---
title: Grievances, disputes and cases
canonical_url: https://hrhive.co.uk/product/disputes-and-grievances/
content_type: product
summary: HRHive records a grievance, complaint or concern as a case with an owner, a next action and a date. Notes and evidence stay with it, and only the right people can see it. It records the process. It does not give legal advice, run mediation or manage a tribunal claim.
audiences:
  - employer
  - hr_consultant
  - manager
topic: disputes-and-tribunals
jurisdiction: uk
status: published
last_updated: 2026-10-06
---

# Grievances and disputes, recorded fairly and kept confidential

> HRHive records a grievance, complaint or concern as a case with an owner, a next action and a date. Notes and evidence stay with it, and only the right people can see it. It records the process. It does not give legal advice, run mediation or manage a tribunal claim.

## What problem does this solve?

Most employers deal with a grievance rarely, and when one arrives it is already tense. The first message goes to whoever the employee trusts. Notes end up in a notebook or an inbox. The person it is about hears of it before anyone has decided who should handle it. Weeks later, nobody can say what was said, who knew, or what happened next.

Those records matter. They show how the matter was handled, and they may be needed if it goes further, to an Acas conversation or an employment tribunal. They are also among the most sensitive records you hold. Very few people should see them, and never the people they are about.

## What HRHive does

- Records a grievance, complaint, whistleblowing concern or other matter as a case. There are nine case types, and employees can raise six of them from their portal. For incidents and accidents, see [Incidents and cases](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/incidents/).
- Gives each case an owner, a priority, a next action with a date, and a status that moves from submitted through acknowledged, under review, awaiting meeting and outcome issued to closed. A case that passes its next action date is flagged as overdue.
- Decides who can see it from the start. A grievance opens as HR only, a whistleblowing concern is limited to named people, and anyone named in a case cannot manage it, even if their role would normally allow it.
- Acknowledges an employee who raises a concern in their portal, and lets them follow the status, the notes shared with them and the outcome.
- Keeps notes, meeting records and evidence files on the case, each marked internal or shared. Entries cannot be edited or removed. Creating or viewing a confidential case is recorded in the audit log.
- Keeps the rest of the paper trail beside it: the contract, the policies and each person's acknowledgement of receipt, and the personnel file.
- Prints it. The case, the register of cases and the personnel file all print, so the file is ready when someone asks.

> **What HRHive does not do**
>
> HRHive tracks the process. It does not make legal decisions for you.
>
> - It does not give legal advice, or tell you whether a grievance is justified.
> - It does not file, run or manage an employment tribunal claim, and it does not connect to Acas.
> - It does not run mediation.
> - It does not write letters or run hearings or appeals. You write those yourself and add them to the case as evidence.
> - It does not decide an outcome. A person writes it, on the case.
> - It does not prepare or sign settlement agreements. You can upload one as a document.

## How it works

1. **A concern is raised.** An employee raises it from their portal, using the built-in Grievance form. It asks what happened, who is involved, whether they have tried to sort it out informally and what outcome they want. Or someone with the owner, admin or HR role chooses Record a case and enters it themselves.
2. **HRHive sets the basics.** The case gets a reference such as GRV-0007, a default owner who is not someone you have named in it, and a confidentiality level. An employee who raised it in their portal is sent an acknowledgement.
3. **The owner works the case.** Set the next action and the date it is due, move the status along, and add notes, meeting records and evidence. Mark each entry internal, or share it with the person who raised the case.
4. **Record the outcome.** The owner writes down what was decided and any actions agreed, then closes the case. HRHive asks for an outcome before a case can be closed, but it does not suggest one.
5. **Keep it, or hold it.** A closed case is kept under the retention schedule for case records. If a claim is possible, place a legal hold on the person's records, so they are not destroyed while it may be needed.

> **Name the people the case is about**
>
> HRHive can only keep out the people it has been told about. When you record a case, add them under About. They can then never open it, own it or join its access list, even if they are a manager or in HR. When an employee raises a grievance in their portal, the people they mention are written into the details as text, and the case goes to the default case owner. Check who is named and who owns it. If it is someone with access, set the case to Restricted and choose a case owner who is not named.

## What you see

Open **Cases** in the main menu to see the cases you can access: open, closed or all. Each row shows the reference, the subject and the people it is about, the owner, the next action date and the status. A padlock marks a confidential case, and a next action date in red means it is overdue. Open a case to see its details and outcome, a timeline of everything added to it, and its status, priority, owner and next action, the people recorded against it and who can see it.

**GRV-0007** — Grievance: Concern about how site work is allocated [Under review, HR only]

- Case owner: Sarah Morgan
- Priority: Normal
- Next action: Hold grievance meeting
- Due: 12 October 2026
- Who can see it: HR only. No one has been added by name.
- Named in the case: Hannah Doyle. Anyone named here can never open the case, even if they are a manager or in HR.

Timeline:
- 28 Sep 2026: Submitted
- 29 Sep 2026: Acknowledged
- 1 Oct 2026: Under review
- 2 Oct 2026: Evidence: emails about site allocation (internal only)
- 5 Oct 2026: Note: Aisha Rahman's account, as given to Sarah Morgan (internal only)

Employees see something simpler. Under **Cases** in their portal they choose what to report, and later follow what they have raised: its status, any notes shared with them and the outcome. Anything marked internal stays out of their view.

