Writing a Letter of Complaint to Human Resources

When addressing a complaint with your Human Resources (HR) Department, it is important to handle it in writing. You want to be precise, spelling out the details of the situation that has influenced you to write this letter. Be sure to handle things in a professional manner, no matter the nature of the complaint.

Address the letter to the appropriate HR personnel depending on the nature of your complaint. When in doubt as to who is most appropriate, address it to the head of the HR department. Begin your letter with a brief introduction as to who you are. This may include information regarding not just your name, but your current job title or position number. Depending on the size of the organization, quickly identifying yourself will help HR to act more quickly.

Next, begin by clearly stating the nature of the complaint. It should be a brief summary of the topic of the complaint, as well as naming the parties involved. This may include verbiage from internal documents, like employee handbooks or codes of conduct, or any applicable laws that may have been broken. Be specific and straight to the point.

Follow up with a more detailed accounting of the incident, or incidents. If you have precise dates to accompany the information, use them here to assist in establishing a timeline. If there is more than one complaint contained within the letter, separate them into individual paragraphs when possible. You may even wish to break it down with subheadings for clarity. This makes the document easier to read.

As previously mentioned, it is critical to remain professional while you craft this letter. If some of the language involved in the complaint is vulgar in nature, such as quoting an inappropriate comment made by a coworker, make sure this is clearly identified as a quote within the document. You may even choose to not spell out the entire word, using an asterisks in place of some of the letters for example, to lessen the harness in the letter itself. Otherwise, avoid vulgar language entirely if it is not a direct quote from a person involved in the complaint.

Once you have clearly stated the details of the complaint, go into a new paragraph where you can offer potential solutions. If you want HR to mediate a conversation between yourself and the other person involved in the complaint, state that now. The same goes for other requests, such as a change of work station or assignment to a new supervisor. Generally, it would be inappropriate to ask that someone be fired for the issues being described. If the issue warrants a termination in someone’s employment, that will likely happen naturally without your prompting.

Understand that these requests should only be made if they would solve the issue for you. It is also important to note that just because it is requested does not mean HR will deem it an appropriate solution. Close the letter with your name, signature and contact information.