Industrial Discipline and Grievance Handling

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'ltldustriclLDis·cipli'18 ·• ana
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Jo ~nderstand the·con¢ept of in'dustriab·disdpLin~,-9ri·~vance-and grievanc~·handling.
_Toc6mprehe;-')dway~,ofhanalingi~aisc:fptint ;atwoJ~~1J': : , ' ··-:·' ·· ·· ' ·.· ··'' · ·
To '.~:ntif~ n,ethods of discov~ri ng 9rievance.9! wor~ aQd jh~ !egel f[ ernework 91iJCieva~~ han.d ling •
m India. . . ._ ._ : -~ ·.· ·· -. -,., : . ,.· oi :·1 •: . } : '· · · •.: . _,_
To d;~~ribe th~ ,Co.de of Conduct·ahd the Mdde[Grievar-ke Pr6cedure. _,':. i· •-:~_._,·
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INTR.O..D :U -CTIO_
N { j
Any organisation .a°spiring ,to have .a stable workforce needs to b_e aware of ~e actions it can take .to.
deal with indis<;ipline of its employees, an_d equ~ly, of the actions which effipl6y~~ s·han ;oic~ - ·takt
grievances they may -h ~y~ Issues· related· to discipline rand ;grievance redressal are :time~COil§Uming· and
, . poten~ally costJ.y atid -~-~i{ damage-eqiployee relations and;the--i mage.- of the··organisation as a good-em- .
pl~yer,' ff n·o t liand\ecf properly: Nevertheless 7 many emplnyers· have .to .deal:with·.thes_e issues at some
~omt of time or ,th~ other. the human resmirce:approach tends towards a.di~like ofiules 'and procedqres,
in favour of ·~ more individualised approach (Root ;and· Hook, .. 1999)i However, organisations neeq to
~omply with Iegisl~ti~ns,in managing-their;workforce, and 1hence qiscipline and grievance, though be~·
mg individual issues in; the area of industrial relations, must. rtot be~treated~individually. This' chapter
deals with industrial discipline and grievanee handling withithe underlying philosophy that disciplin'"' ·
ary and grievance proce;dures.promote.good m~nagemeht practices ·and, arednvaluabl~ tools to. address
1
• performance issues in any organisation. -:: · · • •
1
• ' • • _. • •
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NDus1R.1AL-·01sciPL1NE'
1
• I { ..._ /' • I
·.,.t~·~.-:.. .' : ·· • "
Employees ar . .tal . .. ce,.. for ariy organisation ·and often a crucial ·differentiating"' factor from its
competitors Ee vil re~')ur , t not only work togetner as· a:·'team to actiieve organisational ·succe·s s b ·t
. mp oyees mus . . , u
la . nd Labour Laws · •
6.2 Industrial Re lions a • d . t themselves tn accordance With
. . non and con uc . . . · an .
rules and regulatmns of ~e ~rgarusa rocess of systern,at1c ., y conducting of
also adh;redto 1;:cceptable behaviour. Disc1pbne ref~rsht~ t::Javiour in ·accoid~nce.; to the establisheii
the stan ar s o . . . .al members who regulate t elf . .. . . - . .
business by the orgamsation . . - . ·.: .. .· ·-. .
rules and norms of the org~isat10n. ros er without an effectiv~ d1sc1plmary syste~; tn fact,
No organisation·can function properly and p P_ Of an organisation and also for the mamtenance
. · · ·a1 fi the smooth runmng • • , · • .
. dustrial discipline is essenu or . &omis the basis of d1sc1p1me m an organisation•
m ... . Employee behaviour l' . - • - . b'l' . h b . '
of industrial peace and h~ony. a ement for d~velopin,g; improvmg _and s~ _1 tsmg _t e ehav1011r
disciplip.e is a usefu_l t~ol~with ~e man ~ce to em loyees, implies c~~plym~ w~t? t~e predefined rules
. of i!f ~~ik~orce. Disciplme _wi~ re~ere to confo! to the co,d~,of~ond~9t b~·th_~ o:ganisa.
=~.
and regulations of the ~rgamsa_uo~,l~·e.,. 0
·1.,,c'lude:abserlteeism:' tardiness·,.'tnalmgenng, pilferage
;n
mmonly ·found disc1p mary issues . · . · .. , ... , . .. ,
• -
':i?;.:~on and n~w

·. · -'- s· · ·
tion. ?me co . .th safety ·devices •misuse of equipment and (){her company resources,
0
; 1: : ~ , ~~ilige~e, Le~!US u~deistan~,~e conct;pt of discipfutt
I;· ·. Con_cept and :- M,ea~in.g of Qiscipline ~_'- _ ._ ·. _. . ,. __ " --

Th~ ·tetm "discipline~~ ~anJfave vanous···coiirio½tio°'s." Acco(ding.'_tcf Calhoon (19~3),_discip~ne is the
force that prompts' indivi.duals or,gniups:to obserye-_1;ule8-, regulatj9n-s, stari@{~ and.pro~edures deemed
. necessary for an organis~tion; Tead (1933)°tlefines disdpfip~: ~ , _ thtt otdedy.,~ondu~to(affaits by the
members' of an organisation who adhere to "its neces~ary-- regulatioris' because_they des~ to cooperate
· harmoniouslyin forwarding the·en~ whichthe··groupliasiri '.vi~wf arid willingly.recognisethat to do this
. their wishes ~ust~ brought into a reasonable unis,o~ Wi'4,the,rijmremeri~ .: ·ir; . . . . 'I
. of ~e, ~9up 1n a~tiQn. . . _ _ _ .
rut
!- ~:_: ·-~. -~ ~--- - -~ - . ,: ]
.·. ·.. ··Sif~ng-up, :discipline may be defined 'as :. ~ttihiile 'which aihis-< ~-
. at·i~~ul.t %H1g re~traint and· orderly behaviour._In ·an ~rganisatio~ai_ set~· ~, •.
up, ,di~B_ir.¥1!~-~0imOte_s.: a state of order that_m,usr .~e _adhered_to;lJyjhe :, ,•
lllemb,e~s .ant,a~~r<?ces~ of modulation:of human behaviour fcfr° desir~d ·
P;:orman~~:: 1~"1!,l'Y ctlso__be looked upon as an employee's self-control : .·
.p - Ct:SS, :hich p~~mpts him/her ~o .cooperate -willingly with organisational rule .. .·d· . d., .·d·
,. . .. . ..• . . . .. . . . s an stan ar s.
N~ture~f'Qi'ttipllh~-.-· . ·
· Maintaini~g diseip1ine ;~·-wor~: , · · · · _.· · ·. · :-': · _··: .·_ .. ·.·-~ ·
. org~ational objectives. There ~;s:res the .succe~sful . attainment of
. -- discipline and negative disciplin ~e .ro~~ asP;eCts of disciplirie: positive
in approach, ·under ~hich e· ·1e.., _egqf!,ve d~cipline is somewhat traditional
· mp oyees adhere t · 1
of purushment.
.
Such. Punitive action
; ,may bo ru . es&
and regulations in tiear
demotions or transfers Th .c ·:. , , e m 1onn. of penalti fi
d' din . us ,1ear of punishni . di es, nes, .
, isreg~ g the norms and rules at k ent ssuades employees from .;. . . ,,;..•
g;oals and there is a lack of a feel' . wor . Employees do not pe . . . --. . -· ,
Positive discipline on th ~~g,_?.f oneness with the O • rc~ive orgarusattonal;goals. as their own
ation of an atmosphe~e in the o .er ~and, implies discip/garu~ation. -, . .. . ., . .
1 d e organ1saf · me without pu ·ti .
ru es an regulations. A shift in . ion Whereby empl . . Ill ve actions~ It involves ere·
positive discipline, can be attrib:~~~otch from negative di~~~el: Wllhn~ly conform to the. es~blished
~d a~areness of the working class a o changes at workplac! ~e,. ~avmg the way for the concept of
is tol ~culcate self-1~scipline amongn:~r~wth of trade unionis~~crea~e._ the level of educatiofl
regu ations not due to any fear of punis1;Yees, so that they adh e main aiin of positive dis~iplifle
ent but due to th~ inhere to -.t~e organisational rules at1d
erent de · .
sire to. ensure congruence
Industrial Discipline and Grievance Handling 6.3
fin divl.dual obJ1ectives

