The importance of raising personal grievances within the 90-day period

The Employment Relations Authority has recently determined that an employee’s personal grievance claims could not be progressed as the employee had failed to raise the personal grievance within the statutory 90-day period.

The law requires that personal grievances, such as for unjustified dismissal or unjustified disadvantage, be raised within 90 days of the event occurring or the employee becoming aware of it (except for sexual harassment which has a 12 month time limit).

If an employee fails to meet this deadline, they must seek the employer’s consent to raise the grievance late. If the employer refuses, the employee can apply to the ERA to allow the claim to proceed, but only in exceptional circumstances such as:

• There is a reasonable excuse for the delay such as medical issues and personal hardship; or
• Having arranged an agent on their behalf to raise the grievance but the agent failed to do so; or
• The employment agreement does not contain the process for resolving employment relationship problems; or
• The employer has failed to provide a statement of reasons for dismissal.

In the recent case before the ERA, the employee alleged that they were constructively dismissed, but did not raise the grievance until more than a year after their employment had ended. 

The ERA found that the employee had no valid excuse for the delay and had not raised the grievance informally during employment. Additionally, the employer significantly changed its operations after a year, making it difficult to defend the claim. As a result, the ERA declined to allow the claim to proceed.

If you are an employee looking to avoid a similar situation, it is important to clearly raise grievances to the employer within 90-day limit, either verbally or in writing (such as by emails or letters). If there is a delay, you should document the reasons and seek the employer’s consent to raise the claim late. Employers should retain employment records and key correspondence with employees in case a dispute arises. 

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