Human Resource

Management

Prepared by: Terre T. Dimaculangan

Week 9

Employee Relations Management

Employee relationship management is a process that companies use to effectively manage all
interactions with employees, ultimately to achieve the goals of the organization. For larger
companies, a human resources department helps with training and coaching supervisors how
to effectively manage relationships with employees. Small-business owners should also have
employee training, management and monitoring activities to keep things running smoothly.

Grievance Handling

Grievance handling is the management of employee dissatisfaction or complaints (e.g.

favoritism, workplace harassment, or wage cuts). By establishing formal grievance
handling procedures, you provide a safe environment for your employees to raise their
concerns.

A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice having connection with one’s

employment situation which is brought to the attention of management. Speaking broadly, a
grievance is any dissatisfaction that adversely affects organizational relations and productivity.
To understand what a grievance is, it is necessary to distinguish between dissatisfaction,
complaint, and grievance.

1. Dissatisfaction is anything that disturbs an employee, whether or not the unrest is expressed
in words.

2. Complaint is a spoken or written dissatisfaction brought to the attention of the supervisor or

the shop steward.

3. Grievance is a complaint that has been formally presented to a management representative or

to a union official.

According to Michael Jucious, ‘grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction whether expressed

or not, whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company which an
employee thinks, believes or even feels to be unfair, unjust or inequitable’.
In short, grievance is a state of dissatisfaction, expressed or unexpressed, written or unwritten,
justified or unjustified, having connection with employment situation.

What are the causes of grievance?

1. Economic:
Employees may demand for individual wage adjustments. They may feel that they are paid less
when compared to others. For example, late bonus, payments, adjustments to overtime pay,
perceived inequalities in treatment, claims for equal pay, and appeals against performance-
related pay awards.

2. Work environment:
It may be undesirable or unsatisfactory conditions of work. For example, light, space, heat, or
poor physical conditions of workplace, defective tools and equipment, poor quality of material,
unfair rules, and lack of recognition.

3. Supervision:
It may be objections to the general methods of supervision related to the attitudes of the
supervisor towards the employee such as perceived notions of bias, favouritism, nepotism, caste
affiliations and regional feelings.

4. Organizational change:
Any change in the organizational policies can result in grievances. For example, the
implementation of revised company policies or new working practices.

5. Employee relations:
Employees are unable to adjust with their colleagues, suffer from feelings of neglect and
victimization and become an object of ridicule and humiliation, or other inter- employee
disputes.

6. Miscellaneous:
These may be issues relating to certain violations in respect of promotions, safety methods,
transfer, disciplinary rules, fines, granting leaves, medical facilities, etc.

Effects of Grievance

1. On the production:
a. Low quality of production

b. Low productivity

c. Increase in the wastage of material, spoilage/leakage of machinery

d. Increase in the cost of production per unit

2. On the employees:

a. Increase in the rate of absenteeism and turnover

b. Reduction in the level of commitment, sincerity and punctuality

c. Increase in the incidence of accidents

d. Reduction in the level of employee morale.

3. On the managers:
a. Strained superior-subordinate relations.

b. Increase in the degree of supervision and control.

c. Increase in indiscipline cases

d. Increase in unrest and thereby machinery to maintain industrial peace

Employee Discipline

What exactly is employee discipline? According to the business dictionary, employee

discipline is defined as the regulations or conditions that are imposed on employees by
management in order to either correct or prevent behaviors that are detrimental to an
organization.
The purpose of employee discipline is not to embarrass or degrade an employee. The purpose
is to ensure that an employee performs in a manner that is deemed acceptable by the
organization. Does this mean that employee discipline is nothing more than being threatened
with being fired? Of course it doesn't. Employee discipline is much more than that.

Four Types of Discipline in the Workplace

1. Verbal warning
When an issue arises, a serious conversation should take place between the manager and the
employee. This conversation can take up to an hour in order to ensure the employee
understands the severity of the situation.

Reiterate the expected behavior or performance, and explain how the employee’s current
behavior or performance isn’t measuring up to that expectation. Lay out the facts in a
straightforward way, so the employee doesn’t feel that they have been subject to bias, and give
the employee the opportunity to explain things from their perspective.

Explain to the employee that you have taken note of the conversation and, if the employee
doesn’t show improvement, an official written warning will be submitted to HR. The
conversation should be documented with the date, time, and location, as well as the topic of
conversation and any agreed-upon terms.

2. Written warning
If the problem persists, conduct a second conversation and fully document the interaction. The
employee should be presented with reasons why their behavior is problematic and how and why
it is expected to change.

Include what the issue is (or what occurred) and ways to fix it. Additionally, you’ll want to include
all expectations moving forward and possible consequences for inaction—as well as a clear
timeline for meeting the expectations. Provide the employee with a copy of this written warning
and provide another copy of the documentation to HR.

3. Suspension and improvement plan

The third step in an employee discipline process involves asking the employee to leave the
office and develop an action improvement plan (AIP) or progress improvement plan (PIP). Give
the employee a final chance to step away and reflect on what happened, as well as to decide if
they want to make the effort to improve. Review the improvement plan and make changes
where needed. If the employee in question fails or refuses to create an improvement plan, take
steps to terminate employment.

As part of your action improvement plan, you and your employee may want to map out
milestones that the employee is expected to achieve. In Lucidchart, you can use a timeline to
clarify dates and goals.

4. Termination
If you have followed the steps above, and if the employee still hasn’t show progress or continues
to repeat unacceptable behavior, this final step in the employee discipline process should not be
a surprise to any of the involved parties. The preceding three steps require detailed
documentation which, in and of itself, should make the case for a successful termination.
Additionally, after an employee is terminated, take steps to make sure that you and your co-
workers don’t face similar issues in the future.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual

overtones, including the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual
favors.[1] Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual
abuse or assault.[2] Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the
workplace, the home, school, churches, etc. Harassers or victims may be of any gender.[3]

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Republic Act 7877, or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, classifies sexual harassment as:
Work-related or in employment environment
This is committed when a person demands, requests, or requires sexual favors from another person in
exchange for another thing such as hiring for employment, re-employment, or continued employment,
granting favorable compensation, terms of conditions, promotions, or privileges.
Refusal to accept sexual favors would mean discrimination or deprivation of employment opportunities.
It is also sexual harassment if the sexual favors would result to abuse of rights under the labor law and an
environment that is intimidating, hostile, or offensive for the victim.
This may be committed by an "employer, employee, manager, supervisor, agent of the employer, any
other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a work environment,
demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other."