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Industrial relations means the relations between employees and employers This relationship is as old as industry itself. Rapid industrialisation has created many problems in the modern times and today, industrial relations have become one of the most delicate and complex problems of modern industrial society. In the medieval society, relations between master and servant were direct and personal and it was easier to obtain cooperation from workers. But industrial revolution in UK changed the entire theory radically. Rapid industrialization gave birth to company form of organization, which led to separation of ownership and management of industry, hence old relations of master and servant being face to face, became irrelevant in the context of industrial relations. Introduction of machines resulted in economic, social and psychological problems for workers and they began to organize themselves under trade unions. The changed environment witnessed a divorce between ownership and management of industrial organizations and the old master was represented by management and the servant was represented by trade unions As more and more workers organized themselves under the umbrella of association of workers, they grew stronger throughout the world and asked for better working conditions and benefits. Rapid developmental activities as a result of industrialization resulted in better means of communication and transport and general rise in social progress and standard of livings. As strikes and lockouts became common, management of industrial relations became more complex and governments of the countries could no more remain silent spectators. Labour laws began to be passed to protect workers and maintain industrial peace in the country.
The term ‘industrial relations’ means relationship between the parties concerned with the industry viz. workers represented by workers associations or trade unions and management represented by owners. Interest of both are vital to the well being of the industry, hence it is necessary to secure the cooperation of both the parties to improve industrial relations to ensure growth and stability of industry. As the canvas grew bigger and bigger, state interference became imperative for regulation of labour-management relations and thus area of industrial relations has been extended to relations among the State, employers and the employees.
In the context of above study of the concept of industrial relations, different economists, social thinkers and organizations have given various definitions as under:
According to Casselman’s labour dictionary “the relations between employers and employees in industry. In the broad sense, the term also includes the relation. between the various unions, between the State, and the unions as well as those between the employers and the State”.
Dale Yoder, “The term industrial relations include recruitment, selection and training of workers, personnel management as well as collective bargaining policies and practices.
Richard A. Lester, “Industrial relations involve attempts to arrive at workable solutions between the conflicting objectives and values between profit motive and social gains, between discipline and freedom, between authority and industrial democracy, between bargaining and co-operation and interests of individual, the group and the community.”
Prof. T.N. Kapoor, “Industrial relations refers to a dynamic and a developing concept which is not limited to the complex relations between trade unions and management but also refers to the general web of relationships normally obtaining between employers and employees a web, much more complex than the simple concept of labour capital conflict.
Prof. Dunlop, “Industrial relations may be defined as the complex of inter relations among workers, managers and government”
Now a day, industrial relations are not solely determined by direct relationship between employers and employees. State participation is not only inevitable, rather regulatory role of the State is growing constantly. Thus, the present era of industrial relations has been extended to relations of the State with employers, employees and their organizations. This relationship has grown quite complex and multi dimensional depending upon historical, social, psychological, economic, political and legal variables.
Thus, industrial relations are the result of those mutual feelings and views of employers.
If the objects of industrial development and, of social justice have to be achieved simultaneously, the relations between labour and management must be cordial and harmonious. Such relations can be established in an industry only when both the workers and employers realise their duties and responsibilities to each other, but the unfortunately this situation has not arrived at yet. There are many issues and causes which have led to labour problems and frictions between the interest of workers and employers. As a result of such frictions, many industrial problems like-strikes, agitations and lock-outs etc., arise, industrial atmosphere becomes tense, production and productivity of an enterprise decreases, costs of production increases, the real income of workers decrease and industrial development of the country is hampered. Therefore, to avoid these consequences, it becomes necessary that there must be harmonious relations between labour and management.
To sum up, it can be said that industrial relations is the joint liability of labour unions, employers and Government. Efforts are made to settle all the industrial problems, which may cause industrial frictions. For establishing better industrial relations, it becomes necessary that a social approach should be adopted in industries, the workers should be given freedom in their work, the management should have adequate rights and powers and the feeling of mutual cooperation should be developed in the enterprise. The workers should have a feeling of responsibility and discipline. The democratic atmosphere should be created in the industry, and collective and social interests of all the individuals should be duly protected.
Important objectives of industrial relations can be explained as under:
1. To create an atmosphere of mutual faith and trust between workers and management: The most important objective of industrial relations is to create an atmosphere in the enterprise in which both the workers and management may have faith and trust upon each other. To achieve this object, it is necessary that both the parties should get proper opportunities to express their feelings and emotions.
2. To settle industrial disputes: Second very important object of industrial relations is to settle industrial disputes peacefully and, at the earliest, so that the harmonious atmosphere may be created and the production and productivity of the enterprise may be increased.
3. To create the situation of full employment: Industrial relations in an enterprise are necessary to be maintained in order to create the situation of full employment. It helps in reducing the rate of labour turnover and absenteeism.
4. To develop industrial democracy: Industrial relations help in developing democratic atmosphere in the industrial enterprise. Workers get an opportunity of participation in management. It develops the feeling of responsibility among them and they dedicate their efforts for the achievement of organisational objectives.