## The record it creates

A case is a dated record. Each entry on its timeline shows who added it and when, and cannot be edited or removed. Important activity is recorded in the audit log, which shows who acted, from which device and address, and what changed, and the database rejects updates and deletes on audit log entries. Creating or viewing a confidential case is recorded there too.

Print the case when you need it on paper, or print the register of every case you can see. The register is one of the seventeen reports, and exports to CSV, Excel and PDF. The personnel file has a section for the cases you are authorised to see, alongside the person's policies and acknowledgements, and can include copies of their documents. Letters and other papers you write outside HRHive can be added to the case as evidence, or kept with the person's documents.

## Who can do what

Who can see a case depends on its confidentiality level, not only on a person's role. The four levels are Standard (HR and the case owner), HR only, Organisation owner only and Restricted (named people only). A grievance or a disciplinary case starts as HR only, a whistleblowing concern starts as Restricted, and anything else starts as Standard. The owner, an admin, HR or the case owner can change it.

| Role | What they can do |
| --- | --- |
| Owner | Opens and manages cases that are standard, HR only or owner only. Records cases, chooses the case owner and changes who can see a case. Opens a restricted case only as its case owner or from its access list. |
| Admin and HR | Open and manage cases that are standard or HR only, which includes grievances by default. Record cases, choose the case owner and change who can see a case. Open a restricted case only as its case owner or from its access list. |
| Case owner | Looks after one case. Sets the next action and its date, moves the status along, adds notes, meeting records and evidence, and records the outcome. Is never someone named in the case. |
| People on the access list | Anyone you add to a case by name can open and manage it, at any level. Only active members of the organisation can be added, and never someone named in the case. |
| The person who raised it | An employee who raised it in their portal is sent an acknowledgement, and sees the status, the notes shared with them and the outcome there. They can add more information. They never see internal notes, the people recorded against the case or who else can see it. |
| Anyone named in the case | Cannot open it, whatever their role, even if they are a manager or in HR. They cannot be made the case owner or added to the access list, and the case does not appear in the register or on their own record. |
| Managers, payroll, compliance and auditors | Do not see other people's cases through the role. A manager sees a case only if they own it or are on its access list. |
| Adviser invited into the organisation | Works with whichever role you give them. An HR consultant given the HR role sees cases as HR does, apart from any case that names them. |

## What happens next

Next action dates feed your [reminders](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/reminders/), so a case does not wait on one person's memory. When a case is closed it stays on file under the retention schedule for case records. A legal hold stops records being destroyed while a claim, an investigation or a request needs them, even if their retention period has passed.

If a grievance does go further, HRHive has already kept what it holds, together and dated:

- the contract or written statement, and its signing certificate if it was signed in HRHive
- the policies, and each person's acknowledgement of receipt of them
- the personnel file, including the cases you are authorised to see
- the case notes and evidence, with who added each entry and when
- the audit log, which shows who created or opened a confidential case

Print what you need and keep a copy. HRHive prints your records as they stand now, and it does not rebuild what you held on an earlier date. What goes to your adviser, to Acas or to a tribunal is for you and them to decide.

The rules are not in HRHive. They are explained, with their sources, on the Acas Code of Practice, right to be accompanied and employment tribunal claims pages, and in Disputes, grievances and tribunals. The tribunal time limit calculator works out dates from the dates you give it.

If you are in the middle of one, start from your situation: [an employee has raised a grievance](https://hrhive.co.uk/start/employee-raises-grievance/), [two employees are in dispute](https://hrhive.co.uk/start/dispute-between-employees/) or [an employee is going to a tribunal](https://hrhive.co.uk/start/employee-going-to-tribunal/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does HRHive give legal advice?

No. HRHive records the process: who raised what, who owns it, what happened and when. It does not tell you what a grievance means, whether it is justified, what to decide or whether a claim is likely. For that, take advice from a solicitor or an HR adviser. The pages linked from here explain the rules in general terms and are not advice.

### Can HRHive file or manage a tribunal claim?

No. HRHive does not file anything with an employment tribunal or Acas, and it does not manage a claim, a hearing or a settlement. It keeps the records a claim may draw on in one place, which are the contract, the policies and acknowledgements, the personnel file and the case notes and evidence, each dated and recorded in the audit log, and it prints them for you and your adviser.

### What if the person named in the grievance is in HR?

They cannot open it, as long as they are recorded as named in the case. When you record a case yourself, add the people it is about under About. HRHive then stops them opening it, owning it or joining its access list, whatever their role. A grievance an employee raises in the portal lists the people involved in the details as text, and goes to the default case owner, so look at who is mentioned and who owns it. If it is someone in HR, set the case to Restricted and give it a case owner who is not named. If that person is the only one with the HR, admin or owner role, bring in an outside adviser.

## About this page

- Last updated: 6 October 2026

## Related

**In HRHive**

- [Incidents and cases](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/incidents/)
- [Policies and acknowledgements](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/policies/)
- [Evidence packs and printable records](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/evidence-packs/)
- [Employee records and personnel files](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/employee-records/)
- [Employee self-service](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/employee-self-service/)
- [Documents, versions and expiry dates](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/documents/)
- [Reminders and expiry dates](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/reminders/)

**Related reading**

- [An employee has raised a grievance: what to do, in order](https://hrhive.co.uk/start/employee-raises-grievance/)
- [Two employees in dispute: what to do, in order](https://hrhive.co.uk/start/dispute-between-employees/)
- [An employee is going to a tribunal: what to do, in order](https://hrhive.co.uk/start/employee-going-to-tribunal/)

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