Fortunately, many of us can get on with our work on a day to day basis in an agreeable environment with few problems. However, there are occasionally circumstances that mean you need to seek support or report problems within your workplace. It is important that you know who to turn to in this time of need to ensure that issues are dealt with appropriately and fairly. Here are just a few places you may want to turn, or practices you may want to carry out, to put wrongs to right in your workplace!
Lawyers
You may want to take grievances to a legal professional before consulting anyone else. They will have the knowledge and expertise to let you know if something is illegal or should be reported in some way. They can provide guidance and recommendations that ensure you take the correct course of action. For example, if the company you work for fails to carry out and provide injury management training and you then become injured as a result, you may be entitled to compensation.
Your Manager
It is likely part of your manager’s responsibilities to check in on you and see how you are doing with your work. This can relate to workload, working relationships with other members of your team, training and support and more. If you have any issues at work, chances are, your manager can either resolve them or get the right people involved to help you resolve them.
HR
If you feel that your manager isn’t dealing with your problem effectively or correctly, or if your issue is directly with your manager, you may want to consult HR. This department will be able to determine whether the issue is serious and how to best resolve it.
Whistleblowing
If you have tried reporting issues within the company to members of the company and nobody is taking action, you may need to elevate your complaint and report the wrongdoing. If the wrongdoing you disclose is in the public interest, this is called whistleblowing. When you are a whistleblower you are protected by law, meaning that you cannot be treated unfairly or lose your job because you ‘blew the whistle’.
Employees, trainees, agency workers and members of LLPs are all protected by whistleblowing law. You should report any issues that involve a criminal offence, put someone’s health or safety in danger, risk or damage the environment, involve a miscarriage of justice or if you believe someone is covering up a wrongdoing. Action can then be taken to resolve the issue, carry out justice and prevent similar problems from happening within other businesses. You can make your report to The Equality and Human Rights Commission and can report anonymously. Regardless of whether your report is anonymous or not, you will be treated with confidentiality.
These tend to be the main routes of support and guidance you should follow when experiencing issues at work. Hopefully, the above information will serve as a guide should you need it.
