Written Statement of Particulars

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The employer is legally obligated to provide the employee with a written statement of particulars (employment contract) within two months of the employees’ start date. A failure to do so can make the employer liable to pay between two and four weeks wages, at the Employment Tribunals discretion.

See – Employment Rights Act 1996 S.1(1); S.3(1)(a)(aa)(b)(i)(ii)(c.); S.6(a)(b); S.11(1)

See – Employment Act 2002 S.38(4)(a)(b)

Employers Policies and Procedures

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Chances are, your employer’s policies on (i) Bullying & Harassment (ii) Disability Discrimination and (iii) Sex Discrimination (iv) Equalities will not likely be contractually binding. Read through your employer’s policies with a fine tooth comb PRIOR to lodging your written formal grievance letter. You will then know which procedures your employer should follow during the grievance procedure.

I have mentioned throughout this site, that you need to “establish facts” from which the Employment Tribunal could conclude that “on the balance of probabilities” your employer has committed some “act” which amounts to a contravention of a Statutory Act, or Regulation. This makes the employer potentially liable to pay damages. No matter how badly your employer may have treated you, unless it has contravened a Statutory Act or Regulation, your employer will not likely be held liable to pay you compensation.

Employers “breach” of its own policies and procedures

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Your employer’s failure to observe its own policies and procedures, which are contractualy binding, may give rise to a breach of the contract of employment. If you have one years service with your employer, you could lodge a claim with the Employment Tribunal for “constructive dismissal“. However, as previously stated, the average payout for constructive dismissal is circa £13,000.00. In truth, unless you earn mega bucks, you are better off NOT to resign, and where possible, keep your job. Given the current economic climate, I would strongly suggest you attempt to work things out with your employer as amicably as possible.

Employers’ “breach” of a Statutory Act or Regulation:

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Should your employer have failed to observe your statutory rights under the auspices of The Equality Act 2010, you can submit a claim to the Employment Tribunal. However, you still have to place the “burden of proof” firmly upon your employer. This means establishing facts from which the Employment Tribunal could conclude that discrimination, harassment, less favourable treatment or victimisation have occurred. The Employment Tribunal will look at the steps your employer failed to undertake, and what your employer could and should have done. These are important points, as outlined in the cases below.

Employment Case Law:

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In the case of Beadles Group Ltd v Angelica Graham 2003, Ms Angelica Graham was awarded £178,000 by the Employment Tribunal due to the conduct (sex harassment) of her line manager, during her first week at work. The Employer, Beadles Group Ltd., had no written policy on sex discrimination, harassment or equal opportunities, and had failed to provide training, guidance or advice to “ordinary employees” about sex harassment. The Employer was therefore liable. It had failed to take “reasonable and practical steps” to “protect” its employees. Further, it had failed to “prevent” harassment from occurring in the workplace.

In another case, Caniffe v East Riding of Yorkshire Council (2000, IRLR 555, EAT) the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) overruled the Employment Tribunals findings. The EAT held the employer failed to take “reasonable and practicable steps” to “protect” the employee, who had been subjected to sex harassment. The EAT held that the proper approach Tribunals should take when deciding on liability was firstly, to “identify” whether any “preventative steps” had been taken by the employer. Secondly, to consider what “further steps” the employer could have taken, which were “reasonably practicable”.

By reading through your employer’s policies, you will have an understanding as to what steps the employer ought to undertake in following its own procedures. However, your employer’s policies are not a law unto themselves, but will likely take into account statutory law. The above two precedents, demonstrate that an employer who has inadequate policies, or who fails to take reasonable and practicable steps, can be held liable to pay substantial damages.

Employer’s Bullying & Harassment Policy:

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Your employer may have a blanket policy for harassment, which covers all aspects of “harasment”, viz: disability, sex, religious, age, religion, race etc,. Should this be the case with your employer, then its “Harassment Policy” is likely to be inadequate, especially if your grievance relates to sex discrimination or sexual harassment. The European Commission Code of Practice 1991 on “Sex Harassment” stipulates that employers ought to have a seperate policy for “Sex Harassment”.

Look at the wording of your employer’s “Harassment Policy”. You are looking for phrases along the following lines:

“We are committed to maintaining a working environment free from bullying and harassment and one where individuals are treated with dignity and respect.”

“Wherever possible, we will ensure that you and the alleged harasser are not required to work together whilst your complaint is under investigation. The alleged harasser may be suspended whilst any investigation and disciplinary proceedings are underway.”

“It is the impact of the behaviour on the recipient that is important and not the motive or intent behind it.”

