Employee Grievance Handling?
Asked by
sa2908 (
4
)
February 27th, 2018
I raised a grievance about the way my promotion was being handled after admitting that I was deserving of a promotion and there being a vacancy as well since 6 months. My boss had given me excuses for delaying my promotion for the third time by giving a reason which I told him was directly in contradiction with the company policy document. He told me that a promotion can only be given in March since it is linked to the appraisal process. The policy document categorically said it wasn’t linked to the appraisal process. He said promotions have to be approved by VP, CHRO and CEO. The document said manager level and below promotions are only approved by Senior GM (not even VP) and that’s it. Seeing dishonesty on his part and also perceiving racial discrimination since he is from the majority nationality in this company, I complained to the head office as per the grievance policy. Following acknowledgement of my grievance email , after a month and half, and that too upon my following up, I was emailed a one-liner by the Senior HR Director for the group saying that a panel looked into my grievance and found no violation of company policy or value. I am not satisfied with this one-liner of a reply and was hoping for a little bit of explanation like clearly at least saying that indeed promotions are only given in March and that they have to be approved by even CHRO and CEO!. How, if at all can I reply to this email? Also, the Senior HR Director who headed the investigation is himself from the majority nationality here. I don’t know if the panel that he says looked into the grievance reflected any diversity. How can I raise this issue and with whom…?
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3 Answers
Do you have a union at your place of work? If so, the shop steward would be the person to approach.
Welcome to Fluther.
Without knowing more specifics of the company policy or the nature of the promotion it’s hard to give advice on those specifics. (For example, your use of the word “promotion” is unclear to me. Do you mean a promotion in title and management status, or what we mean by “a raise”? Because in many American businesses, for example, it’s common to give employees an annual performance review and then an income boost – a raise – at a single time of the year. In that way, even though employees have not received “a promotion” in the sense of a new title and new management responsibilities, they get “a raise” – and it’s common for that to occur in the spring or early summer.) So that’s one part of the response.
In addition to the foregoing, “promotions” – in terms of moving up the corporate ladder and management hierarchy – are not at all automatic, and there’s very little “violation of the procedures manual” when things don’t happen exactly on the schedule that we would like (or even, sometimes, what seems to be almost promised). So I’m back to that question of what “promotion” means to you.
Aside from that, it would not make much difference to me – nor is it a thing that you should expect in most cultures – to have a “diversity” representative in the management review board or other resolution committee.
Unfortunately, pursuing this within the company is not likely to help you. You don’t say what country is involved. If this was the U.S., and you are sure you really want to get into this long, drawn-out, painful process, then I would tell you to file a complaint with the EEOC (The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), especially if you think racism is involved. If it is another country, does that country have an equivalent government agency?
Frankly, I think the best thing for you to do rather than hitting your head against the bureaucracy would be to look for another job at a different company. The signs at your current firm are not very favorable.
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