In an AI World, Is It Time to Impose Word Limits on Employee Complaints?

The useful part

Artificial intelligence (AI) has fundamentally altered the role of HR/People teams with lengthy well written complaints citing legislation and case law now commonplace, be they grievances, appeals, or other disputes. These developments have put HR on the back foot, but is it time for employers to push back and impose word limits? Quick Hits employee complaints can be lengthy and persuasive but may obscure the key facts and issues.

How it works

• In the United Kingdom, AI often advises employees to throw in a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) as well for good measure.
• AI has a natural bias towards the user and is only fed the user's side of a dispute.
• Employers could consider word limits for internal complaints while allowing exceptions and supporting evidence.
• Focusing on main issues, allowing reasonable response times, and using AI carefully will help employers manage lengthy employee complaint submissions.
• AI can make a complaint long, fluent, and superficially persuasive while obscuring relevant facts.

What to take from it

The resulting employee-favourable output gives false encouragement to employees who feel emboldened and confident to pursue their complaint as far as possible, with their AI free solicitor at their side for the journey. It can be very difficult to see the wood for the trees and a feeling of not understanding what a complaint may be about, despite having read twenty pages, is not uncommon. It is time to consider whether employers should be amending policies to impose a word limit.

Example or evidence

• Surely that same principle should apply to internal processes, although there do not yet appear to be any court decisions on this in the UK.