People · free template

Employee Grievance

Raise a formal, named grievance: what happened with dates, who was involved, what has been tried informally, the outcome sought and a hearing arrangement.

A ready-to-use human resources form for HR, people ops and hiring managers: 30 questions, 3 pages, 5 conditional rules.

Questions: 30
Pages: 3
Layouts: classic
Time to complete: ≈ 12 min
Conditional rules: 5

Preview it in the gallery

Searches this template answers

Live preview and test console

This is the real form. Answer it to test the flow — nothing is sent or stored.

Page 1 of 3 — Who is raising this

This template runs as a straight sequence — no branching rules.

Compliance checklist

Ready to publish

Payment items priced — passingEvery payment question charges a real amount, so a submission always records a payment.
Conditional logic resolves — passingEvery rule points at a question or page that exists in this template.
Legal text not required — passingThis template collects neither health nor regulated financial information.
Question labels unique — passingLogic and exports address questions by label, so duplicates are ambiguous.

What happens after submit: nothing is stored in this preview. On your own copy, every response triggers an instant email notification and lands in your response dashboard, ready to export or forward.

Happy with it? Take a copy into your workspace — every question, rule and setting comes with it.

Who this template is for

Employee Grievance is built for HR, people ops and hiring managers who need to run hiring and internal people processes on one auditable record.

HR, people ops and hiring managers working in human resources.
Teams who need to run hiring and internal people processes on one auditable record without writing code or paying for a custom build.
Anyone replacing CVs, requests and approvals scattered across inboxes with one structured record per enquiry.
Respondents are candidates and employees — the form asks them 30 questions across 3 screens.

Why this form is useful

It removes the cost of CVs, requests and approvals scattered across inboxes and turns each submission into a record your team can act on immediately.

21 questions are required, so submissions arrive complete instead of needing a follow-up email.
It collects a verified email address so replies and confirmations land.
It captures a phone number for urgent follow-up.
It accepts a document or photo upload as evidence.
It records a signature you can keep as proof of agreement.
It pins the request to a specific date.
It allows multiple selections without free text.
Conditional logic hides 5 questions until they are relevant — shorter forms convert better than long ones.

How to use this template

From copy to live form is a few minutes of work, and every step is reversible.

1Press “Use this template” — a fresh copy of Employee Grievance lands in your workspace, ready to edit.
2Rename or delete any question, and change what is required. Nothing here is fixed.
3Open Notifications and add the email addresses that should be alerted on each submission; add an auto-reply to the respondent if the form collects an email address.
4Check the upload limits on the file question so respondents can attach what you actually need.
5Publish it, then either share the link directly or paste the embed snippet into your site — the embedded form resizes to fit and loads no marketing or advertising trackers.
6Watch responses land in Submissions, where you can filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF.

Logic and conditions blueprint

Exactly how this form behaves as it is answered — 5 conditional rules ship with it.

Features conditional validation: if “Have you raised this informally already?” is Yes, “What happened when you raised it informally” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
Features conditional validation: if “Is the situation still continuing?” is Yes, “When it last happened” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
Features conditional validation: if “Do you wish to be accompanied at a hearing?” is Yes, “Who would accompany you” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
Features conditional validation: if “Do you need any adjustment to take part?” is Yes, “Adjustment you need” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
Features conditional validation: if “Are there witnesses?” is Yes, “Witness names and how they saw it” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
All 5 rules are editable in the Logic tab, and the built-in checker warns about rules that contradict each other.

About this template

A grievance is not an anonymous complaint. It is a named, formal step that starts a procedure with a hearing, a right to be accompanied and a written outcome, and the paperwork has to support all three. The first page identifies the employee and the grievance stage, and asks whether anything has been raised informally already, because a procedure that skips that question tends to restart later. The second page is the account: what happened, when it started, whether it is continuing, who was involved, who witnessed it, and which policy or agreement the employee believes is affected. It asks for events in date order and offers an upload for messages or documents, since a grievance built from memory alone is much harder to investigate fairly. The third page sets up the hearing: availability, whether the employee wishes to be accompanied and by whom, any adjustment they need to take part, and — the question most forms omit — what outcome they are actually asking for. The form does not judge the grievance or promise a result; it collects a complete, dated account so the investigation can be fair to everyone named in it.

What this form asks

Every question is editable — rename it, make it optional, or delete it entirely.

Page 1 — Who is raising this

Your namerequired
Job titlerequired
Team or departmentrequired
Manager's namerequired
Email address for correspondencerequired
Contact number
Which stage is this?required
Have you raised this informally already?required
What happened when you raised it informally
Is anyone else raising the same grievance with you?required

Page 2 — What happened

Date it startedrequired
Is the situation still continuing?required
When it last happened
What happened, in date orderrequired
Who was involved and their rolesrequired
Are there witnesses?required
Witness names and how they saw it
What the grievance concernsrequired
Policy or agreement you believe is affected
Documents, messages or notes you want considered
How this has affected your work

Page 3 — Hearing and outcome

What outcome are you asking for?required
Do you wish to be accompanied at a hearing?required
Who would accompany you
Your availability over the next two weeksrequired
Do you need any adjustment to take part?required
Adjustment you need
May we share your account with those named in it?required
Your signaturerequired
Date submittedrequired

30 questions in total.