5. To solve labour problems: Good industrial relations help in solving the labor problems also. Early solution of labour problems help in minimising actions such as-strikes, lock-outs, Gheraos etc.
6. To provide social justice: Industrial relations help in providing social justice to the workers. It promotes equitable distribution of national income.
The International Labour Organisation (I.L.O.) has propounded the principles of industrial relations as under:
1. Free exchange of ideas: Good industrial relations can be established in an industrial enterprise only when both the workers and employers exchange their views freely and frankly with one another. It helps in determining the specific duties and responsibilities of both the parties.
2. To follow the system of collective bargaining: The system of collective bargaining should be followed in an industrial enterprise. This system helps in settlement of industrial disputes in a harmonious atmosphere.
3. Mutual cooperation: To establish good industrial relations in an enterprise, it is also necessary that there must be an atmosphere of mutual cooperation and co-ordination between workers and management.
Above principles make it clear that the ILO has stressed upon the importance of workers. The employers should feel that the workers are an essential part of enterprise as the organisational objectives can be achieved only when the workers are satisfied with their job and their organisation. Proper working conditions should be provided to them and they should be motivated to produce better results.
If the twin objectives of rapid industrial development and establishment of socialistic pattern of society are to be achieved, it is necessary that the relations between workers and management should be cordial. Such relations can be developed only when both, the workers and employers are conscious about their duties and responsibilities and discharge them properly. But unfortunately, we do not find it in practice. In most enterprises relations between workers and management are tense due to many reasons. Sometimes, the problems of strikes, lock-out and Gherao e also arise due to such tensions. It results in reduction in industrial production, its increased cost and inferior quality etc. It reduces the income of workers also, which in turn is responsible for low national income. Consequently, industrial development of the country is hampered. To avoid all these adverse (negative) effects, it is necessary that the relations between labour and management should be cordial.
Healthy industrial relations are helpful in providing maximum satisfaction to the workers. They work with best of their efficiency and ability which increases their productivity and earning. It provides satisfaction to the employers and management also by increasing the production and productivity of the enterprise. Management provides welfare measure to the workers. Thus, healthy relations are in the interest of both the employers and workers and in establishing industrial peace and harmony.
An industry is a small social world in which workers, supervisors and other managerial executives work together. They develop some mutual relations. These relations of this industrial world affect all the economic, social, cultural and political relations of the whole society. Thus, there is a chain, which creates different relations between employees and employers, employees and labour unions, employees and employees, employers and the association of employers, society and industry, Government and industry etc. Thus, industrial relations are very important in industrial world.
Poor industrial relations are the by-product of a number of socio-economic, political and psychological factors, which may be cardinally presented as under :
1. Occupational instability: Job security is an important motivator. Workers having spent some time on a particular job would gain confidence in performing the given job effectively. This leads to resistance to change. Workers do not welcome any change in the structure and composition of job, however good it may be to increase productivity and profits. Workers resent change because it may reduce their existing pay, it may subset the workers to training, it may change the existing social relationship, it may reduce the opportunities for growth and development; it may result in change in status, it may not give the workers as much satisfaction as they are deriving from the present job.
2. Poor climate: Poor organisational climate often results in poor industrial relations. When members perceive that organisational climate is unfavourable to them (poor lighting and ventilation, poor physical facilities, inadequate equipments and tools, high job stress, low job satisfaction, low morale, lack of application of motivational techniques, in-appropriate leadership style etc.,) they do not feel like contributing willingly to the out put. The inevitable result would be poor industrial relations. Organisational members seek membership else where (ie, in militant labour organisations) and vent their negative feelings and fight against their employers.
3. Low level of wages: When the wage rate is disappointingly low, workers lack motivation to work and participate in organisational goals. Low wages also result in poor industrial relations. High discrimination in wages and incentives create a feeling of inequality in the minds of workers and they become either indifferent or ineffective at work.
4. Un-interesting nature of work: Lack of job satisfaction is one of the important causes of poor industrial relations. Modern workers do not work just for the sake of living or earning their bread. They are more interested in job satisfaction. Lack of job satisfaction results in increased absenteeism and high rate of labour turnover. Owing to division of labour and specialisation, workers are forced to concentrate on a particular piece of work, which may become monotonous and boring after some time, and workers may feel frustrated by performing such boring tasks. Unable to express dissatisfaction at work, a worker may resort to absenteeism, reduce out put and become inefficient. This would inevitably result in poor industrial relations.
5. Political nature of trade unions: These days, trade union leaders receive support from political parties resulting in politicalization of labour unions. Political leaders, with some exceptions, use the trade union leaders as powers in their chess game to strengthen their political power or position, bothering least about the labour and management. They may often mislead the trade unions leaders to act, which may be detrimental to the functioning of the organisation as well as the economy, to meet their political objectives. The trade unions find it very difficult to come out of the vicious circle created in this process.
Discipline means orderliness in any field of activities. It implies the absence of irregularity, confusion, disorder and chaos in human behaviour and activities. Thus, discipline means to work in a normal and orderly way, as a reasonable person should do.