·• -with . group. .obiecti·ve
J s -an·d h armony m
. ach1evmg
. . organ1sat10n
• · al goal s. s'uch
0 . • ·
discipline ·can be achieved-through
- . . ap·p · · . . . •
ropnate rewards and effective leadership. . · ·
Indiscipline
£n1ployees may indulge in :~e!i~t behaviour when they violate organisational rules and norms, and such
violation may prove to ~e. de~~en,tal to: the 'f unctioning ·of the ·organisation. The term 'indiscipline'
nerally refers to such vtolation·of or non-conformity to' fonrial or informal rules and regulations
r:an organi~ation.: Some of t~e cau~es _for indiscipline are: unfatr practic.e s by management (like ir-
regularities 1D payment.of wa~es, · d1scrtmination in wages·; ineffective handling ·of grievances, etc.);
policies and procedur~s. of the organisation ·(like non-compliance with wage legislations and promo-
tional and transfer pohcies); absence of co~e of conduct; lack of effective'leadership; communication
barriers; and politicised trade unionism> Other reasons may include deliberate delay in disciplinary
proceedings, impos~tion of punitive measures like _. transfer to an inconvenient place at a short notic'e,
aggressive attitude of trade unions, etc.-·Whatever be the cause(s), indis- - · - ·· ·
=~=:.;;::i;j;::;!;::~~~:!o=~~:i~:.:!~ti~: (¥,#~- ~,~

cipline brings with itself adverse effects on the morale of the workforce, ·
M,sconduct
Before we:rnove on to -the ways of handlingindis¢ipline, let us quickly touch upon a related concept,
namely, misconduct. In a gen~_ric sense, miscond11ct refers to any unacceptable or improper behaviour
by an_individual. {n -_an .orgruµsatjon_al-""cgvte?,Ct, miscon.~ucf :fa dt~obedienc;e of som.e .established and
defined rules and .breach of discipline on the part of an employee; it is violation of rules. Bhatia (2003}
defines misconduct as a·behaviour which i~ )n brea¢h of t_h e accepted an~ expected norms of conduct; .
it presuppo~~s wrongful hltention amJ, is n9t m~rely ~r erro: i~ judgment.
Typi_cal exan:ip1es.· ~f rtiisco~duct by an employee would indu~e:habitu~
abs~nteeisin andtaking or'gh-~ing '1:iribes. r :, . ; - .• ; . . • . .
In _Shar~apr~{ad-Onkarp"rasqf:l Tlwf:Zri ,vs. 1Jivi~ional.Sup~ri~tendent,

Central Railway :Nagpit~ piviti~n, _Nagp~~-an,~ Sf!t~b~~ ~·:. Vaghe~e vs. .
~~osa Raza [(19,69) ,1o Guj LR 23],, the Hi~h Cou~ h~s ,note~ the defi- ·
llltion _of ·misconduct in ·Stround's' Judicial. Di<?tionary, as: ~•~,ftsconduct ,
~eans, misconduct arisfog frotri_ 11~ -~ 0 tive; ac_t~-'.~fne_gli~enc_e, 'err?,rs of
JUdgment, or i,nnocent 'mistake, do ,P-Q,, tcon_stitute such mtsconduct
(Adapted from: ~~-i~diankanoo~-~rg!d~d11_ 454648.accessed on 25/12/2013.)
An act of misconduct'by·an employee is prejudicial to ·the interest ofthe employenu~d is likely to
~age its rep tat· Wh t ;· : notable here is that·such acts can be performed even outside the prem-
ises of an esta·bl"
u 10n.
hm
a 1s
db
. . . . th d' d
nd duty hours, subject to the prov1s1ons m e stan mg or ers of the
IS ent an eyo .- d . . . ·w·
Concerned establishment. Th~ onus lies' with the management to etermme 1~ its stan JJg orders as to
What all shall . . f . onduct and to define the quantum of pumshment for each of them .
. bee constitute
It has h . acts .o•v mtsc
l. s ,,,.he .
Proiect ·a nd Equipment . of lndza
Corporation . Ltd. ( 1984·
ATl\
·~ 1361) th
n eld m. A. L. d.na ara v • .1 1
J • • • •
. rules require an employer to define with sufficient precision the
.
~11ns of e at standing or. ers or those pertaimng

1-... · · o f• mtsconduct.
. to the defimt10n · Further, 1.t would
mp1oyment, part1cu1ar1Y . . . ·
6.4 Industrial R.elations and Labour Laws
. duct unless .it was precisely ~o defined prev·
t
y act as m1scon , 1-
not be open to the, .employer to trea _an. f .enunciated by the Supreme Court for guidance of
O 1
ously. No doubt, this is a salutary pnnciple aw
all Courts and parties. ,;12·no13• )
di 06318/ accessed on 2.1. 1 ~
6
(Adapted from: www.indiankanoon.org/do
·a1 Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946,. relating to Mode)
Ind us tn
As. per
• Schedule
· I of the
. ·
t and omissions on the part o f work ers shall b e treated as nusconduct·
.
Standing ~. ·Orders
· . ' the d'followmg
t' racdisobedience
s · · whether
· alone or m · conJunct10n
· · · with · oth ers, to any law.·
(a) wdlfu( msubor ma ton° , . . ' _ .
ful and reasonable.order of a supen~r, . ·• . . ' ,. .
(b) theft, fraud or di_shonesty in conn~ct10~ whh .tpe employers . busmess or property,
(c) willful damage to or loss of emploJ.yrs , g~ods _or property;
(d) taking or givjng bribes or any ~llegal grat1ficat10,n;
(e) habitual .absence withq1,1t leave or absence with.9u.t leave for more thai:i 10 d~ys ~·
(f) habitual late attendance; · .. : . . ..
(g) habitual breach_of any law applicable to the ~~tablishment; · . . . · .•
(h) riotous or disorderly behaviour. during working .hoqrs at .the ·establish~ent or a~y -act subversive
of discipline;· · . · 1,. ! ,,
(i) habitual negligence·or neglect of work; . , .

(j) frequent repet_ition of any act or omission for which a fine may b_e jmpose.d to ~.maximum of 2
per cent 'o f the wages in a month;
(k) striking work or inciting others to strike work in contravention of the provisions of any.law or rule
having the force of law. · -
We would-be talking ,more about the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and its
various provisions in:Chapter 16.- '
,;·-,,.
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.~XHIBIT 6.1 MISCONDUCT OUTSID,E THE PREMISE,S -°-F A~ Es:TABqSHMENT_.
In Mis Glaxo Laboratories Ltd. ~s. iy(>~/wien (AIR !198-4 ~c:

