Common reasons for employee grievances and appeal letters

It’s not uncommon for an employee to have a grievance with how certain situations at work have been handled, and there’s a wealth of “how to write an appeal letter” and “appeal letter sample” resources online for just that purpose. The most common reasons you might receive an appeal letter are:

• An employee feels they’ve received an unfair warning notice under your company’s disciplinary policy.
• The letter writer believes they’ve been denied a raise or promotion without sufficient reason.
• The employee feels their performance is being judged according to unreasonable standards.
• The writer believes they’ve been given work assignments or workloads unsuited to their skill set or that weren’t part of their job description.
• The employee has been demoted, laid off or fired.

There can be valid disagreements and differences in perspective about the events and circumstances that lead to any of these things. No matter how you feel about the situation surrounding an appeal letter, it’s important to take employee grievances very seriously. Not only can such grievances pose challenges for the atmosphere of your workplace, but they can also escalate into legal issues.

Why you should respond to appeal letters

Labor laws in different jurisdictions might affect what your company is legally expected to do in response to an appeal letter. For example, you might be required to hear appeals, stage further investigations of the appeal’s cause, determine whether there should have been a different outcome and provide a final outcome with all due speed.

Even if the law doesn’t compel your company to take specific steps, it’s simply good business to respond promptly to appeal letters for several reasons.

It boosts confidence in the fairness of your processes and policies

A disciplinary system that provides no recourse or appeal for employees is, simply put, a bad disciplinary system. Any policy your company enacts should have the built-in assumption that mistakes are possible and appeals can be valid.

The more prompt and transparent you are about engaging this process, within the bounds of appropriate privacy precautions for everyone concerned, the more reassurance you provide that you’re acting on your policies fairly and in good faith. By contrast, attempting to ignore appeals is likely to give your workers the impression that management is high-handed, arbitrary and unwilling to even entertain the possibility of human error.

It protects your company’s reputation

You can’t satisfy everyone, but you can avoid giving employees valid reasons to circulate negative commentary about your company and how it handles the appeal process. If they feel stonewalled, and particularly if they’re still part of your workforce, their negative experience will inform how they interact with other employees. It’s possible for negative word of mouth to spread beyond the company and onto review sites. In the worst-case scenario, escalating and unresolved tension could result in a lawsuit.

You might find the appeal is valid

Above all else, responding to appeal letters can be the beginning of a process that double-checks major decisions like promotions and demotions, lay-offs and firings, and disciplinary actions. It might turn out that something was missed in the process, that an honest mistake occurred or that unconscious bias seeped into decision-making.

If that proves to be the case, your business will benefit immensely from owning up to and correcting the mistake. Employees are much more likely to trust managers who are capable of seeing and rectifying errors, and that trust is one of the most important elements of a healthy and functional work environment.

What your response to an employee’s appeal letter should cover

A response to an appeal letter should cover several things. If the employee’s appeal letter shows an understanding of the relevant company policy and lays out valid reasons for a decision to be either reversed or reviewed, you should state right away whether you’re granting the appeal request or at least deciding to investigate the matter further and provide specific references as to why.

In the case of further investigation, you can propose a meeting to get that process started. If the employee has union representation, you should acknowledge this and specify that they have the right to have a union representative present at that meeting.

If their appeal letter doesn’t provide adequate grounds to warrant changing the decision or doesn’t provide sufficient detail to support looking into the matter further, your response will have to state plainly that you’re denying the appeal. In this case, it’s usually best to strike a conciliatory note first, thanking the employee for their work with your company and wishing them the best in the future in order to cushion the bad news and maintain goodwill.

The letter should make it clear who made the decision. In general, your HR department can and should advise and consult on any appeals, but they shouldn’t be making the final call. The relevant manager should stand by their decision, using the pronoun “I” instead of “we.”

Send your response on company letterhead by certified mail so there’s a record of its receipt. That kind of record is critical if the matter ends up in court.

Sample responses to appeal letters

The samples below cover three possible outcomes for an employee appealing termination of employment. Keep in mind that these samples provide suggested approaches, and the specifics might differ depending on local laws.

Granting the appeal

[Date]

[Recipient Full Name]

[Address]

Dear [Recipient],

I received your letter dated [date] appealing the termination of your employment with [company name]. I’m pleased to report that I have decided to grant your appeal and reinstate your employment should you wish to rejoin the team.

In reviewing your appeal letter with our Human Resources department and my colleagues on the management team, we found that your appeal was meritorious on the following grounds:

[Specify any company policies that you found weren’t properly applied in the course of terminating employment. For example, if the employee was fired for disciplinary reasons but not given adequate opportunity to defend themselves against claims made by fellow employees, that might be cause to review the decision.]

The team at [company name] appreciates your work and commitment and would be delighted to welcome you back. I look forward to receiving word from you at your earliest opportunity as to whether you can accept reinstatement. Thank you for reaching out and providing the opportunity to review this decision.

Sincerely,

[Manager Name and Signature]

Undertaking further investigation

[Date]

[Recipient Full Name]

[Address]

Dear [Recipient],

I received your letter dated [date] appealing the termination of your employment with [company name]. On review of your stated grievances, I have decided that there is cause to investigate the matter further and would appreciate your participation in that process.

My review of your appeal letter found that there is cause for further investigation on the following points:

[Specify the reasons for your decision. If reviewing the case with HR and your colleagues raised any doubt about any of the employee’s points of grievance—one reason might be a feeling on the employee’s part that their termination may have been influenced by bias on account of disability, gender, race, religion or their belonging to any other category protected by company policy or labor law — those doubts should be addressed in an investigation and reconciliation process. This may also be a case where your company could look into hiring a mediator.]

I want to resolve this issue as quickly and fairly as possible. I would like to arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience to begin this process. You’re entitled to have [legal/union] representation present at this meeting. Please let me know at your earliest convenience what dates or times would work best for you, and thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Sincerely,

[Manager Name and Signature]

Denying the appeal

[Date]

[Recipient Full Name]

[Address]

Dear [Recipient],

I received your letter dated [date] appealing the termination of your employment with [company name]. I would like to thank you for all your hard work with our team and for reaching out to express your concerns and grievances.

Upon review of your stated grievances, I haven’t found sufficient cause to reverse the termination of your employment.

[Cite relevant company policies here and why you are affirming that they were correctly applied.]

This represents [company name]’s final position on the matter. Thank you for taking the time to write, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

[Manager Name and Signature]

Appeal Letter Response Template for PDF & Word

Use these templates in the event you need to respond to a former employee’s appeal.

*Indeed provides these examples as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your HR or legal adviser, and none of these documents reflect current labor or employment regulations.