In an industrial organisation, discipline means the situation in which all the workers and employees follow the rules, regulations and procedures of the organisation. It means the situation in which all the employees and workers discharge their duties properly and systematically. The term ‘Discipline’ has been defined as under:
Dale S. Beach, “Discipline regulates (by reward or penalty) the human behaviour”
H.K. Chaudhary, “Discipline may be described as essentially an attitude of mind, a product of culture and a particular environment.”
Richard P. Calhoon, “Discipline may be considered the force that prompts individuals or groups to observe rules, standards and procedures deemed necessary for an organisation.”
Ordway Tead, “Discipline is that orderly conduct by the member of an organisation who adhere to its necessary regulation because they desire to cooperate harmoniously in forwarding the end which the group has a view and willingly recognise that to do this their wishes must be brought into reasonable union with the requirements of the group in action.”
Michael J. Jucious, “Discipline used as a noun and preceded by the adjective ‘good’ means that the worker willingly abides by company rules and executive orders. Disciplinary action, or discipline means the steps taken in an attempt to correct the disobedience and if possible, the cause.”
Dr. W.R. Spriegal and Edward Schulze, “Discipline is the force that prompts an individual or group to observe rules, regulations and procedures that are deemed necessary to the attaints of an objective, it is the force or fear of a force that restraints individuals or groups from doing things that are destructive of group objectives. It is also the exercise of restraints for enforcement of penalties for the violation of group regulation.”
On the basis of analytical study of above discussion, it can be concluded that discipline is the force that prompts an individual or a group of individuals to follow the rules, regulations, standards and procedures of the organisations in which they work for the purpose of attainment of organisational objectives. It is the force that restraints an individual or a group of individuals from doing the things that are against the interests of group objectives. This force is also the exercise of some prize or penalty.
A Code of discipline is prepared in a big enterprise. Code of discipline includes the following:
(i) To discharge the assigned work to the best of one’s efficiency.
(ii) To follow the orders and instructions of the foremen, supervisor and manager.
(iii) To work in a team-spirit.
(iv) To maintain proper records in the enterprise.
(v) Not to remain absent without prior notice.
(vi) To follow the rules related with safety and security.
(vii) To cooperate with others and to get the cooperation from them.
(viii) Not to smoke in prohibited area.
(ix) Not to cause any loss to the assets of enterprise.
(x) Not to involve in any immoral activity.
(xi) To follow the code of settlement of grievances.
(xii) Not to involve in a strike or lock-out.
Important characteristics of discipline are as follows:
1. Discipline is a force: Discipline is a force that prompts an individual or a group of individuals to follow the rules, regulations, systems and procedures of the enterprise in which they work.
2. Discipline is a Mental Attitude: Discipline is a mental attitude that encourages the employees of an organisation to dedicate their efforts for the accomplishment of organisational objectives.
3. Discipline may be Positive or Negative: When the employees of an enterprise follow the rules, regulations, systems and procedures of their organisation on their own, it is called positive discipline. On the other hand, when the employees of an enterprise follow the rules, regulations, systems and procedures due to some fear or penalty, it is called negative discipline.
Important objectives of discipline may be summarised as follows:
1. To establish certainty in the activities of the enterprise.
2. To get acceptance of employees towards the rules, regulations, systems and procedures of the enterprise.
3. To develop the nature of self-control among employees of the enterprise.
4. To carry on the activities of the enterprise smoothly.
5. To increase the efficiency of the enterprise.
6. To get the economy in the activities of enterprise.
7. To develop the feeling of responsibility among employees.
8. To develop the feeling of mutual cooperation and co-ordination among employees of the enterprise.
9. To establish harmonious relations between labour and management in the enterprise.
The term ‘Discipline’ refers to two basic conceptions-Positive and negative. Brief description of these conceptions is as under:
1. Positive Discipline: Positive discipline is an attitude of mind, which encourages an employee to work without any fear. It motivates the worker to work himself and to obey and abide by the rules. It is that state of mind of an individual er of a group of individuals which prompts to do proper things in a systematic way. Such state of mind is a result of effective leadership and training. In the words of W.R. Spriegel, “Positive discipline does not replace reason but applies reason to the achievement, of a common objective. Positive discipline does not restrict the individual but enables him to have a greater freedom in that he enjoys a greater degree of self-expression in striving to achieve the group objective, which he identifies as his own.”
Positive discipline encourages effective co-operation and co-ordination. It minimises the need of supervision and control. Following are the essential elements for the success of positive discipline-(i) The rules and code of discipline should be prepared carefully. These rules should be convinced to all the employees.
(ii) The number of these rules should be minimum and the rules should be easy to understand.
(iii) The work should be allocated in the manner that the burden of work upon every employee should be reasonable, so that he may complete his work easily and efficiently within the time prescribed for it.
(iv) proper training facilities should be provided to the employees so that they may discharge their duties in a better way.
(v) Maximum possible financial and non-financial incentives should be provided to employees.
(vi) Supervisor himself should be disciplined so that the employees may follow him.
