Who can file a policy grievance?

In most Canadian agreements, both the union and the employer can file policy grievances. The union files against employer practices or policies that affect the bargaining unit; the employer can file against union conduct or interpretations that affect the employer's operations as a whole.

How is a policy grievance different from a group grievance?

A group grievance is filed on behalf of a defined group of identifiable employees who each have an individual claim — for example, ten employees denied the same overtime opportunity on the same day. A policy grievance is about the rule or interpretation itself, not a specific group of identifiable employees, and may not require naming individual grievors at all.

What are typical remedies in a policy grievance?

Common remedies include declarations about the correct interpretation of an article, orders to cease a practice, orders to withdraw or rewrite a policy, and compensation to affected bargaining unit members. The arbitrator has broad authority to craft a remedy that matches the nature of the violation. This is general information, not legal advice.

What Is a Policy Grievance?

How policy grievances work in Canadian workplaces, who can file them, and how they differ from individual and group grievances.

Individual, group, and policy grievances

Canadian collective agreements typically recognise three categories of grievances: individual, group, and policy. The distinction matters because it affects who can be the grievor, which step of the procedure the grievance starts at, and what remedies are available. An individual grievance is filed on behalf of one employee who believes their rights under the agreement have been violated. A group grievance is filed on behalf of a defined set of identifiable employees who all have the same complaint — for example, the same denied overtime or the same incorrect vacation calculation.

A policy grievance is different. It challenges a practice or an interpretation of the agreement that affects the bargaining unit as a whole, and it raises a general question about what a clause means or how it is being applied. The grievor is typically the union itself, not an individual employee, and the remedy is usually framed around the rule or practice rather than a single employee's claim.

When a union files a policy grievance

Unions file policy grievances when the issue is bigger than a single employee. Common examples include:

A new employer policy document. The employer publishes a new attendance management policy, return-to-work policy, or cellphone-use policy that the union believes conflicts with the agreement. A policy grievance challenges the document itself, not its application to any one employee.
A recurring employer practice. The employer starts assigning overtime in a way that departs from the seniority clause, or using contractors for work that belongs to the bargaining unit. A policy grievance challenges the practice as a whole.
Disputed interpretation of an article. The union and the employer disagree about what a clause means, and the disagreement is not tied to a specific incident. A policy grievance asks the arbitrator to interpret the clause.
Repeated violations affecting many members. Rather than filing dozens of individual grievances on the same point, the union files one policy grievance that captures the shared issue.

Employers can file grievances too

Policy grievances are not a one-way street. Most Canadian collective agreements allow the employer to file grievances as well, and employer grievances are usually policy grievances in form. The employer might file where the union is interpreting a seniority clause in a way that affects operational flexibility, where there is a dispute over the scope of the bargaining unit, or where a workplace practice of the union (for example, a union's communications on company time) is alleged to breach the agreement.

Employer grievances go through the same procedure as union grievances, but in reverse — usually starting at a senior step since there is no supervisor-level equivalent for the union to answer to.

Remedies in a policy grievance

The remedies available in a policy grievance are broad and depend on the nature of the violation. Typical remedies include:

Declarations. A formal arbitral declaration that a particular practice or policy violates the agreement. Declarations are powerful because they set the ground rules going forward, even without immediate compensation.
Cease-and-desist orders. An order that the employer stop the offending practice.
Policy withdrawal or rewriting. An order that the employer withdraw a non-compliant policy document or rewrite it in a way consistent with the agreement.
Compensation to affected members. Where the violation has caused financial harm to identifiable members of the bargaining unit, the arbitrator can order make-whole compensation even within a policy grievance framework.
Interpretation. An arbitral ruling on what a disputed clause means, which then governs future applications of the clause.

Sertus is built by the co-author of Canadian Labour Arbitration(Brown & Beatty), the reference text Canadian arbitrators cite. The platform encodes the distinction between individual, group, and policy grievances, and routes each case through the appropriate path. This article is general information, not legal advice — consult counsel for any specific matter.

Next steps

If you want to see how Sertus handles policy grievances alongside individual and group cases, book a demo. See also our pages on grievance management, collective agreement navigation, and arbitration decisions research.

Last updated: April 2026

Handle every grievance type in one place

A 30-minute demo showing Sertus manage individual, group, and policy grievances against your collective agreement.

Request a Demo