.?05) ~-~9fk~r had be~~ charg~sheeted
for assaulting a coworker while the latter was ·coming to hi~ _9ffic~: The' i~cident had occurred
·in a bus outside the premises o~ the ~s~~bl_is~~ept, but it ·had nexus the: disp~t~s in the of-
fice. It had the effect of subversive ?.f dtsqpl~~~ aJ?,d he~ce the ~anagement chargeshee.ted t11e
worker for __ vi~latirig c:>f a parti<:ul~ st~n~in~ order wh!~~ read as.- follows:, ,·,, .. assault or any act
subversive of _discipHne .... comnutted_withm the prem1~es of th_e_e·stablishment". The worker
was ultimately dis~~sed fr~m se~i~e, but t~e High Court orde~ed .rei_nstat~m~nt ~n the ground
that the act comnutted by him was not ~.misconduc.t becau~e.it ,was committed not within the
a
premises of the establishment. The management thereafter filed Special Leave Petition (SLP)
in the Supreme Court. . ' · · ·
The Suprem_e. Court ~e~d t_hat any act committed outside the premises of the.establishment, even
if it is subversive ·of d1sc1plme,
d · hdoes not• amount to misconduct
· , unless
· •·t h as ·been spec1'fi1cally
incorporated as m1scon· uct
f st d'm t e standmg
d orders of the establi
· shment
· • Th
. e C ourt d'1s1avoure
-1-'. d
liberal interpretation ° an_!ng or ers and held that wherever there . · l .
standing orders would be stnctJy construed. are pena · consequences,
(Adapted from : www..indiankanoon.orsldocl/5/3240/ accessed on 24(1212013.)
Handling Indiscipline
Discipline implies obedience, orderliness and maintenance of- proper .subordination on the part of
employees. E~p~oye~s _w~o cannot b.e self-motivated to qiaintain such discipline may require some
degree of extnn~ic disci~lmary action in the form of penalty or punishment. Stated in simple -terms,
employees who indulge· m defiant behaviour are dealt with di~ciplinary proceedingsj which refer to
the·steps taken by an em~loyer to-decide as to what and whether. any.penalty is warranted against an
employee. Whenever an employee is sought to be -awarded any penalty or dismisse~, the employer,
either ~se,lf or through a represent~tive, holds d_isciplin~.enquiry to . _- 'J;:iJ;;;· p H ' q n r q 1 U
ascertain as to wh~ther the prop()s~d penalty _or dismissal is .warranted, "' ,, 1i i IJi t , i
Article 311 of the Constitution of India puts limitation in the ·matter of . f:tl, ?,ldjn"9., of_:disciplinary
award of major penalty or dismissal, bi which no person wh0. is a member l,; ijl?S~~~iDg!s a necessary pre-
of a civil service of th~ Union or on all:-India servic::e or-a·civil service 1 )<;J,ridtiion tq 'r:!'Pi~- ~~ p~nalty.
8
oia State can .be dismjs~ed except _after an ~enquiry .that informs-him-of. _.,.: !_: ·-: ·••· :. , .. • ••· •...
8
the charges against hiQI and_givyn a reasonab!e ,opportunjty_of being )le.ard.in respect of such charges.
Theref9r~ holding of qjscip.linary proc.eeding i!i·a n~e/is,ary p;e-c9nditjon to impose _any penalty.
In ca~e of employees. working in Public S~ctor·Unqertakings (PSUs), holding of:disciplinary en-
quiry (also tenned.as d~pai:tmental enquiry) is .m.e11ti9n~d in thi_Copd,yc\ Piscjpli;ne andAppeal(CDA) .
Rul~s and under the Ce$fied Standing Orders. Ev~n i.n case of~empl()yee~ ,of priyate sector. establish- _
ments, holding of departmental enquiry.is l~d dow,n:injhe ,standjng o.i;~ers_framed under the Industrial
Employ01ent (Standing Orders)Act, -1946..S_gch sta,n.ding 9rder~.hav:e,tbe force of.law-and: constitute
statutory tenns of employment in an .~stablishment.-ln·thjs .coJ:mectio11 let _us.touch:upon the, concept
of vigilance here;· The .tepn "vigilance":meags,watchfulness anQ· covets all kinds of deviations from
s~dards of integrity as-well as_imp~ope,r exeJcis~ of administrative ·disci;etion,,nepotism," favouritism
and conduct unbecoming of a p_ublic_selo/ant. Vigilancy,i_$.an:im_po~nt.t~ql with the m&nagement of
any.PSU to..increast.its,produc.tivity WJd profitability,by plugging any se~page,in its resources; It thus
acts as a profit-g~neratiQg.~enu:eJor ari enterprise. ,_: ..•.: - ,,_ : . . _
. Disciplinary actions, whether in PS Us or private sector, must conform_to-the,iollowing principles:
• Principle Qf natui:aljustice: NatQral justic.½in common.sense me~s -"th_aJ -which-is-founded:in
equity;::in--h.onestf ~d'nght." -1.be •main ingredien_ts of naturatjustice-ar~i _.. _ -~, ·_;
. • ·_.N_emojudexin.c(lUS!7-.sUP-: _This,means that no one .should.be made' ajudge in his own;cause
, or_.the rule ag~nsrtiias. , ... · ·. -~ · • _, · · · ; ·. : ·- •· - · · ·-•- ·
. _ .. ·A,l!-di alterpn:ipartem: ,This means •;Hear,the other ,side". In:other words, this pertains to the
. • rule_of fair hearj.ng _or: -the _ll)le that no one should, b~ condem;ned unheard.
· Th'6 prin~iple ~f. nattiralrjustice is·firmly grounded_ in ~rti~les·l 4 and ~-1 ?f the Constitution of
India. Article 311 of :the Constitution also follows this pnnclple: The pnnciple of.natural 1ustice
must guide all enquiries ahd ·actions;:this•means that no _person·sh0uld b~ appointetl-toconduct
an enquiry who himself-is•:-interested in the outcome, either as~an aggneved party or because
he is hostile to th~-person proceeded -against, or·for any other reason. Overall, justice inust not
only be done but ·should also seem to be done. ' · ·· · · · · '
• Principle of impartiality or consistency: Thi~ _principle·implies th~t under ide~tical situations
Where even the extenuating circumstances _are ahke, there should be no marked d1fferente in the
•
aChon taken . ·r-
I • •
· :· · ·'." · · · · · · ·. · f;
• Principle of impersonality •or consistency: The discip_linary auth~rity ·should not ha~e sense ~=
of elation or triumph or sadistic pleasure when a recalcitrant _or ~elm~~ent ~mployee is brought
to book. . -- . . . . .. . . ·,:
6.6 Industrial Relations and Labour Laws
Steps in .Discip~inary Procedure - ·follows: . - ..

. . . rocedure are as d. . , .
The essential steps in a di~c•~hnaryi ·ry: The disciplinary proce_ur~ 1·:
(i) -Compllli11t and Prel~min,ary l ~q;:gainst indiscipline of the em- . . »
must be -initiated by a c_omp am th " harg·ed officer" adverse tO·'