2. Negative Discipline. The approach of negative discipline is just opposite to the approach of positive discipline. This approach stresses upon penalty and punishment in place of co-operation and incentives. Negative discipline provides for penalties in case of violation of any rules by the employees. The terror of penalties is created in the minds of employees to discourage them for violating the rules. The approach of negative discipline is based on the theory that the employees don’t want to work and do not like to follow the rules, regulations, systems and procedures of the enterprise on their own. They can be compelled to do so only by creating a terror in their mind. For this reason, disciplinary action should be determined in advance and convinced to all the employees carefully so that they may not dare to do anything against the rules, regulations, systems and procedures of the organisation. Thus, the approach of negative discipline is a establishment of discipline through fear and punishment.
3. Positive Discipline Vs Negative Discipline: An important question regarding maintenance of discipline in an industrial organisation is- Which of the positive and negative discipline is better and should be applied in the organisation? Generally, discipline is thought of in negative sense because whenever the question of maintaining discipline in an industrial organisation arises, we think of the punishment and penalties in case of violation of rules. But it is an old and out-dated approach. Now the time has changed. The management believes in positive approach of discipline. All the possible measures are adopted to encourage the employees to do what they should do. However, it does not mean that positive approach alone can achieve all the objectives. The fact is that the management should adopt both the approaches simultaneously. The employees should be encouraged to follow the rules and regulations of the organisation by providing them maximum incentives, but if they still violate the rules, they must be punished. Thus, the wise approach to maintain discipline in an industrial organisation is to use the combination of both, the positive and negative approaches to maintain discipline.
Discipline is an essential element in an industrial enterprise. It is essential to maintain industrial peace and harmony. Disciplined behaviour of the employees of an industrial enterprise helps in the achievement of predetermined objectives of the enterprise in a planned way. If the workers and employees of enterprise are disciplined, they will be able in producing better results. Their productivity will be higher. Wastages of raw materials, machines and time will be reduced to minimum. They will follow the rules, regulations, systems and procedures of the enterprise. They will obey the orders and follow directions of their supervisor. The need of supervision in the enterprise will be minimum.
Thus, a disciplined work force can produce better results and can meet the challenges of production. It promotes co-operation and co-ordination among the workers, increases their morale and encourages harmonious relations between labour and management. A disciplined work force contributes sincere efforts to serve the interests of organisation.
Discipline is an essential prerequisite to achieve predetermined objectives of an industrial undertaking. If the employees of an undertaking are well-behaved and disciplined, the objectives of the undertaking may be easily achieved. If, on the other hand, where the employees of an undertaking are not disciplined, the enterprise cannot achieve its Therefore, it is essential for the success of an enterprise that the employees of the enterprise must be well disciplined. To develop the feeling of discipline among employees, it is essential that there must be a sound disciplinary system. Following are the principles that should be followed in an enterprise to maintain discipline:
1. There should be well-defined code of discipline in the enterprise. Rules regulations, systems and procedures of the enterprise should be clearly defined and communicated to all the employees.
2. Duties, rights and responsibilities of all the employees should be specifically determined. Standards should be determined for all the employees so that they may fix a target that they have to accomplish.
3. There should be clear provisions of reward and punishment for the employees. These provisions should be made clear to all the employees.
4. The treatment for all the employees must be equal. Any worker who violates rules should be punished without partiality.
5. The power to take disciplinary action should be vested with immediate officer because only he can have a complete knowledge of mistakes of his subordinates.
6. Decision on a disciplinary action should not be delayed so that it may have an impact upon other employees. Delayed decision reduces the importance of disciplinary action.
7. The object of disciplinary action should be constructive. The aim of such action should be to remove the feeling of indiscipline among the employees and not to harass them unnecessarily.
8. The employees against whom disciplinary action is taken, should be encouraged in the manner that the cause of indiscipline may not be repeated.
9. Disciplinary action should be based upon the enquiry and investigation of all the relevant facts. Therefore, it is necessary that all the relevant facts should be collected and deeply analysed before taking any disciplinary action.
10. The proceedings of disciplinary action should remain confidential. It should not be disclosed to the concerned employees before arriving at a final decision.
11. The employees against whom disciplinary action is to be taken should be given fullopportunity to explain the reasons of mistake. They should also get an opportunity to appeal against the decision before a higher authority.
12. If disciplinary action is being taken against an officer or a supervisor, it should not be known to the subordinate staff. If it is so, they will not pay due regards to their officer.
13. The behaviour of the officer with the employees against whom disciplinary action was taken should be normal. The success of disciplinary action depends upon the success of the fact that negative discipline may be converted into positive discipline.
14. Self-imposed discipline is the best form of discipline. Therefore, the managers should stress upon the development of feeling of self-imposed discipline among the workers.