In truth, most employers’ policies read well, but act poorly. Employers talk of a commitment to maintaining a working environment free from harassment, where the employee is treated with dignity and respect. In all three cases where I have lodged grievance letters, each employer had failed to maintain its own policies. Further, I was treated with anything but ‘dignity’ or ‘respect’. Instead, I was “victimised” and further “harassed” for having lodged a letter of grievance!

You need to use the wording of your employer’s own policies against it. You want to draw an inference against your employer’s failure to follow its own procedures. So, having lodged a letter of grievance, you will have to run the gauntlet of the grievance procedure to see what skullduggery your employer gets up to. No doubt, given the fact five thousand Employment Tribunal claims are lodged each week, you only need give your employer enough rope to eventually hang itself in the Employment Tribunal!

Employers Health and Safety Policy- The Health & safety At Work Act 1974

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Look for the procedures within your employer’s Health and Safety Policy on: “Occupational Health” – “Risk Assessments” – “Management Standards” – “Stress Management”. These policies should be in line with the wording encompassed within the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974. You want to use the statements contained within your employer’s policies, against it. Look for the following:

“We recognise our ‘duty of care’ to all staff and aim to ‘protect’ them from ‘any risks’ to their ‘health’ and ‘safety’ as far as is reasonably practicable. We will achieve this by ‘identifying’ and ‘assessing the risks’ to which staff are likely to be exposed”.

“We recognise the importance of protecting and promoting the physical and mental health of all our employees, and will establish and maintain arrangements to fulfil this in practice”.

“We will identify and assess the risks to which our staff are likely to be exposed”

In the above statements, the employer has included the minimum statutory legal requirements into its own policies and procedures. It has taken parts of the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974and almalgamated them into its own policies to make them readable to the layperson.

Notwithstanding, the employer must “maintain” its policies and procedures. “Maintaining” the employer’s policies means more than just paying them mere lip service. It means ’embedding’ them into the workforce, by actively ‘promoting’ and ‘implementing’ them downwards through the chain of command to “ordinary employees”. The directorship are responsible for ‘championing’ the employer’s policies and procedures. This is outlined in the Health and Safety Executives guidance notes for directors (HSE INDG 417) which states:

“Strong and ‘active leadership’ from the ‘top’ establishing ‘effective’ downward communication to ‘engage the workforce’ in the ‘promotion’ and achievement of ‘safe and healthy’ working conditions; provide high quality ‘training‘, ‘identify’ and manage ‘health and safety risks’, accessing competent advice, ‘monitoring’ reporting and reviewing performance.”

Sam Stone and his wife Amy are employment consultants with 26 years combined experience. Over the past decade, Sam and Amy have helped thousands of clients with internal employment disputes.

Sam & Amy have created the following new webpages for 2026:

• 20 Hot Tips on how to write a grievance letter.
• Free grievance letter example for ‘work-related stress, bullying, harassment and discrimination’.
• What not to say in a grievance meeting.
• How to win a grievance appeal.
• How to fight and beat a Performance Improvement Plan.
• Covert recordings.
• Pregnancy & Maternity Discrimination.
• Whistleblowing

If you can’t face going through this process alone and would like to discuss your workplace problems with us, reach out to us. Sometimes, just talking through your employment issues can give you a new perspective on what to do, and furthermore, how to go about doing it. We can write your grievance letter for you. We can hold your hand throughout the entire grievance process from beginning to end. We can assist you in avoiding the common mistakes which we see employees make when going through the grievance process with their employer. You don’t have to be alone in this process. Reach out to us on 07775943414 or email us at myrightsuk@protonmail.com

My wife Amy and I have over the past 15 years helped thousands of clients address their grievances with their employers. Please read our testimonials page. Amy & I can assist you in writing a grievance letter for any of the following work-related matters:

We work 7 days a week, 9-5 UK time, because we know all too well that your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon! Go on, pick up the phone and call us! 

• grievance letter for bullying and harassment
• toxic working environment
• grievance letter against a coworker
• constructive unfair dismissal
• work-related stress
• stress at work employee rights UK
• grievance for work-related stress
• Sickness absence meeting
• what not to say to occupational health
• resignation letter
• raise a grievance at work.
• unfair treatment at work
• performance improvement plan
• how to beat a disciplinary hearing
• disciplinary workplace investigation.
• suspended from work
• blow the whistle
• victimisation at work UK
• workplace investigation
• reasonable adjustments equality act 2010.
• pregnancy and maternity discrimination
• sexual harassment in the workplace.
• disability discrimination
• what not to say at a grievance meeting

Visit our testimonials page.

Go on, reach out to us at: myrightsuk@protonmail.com or call during working hours 9-5 on 07775943414.

We charge £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour, and £50 an hour thereafter.