Grievance policy template
Most complaints are small and die quietly for want of anywhere to put them. This sets out where a concern goes, how long each step takes, and what happens when the person it is about is the person it would normally go to.
| Section | What the policy says |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To give everybody a clear way to raise a concern about work, and to say what happens after they do. |
| Who can use it | Any employee, casual, apprentice, trainee, contractor or volunteer working here. |
| What it covers | Anything about the work or the workplace: rosters and hours, pay, how somebody has been treated, safety, equipment, or a decision that seems unfair. Bullying, harassment and discrimination have their own policies, and a report under any of those is handled under this one as well. |
| Step 1, raise it directly | Where it is safe and sensible, speak to the person involved first. Many things end here. You are never required to do this before using step 2. |
| Step 2, tell a manager | Tell the manager on duty, in person or in writing. They will talk it through with you and either resolve it or pass it on with your knowledge. |
| Step 3, the owner | If it is unresolved, or if it concerns the manager, take it to the owner. Put it in writing if you can. |
| When the owner is the problem | If the concern is about the owner, you can raise it with the Fair Work Ombudsman, your union, or a lawyer, and nothing here requires you to go to the owner first. |
| Timeframes | Acknowledged within two working days. A decision within ten working days, or a written explanation of what is taking longer and when to expect an answer. |
| A support person | You can bring a support person to any meeting about your concern, including a colleague, a family member or a union representative. |
| How it is looked into | We will talk to the people involved, look at anything written down such as rosters, timesheets and messages, and decide on what we find. Where the concern is about another person, they will be told what is alleged and given a chance to respond. |
| Confidentiality | Shared only with the people who need it to deal with the concern. |
| No victimisation | Nobody will be treated badly for raising a concern in good faith, or for taking part in looking into one. |
| Outside this business | Nothing here stops you contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission, your state or territory work health and safety regulator, an anti-discrimination body or your union at any point. |
| Records | A short written note of what was raised, what was decided and when. Kept separately from personnel files unless the outcome affects somebody’s employment. |
| Review date | Reviewed each year in March. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Harbourside Coffee.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Put real timeframes in and then meet them. A policy that promises ten days and takes six weeks is worse than one that promises nothing.
- Name the route for when the owner is the subject, because in a small business that is the case that needs it most.
- Check the dispute resolution clause in the award or agreement that covers your staff, since it may set its own steps.
- Say a support person is welcome. It costs nothing and it changes how a meeting goes.
Common mistakes
- A single chain of command that ends at the person being complained about
- Requiring somebody to raise it with the other person first, which is unworkable when they are frightened
- Looking into a complaint and never telling the person who made it what the outcome was
What changes by trade
The law behind this document is the same wherever you trade, so the wording above is written once. What changes is what the trade puts in front of it.
| Cafes and restaurants | The chef and the owner are often the same two people a floor complaint would go to. Name a third route, even if it is the Fair Work Ombudsman. rostering a restaurant |
| Retail | Multi site businesses should say whether a concern goes to the store manager or over their head to the area manager, and when each applies. rostering across stores |
| Disability and home care | A worker’s complaint and a participant’s complaint are different processes with different obligations. Say which is which and do not run them together. rostering a care service |
| Security | When the complaint is about conditions on a client site, the client is not the decision maker. Say that it comes to you and that you take it up with them. rostering a security business |
| Childcare | Some matters have to be notified to the regulator regardless of how the internal process goes. Say which sit outside this policy so nobody waits on a grievance outcome. rostering an early learning service |
| Cleaning | Staff rarely see a manager in person. Say that a concern can be raised by message or phone call and will be acknowledged the same way. rostering a cleaning run |
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
A good share of grievances are about hours: who got the shifts, who was cut, and what was promised. Roster Flow keeps the published version of every week and every change made after it, so those ones are settled with a record instead of two memories.
Questions
What is on the grievance policy template?
15 sections down the side, running from purpose to review date. The example beside them is filled in for Harbourside Coffee: a complaint route with steps, timeframes and somebody to go to when the first person is the problem.
Does the grievance policy template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 15 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the grievance policy template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open grievance-policy.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with grievance-policy.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the grievance policy template ready to use as it is?
The grievance policy template is a starting point for Harbourside Coffee or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.