Using AI to Write Your Grievance Letter? Read This First
If you've ever typed a workplace problem into ChatGPT and asked it to write a grievance letter, you're not alone. Solicitors are expensive, your employer's HR team works for the company, and free advice is just a search away, so to some, it just makes sense.
AI can actually get a lot of employment law right. A lot of it is accurate and it will produce something that looks professional and thorough. The problem is that it doesn't know you, your workplace, or what you actually want to happen. It will cite legislation that can be wrong or may not apply to your specific situation and it can turn a problem that could have been resolved in a ten minute conversation into a twenty page document that puts everyone on the defensive before you've even sat down together.
Grievances are emotionally draining for everyone involved. They can permanently change working relationships, even when they're resolved. That's not a reason to avoid raising one when something is genuinely wrong, but it is a reason to think carefully before you fire one off.
Most workplace problems, not all, but most, could have been resolved through conversation before they reached this point. The reason they often don't is that the employee doesn't feel their manager is approachable, or doesn't feel confident having that conversation. That's completely understandable, but it doesn't mean a formal grievance is automatically the answer.
Employers are seeing a huge influx in these AI generated grievances, and although I have seen a lot of eye-rolling from the receiving end, these grievances usually come from a place of power imbalance and there are obviously some issues that need resolving. Now that the tools are freely available, they're being used more than ever.
If you do decide a formal grievance is the right route, there's nothing wrong with using AI to help write it up once you know what you want to say. That's no different to asking someone to proofread your work. The key is that you're leading it and you understand what happened, what you want to raise, and what outcome you're hoping for. AI can help with the words, but the thinking has to be yours.
AI is also only as good as the knowledge you bring to it. Just like you need to understand coding to use AI to write useful code, you need strong employment law knowledge to sense-check what it produces. I have created a grievance template that you can download here
If something doesn't feel right at work and you're not sure how to handle it, I am more than happy to talk it through with you and help you assess the whole situation to look at how to either approach that difficult conversation at work, or how to start if a formal grievance is really warranted. You can start with booking in a free discovery call. I also have a section on grievance support if you want to have a look at what this support consists of before booking a session with me. Every situation is of course unique and you will not just be getting general advice.