Example of a completed employee grievance form

This shows how an employee sets out a formal, dated account and what outcome they are asking for.

Job title: Customer Service Adviser
Which stage is this?: First formal grievance
Have you raised this informally already?: Yes
Date it started: 3 November 2025
What happened, in date order: On 3 November my rota was changed without notice; the same happened again on 17 November.
Who was involved and their roles: My shift supervisor, Tom Reid
What the grievance concerns: Working hours or rota
What outcome are you asking for?: A return to my agreed rota and written confirmation of the change process.
Do you wish to be accompanied at a hearing?: Yes

Sample data — no real people, addresses or records are shown.

How the form changes as it's filled in

This template ships with 5 conditional rules, grouped into 5 behaviours driven by 5 questions. Everything below is already set up — edit or delete any rule once the template is in your workspace.

Driven by “Have you raised this informally already?”

Makes answers required
If “Have you raised this informally already?” is Yes, “What happened when you raised it informally” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Driven by “Is the situation still continuing?”

Makes answers required
If “Is the situation still continuing?” is Yes, “When it last happened” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Driven by “Do you wish to be accompanied at a hearing?”

Makes answers required
If “Do you wish to be accompanied at a hearing?” is Yes, “Who would accompany you” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Driven by “Do you need any adjustment to take part?”

Makes answers required
If “Do you need any adjustment to take part?” is Yes, “Adjustment you need” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Driven by “Are there witnesses?”

Makes answers required
If “Are there witnesses?” is Yes, “Witness names and how they saw it” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Set it up step by step

1
Ask what outcome is sought
Most grievance forms never ask, and most grievances become longer than they needed to be because of it.
2
Insist on dates, not impressions
An account in date order can be investigated. A summary of feelings cannot, however genuine it is.
3
Set up representation up front
Asking about being accompanied and about adjustments before the hearing avoids adjourning on the day.
4
Be clear about sharing
Those named in a grievance usually have to see the substance of it, so ask about that at submission rather than mid-investigation.

Mistakes to avoid

Treating a formal grievance like an anonymous complaint, which makes a fair investigation impossible.
Failing to record whether informal steps were tried, then having the procedure challenged as premature.
Losing the submission date, so your own procedural timescales cannot be evidenced.

What it pairs with

Most teams don't run this form on its own. These are the forms and systems it sits next to.

What to do with the responses

Acknowledge in writing with the date received, appoint someone impartial to investigate, arrange the hearing, and issue a written outcome with appeal rights.

Works in this layout

Browse classic templates

Forms that overlap this one

These pages cover the same subject ground as the employee grievance, matched on the words people actually search for.

Privacy & compliance

This form holds employee or applicant data. Route it to a named HR mailbox rather than a shared inbox, and keep the audit trail on so you can show who viewed each response.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from an anonymous complaint form?

A grievance is named and formal: it triggers a hearing, a right to be accompanied and a written outcome. Anonymous reports cannot support any of that.

Can it be used for an appeal?

Yes. The stage question distinguishes a first grievance from an appeal against an outcome.

Is this legal advice?

No. It is a record-keeping form. Your grievance procedure and any local legal requirements sit outside it.

Who should receive submissions?

Route them to HR or a named impartial person, and never to the manager the grievance is about.

Is the Employee Grievance template free to use?

Yes. You can preview and test Employee Grievance on this page without an account, and take a copy into your own HelloForms workspace on the free plan. There is nothing to install and no card required to publish it.

What does the Employee Grievance template ask for?

It asks 30 questions across 3 pages, 21 of which are required. Every question is listed in full further down this page, and each one can be renamed, reordered, made optional or deleted after you copy the template.

Can I edit the Employee Grievance form after copying it?

Yes — the copy is entirely yours. Change wording, add or remove questions, switch between the classic layout, restyle it to match your brand, and set who gets notified on each submission.

How does the conditional logic in this human resources form work?

5 conditional rules ship with the template: Features conditional validation: if “Have you raised this informally already?” is Yes, “What happened when you raised it informally” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent. Features conditional validation: if “Is the situation still continuing?” is Yes, “When it last happened” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent. Features conditional validation: if “Do you wish to be accompanied at a hearing?” is Yes, “Who would accompany you” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent. All rules are editable in the Logic tab.

Where do responses to the Employee Grievance form go?

Submissions land in your workspace under Submissions, where you can search, filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF. You can also email a notification to your team on every submission and send the respondent an auto-reply.

Can I embed the Employee Grievance form on my own website?

Yes. Publish the form and paste the embed snippet into any page or share the direct link. The embedded form resizes to fit its container and loads no advertising or marketing trackers inside the iframe.

Can respondents upload files?

Yes. This template includes a file upload question, so respondents can attach documents or photos with their answers. You can adjust the accepted file types and size limits on that question.

Is the signature on this form legally usable?

The template captures a drawn signature and stores it with the submission, along with the timestamp, so you keep evidence of who agreed and when. Whether that is sufficient depends on your jurisdiction and the agreement itself.

More forms teams pair with the employee grievance.

Related categories

All Human Resources templates

Employee Grievance

Searches this template answers