Send a clear written chase to HR today, set a deadline for a response, and ask for the grievance to be progressed to the next stage under the employer’s policy. If nothing is done, the situation usually drifts, evidence goes stale, and the employer treats the silence as acceptance. Keep everything in writing, keep working normally where safe, and start preparing for early conciliation if the delay continues. If pay is being affected or the issue is urgent, treat it as an escalation point rather than waiting for an open-ended reply.
What the problem is
An employer ignoring a grievance is a common workplace problem in the UK where a formal complaint is submitted but no meaningful action follows. It often shows up after a manager has acknowledged receipt, after HR has said someone will “come back”, or after a meeting has been promised but never booked. It can affect employees in any sector, but it tends to surface in busy organisations with central HR teams, outsourced HR, or multiple sites where responsibility is unclear.
This usually appears after the employee has already tried to resolve the issue informally and has moved to a formal grievance because the problem is ongoing. It can also happen after a partial response, such as a short email that does not address the points raised, or after an initial meeting where no outcome letter arrives. The practical difficulty is that the employee is left stuck between continuing to work under the same conditions and not knowing whether the complaint is being taken seriously.
Why this happens
Delays often come from internal handovers, sickness cover, restructures, or managers avoiding a difficult conversation. Some employers treat grievances as a risk-management exercise and prioritise cases only when they think there is a deadline or external pressure. Where the grievance involves a senior person, there can be reluctance to appoint an independent manager, which slows everything down.
Another common driver is that the employer wants to see whether the employee will drop the issue, resign, or accept a quiet compromise. If the grievance is tied to performance management, absence, or a dispute about pay, the employer may keep the grievance “parked” while progressing other processes that suit them. A typical organisational response pattern is that HR acknowledges the grievance quickly but then goes quiet until chased repeatedly.
Silence can also be caused by the grievance being treated as “not a grievance” because it was sent to the wrong inbox, raised verbally, or mixed with other issues like a flexible working request. Even when that is the case, the practical effect is the same: no timetable, no decision-maker, and no written outcome to rely on.
Your rights in practice
In UK workplaces, the strongest leverage usually comes from being reasonable, being specific, and creating a clear paper trail that shows the employer was given a fair chance to deal with the grievance. Employers are expected to handle grievances without unreasonable delay, and most have a written policy that sets out stages such as acknowledgement, meeting, outcome, and appeal. When the employer does not follow its own process, it can weaken their position later if the dispute escalates.
What tends to work is a short, factual chase that refers to the date the grievance was submitted, asks who is handling it, and requests a meeting date or outcome letter by a set deadline. If the grievance relates to discrimination, bullying, health and safety, or pay being withheld, the practical position improves when the employer is told plainly that the delay is causing ongoing harm and that escalation will follow if there is no response.
It also helps to separate the grievance process from day-to-day working arrangements. Continuing to do the job as normal (where safe) avoids giving the employer an excuse to reframe the issue as misconduct or poor performance. If the workplace situation is unsafe or the grievance concerns harassment, the practical focus shifts to interim measures, such as a change of reporting line, temporary location change, or agreed communication boundaries, while the grievance is processed.
Official basis in UK
The main official framework used in UK workplaces is the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. In practice, it sets the expectation that grievances should be raised in writing, discussed at a meeting, decided with a written outcome, and offered an appeal, with steps taken without unreasonable delay. When an employer ignores a grievance, pointing to the ACAS approach can be an effective way to bring the process back on track because HR teams and managers recognise it as the standard they may later be judged against.
ACAS also links the grievance process to early conciliation and tribunal steps, which is why employers often respond once they realise the employee is keeping records and following the expected route. The ACAS overview of how grievances should be handled is here: GOV.UK guidance.
Evidence that matters
Evidence is less about proving every detail immediately and more about showing a clear timeline: what was raised, when it was raised, and what the employer did or did not do. The most useful material is usually written communications, meeting notes, and documents that show impact, such as rota changes, pay changes, targets, or altered duties. If the grievance is about behaviour, contemporaneous notes are often more persuasive than a long retrospective account written months later.
Keep copies outside work systems where possible, but do not remove confidential documents that are not needed for the grievance. If the employer uses a portal, screenshot submission confirmations and any “case number” references. Where conversations happen verbally, follow up with a short email confirming what was said and what was agreed, keeping the tone neutral.
