It is important to remember that a personal grievance must be lodged within 90 days of the event giving rise to the personal grievance claim.

In one case an employee tried to raise a personal grievance based on constructive dismissal, but the application was denied as it was outside the 90 day time period.

The employee tried to argue that the initial notification of the personal grievance was made orally to the employer inside the 90 day period and was therefore valid.  However, in the Employment Court it was found that the oral comment made to the employer by the employee was not sufficient notice, as it did not give the employer enough detail as to what the personal grievance was based on.

For an employer to be able to adequately address a personal grievance they must know what the grounds for such a claim are based on.  A personal grievance can be raised orally but must give the employer enough detail to allow them to respond as required by legislation.

The employee followed up the oral notification with written documentation, but it fell outside the time period of 90 days.  The claim was subsequently dismissed as it did not meet the requirements of the Act.

Under s 115 of the Employment Relations Act a person can only lodge a personal grievance within 90 days of the event occurring, unless special circumstances are proved.  Special circumstances include where the employee arranged to have the personal grievance raised on his or her behalf by an agent and the agent failed to lodge in time, or, where the employee was so traumatized by the event giving rise to the claim that he or she was unable to properly consider raising the personal grievance within the required time period.