Prison Officer Grievance, Bullying and Harassment Guide 2026

In shortA grievance is a formal complaint about anything at work; harassment has a legal definition, bullying does not, and it matters which you are describing.

A grievance is simply a formal complaint by an employee about something at work. Bullying and harassment are not always separated in everyday speech, but they are different things in law.

Harassment (Equality Act 2010, section 26)

Unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic (such as sex, race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or gender reassignment) that has the purpose or effect of violating your dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for you. Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, and less favourable treatment because you rejected or put up with it, is also covered. A tribunal takes into account your own perception, the other circumstances of the case and whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect.

Bullying

No single statutory definition. In practice it means repeated or serious behaviour that undermines, humiliates or intimidates you: public belittling, exclusion, impossible demands, spreading rumours, or abuse of authority. HMPPS conduct standards treat it as misconduct by the person responsible.

Grievance track

Asks the employer to put right something that has happened to you.

Conduct track

Asks whether a colleague breached standards. Run by different people, with different outcomes, so the same facts can lead to both.

• Bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation
• Unfair treatment
• A rota or roster decision
• The way a manager has dealt with you
• A failure to apply a policy

In shortSurvey data suggests bullying and harassment are widely experienced and rarely acted on, and the Rademaker Review found the old policy not fit for purpose, so the process is in transition.

• Bullying or harassment12%HMPPS staff, 2024 People Survey; 8% across the Civil Service
• Discrimination12%HMPPS staff; 7% across the Civil Service
• Reported it48%Of those who experienced it
• Action was taken23%Of those who experienced it

Source: HMPPS Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 25 (laid on 30 October 2025). Those are survey responses, not findings by a tribunal or investigation, but they explain why officers often hesitate to complain.

The Rademaker Review, an independent review of professional standards dated April 2024 and published on 6 May 2025, described the grievance policy PSO 8550 (implemented 31 March 2009) as not fit for purpose for these complaints. It recommended an independent channel.

The Government and HMPPS accepted all twelve recommendations on 6 May 2025. Whether the Commissioner has been appointed is something we could not verify and we do not state it.

• An independent central unit that deals with complaints outside the line
• An Independent Commissioner for HMPPS Professional Standards
• A single complaints database

In shortYou may try to resolve things informally, but nobody can require you to confront someone who has bullied or harassed you, and you can go straight to a formal complaint.

Most grievance procedures, and the Acas Code, expect you to try informal resolution where that is reasonable. If the conduct is serious, repeated, sexual, or from someone who manages you, you are entitled to go straight to a formal complaint without feeling you failed a step.

IRRIS is described in the Government's answer as offering a helpline, mediation, investigation support and climate assessments. Ask whether mediation is on offer and whether it is voluntary: it only works if both people take part willingly and is no substitute for a formal outcome when the behaviour is serious.

• A conversation with your line manager or a manager one grade above
• A conversation with your Governor or Deputy Governor
• Workplace mediation arranged through HR or through IRRIS
• Support from a trade union representative or the Employee Assistance Programme

In shortWrite it down, get your rep to read it, send it by the route you are told is correct, and treat the 20 and 10 working day figures as the last published standard, not a promise.

The Acas Code of Practice, which tribunals use as the statutory yardstick of fairness, describes the basic sequence. You set out the grievance in writing without unreasonable delay, the employer arranges a formal meeting, you can be accompanied, the employer decides in writing, and you can appeal to someone not previously involved.

Where a grievance and a disciplinary matter overlap, the Code says the disciplinary process may be temporarily suspended to deal with the grievance, though that is a judgement for the employer, not a right.