Checklist to gather now:
- The original grievance submission and any acknowledgement
- A dated timeline of key events and chasers
- Relevant payslips, rotas, or policy extracts relied on
- Notes of meetings or calls, including who attended
Three common mistakes:
- Sending repeated long emails that add new allegations each time, making the grievance harder to allocate and answer
- Relying on verbal assurances without confirming them in writing
- Threatening resignation or legal action in the first chase, which can make the employer defensive and slow down practical progress
One thing not to do yet is to submit a resignation “to make a point” before the employer has been given a clear, timed opportunity to respond in writing.
What to do next
Send a chase
Send a short email to HR (and the named manager if the policy says so) with the subject line “Formal grievance – request to progress”. State the date the grievance was submitted, attach it again, and ask who is appointed to hear it. Give a reasonable deadline for a response confirming the next step, such as a meeting date or an outcome timescale.
Use the policy
Check the employer’s grievance policy for the normal stages and who hears an appeal. If the policy gives timeframes, refer to them; if it does not, ask for a timetable in writing. If the grievance was sent to a manager who is part of the complaint, ask for it to be reassigned to someone independent.
Protect your position
Keep working normally where safe and keep communications factual. If the grievance relates to pay not being received, treat that as a separate urgent issue and follow the employer’s payroll escalation route at the same time; where wages are missing or short, the practical steps in EMPLOYER UNPAID WAGES can help decide whether to chase payroll, raise a formal pay dispute, or escalate externally.
Ask for interim steps
If the grievance concerns bullying, harassment, or a breakdown in working relationships, ask for interim measures while the grievance is pending. Keep the request specific, such as “temporary reporting line change” or “no one-to-one meetings without a note-taker”, and ask for confirmation in writing. Interim steps are often agreed faster than a full grievance outcome because they reduce immediate risk.
Escalate formally
If there is no meaningful response by the deadline set in the chase, escalate using the employer’s official complaints process only. That usually means writing to the next level of management or HR lead named in the policy, attaching the grievance and the chaser, and stating that the grievance has not been progressed. Prepare the key information before sending: the grievance date, the points raised, what outcome is sought, and the dates of chasers.
Checklist before escalating:
- Grievance document and any attachments
- Dates of all chasers and any replies
- The outcome being requested (practical and specific)
- Any urgent interim measure request
The normal response timeframe for an acknowledgement is within a few working days, with a meeting often arranged within a couple of weeks depending on availability. If there is still no response after the formal escalation, the next escalation is to start ACAS Early Conciliation online and notify the employer in writing that early conciliation has been initiated because the grievance process has stalled. In UK cases, the issue is usually resolved once a named decision-maker is appointed and a dated meeting is booked.
A typical real UK outcome is that the employer eventually issues a brief outcome letter and offers an appeal once the employee keeps chasing on a clear timetable.
Related issues on this site
If the grievance delay is happening alongside unstable hours, sudden shift cancellations, or pressure to accept work at short notice, it can help to check how the contract type affects leverage and what can be challenged as unfair treatment; the practical examples in Zero-hours contract rights are most relevant when the employer uses hours as a way to manage complaints. If the dispute has turned into a demand to agree a repayment arrangement or accept deductions to “resolve” matters, the decision points in payment plan breakdown situations can become relevant when deciding whether to accept a quick deal or insist on a proper written outcome.
FAQ
Chasing email wording
Chasing email wording for an ignored grievance works best when it states the submission date, asks who is handling it, and sets a deadline for the next step.
Meeting not arranged
Meeting not arranged after a grievance is usually handled by asking for a named manager, a proposed date range, and confirmation of the process stage in writing.
Appeal without outcome
Appeal without outcome letter is difficult because there is nothing to appeal, so the request should be for a written decision first and then the appeal route.
Early conciliation timing
Early conciliation timing for a stalled grievance is normally triggered when the employer misses a clear deadline and the issue is not moving despite formal chasers.
Before you move on
Save a clean timeline, send one firm chase with a deadline, and decide now what escalation point will trigger early conciliation so the process does not drift. The pressure dynamic is often time pressure created by silence, where the employee is pushed to accept quickly just to get any response.
Get help with the next step
Contact UKFixGuide — If the grievance has been ignored past your stated deadline, share the dates and the employer’s policy stage so the next escalation can be set out clearly.