Indiscipline means the situation in which the management does not get co operation of workers and employees. Non-cooperation of employees is in most cases the result of faulty attitudes and behaviour of the management. Henry Fayol made a statement in this regard, ‘Discipline is what the leaders make it.’ This statement of Henry Fayol proves that discipline is a responsibility of the management of an enterprise. So indiscipline is the result of managerial faults. Even if the indiscipline is the result of faulty behaviour and attitudes of workers and employees in an enterprise, the responsibility of such indiscipline will also be with management Important causes of indiscipline in Indian industries are as follows:
1. Partiality in behaviour of managers: When the managers in an enterprise are not impartial in their behaviour, it causes the feeling of indiscipline among them Such indiscipline arises when the managers give undue weightage to an employee or criticise an employee without any justified reason.
2. Faulty Decisions of Managers: Sometimes the managers take wrong decisions on the issues of interests of employees such as the decisions regarding promotion. Such decisions cause dissatisfaction among the employees and they become indisciplined.
3. Defective Supervision: Supervisor is the immediate boss of worker in an industrial enterprise. The workers have to deal with the supervisor in relation to many problems. If the supervision is defective and the attitude and behaviour of supervisor is not proper, it may create many problems. Supervisor plays an important role in the maintenance of discipline. Therefore, indiscipline may spring from the lack of proper supervision.
4. Lack of Effective Communication: Lack of effective communication causes many problems in the enterprise. The result of lack of effective communication is that the orders and directives of management are not properly communicated to the workers and problems. The grievances of workers are not properly communicated to the management. It creates a gap in understanding which in turn cause the problem of indiscipline.
5. Ignorance of Labour Problems: Discipline is the outcome of attitude of workers. Attitude of workers is determined by the personal problems of workers. Therefore, understanding of these problems and difficulties is necessary in order to maintain discipline in an industrial organisation. If the managers do not pay adequate attention to the problems of their workers, it may cause the feeling of dis appointment, dis-satisfaction and frustration among the workers. Such dis appointment and dis-satisfaction causes indiscipline among the workers.
6. Lack of Effective Leadership: Effective leadership is an important tool for maintaining discipline in an organisation. A successful leader is one who is voluntarily followed by his subordinates and who wins the faith and co-operation of his followers. If the leader of workers in an industrial organisation does not succeed in getting co-operation of his followers, it may result in the indiscipline among the workers.
7. Divide and Rule Policy of Management: Some of the managers in a big organisation obtain secret information about their employees through their trusted assistants. This habit of managers is not desirable in an industrial organisation because it may cause indiscipline among the employees about whom such information are collected. The statement of Henry Fayol is very important in this regard. He pointed out, “Dividing enemy forces to weaken them is clever, but dividing one’s own team is grave sin against the business.
8. Victimisation of Employees: Sometimes, a manager or supervisor develops ill feelings in his mind about the employees serving under them. In this case, he victimises them in his own way. He puts such employees under excessive burden of work and under strict control. Due to this reason, such employees try to form a front so that they may oppose such behaviour of the supervisor or manager. It also causes indiscipline.
9. Lack of Well Defined Code of Discipline: The rules, regulations, systems and practices must be specific and clear in every organisation so that the employees may be directed and guided properly. Such code of discipline should be communicated to all the employees clearly so that they may follow it and extend their full cooperation in the achievement of organisational objectives. If there is a lack of well-defined code of discipline, it may cause indiscipline among employees.
10. Other Causes: Other causes of indiscipline in an industrial enterprise are as follows:
a. Lack of required ability among the employees.
b. Lack of proper training facilities.
c. Improper allocation of work,
d. Psychological aptitude of Employees.
e. Economic condition of employees etc.
Discipline plays an important role in the industrial progress of a country. Disciplined labour force is the most valuable asset of a country in the absence of which the industrial progress of the country is not possible. If the employees of an enterprise are disciplined, they will contribute efforts for achieving the objectives of their enterprise. Recognising the importance of industrial discipline Second five-year plan of our country stated, “The importance of industrial discipline in various spheres of an industry should be recognised and all the possible measures should be adopted to remove the causes of indiscipline. Strict discipline cannot be imposed through legislation. Therefore, the discipline should be maintained at all the levels by mutual cooperation between labour and management.”
Accepting the recommendation of second five-year plan, an Indian Labour Conference was held in 1957. A sub-committee on discipline in industries was formed at this conference. A code of discipline was ratified at a meeting of this sub committee held on 14th and 15th March 1958. This code of discipline was finally approved at the next labour conference held in 1958. It came into operation with effect from 1st June 1958.
It applies to both the public and private sector industries, Main features of code of discipline are as follows:
1. There should be no strike or lockout in industry without a proper and prior notice.
2. It prohibits the activities, like intimidation, victimisation, violence, coercion or instigation by both the parties.
3. No, one-sided decision should be taken by any party in any respect.
4. Go-slow tactics should not be adopted.
5. No asset of industrial enterprise should be damaged in any way.
6. A grievance handling procedure should be adopted and implemented for the settlement of industrial grievances.
7. Burden of work upon employees should not be increased. If it is to be increased, it should be under the norms of the agreement between employers and workers.
8. If there is an officer in the enterprise who instigates the workers against the organisation, prompt disciplinary action should be taken against him.
9. All the possible facilities should be provided by the employers for the growth of labour unions. However, unfair practices of labour unions should be discouraged.