1. Decide what outcome you want: an apology, an end to the behaviour, a move, mediation, an investigation of a colleague, or a change to a decision. Write it down.
2. Write your grievance in plain language. Give dates, what happened, who was present, the effect on you and what you have already tried. Keep to facts and avoid labels you cannot prove.
3. Ask your POA representative to read it before you send it, and ask whether the complaint should go through the interim IRRIS process or the local route.
4. Submit it by the route you are told is correct and keep proof of when you sent it. Ask in writing for confirmation of who is dealing with it and the timescale.
5. Prepare for the meeting. You can bring a colleague or a trade union representative as a companion, who can address the meeting and talk with you but not answer questions for you.
6. Receive the written outcome. If you disagree, appeal in writing to the person named, setting out why: new evidence, a flawed process, or an outcome that does not match the findings.
7. If you have been dismissed, disciplined or disadvantaged, or the problem remains unresolved, speak to your union or Acas about early conciliation before the tribunal time limit runs out.

In shortYou can be accompanied, you are protected from victimisation for complaining in good faith, and confidentiality is limited because the person complained about must know the substance of the allegations.

In shortThe Employment Rights Act 2025 adds employer duties on sexual harassment from 30 October 2026, but how HMPPS will apply them locally has not been published.

According to the Government's timeline update of 25 September 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes the legal landscape for harassment. The Government page itself says future dates remain subject to the parliamentary process, so check for any change nearer the time.

• Officers can face harassment from prisoners, visitors and contractors as well as from colleagues.
• Sexual comments, sexualised behaviour and persistent unwanted attention from a prisoner are conduct problems for the establishment as well as for the individual.
• Report them through the normal incident and safeguarding routes and keep your own record; see also prison officer whistleblowing if what you have seen concerns others.
• The new duty is an employer obligation, and how HMPPS will translate it into local practice has not yet been published, so do not assume any particular process will be in place from the start date.

In shortWhistleblowing can protect you when you report wrongdoing you have seen, but whether a disclosure is protected is a legal question: report once, through the proper route, with facts.

Sometimes the concern is not about what has been done to you but about what you have seen. Staff who raise concerns about wrongdoing may be protected by the whistleblowing provisions in the Employment Rights Act 1996. A gagging clause cannot stop a protected disclosure, and dismissal for making one needs no qualifying service.

• Criminal offences
• Danger to health and safety
• Miscarriages of justice
• Legal breaches
• Covering up wrongdoing
• Sexual harassment (since 6 April 2026)

In shortMost claims now have a 6 month time limit from 1 October 2026 with Acas early conciliation first, and a grievance or appeal does not stop the clock.

• Time limit, most claims6 monthsFrom 1 October 2026; previously 3
• Acas stepFirstClock paused while early conciliation runs
• Acas Code adjustmentUp to 25%Either way, for unreasonable failure to follow it

GOV.UK now says you usually have to make a claim within 6 months of your employment ending or of the problem happening, and the Government's timeline update confirms the extension from 3 to 6 months took effect on 1 October 2026 for most claims. Before you claim you must tell Acas.

Whether the old three-month limit continues to apply to acts before 1 October 2026 is a transitional question we could not verify, so if the events are older, take advice at once instead of assuming you have six months.

In shortA complaint can take months and drain you: keep your own conduct clean, bring your rep to every meeting and use the support available.

A formal complaint can take months and can be draining. Keep working to the standard you normally would: a complaint does not excuse a lapse and people sometimes find a counter-complaint is raised about them.

Stress at work can lead to sickness absence, and absence has its own process that can interact with a complaint. Our guide to sickness absence management for prison officers explains how that works, and the sick pay calculator can show you what a spell of absence may do to your pay.

You can be both the complainant and a respondent in another matter. If a complaint about you is running at the same time, read our guide to how a prison officer misconduct investigation works and the overview of conduct and discipline for prison officers.

In shortThe biggest mistakes are waiting, writing an unfocused grievance and relying on memory instead of dated notes.

Delay weakens evidence, may make the employer's decision-making harder to challenge, and eats into time limits. Lead with the three or four most serious, best-evidenced matters and mention the rest briefly. Contemporaneous notes, messages and rota entries are far more persuasive than a recollection written months later.

• Keep your own dated timeline, on your own device, without copying prison data.
• Ask in writing which process, which policy version and which timescale apply.
• Use the union and use the right to be accompanied.
• Do not let an internal process run past the tribunal time limit without advice.