If issues arise at work, it can be difficult to know how to deal with them. As a starting point, lots of issues can, and should be resolved informally.
If informal resolution isn’t an option, your business must have formal grievance procedures in place for employees. As the formal process by which an individual raises a complaint against the business or a colleague, a grievance procedure is the mirror of a disciplinary procedure. Not having a clear formal procedure in place can expose your business to costly legal claims, inconsistent management and unfair workplace practices.
Every employee must be given a written statement (often as part of their contract) that includes information on how to raise a grievance. Workers have fewer procedural rights than employees, but most businesses extend their full grievance policy to workers anyway.
For the genuinely self-employed, there is no legal right to a grievance procedure and their process is usually dictated by a dispute resolution clause in their service contract.
Acas defines a grievance procedure as a formal way for an employee to raise a complaint to their employer. This procedure must be consistent for all employees, regardless of the size of your business but it can be adjusted to account for management structures. This written procedure should follow the Acas Code, promote fairness and transparency and be easy for your employees to access.
To find detailed guidance on formal grievance procedures, visit the Acas website. This will take you through all the relevant steps, including:
The 2024 Looking Glass Survey reported that over half of individuals who experienced bullying, harassment and discrimination in those past 12 months when surveyed did not report it to anyone at work or an official authority.
Similarly, in Bectu’s 2025 Big Survey report, only 55% who experienced these behaviours reported the incident to their employer. Bectu’s further reported that only 12% of the individuals who reported an incident were satisfied with the response.
These statistics signal an ongoing systemic issue with open and accountable reporting mechanisms in the screen sector and highlight the need for businesses to provide robust mechanisms for responding to concerns.
Just like in every other industry, your business will deal with issues and concerns at work. When issues and concerns are raised, it is important to have consistent processes that ensure compliance and support a healthy workplace culture.
If a grievance is mishandled or even ignored, the consequences can escalate rapidly from a localised dispute (perhaps on set) to serious financial and reputational crisis. Beyond the immediate risk to your production culture and sunken morale, an employee could claim “constructive unfair dismissal”, arguing that your failure to address their concerns breached the fundamental "duty of trust and confidence." For more information on the implied duty of trust and confidence, please see our Article: Duty of Care: Employment in the Screen Sector.
Since recent ERA 2025 reforms, this is a risky path for businesses as the removal of the compensation cap means a botched grievance could result in a very high payout. And worse, if a tribunal finds that you bypassed the Acas Code of Practice, it can apply an extra 25% to that already uncapped award.