arded as e c · ·
Ployee concerned. · (also anyreg
Let us men
. tt'on here that before startmg
. . .
the interest of the comp . : . 1to hold a prelinunary enqurry
. · 1· e·itis essentia .
. . the proc~ss of d_1scip 10. e of-indiscipline and 'misconduct exists
to know 1f ~,.erzma./f!..Cl~ cas en ui . report of the complaint ~ust · ., · : _ ·.
?r ~ot. !hus the ~rehmm;herihe7e
st
is substance in.the compla11it, .- .
m~_cate~o~~d~s)_a o_wh~ When an.employee -is ·alleged to have co~mitted any of the of.
calli_n~ ~o! ~1sc,pdl~naryth ~sctat•:;ng orders or service rules ·or under conunon !aW, th~ departmental
fences ment10ne _m e . . · Th .- t s·t th On~
· ·
manager·must make a report,.!n _ca · · di. ting action· recommended.
·_ . . e
. managemen ·- Oh . . . .erwuter
mu ho
- · · · - 'bl ffi . ce·r ofthe:company t o enqmre' mto the nusconduct. _ -exatnimng th
depute -a respons1 e_o .. . . .• . . . . .- · - ·fi h .h
sides ·of the case, the '.enquiry ·officer must-a_scertan~:1~there_,1s a pn"':<!' [acze_ cas_e. -~r c ~ges _ee~
-in··wbich case~·the accus·ed must.he' charges_he_eted., ]f ·the offence·_ ~~-ed _~s_" ~nl_y of mmor
.. , ~magninide; theemployee niay be exc11sed o( gi~enwami_ng orally or 1~·.w~tmg. · ____ _
·(ii) ·issue-of Chargesheet:- Once'the prilJlll fapie"c:ase t?f.-9Ils.conduct on,~tli~ part of -the ~0ncemed
· ... ·employee.is established, the inanagemenf should.proceed,~ois$Ue a 'c~atgesheee to ~ e r: A
. tharges~eet ·c~ be issued ~by the Appointing Authority ior' a11-t~ority _higher: than the Appomting
· Authority or :Disciplinary Aulii.urity (DAf or: by· an fauth'ority :senior: m'. raiik to the -concerned
etnployee, 'with-the specific approval of the-Appointing A.utpority or -Disciplinary 'Authority. A
chargesheetis•merely-a notice of the charge oh the;• e~ployee and ·provides-the employee· with
an·opportunity to explain his/her conduct; therefore·chargesheet) s g¢Iietally known as a 'show
cause-notice' .It needs to be drafted·. in 'a pfaifi 'and simple hf1iguage:which:·can:be·understandable
easily.by the employ~; charges also need to be:specific, with a separate 'charg~ for each allega·
tion)md·without ·a'hyvagueness. . · . · - ·. -.· -. : ·, / ·~- · : _> . · · ,: ·
. (iii) ,Consideratioii of Explanation: In the next stage;-;on :receipt;of jhe:WDtte.11._§tatemeilt ofdefence
of the c~arged · officer against the chargesheet,:served; ,;the· explanation ftirnfshed. should be
co~side~ed by~tlie. Discipliri~ Authority as to:whether the-reply of the charged' 'employee is
.· S~tis_fa~tory or not. In case th~ reply is fourid to be satisfactory, there is :noneedito proc"t!ed with the
· d1sc1plmary case and the·chargesh~t can be:~ithdrawn "<:>n the basis of facts showing innocenc_e
_ of the emplo~e~'. 0~ ~e ~on~ary, if_ the DA 1s not satisfied with·the employe~'s ei planation,_it
··. can proceed with disc1plinary -enqmry. _As another. consequence, if the charged .officer adnUts
th
· . ·. e ch~~e, th~-- e~ployer -c!n 'warn 'hun/her or., award punishment . without further enquirY·
(1>) Sus_penswn l/en,hng _Enquuy: In case the chai,ge . against .the · . ,1,q :
delmq~ent employee is grave and of serious nature a su . ,fl~,
order may ·be sei;ved on the employee along w·th th, h spens1on zf ,
rl..:
..
As per the prov1s10ns of the Industrial E 11 · e c argesheet . .
Orders) Act 1946 th mp oyment (Standmg
. ' . '
subs1stence allowance eq 1 e suspended employee must
-
to be paid a
days of suspension and t: t~ one-half. of wages ,for the first .90
j period of suspension if th/:ei°u~s ~f wages f?r the remaining

the employee's conduct. It mus:t::ot:d c:mpletion .of ~isciplinary .proceedings is not due to
discretion of the management and b ere _that ~hat ts grave as.a charge would be the sole
.
' must e decided m accordanc.e-with the Code of.Discipline-

(v) Holding of Enquiry: The Appointing Authority or an authority not subordinate to the charged
officer _and delegated with the powers as the Disciplinary Authority can appoint the Inquiring
Authonty (IA) and Presenting Officer (PO) and a notice to this effect should be given to the
concerned employee. The Inquiring Authority must preferably be of a rank higher than that ofthe
charge_d employee or at lea~t of equal rank. It should be of good knowledge and ability t6 assess
the evidence to marshal the enquiry proceedings with due regards to the principle of natural
justice. A copy_of th~ charg~sheet along with copy-of article of charge, imputation of charge, list
of documents and a hst-of witnesses must be given-lo the iA:. The Presenting Officer must present
the c~se before !he 1At?1'~ugh·-oral and documentary evidences. ·Further, the charged officer must
be given sufficient notice to represent his/her case and:make 'submission in own defence. Fair
opportunity should be -given to the -employee to·cross-exaniirie' the witnesses.
(vi) Order of P~nishment: -The Standing Orders· or·· service rules of the organisation must provide
. that any employee who is adjudged to .be guilty of misconduct- is liable to be dismissed without
notice, or discharged, or suspended from work 'fJith loss of pay for a·specified period, or fined or
· warned; depending on ~e · seriousness bf the •offentie;:Before·making afinal order in the ease, the
DA shall' forward a c·o py of the IA's report to the charged•. officer, •to enable the latter to make a
representation against the report; if he/she so desires. On receipt of the representation, if any, the
DA shall record its findings againsteach' artide of charge as-to 'whether in his opinion the charge
stands proved or n-Ot In case th~ Disciplirtary Authbrity'dodt hof agree witfi findings of the IA on ·
any article of charge; it shall also record·the reascirtsfoHt while recording findings. The DA may
remit the enquiry report to the IA in case ·a clear'. firiding'is riot pos~ible or there is ahy defect in
·the report of the IA against any .article of-charge. ·The DA, having.r egard t6 .the aforesaid, shall
record reasons· that in its•opinion·which pemilty(s) comfuensurateto the article of.charge proved
against the ·emplbyee, would meet th~ ends of justice·and -a:~ce>rdingly_issue the·penalty order in a
· .speaking inai:mer. While 'deciding,the natur_e·_of disciplin~ action, the charged empl?yee 's previ-
ous,records, precedents, effects·of the action on olh~r employees;' etc. have to be considered:
(vii) Appeal: Appeal ·may be ·pteferr~ 'by-the ·officer aga~ns! the penalty awarded on-_hii:n/her in case
the punishment is not convincing and acceptable to 1hi~er to the Labour Court or Industrial
Tribunal: 'The criteria that a Labour Court or Industrial Tribunal'would seek to estab~ish when a
case is being adjudicated by it is wh~~er a pr~p~f domestic enquiry _had b~en c~nd~c~ed o.r__~ot~
whether the principle of natural justice was observed or not, ~hether th~ enquiry proceedings
m
were unbiased or not and whether the affected party was heard good fatth or not.
Remedies lie in th~ appropriate court of law for the charged employee if:he/she is aggrieved
with the decision of the Appe1~a~e ,t',uthorilY and when he(she has exhausted all, the channels of
appeal in his/her disciplinary' case_. ' . , . . ._ .. ·. _ . • .· .
It has been ,held in Adinath ~lo Narayanrao Jadha~ ~s. e~ief _<;Jenera/ Manager 2511.9~.J.
dated 14/l/20l ) that in the citse of departmental inqumes _it 1s a .settled ;law that ~ve11: if one of the
2
acts of nu· sconduct 1s . bl' 'be: d and is of serious nature, courts cannot mterfere m the quantum of
esta 1s . . · . . . · . ..'
Punishment.' . . . . ,
fAdaptedfrom: www.indiankanoon.org/docl192670095/ acce$sed on 25/12/2013.)
_6.8 _ lnd.ustrialRelations and Labour Laws
---~----
· · _;. . · .><~ - · · ·· · . _· ·· . . DisciPLINARY PROCEEDINcs

EXHIBIT 6.2
- . . ---.R. -CNATION
AccEPTANCE9F _ESI
PRIOR TO
.· .. · ., .:·.'
-
' : . •,
-
· ·· · · ·- . employee , ,w orking · 1n a government .

