It shouldn’t be surprising, really, that some employees who have a grievance to air in 2026 will turn to AI to help them articulate it.
Anecdotally, the ease with which an employee can now compose a polished complaint may be one small reason behind a rise in grievances – open tribunal cases in 2024-25 were up 32%. This on its own puts additional pressure on SME businesses; but the nature of these grievances also poses problems.
What’s the problem?
The usual criticisms of AI are at play. These grievances may cite out of date, fabricated or irrelevant laws (from the US, for example); they may set unrealistic expectations in the minds of the complainants; and they may breach data protection should confidential company information be entered into an unringfenced AI platform.
What should you do? Not just because this is a growing issue, I would advise businesses to have an AI policy. This should outline how AI can be used within the company, but make sure it specifically refers to internal communications as well as other uses. There are lots of issues the policy should address, including data protection. If you take a liberal approach, you may permit AI to be used for grievances but ask that its use is disclosed.
Spotting the signs
Knowing how to spot AI’s involvement in a grievance will be useful, but what are the tells? An unusually articulate document is one, American spellings another – like Z’s instead of S’s. Look out for detailed grasps of employment law (which may be inaccurate), and an absence of personal detail and the human touch.
With all that said, a grievance is still a grievance and should be responded to appropriately, and in line with the Acas code of practice. Don’t take for granted that what they claim in regard to the law is true; AIs can be wrong no matter how convincing they sound.
A face-to-face discussion to be certain the employee understands and means what they (the AI) wrote down is important. Ensure you document this, and every stage of the grievance.
Tribunal courts are littered with judgements where employers were justified in taking an action, but were still penalised for not doing it in the correct way.
The robots are coming! So ensure you take care, get advice if you are unsure.
