As an employee, you often suppress your emotions when you have a grievance rather than complain for fear of antagonizing their employers or worse, getting fired. But this is a wrong attitude, especially if you have valid reasons to grieve. To approach this issue professionally, you should write a grievance letter.


Grievance Letter Templates












What is a grievance letter?

At some point, it becomes inevitable to encounter a problem at your office. This could come from several situations like unsatisfactory conditions, unfulfilled promises, and more. In such a case, you would have a grievance against your company.

In most instances, employees write a grievance letter if they encounter issues involving company policies, unsafe working conditions, salaries, and so on. Customers can also raise their own grievances if they receive defective products or experience poor service.

A grievance is a formal complaint and you can file such a complaint by composing a formal grievance letter. If you feel you have a valid complaint, there are two ways you can create this letter – either use a template or compose one yourself.

You can use the letter to file a formal, documented complaint. These letters may cover various situations and they depend on the environment you wrote it in. Here are the most common situations where you may consider sending this letter:

  • If you would like to make an official complaint about a certain person or situation.
  • If you feel like people bully you at work.
  • If you feel discriminated against at work.
  • If you feel concerned about your health or safety.
  • If you think there has been a breach in your contract.

Grievance Letter Examples











How to write a grievance letter?

In lieu of a grievance statement or letter, you can also try to solve the issue by having an informal discussion with the person involved. But this isn’t always possible and, in such cases,, it’s better to compose a letter. Here are some of the basic rules to follow when writing this letter:

  • Keep your letter straight to the point. Give sufficient details for the reader to investigate the issue, but avoid providing too many details that you might stray away from the point.
  • Stick with the facts and don’t make allegations that you can’t prove.
  • Never use offensive or abusive language. Disrespecting the recipient of your letter will result in your case getting thrown out.
  • Avoid using emotive language. Instead, explain how the situation made you feel.

It is very important to address your grievance letter to the right person. When writing your own letter, remember that all letters for grievance examples include the following:

  • Your complete name, address, and contact details.
  • Your employer’s complete name and address.
  • The exact time and date of the incident that caused your grievance.
  • The place where the incident happened.
  • The complete names of everyone involved in the incident.
  • The complete names of any witnesses.
  • If your grievance is about a lack of compensation, state how much you think you should receive.
  • If your grievance is about a series of events, write these down chronologically.
  • In cases where you cannot recall the exact times or dates, state a significant event that happened around it.
  • In the case where you’re working for a large organization, state the complete names, job titles, and departments of everyone involved.
  • If you’re in possession of any evidence to back up your grievance, include it in your letter or state that you have such evidence.
  • Mention to your employer for consideration if you believe that you can offer a solution for the grievance. When offering such a solution, keep it reasonable. Remember that you’re trying to resolve the issue.
  • Mention if you’ve already tried to informally solve the problem with the people involved.
  • Sign and date your letter.

Sample Grievance Letters









How to write a grievance letter against your supervisor?

Issues in the workplace have become very common. For instance, your supervisor called you into work late, and yet, you get humiliated or scolded when you make a mistake. This is not fair.

So how would you go about writing a grievance letter about your supervisor’s behavior? Here are a few pointers to guide you when creating your grievance statement:

  • Organize the contents of your letter
    A well-written formal grievance letter that looks professional and neat is more likely noticed. The reader will feel impressed with an organized letter, so much so that it will encourage them continue reading about your grievance.
    If you’re composing a letter about your supervisor’s behavior, make sure that you have your complete name, address, the name of your manager, and a description of the incident that caused you to write the letter.
  • Address your letter to the right person
    It’s recommended that when writing a letter, you should address it to a specific person. That way, you can receive a prompt response. In the case of the misbehaving supervisor, it’s wise to address the letter to someone with a higher rank than your supervisor. The reason for this is to ensure that the appropriate action will occur without favor or fear.
  • Be very polite, respectful, and honest
    Avoid using sarcastic, satiric, insulting or witty language when explaining your grievance as doing this will alienate your reader. This could be a turn-off, resulting in your case getting disregarded. Always maintain a tone of politeness, respect, and honesty.
  • Stick with the facts
    It is important to remain straightforward, yet concise when stating the events related to your complaint. Be as exact as possible with venues, dates, and descriptions. Being very precise and sticking with the facts will add to your credibility and this might even increase the reader’s willingness to help you.

How to respond to a grievance?

The first step a person must take when receiving a grievance letter is to perform a review of the employee’s allegations. It’s recommended that the response to the employment complaint letter be very quick, effective, and fair so that a small issue doesn’t develop into one that would be too difficult to resolve.

The recipient of the letter should investigate all of the sides of the issue during the review and have the willingness to change their initial decision if they receive any new information during the investigation.