• b · nducted agamst · an · . d · ·
A preliminary enqmry was .emg : co . ., · k · f the same. subm1tte resignation en-
. d t ho on commg to now o - . . .
company for some m1scon uc , w_ . , · · ·, The rules of the orgamsation provide .
th
1/ee-sho1,Ultgive 3 ,months' notice or .
closing a draft of amqunt equivalent _to J ~o~ s _. ·p:~ci · linary proceedings ar~ commenced .
its ~anagement a nght not t~ accept resignation if any,
agrunst an employee. There 1s a further rule that any ·~mp .. Y · . . th · t· .
· · · · • · ·
3 months' pay in lieu of such noti~e, 1f he sµpnuts reSig9a ·ion. :f After rece1vmg :. .hi h d · .1Ond 1th
e res1gna et-
ter, the· personnel department
· · · · subnut,ted • · this
·· matter .to.the v1g1
· ·1ance d e~artment
. . ' w c . a vise . . e
· not to accept-the res1g1,1atiqn,
former · · but to-suspend. h'nn 1mme
· d1·ately
. m-v1ew
. · · of
. · ·the
. 1nvest1gation
. · ...
being conducted by -the. \'.igilance ), department..on the comp~aints received. agamst the._.emp!oyee.
The personnel depar:tinent accordingly~suspended:him and ·subsequ~ntly a chargespeet .was issued
to the delinquent employee.t,.. . ' . . . : ·... . -: . · ,
The employee challeqged ~e COIIllll,enc~ment 9f disciplinary :prqceedings. · T.he Jfigl;l. Court
dismissed his writ. petitj.on, subsequent- to whjch, heJiled' an SLB in. tl;le· Supreme~Court... _The
conten.tio11 ofthe employee.is •\hat, he .h ad resigneq from -. his.j9b, by payi11g -an amou.nt eqµivaJent
1
to 3 montl\s'_payin '1CC<lrdanci, to the ',II!~•- By tlrattiQJe np (ijsciplll)ary,J)fOCeedingSj :were pend-
ing agaiust !tlm.. ~e management _cannpt h~nce r~fuse ,.the ~cc~pta11c~ ,·o(te&ig:n~tion~ Jherefore
the act1,1al; aci;ep~ce..is.a m~re fon:naijty. .Ute manag~ment contended,;tp.~t~as: _the etnpl9yer is a
, gov~r.nment company and:: !he vigil3.J.'!pe.:d~partm~Q.t js, expect~<;! -to Iollow,~ih~?Qentral Vigil3J}ce
~n_ual,:.which :directs 11on,'1Cceptanee 9f resignatjoa if anY. case was
being ·investigated bytlie
v1g1,ance.~d ep~ent. Jt.was aJ~O -c;<;mtende~l th.at.Jhe Governm~nt ·Of.lndi& ,haS,;:issued executive
instructio11_s to_follow the -said-m;uiuaLand:the,!)Jan~gement is bound by such:t:!<ecutive inslruc-
tions/ ·-even
\. '.though-,these
. . . ., . do
., . not,
/ form. a part
. of.the
. . rules
.. . framed .. . 'the· ' comnan
. . ·by e y·, ..Th
.· .e Supreme
·· ·
Collf( _held lru!t when once ap e'\lplo!ee sub.mil~ !iis1resignation by.paying 3 ~!'riths, PaY, there
.cannot·,pe , any-departµidntal. prc;>c~edmgs,- ~f en 1J the employee submitted . . . · t-- . ,
. fully ~elt that_ · sh· owca'Ml~\n<;>tlce
· wa~, bemg· Jssu,ed.
· • · " . . . . res1gnat1on.,~-'owmg
· ·· . · · . _
. ., (Aqq,pted from: f Z:. Q:,~dn;nivq,vs; State of Mq~hya Pr(ldesh (AIR J 970 SC J49 . · ~-. ·' ·._. · ·':
, org/doc/10899~/a_cc,e~se,4 on_23/12q,0_1 l) , ; _
• ' •· ¥ • , • •
,. .
I
: •
.· · · · . 4 ) www. in.4_1/!l!-kanoon.
' .· ! • . l, j ;
. <,}'
·:.
Forms of Punishment 1.. .:,

';
rn' i st~bi.ii~ e~is cOvefed b)' . th0 indu~lriiil -Einpl~Yment (Starid.
2:?2i1~~l~:?d:U~?l~~f&J~~~iJf
the manageme.nt Jn awarding pun, ish,m~nt fro~-?nly t~o~e.specified in the
· the a1tema~e 1orms o·r·punishment
· Let us talk about
standing orders._ ·
•·[,_f_ ;·nf .
,'! , <_;.
· 1scoi;~\d,~£~
here. , <,,>,,
ii
··· J4iifr .
f.P
i.
r' n
1
h
;_· ~
. •. • ·· ..
,·Y
·,·t .t ,: _e·. ·_~
__ ;
1JI
,uami-.ui:·••~ - aming may be oral or wntten. An oral warning ·s b . ·
n, ..~ . , . . 1 a ver al Inte •
"delinqhent · tnployee and his/her supervisor, where10 they discuss the ro:action bet':"'een the
the expectations on the part of the management to change such defiant b~ 1~m behavmur and
. 1·s issued as an informal reprimand; it may not have serious imp· • • haviour. Such a warn-
mg ing forms a part of an emp1oyee ,s service
• record and is refl'lICations
1
. · When m . wntmg,
..
a warn ective of the ~onduct and
efficiency
. of .the
. employee
. dun·ng :h_
' i_-s/h- er t-enure wit
· · h the orgamsat1on:
· · H ence a wntten
· .
warnmg
1s more. official and m~y even· summarise the ·previous orah1ttempts, ,if any. It can be referred
· ~o ~y the ~anagement m case of a promotion·due for 1 the employee concerned. A warning, as
1s ~ugges~~e. of t~~~es to be a reminder to , an empioyee to be •vigilant in future . A
wntt~~ ~arnmg can _al_so be usea·in awardihg severe punishment in future in case of habitual
repetttloll'of the same offence. · · .,r , • .
. • · Penalties:'On·the basis of the conclusions arrived -at in the·disciplinary proceedings; if any or all
of the c~arges leveled ag_a inst the charged officer are proved, then the ·management may impose
: appropnate pe°:~ty .on him/her -as per, rtlles .. The penalty levied should normally :be imposed for
; good and sufficient- reasons, commensurate with ·the:gravity of the misconduct of the employee
co_ncerned. M~~gelllenthas the sole discretion to dedde the appropriate penalty for a particular
misconduct, subject to the obvious qmilification"thafthe penalty--·should·not be unduly excessive.
Minor penalties may include censure; withholding of promotion; withholding of increments of
pay with or without ·cumulative effect; .and recovery.from pay.or such other amount.as may be
.due to -him, ofthe whole or part of any:pecuniary•loss, caused to:the -compa11y by negligence
or breach-of orders. Reduction to a lowet ·gra<kor·post:·or to a lower stage in a time· scale and
dismissal•from service are 'examples of 'major ·penalties. ·
EXHIBIT6.3 · QUANTUM OF'PtiNISHMENT · _. · •.
A police constable was chargesheeted on.the ground ofusing abusive.language-against his superior
officer: The disciplinary authop.ty (DA) appointed an,,enquiry officer,:·who eventually submitted
.a "not·guilty'~_report. DA disagreed with. the same and issued a notice to.the chargesheeted .em-
ployee,,stating such disagreement. No reasons thereof were.-given. -Ultimately the ·said .eriiployee
was dismissed from service. The High Court-did not interfere, and the e~ployee filed an SLP in
the Supreme ~court; contending that if DA disagrees with the "not guilty" report,:it should give
reasons thereof; opportunity should-·be given to represent ag~inst the'tentative reasons. He further
contended that the 'punishment was.excessiye. · · '· · ·· · · · . ,. ·
,. The Supreme Court held that the disciplinary authority was required to give tentative reasons
for the said disagreement. Also· thafno straight formula cou~d be·evolved in· adjudging whether
abusive language -in the given circumstances woul~ w~ant dis~issal fror:11 service. ·1:'he Supreme
Court •finally sefthe clismiss~ order aside, ~ut sugges~ed !eduction of 2 mcre~en~s.
(Adapted from: Ram Kishan vs. Unibn of Ind1a ··and ·Otliers· (199~ AIR 255) www.mdzankanoon.'o rg/
· doc/1307831/ accessed on 23/12/2013.) ··
Suspension: Stispension from duty means keeping emp,loyee awa~ from workplace temporarily
for reasons of discipline, though it does not me~~ r~?1oval,.~om se~v.1ce; !he suspended ~mployee
shall ·n ot enter ihe-' work premises during the peno~. ~f s~sp_ens1on \Vlthout the permission of
the Disciplinary Authority or any other competent au~onty; he/she shall no~ leave the station
without the written permission of the competent authonty. Such an employee 1s not granted al!Y
leave during th~ period of suspension. Howe~er, an employee s~-s~ehded peQdirig e~quiry· shall
be pai'd SUb SIS
· tence allowance admis::;ible
. . to him/her, as'•per .prov1S1pns
. . of. the Industnal.
.. Employ-
.
ment (Standing qrd~rs) Act, 1946, already referred ~om an earlier sectlo,J).
6.10 Industrial Relations and Labour Laws
Su . der the following situations:

spension of an ,employee from duty· o!ten ~sehs une already explained: this . under steps in
. D ti ·Enqwry: "e av . th h
Suspension Pendmg omes c . . till investigations are pendmg, oug at this
disciplinary proceedings. Such .suspens1~n~er normal circumstances the order of suspen.
stage it cannot be called a pumshment. .f . . not po~sible, the charge-sh~et.must follow
1
sion is issued along with charges~e~t. b;t i isDisciplinary Authority als~ has the right to
within 7 days of issue of suspension or er. .f\e/she is accused iµ .a court. of law for ·any
keep a charged employee under suspension_ i . .
til the disposal of the tnal.
criminal offence, un . . .· Authorit may decide.to pUDish a charged officer
Punitive Suspension: The Disciphnary d ,;',mmitted by him/her after the conclusion
1
by way of suspension for the acts of_ ~scon uc s· on the suspended employee.is prohibited
. ·ry In case of pumtive suspen i ' - . ·oo f
of domestic
from enqwduties
performing · and wages o f sueh. e_mployee are withheld for the pen . o suspen.
sion, since it is a punishment iIµposed on lum/her. . . . ' . . .
·
+ Dismissal and Discharge: t ·1.refer
B oth t·he tenns 'discharge' and 'dismissal d . toh termination
. un ofI
service of an employee and are used only when_other measures have ai e -to c. ange accep,-
able ..behaviour. The literal meaning of the teon dismissal i~ .'to le_t_ go' or 'to r~lieve from duty;
it i~ a punishment for some_misconi!UCt, ·11!ough:discharge ,1s no) ,always a PU11!Shment. Agarwal
(1978) defines discharge to be tenniUatiOll of sen:'':". by givmg Jil, .,. . JJJIIJ
m
agreed notice or ·payment and acceptaiJ.ce of mo~eY. heu o( such • /·~i,~::p:.r s,oj~·:!)r?ssj
nonce. Removal from service 10 the•fo~ !!f_discharge does :1_1°1 .·. •,. pa/fol an'
disqualify an employee from re,employment 10 the orgamsatton, ,, ·"'~T;.. ;
whereas dismissal from service does disqualify·hlni/her from such ,,r >
h
re-employment.· In fact, the stigma that is atiached 10 the expfl'ssion 'dismissal' . may make it
practically impossible for the person concerned to: obtain an?,.ther employipent: unlike the case
of:disctiarge: Thus · dismissal is considered. to ·be the severestoLall-the penalties ..: Removal or
dismissal 'is due to gross ·misconduct on the ·part of-an e~ployee. In case of
dismissal, the em-
ployer.can withhold the contribution of the employee to· pf<)vident fund; bonu& and gratuity
j,a)'alil~ and o)her dues, in order (o make good of the loss caused to the organisation by his/bet
misconduct. In other words, a dismissed employee loses ,al), termination. benefits. Discharge
simpliciJor refers. to termination of services of an employee for Ioss,of confidence and trust.
Since it is a tennination, it does. not CIITT)' 311y stigma of misqonduct, but.~hanc,;~ of victimisation
of the employee cannot _totally be eliminated here. . . ,. - - : .· . .
. As Chhabr;r and Suri (2007) have pointed out, disciplinary proceedipgs . essential to dis·
miss an employee, though the employer may or m;iy not do so for cJischarging an employee. AD
employee can be ~tscharged by giving a reasonable notice, as proyided.in the standing orde!S
or contr":"t
10 of servic~, without being secved with a charge sheet, receiving explanation thereof
and hold g an enq~rry, as 1s usually done for dismissing an employee. No order of removal or
chsnnssal ,from service shall be made by an authof;ity lower than the appointing authority of.the
employee
quently concerned,
delegated the potwithstandmg
power of ap 0 · the
t fact fthat such ·appointing
· authority
· might have
· · subse-
th
I b
emp oyee elongs
. to such lower. authority.
. P m ment o employees of the · category
· · which e
or rank to
Code ~f Discipline· in l_nd~stry ' . '
th
In the 15 Indian Labour_Conference held in Ju· ly 1957 th . - · ·· .· as
, general principles 10 be followed
discussed at length arid· certain e question
b b. of . ct·iscip
· Iine
' ··~ - ·~d ustry wfor
1 1
their mutual interest as also for the common interest of th . Y 0 th labour and management
e society and the nation were laid doWJl
thfOugh tri~artite consulta~on. Applicable to both public and private sector enterprises, the Code of
piscipline IS a set of self-Imposed, and .mutually ,agreed upon voluntary principles of discipline and .
relations between the m~a~ement_ and ,workers in the industry. It is a code of conduct both for work-
rs and management, and It provides ,for the voluntary arid mutual settlement of disputes through
~utual negotiation, v~luntary arbitration and conciliation without the 1;1·i . r~tP t•f· f '~;!.· t H t. I ;1;· f l
. terference Of an outside
. agen cy. Wh"l · d" ; tK0 1
1 911:,,
1 e 1t 1ssuades both parties ,from 1; i · ·• ~. · · : . ,d i t f z u·.· .· J· a
• ·. . :( -,/, ,,
i
. . . '.
· · #The Code of D,sc,pline lays ·
ill
unil~teral aQti~n, lit;
Cod,e. mduces, the~ to make the best ,use of t?e . 1 .~.frl~hasls ori ·an 'atmdspherej
exisung machinery 1or the se~t~e~en_t of disputes. Thus the Code of Dis- f'of:1fri~WalJ ~gafcf and·fespect
cipline COll~pels. both _the_partle~ tn d1sput~ not to indulge in any strike or [toi;;itia'i'nt.Sit'fi~·g·harrhonious .
Jock-out without. exploqng fu.e avenues ·_for the volun·tary ·and mutual }rels'tfons;;s~nd· promoting '.
settlement of a,ny possible _misunderstanding or .dispute.Jo this manner, ii(lqµstri?ll~~~el) · · \
it lays emphasis on an atrposphere-pfmutual regard and respect, in order · · · -~ ''"
to maintain harmonious relations and promote' industrial peace.
The basic ·objectives .of.the Code of Dis~ipline are to: · . .
• emphasise ilpo_n the emp_loyer.s and employees to· r~cogni.se ~ach other's rights -and obligations;
• promote constructive criticism·between'. the parties concerned at all levels;
• maintain discipline in the industry;
• avoid work stoppages and litigation;
• eliminate all fonns .of coercion,.-intimidation and violence in industrial relations;
.. ',1. . --·- ' ·- _· • . ... : ,. ,: . , . ,·- ·. . ·., ' - . .
• faci~~t7- _ fr~e gr(?~th,of tr~<J.e. uaj_9ns; ._an,4, _ . _;· : . . . . . . ,. .

