1. Purpose and scope
Rebus Medical gives anyone affected by our work a safe, public way to raise a concern and have it fairly resolved.
Who can raise a grievance
Anyone affected by our activities, including:
- employees, contractors and job applicants
- clients and the people who use the products we help develop
- study participants in our usability and human factors research
- suppliers and subcontractors and their workers
- local communities, and anyone raising environmental concerns
What counts as a grievance
A concern that our business conduct has caused, or may cause, harm or unfair treatment. Examples include human rights or labour practices, discrimination, data and privacy, environmental impact, treatment of study participants, ethical conduct, and misleading claims about our impact.
How this policy relates to other procedures
Concern: Quality, safety or performance of our services or deliverables
Handled under: ISO 13485 Complaints Procedure (SOP ref: RM00036_SOP_Procedure for Measurement, Analysis & Improvement)
Concern: An employee’s own employment issue
Handled under: RM00063_POL_Disciplinary or RM00067_POL_Grievance
Concern: Everything else in scope above
Handled under: This policy
If a concern is raised through the wrong route, the Grievance Owner will pass it to the right procedure and tell the person who raised it. No one is turned away because they used the wrong channel.
2. How to raise a grievance
Grievances can be raised free of charge, in any of these ways:
- Email: grievances@rebus-medical.com
- Post: Grievance Owner, Rebus Medical, 4th Floor St Thomas Court, Thomas Lane, Bristol BS1 6JG
- In person or by phone: to the Grievance Owner or either Director
Anonymous grievances are accepted. We will investigate them as far as the information allows, but may not be able to report back on the outcome.
3. Grounds for accepting a grievance
We accept a grievance when all of these apply:
- It concerns the conduct, decisions or impacts of Rebus Medical, or of someone acting on our behalf.
- It falls within the scope in section 1 and is not better handled under another procedure.
- It contains enough information for us to look into it, or we can reasonably obtain that information.
We may decline a grievance if it:
- is outside our control or responsibility
- repeats a grievance already resolved, with no new information
- is the subject of active legal proceedings
- is clearly malicious or made in bad faith
If we do not accept a grievance
We will tell the person in writing within 10 working days, explain why, and point them to a more suitable route where one exists. They can ask a Director to review that decision.
4. Process and target timeframes
We aim to resolve accepted grievances within 30 working days. If it will take longer, we will tell the person why and give a new date. The resolution timeline for each grievance will depend on the specific issue.
If the person who raised it is still not satisfied after review, we will tell them about any relevant external routes, such as ACAS, a regulator or B Lab’s public complaints process.
How a resolution is facilitated
The Grievance Owner (or an independent Director where section 5 applies) leads the resolution. They will:
- Discuss the grievance with the person who raised it, to understand the issue and the outcome they are seeking
- Give everyone involved a fair chance to respond
- Where appropriate, offer a meeting or facilitated conversation between the parties, or an external mediator for serious or complex cases
- Agree a remedy with the person wherever possible, such as an apology, an explanation, a change to how we work, or corrective action
- Check that agreed actions have been completed before closing the grievance
Keeping the person informed
We will update the person in writing at each step: acknowledgement, the accept or decline decision, progress during the investigation, the outcome, and confirmation of closure. Anonymous grievances are updated only where a contact route has been given.
5. Confidentiality and protection from retaliation
No one will be treated unfairly for raising a grievance in good faith, or for helping with an investigation. Retaliation includes dismissal, demotion, loss of work or contracts, exclusion, intimidation, harassment or reputational harm.
We protect people actively by:
- Sharing a grievance-raiser’s identity only with those who need it to investigate, and only with their consent where possible
- Accepting anonymous grievances
- Making sure no one investigates a grievance about themselves or their own team; if the Grievance Owner or a Director is involved, the other Director or an external adviser takes over
- Checking in with the person 3 months after closure to ask whether they have experienced any negative consequences
- Treating any retaliation as a new grievance and as a disciplinary matter for the person responsible
- Storing grievance records securely
Anyone who believes they have faced retaliation should report it to the Grievance Owner or Director straight away.
6. Responsibilities, tracking and review
Grievance Owner (Operations Manager): Runs this procedure day to day: logs, acknowledges, assigns, tracks deadlines, closes grievances and prepares the annual summary
Directors: Approve this policy, review declined or escalated grievances, and receive the annual summary
All Staff: Pass any grievance they receive to the Grievance Owner within 5 working days
Grievance Log
Every grievance is recorded with reference, date, stakeholder group, subject category, status, actions, outcome and closure date. The log is kept separately from the ISO 13485 complaints log.
Annual summary
Each year the Grievance Owner summarises the number, subjects, status and outcomes of grievances, and any lessons learned. The summary goes to management review and the Directors. If no grievances were received, the summary says so.
Review of this policy
Reviewed every year, or sooner after a significant grievance or change to the B Lab Standards.