AbstractLine managers play an important role as implementers of performance appraisal, enacting procedures designed by the HR function. However, the actual employee experience of these procedures (which may differ from how they were intended or enacted) in terms of perceptions of justice in the process is likely to have consequences for levels of organizational commitment. Furthermore, based on signaling theory, the broader organizational climate, measured here in terms of the level of trust employees have in the senior management, sets the context in which this experience takes shape. Presenting multilevel analysis of 4,422 employees across 22 business units, we show that organizational units with high trust in senior management have both higher levels of commitment, and show a stronger link between employee perceptions of fair treatment by their line manager during performance appraisal, and organizational commitment. This provides initial evidence that the impact of line manager actions is important for employee‐level outcomes but is also constrained by the organizational climate. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.