• secure ·settlement of disputes, ~d gtjevances by muqial negotiation, conciliation and voluntary
arhitratfon - _ ,_. - ..__ - .. . . : · - .. -· ; - "· . _,:_ ·. .. . - ·. · ._ . .
. To ~ai~tain,discipline iµd,ustry: mere.p,~.to -~ ,aju_s t recqgnitioµ ~y :ep,ipl:? ¥!!rs, and workers of the
rights and responsibilities of either party, --~eµpe~ !?Yi_,the}aw~ ,~9 ~gl'.eem~~t~ (iµducting bipartite
and tripartite ,agr~ements arriv~ ~t _all levels. from t_im~. to tim~) and.a proper and willing discharge
by.either party of its. obUgatiO!}S c9ns_eque.nt . 91).,SU,ch 'recogriition; Toward~:lhls.end, ~~agement and
unions agree on not indulging ·into ·vadous actions, summarised as follo~s (Dhingr~ and yenn~, 1995):
M~agement ~d Uni9n(s)Agree .t~~t ··,: ,- •:, , ·, - -
• no unilateral action should be taken in connectjol) witb .any -industrial matter and _such matter
should be settled at appropriate level;
• the existing m_acbinery for settlement of disputes s_~~uld be u,ti!ised ~~th the _utmost
efficiency; ·,. ' ·
• a~rm~~g th_e ir J,i~h ) _~ '"d~~~crati~ _; pf~~cipl~s; ~hey bi?~. t,hepiselv~~ t~ settle all future
. d1ffe~e1,1ces, -disputes and _gnevance~ .~y mutual ne,gorI~tl~n, coos1l~at1~n · and V_?luntary
arbitration· . · . . . .. . . . .
thefe shouid b~,-no strike ;r· iock-o~t witho_ut pri<;>r nottce; ' ·, . ; .:' - .
• neither party "".'iii hav~ reco~rse to··c~erc_ion,._inti~dati~n. vict~I!ll~ati,on or go-slo'Y tactics; _
• . they wil). avoid .litigation, sit-down and stay-1_n sp-ik~s l~ck.. out~; . . , .
• the~ wi~ prornot~ cons~~µv~ cooperation bet":~~n their re)?resentatives at all lev:ls and as
between workers themselves and abide by the spmt_of ~greements ~utually entered mto; .
• they will establish upon a mutually 'agreed grievance pr~cedure which will ensure ~pe~dy _and
full investigation-, l~a4ing .to settlemen~; . .. · ., .. : . . _.
• they will abide by various siag~s in 1:he gnevance procedure and take no arbitrary aciion_. which
Would by-pass this proc~dure; and . , . , - . .· . . _._
• they will educate the management person~el and worlcers regardmg the1( ~bbgation to ea~h other.
l
6.12 Industrial R.elations and Labour Laws .
t Agrees · ' - ' · '· · ttled otherwise;· · .

M";'a!:i:~ncrease work,load unless agree_d uponu;r :ctice such as interfen:nce with the right~
• not to s\Jpport or encourag~ any unf~ 1;::,e:,b:rs; discrimination, ~s~amt or coercion agaj'¼
loyees to· enroll or contmu~ as umo~ . f I de unions; victiimsabon of any employee~
: :employee beca~se of recog_m sed acbvtty o ra . . . I .
b e Or authority .m any form, . nd implementat10n of settlements, aw'1d,

• ato us
take prompt action for. settlement
. of gnevances
. . a . .. ' . I
decision and orders; , . • he undertaking the provisiorrs·ofthe Code focal language; 10

• .to display in conspicuous place~ m . .• d' t discharge and those where d_ischarge must
f s
• to distinguish between ac ton . . .JUStlfymg imme .ta e. -r some· other•form . o f . ct·tsc1p
., 1··tnary ·actio,
be P
receded by. a warning, repnmand, sus~ens1ohn _old be ·sub,iect 'to an :appeaJ:through nonn,1
· all such
and to arrange that_ . d'iscip· · 1mary
· .act10n
. s ou . .· . J ·
. ... i .. · llJ
grievance procedure; · .· . . : - ·ffi · rs and members in cases where enquiries

• d' · linary action agamst its o ice . . .. .
• to take appropnate
th 1sctp . . . t· by workers leading to md1sc1p me; and
· p. onsible for-prec1p1tate ac 10n · _. 1 . .
reveal that ey were res _ .- h .1 . olved at the· 16"'-Sessmn of the lndta,
• to recognise the union-in accordance with t eon ena ~v ,. . :, _. - ,, - • . . .·.
Labour Conference held in May 1958. ·
. . .
Union Agrees . . .. . . . .. I d . ' t to ~ermit db!hOnslr:itioriS Which_·are not peac,,

• not to.engage many_form of_phy~1cda ures~ ;o ··that th~ir -. me~bets 'will not engage ·or cause
ful and not to pernnt rowdyism m emons . a ton, - . . . .. .. , -. . • , . ' .d d I
other ·employees' to ·engage in. any union activitf duri~f working hours; 'unles~ as prov1 e or
• ~::~:1::;::~a~i,'::°,ti;.'::ctices such~ nei ligO.~\:e of ~Uty, ~tiuige ti; pioperl)', in~rference

with or disturbance to normal work and insubordination; _ · · _· .. . . , . , .. _; _
• to13ke J?roinpt'ac_tion to impleinint aWardS: agreements, sett1e111ents ,f d_dep smns; : · . . local
.• to displ~y iri' con~pi_cuous places m the umon offices, t~e _pro;i~1on~ o_f. thi~ Co~~; _the m
Jaiigi\agJ(~); ·arid· ' . . . - .-- _ . . , _ . -- • _. . .. f~
• to expfess disapproval and to take appropriate action against oflice ·-b earers and memliers
indulging·in action against the spirit of the Code. ' · · · - ··• :·, ·
._ I , .,
-. ,... I•
GR.IEVANCE .HANDLING
Employees ,tlave their own sets of aspirati~~s and eii~ectations from their employers. When~ver thee<
is anYinconllrueilcO betWeen such expectationS'and what an employee actiia!IY 'g~is froffi the orgarusa·
tion, he/she experiences a feeling of dissatisfaction or dis9ontentment. A grievance .jS fOrm0d _due w
differen':" betwee~ employees' expec"t~~()ns _arid inanag~m~i,i pouCi_es or_i,iaciices. 'Grievance if_ • ~
0
rare feehng when 1t comes_to someone s Job. ~erhaps 11 1s mherent m human riature to be dissausfi
about so'!'ethirig or the _other. The miisi .colilm?illy fowiil reason ' ?f grievai.Ce iS Pax ::"if
it iS not ~'.
structure, then some other aspect of work, say_';"Ork environment, relatiot\ with superior Or peer gro I
etc., with which::'_11 ~mp\o_ye~ niiiy have dissatlsfacti~n he?ce ?ave 'g rieV~ ~e. _ :• . ad
In the area of employment relattons, employee d1ssa1tsfac1ton is commonly divided into 2 bro_
categories: orga'ni~ed unor/la~ised ~iss~tisf~~titm (Green, 1987; RciSe, 20~ )- ()rg'~ se<t gissau;;
faction leads to collecttve form of confhcts hke stnkes, go-slows and work-toCruJO as 'atteritpts""'
by workers to change whate~~r .';f.ndition is ct,,e'/led t~ l,e u~satisfaCtory (~aJ3Ill6n, _200(); Ril'se, 2~
On the other hand, unorgamsed form of confhcts refers to mdiv1dual-based fOrins of behaviour w!U
are less-strategically oriented to the achievement of change (Mills, 1994; Fossum, 2000; Rose z(J(l4)·
,.....--
I
I
I
Definition of Grievance . _.
fhe Jnterna~ional Labo~r Organisation (ILO) d~rin,es grievance in an exhaustive way to include any
complaint eithe_r by a work~r,, 0 .r a gr~up _of workers, or a trade union, or by an employer, or a group
f employers, or an employer s orgamsat10n, regarding ·some specific aspect of the employment rela-
~onship, or in case of workers, regarding employment conditions, or employer's policy and practices.
Britton (1982) ·proposes that. a ·grievance i~{any dispute that arises between an employer and em-
ployee; which relates to the implied or expHbt terms of an employment agreement. The First Na-
tional Commission on Labour (1969) in India has· visualised grievances as being those "arising out of
complaints ·affecting one or -~ore individual workers in respect of their 1wa -·:_ rtt [:''_·t r_z, · 'I'r i r
conditt.ons· of work and not d1sputes ·over matters · of general app1·1cab'l' i ity ~"'! _- - _-_l,g_ p,. :., ,i-lh1
~•· ;,((Pi%~ __ di / -,,,,,u
h -24 23) -o·•c· (1999 • , The First Natio ·
" p ·
to all ( aragrap
raised
. t . _· ~z d' !
de~nes _gnevance as 1a matter l!S'AL~·b;u; (l4 ___ vi;t~tf~e~
,:_>·: ;_t_/_ r·.
rr:uss1on
. by an emp1oyee o express . issatisfactton·- with . management. be-