10. The workers should not indulge in labour unions activities during working hours.
11. All the decisions and agreements of labour unions should be followed by all the employees. If any employee is found guilty of violating such decisions and agreements, prompt action should be taken against him.
12. There should be no agreement between employers and workers that may challenge the industrial peace and development.
Human Resource Management is a social science related with the study of human behaviour. It studies the behaviour of workers and employees engaged in a business and industrial enterprise. The persons working in a group can never feel satisfied in all respects. Even the management cannot satisfy all the employees in all respects at all the times. Therefore, it is but natural that the workers have some of the other grievances. They may have the grievances against their immediate supervisor or against the management or against the systems and procedures, which are followed in an organisation. Some of these grievances are based upon genuine causes but some of them are not real and are created by the employees only to blame others. grievance is a feeling of dis-satisfaction among the workers, working in an organisation. A grievance may be expressed orally or in writing. It may be expressed individually or collectively. It is not necessary that a grievance is always expressed, it may be implicit also. The term ‘Grievance’ has been defined as under:
Dale S. Beach, “Grievance is any dis-satisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with one’s employment situation that is brought to the attention of connection management.”
Richard P. Calhoon, “A Grievance is defined as any thing that an employee thinks or feels is wrong. generally accompanied by an active disturbing feeling.”
Pigours and Myers, “Grievance is simply a complaint which has been formally presented in writing to a management representative or to union official in the language of labour relations from management angle.
On the basis of analytical s abo of above definitions, it that a grievance is a feeling of dis-satisfaction or injustice that an employee thinks may be concluded or feels in connection with his employment, whether exposed or not and whether valid or not. A grievance may relate to the rate of of wages, payment of overtime bonus, leave, transfer, promotion, working conditions, management of machines and equipments, canteen, facility of recreation, behaviour of supervisor etc. grievance may The y be e of employees against their employer or of the employers against their employees. Grievance of employers against employees may relate to the speed of production, quality of production, wastages of materials and machines, indiscipline, breach of contract, strikes, agitations etc.
Grievances are the feelings of employees. They arise in the mind of worker or they are created by the circumstances or they are developed by labour unions Grievances can be substantially reduced by supervisors. Management or employers may also have some grievances. Such grievances are caused by the behaviour and attitudes of the employees. The causes of grievances may thus, be divided into two parts as follows:
Causes of Grievances of Employees.
The term ‘Grievance’ in general means the feeling of dissatisfaction among the workers. There are many causes of the grievances of workers. Some of the important causes of grievances of employees are as follows:
1. Causes of grievances related with wages.
a. Grievance of mistake in the calculationof wages of an individual employee.
b. Grievance of rate of wage and salary not according to the job.
c. Grievance in relation to financial incentives.
d. Grievance relating to the rate of bonus.
e. Grievance relating to the time of payment of wages.
2. Causes of grievances related with working conditions.
a. Grievance of non-availability of required materials at proper time.
b. Grievance relating to the quality of materials.
c. Grievance related with machines and equipments.
d. Grievance related with safety and security measures.
e. Grievance related with medical care and health facilities.
f. Grievance related with general working conditions on the work.
g.(vii) Grievance related with job classification.
3. Causes of grievances related with supervision.
a. Grievance related with method of supervision.
b. Grievance related with the behaviour of foreman or supervisor.
c. Grievance related with attitude of partiality in the behaviour of supervisor.
d. Grievance against the disciplinary action.
4. Causes of grievances related with seniority, transfer promotion and retirement.
a. Grievance of mistake in the calculation of order of seniority.
b. Grievance related with partiality in making transfers.
c. Grievance related with partiality in awarding promotions.
d. Grievance related with lay off.
e. Grievance related with retirement.
f. Grievance related with delay in the payment of retirement benefits such as provident fund, gratuity and pension etc.
5. Causes of grievances related with collective bargaining.
a. Grievance of implementing the agreement of collective bargaining.
b. Grievance of the violation of terms and conditions of such agreement.
c. Grievance of wrong interpretation of the terms and conditions of such agreement.
d. Grievance of inability to solve the problems under the provisions of such agreement.
6. Other causes of grievances.
a. Grievances against the plans and policies of management that may have an adverse effect on the interests of employees.
b. Grievance related with the rules regarding leave.
c. Grievance of lack of co ordination among different departments of the enterprise.
d. Grievance of lack of co-ordination among different activities of a department.
e. Grievance against the declaration of lock-out by management.
Employers and managers may also have complaints against their employees. The causes of such grievances are as follows:
1. Causes of grievances against particular employee.
(i) Violation of the rules and regulations of the code of the discipline.
(ii) Disobedience of the orders and directions of supervisor.
(iii) Absence from duty without any information.
(iv) Misbehaviour with supervisor or foreman.
(v) Non cooperation with supervisor and foreman.
(vi) Misbehaviour with other employees.
(vii) Non co-operation with other employees.
(viii) Low productivity.
(ix) Low quality of production.
(x) To leave the work incomplete.
