Who should initially handle an employee grievance?

Many grievance procedures call for the immediate superior to be the first to whom the complaint is made.

Union. This is the usual course in a unionized situation, where the employee may or may not have a union steward present at the time.

Nonunion. Nonunion procedures also favor taking the problem to the immediate superior first. The employee, however, may be more reluctant to do so in the nonunion company where the employee must face the superior alone. Particularly if the complaint deals with the superior himself, the employee, rightly or wrongly, may expect he would receive something less than an impartial hearing.

Some nonunion procedures offer the subordinate the alternative of presenting a complaint initially to some company person outside the usual chain of command --possibly the manager's manager or a human resources representative.

Case for immediate superior. Reasons for designating the immediate superior as the first step in the grievance procedure include:

• The superior may be able to immediately solve the problem.
• Chances for this might increase if the superior has been trained in effective ways to deal with employee complaints. This would include a good understanding of company rules and policies as well as training in counseling and other communication techniques.
• Bypassing the superior could undermine his or her authority in a way that could weaken the management structure.

The immediate superior should attempt to resolve the problem in a nonjudgmental manner that values alleviating or explaining the need for the complained-of situation without excuses or blame. The superior will need to operate within fixed boundaries determined by:

• any applicable bargaining agreement terms;
• management policies;
• how similar cases were handled in the past.