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Recruitment referral scheme

Valentina

Hi

We used to have a referral scheme that it was paying a bonus of 3K gross to employees after 4 months of the referral start date.

One employee refereed a candidate who started the 24th July. The employee handed in his notice and left the 17th November.

The bonus should have been paid in December so we din't pay him the bonus.

We received a letter from him yesterday date 15th November making a formal grievance and asking to be paid the bonus, also because this was verbally confirmed by one senior manager.

Can somebody advise please?

Thanks in advance!

Valentina

  • in reply to Cass Clothier
    Hi Cass - some simple guidelines I try to keep in mind to avoid confusing myself :-)

    Grievance procedures are for employees and there are no legal obligations to follow through with an existing grievance after employment ends. Even if the Company continues an investigation there is no obligation to communicate the results to the ex-employee.

    That dosn't mean that the elements mentioned in a grievance should be disregarded. If the Company feels that the underlying issue merits investigation, then it should investigate - but outside the grievance procedure reserved for employees. If action is called for, then that is not part of the grievance procedure but probably can be classified as an "internal audit" investigating a problem that has been flagged by an ex-employee prior to their departure.

    If the person wants to pursue a claim against the company, that can now only happen outside the grievance procedure and has become a question of litigation, not grievance. Litigation can be resolved either amicably or through the courts and tribunals.
  • in reply to Ray
    Thanks Ray

    This is very clear - Much appreciated
  • in reply to Ray
    To expand slightly on Ray's explanation, this case is an excellent example of how a grievance might progress after an employee has left:

    The company may review its wording and procedure for making good on its referral bonus scheme as a consequence of this grievance, but that doesn't oblige it to make good towards this particular ex-employee.