(xi) Wastage of raw materials.
(xii) Not to handle machines and equipments properly.
(xiii) To waste the time.
(xiv) To inspire and motivate other employees against management.
2. Causes of grievances related with the activities of labour unions.
(i) Non fulfilment of commitments by labour unions.
(ii) To cause disturbances in the functions of management.
(iii) To blame the employers and managers.
(iv) To inspire employees against the management.
(v) To make disturbances in the disciplinary action against faulty employees.
(vi) To adopt mal-practices to press upon the management to agree with the demands of union.
(vii) To hold agitations against management.
(viii) To adopt measures which are against the interests of organisation.
(ix) Not to co-operate in the settlement of grievances.
In 1958, Indian Labour Conference was held. At this conference grievance procedure model was accepted. The details of this model are as follows:
1. Grievances should be presented to the immediate officer. Aggrieved employee should present his grievances to his immediate officer either in writing or orally. Such officer will give his decision within 48 hours. If the officer does not give his decision within 48 hours of grievances, or the employee does not feel satisfied which his decision, he will present his grievances before the head of his department through this office or himself.
2. Grievances should be presented to departmental head. When a grievance is presented before the departmental head, he should give his decision on the problem within 3 days. If the head does not give his decision within 3 days or if the employee is not satisfied with his decision, the grievance will be forwarded to the grievance committee.
3. Grievances should be presented to the grievance committee. When a departmental head does not give the decision on a problem within 3 days or the employee is not satisfied with such decision, the problem is forwarded to the grievance committee. Grievance committee should give its decision on the problem within 7 days. If the committee does not communicate his decision within 7 days or if the employee is not satisfied with his decision, the grievance is forwarded to the management.
4. Grievances should be presented to the management. If the employee is not satisfied with the decision of grievance committee or if the grievance committee does not give any decision on the problem within 7 days, the aggrieved employee may present his problem before the management. He may present his case before management through the office bearers of labour union or himself so that he may talk in effective manner. The management should give a decision on the problem within 7 days. If the management does not give any decision within this period or if the employee is not satisfied with such decision, the grievance will be forwarded for arbitration.
5. The grievance should be presented before Arbitrators. If the problem is not solved up to the level of management also, then problem is presented before the Arbitrators. Arbitrators listen to the problem thoroughly and carefully. Both the parties are given full opportunity to explain their arguments. After a careful examination of the problem, they give their decision. The decision of Arbitrators is binding upon both the parties.
6. Formal agreement procedure. If an aggrieved employee has presented his grievance to the officers under the grievance handling procedure, no formal agreement can be entered into between the employee and management unless and until the proceedings of the grievance handling procedure are completed. A grievance becomes a dispute when the decision of departmental manager also is not agreed upon by the aggrieved employee.
7. Follow-up decision. Grievance procedure model stresses upon a rule that if a grievance is created because of an order of the management, the aggrieved employee will have to follow the order of management before getting the help of grievance handling procedure.
8. Appeal before the suspending authority. If an employee has a grievance related with his suspension, he has a right to appeal before the suspending authority. Such appeal can be made within 7 days of suspension. Holiday will be taken into consideration for calculating such period of 7 days.
When a large number of employees work together in an enterprise, Grievances are but natural to arise because all of them cannot feel full satisfaction in all respects. There can be no industrial enterprise, howsoever organised and managed in which all the employee may function smoothly at all times without any problem. Sometimes, the employees have grievances against their employers and sometimes employers have grievances against their employees.
The nature and extent of these grievances may, however, differ but they are there.
A satisfactory procedure must be adopted in all the enterprises to deal with these grievances. A system and a procedure evolved to settle the grievances in an organisation is known as grievance handling procedure. Some scholars are of the view that there is no need of a separate procedure of grievance handling. In their opinion, the responsibility of settlement of grievances is basically the responsibility of HR Department.
Therefore, Human resource manager should take necessary steps to solve these grievances. This opinion cannot be out rightly supported because separate procedure of grievance handling helps in establishing harmonious relations in the enterprise. HR Department can be a supplement and not a substitute to a separate system of grievance handling.
When a grievance is received in an industrial enterprise, it should be thoroughly examined so that the basic source of the grievance may be established. If a grievance is presented by an employee in the capacity of representative of his organisation, it implies that the grievance is being presented by the whole organisation. Such grievance symbolises that there is some mistakes in the policies or programmes of the enterprise. Therefore, the polices and programmes of the enterprise should be corrected accordingly so that the grievance may be settled. If a grievance is presented by an employee in his individual capacity, it implies that the employee is dis-satisfied with the behaviour of his supervisor or any other officer. In such case the grievance should be settled on the basis of arguments of both the parties. If no grievance is received in an enterprise, it should not be taken to mean that the employees are fully satisfied in all respects and that they have no problem. On the contrary, it may be a result of very strict supervision and control also. The management must be careful of such situation and should avoid it.
