Employee Complaint Form

This free employee complaint form gives your staff a simple, private way to raise a workplace complaint or concern, and gives you a record of how you dealt with it. It’s written for US small businesses. The employee section covers harassment, discrimination, treatment, pay, safety and anything else. A separate handling record lets the owner or manager log the investigation, the findings and the outcome.

What you get

A seven-page PDF, sized for US Letter paper, and an editable Word file:

• Pages 1–2: the employee complaint form to print or hand out.
• Page 3: the complaint handling record, for the person dealing with it.
• Pages 4–6: all three pages completed for a fictional print shop.
• Page 7: notes on handling complaints and the law on retaliation, with links to the sources.

Page one names two people the form can be handed to and has fields for the employee, what the complaint is about, who it involves, when and where. A large box follows for what happened. Page two covers witnesses, evidence, whether it was raised before and what the employee would like to happen. It also explains what happens next. The handling record has interim steps, an investigation log, findings, the outcome, the action taken and a date to check for retaliation.

What a good complaint form includes

• More than one person to go to. If the complaint is about a supervisor, the employee must never have to hand it to that supervisor.
• Room for the full story. What was said or done, by whom, when and where, in the employee’s own words.
• Witnesses and evidence. Names, messages, photos and notes help you check the facts.
• What the employee wants. You decide the outcome, but knowing what they hope for helps.
• An honest line on confidentiality. “As far as possible”, not a promise you can’t keep.
• A clear statement on retaliation. Nobody will be treated worse for complaining in good faith.
• A record of what you did. Who you spoke to, what you found and what you changed.

How to handle an employee complaint

1. Thank the employee and confirm you’ve received the complaint, in writing if you can.
2. Decide whether anything needs to happen right away, such as changing who supervises whom. Avoid steps that make things worse for the person who complained.
3. Talk to the employee to understand the complaint fully.
4. Interview the witnesses and the person complained about, and look at any records. Note each step in the investigation log.
5. Decide what happened, based on the facts, and record your findings.
6. Act on what you found. That could mean a write-up, training, a change in duties, or no action if nothing is found.
7. Tell the employee the outcome, and check back a few weeks later that nobody is being treated worse.

Completed example

The example is a fictional print shop in Colorado. A press operator complains that her shift lead mocked her accent in front of the crew, made a remark in the break room and twice moved her off the press she’s trained on. She hands the form to the office manager, not to the shift lead. While the owner looks into it, she reports to him instead. He interviews two witnesses and the shift lead, and checks the training log. He finds the complaint substantiated, gives the shift lead a final written warning and training, and sets a date a month later to check for retaliation.

Harassment complaint form

Many employers search for a separate harassment complaint form. This form covers harassment, with a tick box for it, so you don’t need two. What matters most for harassment is how you respond. The EEOC says employers should have an effective complaint process and act quickly when an employee complains. It also encourages employees to report harassment early, before it escalates (EEOC). Make it easy to report, take every complaint seriously, and act on what you find.

Employee grievance form

In a non-union workplace, an employee grievance form and a complaint form do the same job. If you have a union contract, it probably sets out its own grievance procedure, and you should follow that instead.

Keeping complaint records

Keep the complaint form and the handling record together in a confidential file. Don’t put them in the personnel file of the employee who complained or of the person complained about. Any warning that results goes in the personnel file of the person disciplined, as usual. If you have 15 or more employees, EEOC rules require you to keep personnel records for at least one year, and longer if a discrimination charge is filed (29 CFR 1602.14). Many employers keep complaint files for several years.

Retaliation and protected complaints

It’s illegal to punish an employee for complaining about discrimination or harassment, or for taking part in an investigation (EEOC). Employees who act together to raise problems about pay or working conditions are generally protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The same goes for one employee bringing a group complaint (NLRB). OSHA says employers must keep the workplace free from retaliation for raising concerns about hazards (OSHA). Treat every complaint as protected until you’ve had advice.

When to get advice

Get advice if a complaint involves you or a senior manager, alleges assault or a crime, or names several people. Do the same if you’re thinking of taking action against the person who complained, for any reason.

Not sure how to handle a complaint in your state? That’s what hrsupport.io is for: HR answers for your state, with the law behind every answer.