The Role of Industrial Relations

and Labor Legislation in

maintaining Industrial
Democracy and Harmony
By
Dr. Battu & Mr. Puttu
The Role of I. R and L. L in maintaining
Industrial Democracy and Harmony

 1) Puttu Guru Prasad,*

M.Com, LL.B, P.G.D.F.T.M, M.B.A, M.Phil, (PhD),
Professor, K L U Business School,
K L University, Andhra Pradesh.
pgp4149@gmail.com

 2) Dr. Nagaraju Battu,*

Professor and Research Director,
Bommidala Department of HRM,
Acharya Nagarjuna University,
battunraju@yahoo.co.in
Industrial progress

 Industrial relations has become one of the

most delicate and complex problems of
modern industrial society. Industrial progress
is impossible without cooperation of labors
and harmonious relationships.
 It is in the interest of all to create and
maintain good relations between employees
and employers
Industrial Relations

 The term industrial relations explain the

relationship between employees and
management which stem directly or indirectly
from union–employee relationship.
 Industrial relations includes collective
bargaining, workers participation in
management, and grievance and dispute
settlement.
The National Commission on Labor

 According to NCL, industrial relations affects

not merely the interests of the two
participants –labor and management, but
also the economic and social goals of the
nation.
 To regulate these relations in socially
desirable channels is the function of the State
and Central Governments to perform
effectively.
The Influencing factors of I.R

 Institutional factors
 Economic factors
 Social factors
 Technological factors
 Psychological factors
 Political factors
 Enterprise-related factors
 Global factors
Labor Legislation

 Despite various studies done in India

indicating tangible benefits from liberalization
of labour markets, Indian labour laws still
remain highly restrictive due to political
economy constraints
Labor laws and industrial relations

 Labor laws and industrial relations are

important for all organizations – especially
which are operating at international level.
Labor laws and industrial relations concepts
differ according to country and region and
according to the type of industry concerned.
 They should be flexible and take prevailing
local factors.
The evolution of Industrial Relations

 The industrial relations began in India a long

time ago. From the successive invasions of
Moguls to Britishers, the industrial relations
were greatly influenced by autocratic rule,
less pay, poor living conditions and harsh
treatment by the management.
The evolution of Industrial Relations
 During the British rule the first cotton mill was
established in Mumbai in 1853, and a Jute mill
was established in Kolkata in 1855. the working
conditions of workers, however, were still very
worse with low wages, harsh behavior of the
management, and this give rise to various
disputes involving the management and
employees.
 Hence, factories act of 1881(British) was
established, and granted certain rights to
workers.
The evolution of Industrial Relations

 The first world war was an opportunity in

disguise for local factories in India. Prices of all
products went up and profits soared , however,
wages of lower employees were still the same.
 There were various strikes and disputes
between management and employees.
 During this time, the workmen’s compensation
act 1923, the trade union act 1926 and the trade
disputes act 1917 were established
The evolution of Industrial Relations

 The years following World War II involved the

most workers upheaval, and saw the
establishment of Industrial Employment act
1946, and Industrial Disputes act
1947,Minimum Wages act, Factories act, and
Employees state insurance act in 1948
Thomas A . Kochan

 Defined the IR in his book Collective

Bargaining and Industrial Relations as “all
aspects of people at work”, but there are still
some aspects which are totally neglected at
work place like Industrial Hygiene, and
Ergonomics.
John Dunlop
 Whether the nature of IR issues is sufficiently unique
to justify considering IR a true discipline has been
controversial. The author of Industrial relations
systems theory, Dunlop argued and contends that
industrial relations is a genuine discipline.
 To fully appreciate the multifaceted nature of many
industrial relations issues, one must draw from a
variety of perspectives, including economics,
psychology, sociology, political science, and law,
among others.
Pro to Non-unionization
 The post LPG era paved the way for IT and IT enabled
service sector growth. The employees are highly skilled
persons with high pay packages.
 Naturally their jobs are guaranteed and they work in their
intellectual capacities, strive for quick self promotion
rather than mass promotions.
 The private investors prefer non-unionized environment,
and the Government introduced the investor friendly
legislation for the promotion of Industrial economy.
 The employees and as well as Investors are against
union activates.
 This causes the decline in number of unions in past four
decades in India.
Human resource terms

 The terms Human resources, human

resources management, and human resource
development have emerged as preferred
labels referring to employment issues in the
modern period.
 Human resource terms have become more
popular and the industrial relations term has
become less popular as unions have declined
in number.
Employee relations through HR policies

 The unions emerge as a result of management’s

mistakes.
 That’s why, all the IT based Technical industries
are vigilant in maintaining good employee
relations through HR policies and implementing
all legitimate facilities for the full satisfaction of
the employees.
Retaining the Employees - through
 Work life balance,
 Employee participation in decision making,
 Encouraging Whistle blowers,
 360 degrees appraisal system,
 Medical Insurance policies,
 Housing quarters, Housing loans, Car loans
 Better office ambiance,
 Hygiene work conditions,
 Brand image and loyally,
 High pay packages,
 Sweat Equity,
 Preferential allotment of shares to employees,
 Pay holidays for training and development,
 Job security, enrichment, satisfaction,
Industrial Relations includes
 Narrow definition:- Management of Labor
organizations, collective bargaining,
negotiations, industrial conflicts, grievance
procedures, arbitration and mediation and
other dispute resolution techniques,
Maintaining industrial democracy.
 Broad definition:- Training and development,
workforce diversity, compensation, selection
and staffing, employment legislation such as
laws on pension, safety, minimum wages and
personal laws.
Karl Marx

 Worlds Intellectual father of Industrial

relations, predicted that the pathological
conflict escalating into inevitable class
warfare between workers and capitalists,
results in ultimate demise of capitalism.
John R. Commons

 The America intellectual father of Industrial

relations and his followers argued that
collective bargaining and legislation could
temper the excesses of capitalism, allowing
workers and management to resolve their
conflicts for the sake of greater common
interests within the capitalist economic
system.
Employee involvement programs

 By the 1980s, innovation came to be

associated more with the nonunion sector,
and with unionization falling, the power of the
unionized sector as a model to be emulated
by nonunion firms was diminished in tandem.
 Many innovations like employee involvement
programs, team concepts, quality circles,
employee empowerment etc., are more
closely associated with the nonunion sector.
Statue and judicial decisions
 The public policy on employment matters had
shifted from a reliance on collective bargaining to
more of an emphasis on individual worker rights
established by statue and judicial decisions.
 Equal employment opportunity laws and judicial
decisions narrowing the notion of employment-at-will
( employer and employee are free to enter or
terminate an employment relationship at any time for
good reasons, bad reasons, or no reason in the
absence of formal contract)
Works councils
 We should seriously consider establishing works
councils similar to those in many European nations.
Works councils are legally mandated employee
representation mechanisms independent of unions which
requires that all employees elect representatives to the
works council to confer with management and to ensure
that worker’s statutory rights are observed.
 Although they do not bargain over wages and benefits,
works councils address many of the issues that unions
have traditionally addressed including layoffs, discipline
systems, and workplace safety.
Conclusion
 Industrial relations and labor legislations are
having cyclical effect on the harmonious
industrial growth.
 Now the private investments are pouring
into IT and IT enabled industries , where the
workers are pro to non-unionization, and the
Government also recognized the need for
enacting equal employment opportunity
legislation and Investor friendly Regulations
for the promotion of industrial economy.
Presented by Dr. Battu and
Mr. Puttu

Thank you
&
Any Questions
Please