Following factors should be considered by the management while preparing the Grievance Handling Procedure:
1. Various levels of management should be determined for the principles of handling grievances.
2. Size of grievance handling committee should be small.
3. Process of grievance handling should be simple.
4. Grievance handling procedure should be amended from time to time according to the needs and requirements.
5. So far as it is possible, the grievances should be settled at the last level of management.
6. Grievances should be presented before the competent authority who may take a decision on the problem.
7. The grievances must be settled at the earliest.
The procedure of grievance handling in an industrial enterprise should involve following steps:
1. Presentation of grievance at first level. Aggrieved employee should present his problem to the nearest competent officer. Generally a foreman or a supervisor is the competent officer. The grievance may be presented either in writing or orally. The supervisor must do his best to settle the problem at his level. If the grievance of the employee is settled at this level, the procedure of grievance handling comes to an end at this level.
2. Presentation at grievance at second level. If a grievance is not settled at the first level of management, it is presented at the second level of management, ie, Departmental Superintendent or Industrial Relation Officer or Personnel Manager. Such officer also makes his best efforts to solve the problem at his level. If the problem is settled at this level, the procedure of grievance handling comes to an end at this level.
3. Presentation of grievance at third level. If a problem is not solved at second level also, it is forwarded to the third level of management i.e., grievance committee. Such committee consists of the representatives of both the employer and employees. This committee tries to solve the problem. If the problem is solved at this level, the procedure of grievance handling is finished at this level.
4. Presentation of grievance at fourth level. If a grievance is not settled at the level of grievance committee also, it is forwarded to the top management. Only such grievances are forwarded to this level, which are of very serious nature.
5. Presentation of Grievance at Fifth and Last Level. If the top management is also unable in finding a solution to the problem or if the employee is not satisfied with the settlement, the problem is forwarded to an independent and impartial person or a group of such persons. Such persons are known as arbitrators. Arbitrators invite both the parties to present their arguments. The decision of arbitrators is binding upon both the parties.
Michael J. Jucious has propounded following four principles for grievance handling procedure:
1. Principle of interviewing. The very first principle of grievance handling procedure is that the managers should interview the employees in order to collect the facts with regards to the grievances of employees. Following factors should be considered by management in this regard –
(i) The interview with employees should be confidential.
(ii) Interview should be held in a comfortable and convenient atmosphere.
(iii) Interview should be quite informal.
(iv) The managers should listen to the employees patiently.
(v) The managers should define and understand the problems and grievances of employees thoroughly.
(vi) The manager should adopt a flexible attitude towards employees.
(vii) Important facts of interview should be noted.
(viii) Interview should be closed in a cordial atmosphere.
(ix) The managers should prepare a report on the findings on the basis of interview.
2. Attitude of management towards employees. The attitude of the management towards employees should be encouraging so that the feeling of faith and trust may be developed among employees. The management should consider following factors in this regard-
(i) The management should listen to the problems of employees and take interests in their problems.
(ii) The management should have sympathetic attitude towards the problems of employees.
(iii) The management should apply its jurisdiction also, while listening to the problems of employees because sometimes the employees lodge fictitious complaints also.
(iv) The management should take all the possible measures to settle these grievances at the earliest.
3. Responsibility of management. Settlement of problems of employees in an enterprise is primarily a responsibility of management of the enterprise. Therefore, the management is responsible for the settlement of all the problems of employees, whether the problem is real, or imaginary, whether the problem is serious or routine nature. For the settlement of problems, it is necessary that the management should develop a feeling of trust among the employees. The employées should feel that the management would do all the best for the settlement of their problems.
4. Long-run principle. The management should consider long-run interests of the enterprise while entering into an agreement with the workers for the settlement of their problems. Sometimes, success in the short run may cause a problem in the long-run. Therefore, a decision must be taken only after considering all the aspects of the problems without neglecting the importance of the long-run theory.
A good grievance handling procedure must incorporate the following features:
1. Conformity to labour laws: The grievance settlement machinery should go strictly by existing labour laws and statutory provisions and should, in no case, be contradictory to legal provisions. As far as possible, the procedure should have the approval of legal department of the organization.
2. Acceptability: In order to make the grievance procedure effective and worth implementing, it is necessary that it is acceptable to the workers. For this to achieve, the procedure
(i) should be discussed with workers,
(ii) must be uniform and have a sense of fair play and justice to all,
(iii) reasonable authority to the implementing manager.
2. Promptness: It is generally said that ‘justice delayed is justice denied. Therefore the procedure should be able to dispose off the grievance rapidly and in fact this is the most important feature of a good grievance procedure. To ensure this, the procedure should have:
(i) As far as possible the grievance should be settled at the lowest level.
(ii) Time limit for implementation should be set and it should be adhered.
(iii) There must be a provision for appeal by worker, against the decision,
(iv) Different types of grievances should be referred to the appropriate.
3. Simplicity: The procedure must be as simple as possible so that all workers could understand it and responsible authorities are able to implement the decisions. The steps should be as few as possible and the workers must be aware of the authorities that should be contacted in case of a grievance.
4. Follow up: The working of the procedure should be reviewed periodically as to its practicability by the Human Resource Department of the organization and if necessary should be introduced.
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