A consultant working for the NHS Grampian has won her claim of unfair dismissal this month. Sumithra Hewage, who was originally from Sri Lanka, claims that she was sexually and racially harassed by senior nurses at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she was working as an orthodontist.

In a written judgment that was published by the employment tribunal, the senior nurses involved in the case were described as having an attitude which was "hostile and aggressive" toward Mrs Hewage. Her interaction with these nurses caused Mrs Hewage to feel so ill with stress that she left her employment at the hospital. The tribunal has ruled in Mrs Hewage's favour and awarded her over £100,000 in compensation.

It is very important that your business has a grievance procedure in place and that your staff is fully aware of this procedure. Failure to deal with an employee's grievance can cause residual anger which can lead to highly damaging stress as in the case of Mrs Hewage. A tribunal may also increase the amount of damages awarded in cases where employers do not upload the grievance procedure, so this is even more incentive to make sure you have one in place for your business. With damages in unfair dismissal claims topping a massive £477,603, this is one gamble you do not want to take.

You can start by using our Employee handbook document to create a handbook for your business. This document includes a set of standard grievance procedure for your employees to follow if they have a grievance. You should make your staff aware that these procedures are included in the handbook and your employees should have access to the handbook so that they can read it. All managers should also be familiar with your business's grievance procedure.