismissal Risk

If a grievance process results in termination, tribunals will look closely at fairness. Providing notice of allegations, a chance to respond, and a proportionate decision are key elements considered under section 387. Consistent process and good records can make the difference if a decision is challenged.

Work Health And Safety (WHS)

Employers have a duty to provide a safe workplace, including managing psychological risks. Bullying, harassment or repeated unreasonable behaviour can create health and safety hazards. Act promptly and take reasonable steps to prevent harm. Our overview of an employer’s duty of care highlights why proactive action matters.

Privacy And Confidentiality

Keep grievance details as confidential as reasonably possible. Limit access to information to those who need it for the investigation or resolution. If you access work systems (like email) as part of an investigation, ensure your approach aligns with your policies and Australian law. For more context on boundaries in this area, see employer access to employee emails.

Consistency And Non-Discrimination

Apply your process consistently across similar situations. Inconsistent treatment can suggest bias or unlawful discrimination. Where modern awards or enterprise agreements include dispute resolution procedures, make sure you follow those steps in the right order and within any set timeframes.

Record-Keeping

Document complaints, interviews, evidence, decisions and reasons. Good records help you explain and defend your process if a dispute arises, and they make it easier to spot patterns and improve your culture.

What To Include In Your Policy And Documents

A short, clear grievance policy can sit inside your broader workplace rules and set expectations for everyone. Tailor it to your size, industry, and team. As a guide, consider including:

• Purpose and scope: Who the process applies to (employees, contractors, volunteers) and what a grievance covers.
• How to raise a concern: Acceptable channels (e.g. direct manager, HR inbox), whether verbal or written complaints are accepted, and how to submit them.
• Timeframes: When the complaint will be acknowledged and the expected investigation/response timeframe.
• Informal vs formal pathways: When you’ll use quick resolution or mediation, and when you’ll run a formal investigation.
• Investigation process: Who may investigate, how interviews and evidence are handled, and the principles of procedural fairness.
• Confidentiality and privacy: How information is used and who will see it.
• Support and protection: Access to a support person, EAP (if available), and assurance there’ll be no retaliation for complaints made in good faith.
• Outcomes and review: Types of outcomes available and whether there’s an appeal or review step.
• Record-keeping: How you’ll store documents and for how long.

Alongside the policy itself, these documents help you manage grievances smoothly and lawfully:

• Workplace Policy: A tailored set of rules (including your grievance process) that sets standards for behaviour and procedures.
• Staff Handbook: A practical home for your grievance policy, code of conduct, anti-bullying and harassment rules, and reporting channels.
• Employment Contract: Can reference your policies and set expectations about conduct, confidentiality and cooperation with investigations.
• Privacy Policy: Explains how you collect, use and store personal information gathered during investigations.
• Performance Management Process: Clear steps for managing conduct and capability issues that may arise from a grievance.
• Termination Documents: Templates and guidance to help ensure any termination follows a fair, documented process.

Keep policies up to date, train managers on the process, and make documents easy for staff to access (in your intranet or onboarding pack).

Why Tailoring Matters

Every workplace is different. A policy borrowed from another business may not reflect your size, risks, or award and agreement coverage. Tailoring your procedure and documents ensures they’re practical for your context and align with your other workplace rules.

Where Does The Grievance Policy Sit?

Many employers house their grievance process within a broader handbook. This helps you keep connected policies (like anti-bullying and harassment, WHS, equal opportunity and social media) in one place. If you’re building your set from scratch, start with your core workplace policy and staff handbook and layer in procedures your team will actually use.

Key Takeaways

• A workplace grievance is any concern or complaint raised by an employee about their job, treatment or work conditions, and it deserves a fair, timely response.
• There’s no one-size-fits-all legal requirement to have a standalone grievance policy, but you must handle complaints lawfully and fairly; awards and agreements may set specific steps.
• A simple procedure - acknowledge, assess, investigate fairly, decide, communicate and follow up - will help you resolve issues early and consistently.
• Key risk areas include general protections, unfair dismissal, WHS duties, privacy/confidentiality and record-keeping; apply your process consistently and keep good notes.
• Put your process in writing and support it with practical documents like a Workplace Policy, Staff Handbook, Employment Contract, Privacy Policy and performance or termination templates.
• Train managers, review your policies regularly, and tailor your approach to your team and industry so your procedure is both compliant and workable.

If you’d like help drafting or refreshing a grievance procedure and related workplace policies for your business, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.