Grievance meaning: a sense of wrong, and the complaint it becomes

Grievance meaning: two senses

1. A felt wrong. Something a person believes was unfair or harmful: Old grievances between the neighbours flared up over the fence. The wrong may be real, exaggerated or imagined; the word only says the person feels it.
2. A formal complaint. A written or official statement of that wrong, submitted so that someone in authority will act: The tenants lodged a grievance about the broken lift.

What does grievance mean if you need both senses at once? A useful definition of grievance: a complaint about unfair treatment, whether held privately or raised officially.

How a workplace grievance works

Many employers and unions have a grievance procedure, a set of steps for handling complaints fairly. A typical version looks like this:

1. The employee raises the issue informally with a manager.
2. If it is not settled, they submit a written grievance explaining what happened and what they want.
3. The organisation investigates and holds a meeting, where the employee may bring a colleague or union representative.
4. A written decision is given, with a right to appeal.
5. In unionised workplaces, unresolved grievances may go to arbitration under the labour contract.

In India, many banks, insurers, telecom firms and public bodies name a grievance redressal officer whose job is to handle customer complaints. Redressal here means putting the wrong right.

Grievance in example sentences

• The drivers' union filed a grievance after overtime pay was cut without notice.
• She has nursed a grievance against her cousin since the wedding seating plan.
• Customers can raise a grievance through the bank's app or at any branch.
• His main grievance was not the low mark but the lack of any feedback.
• The council set up an evening meeting so residents could air their grievances about the new parking rules.

Grievance in law and public life

The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right of the people to petition the government for a redress of grievances, meaning to ask officials to fix wrongs. Courts and tribunals also use the word for the complaint that starts a dispute. In politics and journalism, commentators sometimes speak of grievance politics to describe campaigns built on a group's sense of being wronged. People disagree about the label: some see it as describing real neglect being voiced, others as a way of stirring anger. The word itself does not decide which view is right.

Grievance, grudge, complaint and resentment

Grievance and grief share an origin but are different words. Grief is sorrow after loss; a grievance is a sense of being wronged. Both grew from an Old French verb meaning to burden or harm, which in turn goes back to the Latin word for heavy.

Pairings, grammar and pronunciation

Common verbs: file, lodge, raise, submit, air, voice, address, resolve, nurse, harbour. Common adjectives: legitimate, long-standing, formal, personal, historical. Use against for a person or organisation and about or over for the issue.

Say GREE-vuhns. A frequent mistake is adding an extra syllable, gree-vee-uhns, which is not standard; the same goes for grievous, said GREE-vuhs. More words for disputes and fairness live in our society and law section, including accountability and conflict.