Employment Law
AI-written grievances are here, and they can be very easy to spot!
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with using AI to help write a grievance. Raising concerns at work can be difficult, particularly when someone is upset, struggling to put events in order or doesn’t know where to start. If AI helps them explain what happened more clearly, that can be a good thing.
The real issue: Using AI to help communicate a genuine workplace concern is not necessarily a problem. The difficulty starts when AI changes the nature, scale or apparent seriousness of the grievance.
When a Simple Grievance Becomes Something Much Bigger
The problem is when the grievance that comes out the other end bears little resemblance to the issue the employee actually wants resolved.
A relatively straightforward complaint can become pages of formal allegations, references to (often made-up) legislation, alleged policy breaches and lots of very legal-sounding language.
Three concerns can suddenly look like a major piece of litigation.
The practical problem: The length and legalistic language of an AI-generated grievance can make a relatively focused workplace complaint appear far broader and more complicated than it actually is.
Where Do You Start?
Which leaves whoever has to deal with it wondering where on earth to start.
Do you investigate every allegation exactly as AI has framed it? Every alleged breach of legislation? Every slightly different version of what is essentially the same complaint?
I would say not.
Important point for employers: The investigation should be driven by the substance of the employee’s concerns, not simply by the number of allegations or the legal language used in the grievance.
Go Back to Basics
Before launching into a full-scale investigation, go back to basics and talk to the employee.
What actually happened?
What are they unhappy about?
What do they want you to investigate?
Then work out what genuinely needs to be covered.
A sensible approach: Understand the employee’s actual concerns first, identify what needs investigating, and then define the scope of the investigation around those genuine issues.
Don't Let the Grievance Dictate the Investigation
Otherwise, there’s a real danger that the length and language of the grievance starts dictating the size of the investigation.
An employee may have used AI to turn a relatively simple complaint into a lengthy document containing numerous allegations and references to legislation or company policies.
That does not necessarily mean every sentence requires a separate investigation or that every legal proposition needs to be treated as a standalone issue.
The starting point should remain the underlying workplace concern and what the employee is actually asking the employer to address.
Final takeaway: AI can help an employee explain a grievance, but it should not determine the scope of the investigation. Strip away the legalistic language, establish what actually happened and what the employee wants resolved, and investigate the genuine issues.
And finally: Nobody needs a 25-point Terms of Reference just because ChatGPT was having a particularly productive afternoon.
By Pam Cannell, Consultant Global HR
As a Global HR Director, Pam leads the delivery of tailored HR consultancy services, addressing both strategic initiatives and day-to-day HR challenges.