. ;;<>. gnevances : · - -' as'> ;.,r: ar1s1ng ou 9 ·
hav10ur,_ and as attempt to bnng out changes. Gnevance is any dis- , corhplaints affecting one or ,
satisfactton regardmg work and workplace filed by employe~ fonnally to Kfoo(e'fndividu-al workers, in i
his immedia~~ supervi_sor (~~se, 20~). On the other hand, Michael _Jucius ;;t~speE.t of. theif'sondiho,ns ~ !;
defines grievance as ·any discontent or dissatisfaction; whether expressed f'.:\f8rk:and(J\of/qis~ute~/ovet
or not, 'wlieµier valid or not, and arising out of anything'c'onnected witll - ?ji½a,tters,tlgex{etai3appli2~biUt~:;
the company· that.ail employee -thinks, believes • • '
-or even -feels •
., ·unfair,
, "
-~ :fo all:'~'.',\0,
{:,.:;-,t.,..,.:..., ..
as :It:Hit1ii!i\i;?IJ\frdi1ft;'
f .. >•::.,~,:/::, ,~x):./.::.:.~,:..- :~'. -••K.:t:?-'.-.~;..;:.(:A,;;,_:_·
j ..;-,;. ...
unjust, or inequitable. What is noteworthy is ·that, according ·to- JucJus~ · .

grievance may ·or·may not be expressed; though Rose (2004) proposes that grievance is a written al-
legation. - '. · , . · · -- - . . _- - : -
Fairness at ·work is one of the pivotal aims of employment relations.'Faimess, however, is a relative
~rm. and is expected by every employee from his/her employer. When ar:i'·employee feels something
is unfair in the organisation, he/she is satd to have a grievance. Whatever be the cause 'of such griev-
ance, it is surprising that any such feeling of dissati~faction or grievance may be real or imaginary.
!n fact, _itfriay so happen· that an··em~~oy~~-;inaf not:h~ ·able to a.sceitairi on his/her own· as-- to what
~s/are the reason(s) behind such d1~satisfaction:·And thl'~ may _b~-due to :.1,1.niiJllri111tt1
:•ranee, Iru,k Ofkn0wledg6 of duties ~nd right>:, _or eve~ ~en_tal blocks. ;,lt;i~;a;g;~;,;J,.t!'-z;:i;;- 1~
us grievance may· be any_real or hnagin~ feelm~_ ~ lilJUS I.Ce at ~n :liRti.ss~fv
0 t th ;rbat(t/r.6'~ri;;r;·\ -
employee may perceive concerriirig' his/her employment r~latlons. _This _: ~rm~~
pelJpfwf(8fn. ... -· _ ,,9, ;
a
may become tricky 'situation for any organisation~as it mainot always .ibhni'tL<;:;n/ t .B:U>JHif_;J?\1\},
be feasible for the management to understand the real reason behind dissatisfaction 'and grie':'ance.
A grievance may take various fonns; it may be ~vertl~ expre~sed, . v~rbally or in writing, or it
rn~y be covert or kept within. The latter may have senous imphcatlons m itself because unexpressed
gne~ance may result in frustrat~on and detach~ent, ~lti111ately affectin~ employee performan~e. In
:ch c~ses the ~nus 'is 'on the m;magemetjt to perceive f~at empl~yee_~ ha~e ~o~e ~rievanc~, ~d the~
certain the re·a ( ) b h-:nd. such grievance. Mere discontent or d1ssat1sfact1on 1s not gnevance; it
rn . . son s e 1 . _ .. . . . . ..
ay Initially fimd · • i·n the forni of a complamt, But 1if such a complamt remams unattended
by express10n • • , •
the manage t loyee would eventually feel a lack of Justice or farrness ~n the_part _o f
rnanagement Th' men ' anIdemp • ease. his/her dissatisfaction,
. . an d eventu all y sue h d'1ssatis1act1on . . would
ass . 1s wou mer , . .
Ull}e the statu f . e According to Ratnam (2006), a complamt becomes a gnevance under
the t s o a gnevanc . _ . .
(' 0110 wing 3 conditions: . . · ·
1) When & that some injustice has been done to hun/her.
(ii) an emp1oyee 1ee1s . &
... When th . t • & nnally expresse.d, either m verbal or wntten 1orm.
1 • , .-
(111) When ·t e· comp1dam 1sh 10 li'cies procedures

. . f h
and practices o t e orgamsat1on.
• ·
1 1s re 1ate to t e po ,• ,
6 14 Industrial R.elations and Labour Laws
. press their dissatisfaction; such expression
· h" h employees may ex . s
There are several ways m w tc . T , Other marti_festations may mclude_.absenteeisrn
may even go to .the ~xtent of aggresslon and -ho~Jt tt~.f t1·on then it would be relatively easier for th'
· · ·fi t ti0 n of d1ssatts ac , - · , . · e
indiscipline, etc. If there is a maru es a . . become difficult jf,the management 1s not ab}
1· ues · the s1tuat10n may . . . e
management Jo add ress sueh s_s - •·.· ·nee Wh is it important for management to identify the fac.
to perceive the real reason behmd go.eva h · · d y i·evance would -lead to. symptoms like a~sen_teeisn,
· nee? Any un ear gr · · . ''1,
tors that fuel emp1oyee1gneva · - k d all of these would lead to senoµs problems like
th sta · m towards wor , an
low morale and less en u s . A h. it becomes imperative on the part. of -management
1 d tt. ·t and poor work quahty. ~.sue · • • - .
ow"dpro"fuc vihY .- '
toms and take correc 1ve a t" cti·ons , such that whatever behaviour
. 1s mamfested is
to i enti y sue ~ymp . d " ftch in time -saves nine" say_s it. all: if the management is
not repeated agam. Perhaps, the. a age . a,s t . . . 1·1 I h" Id
. . the symptoms and ameliorate any grievance at md1v1dua - eve , t 1s_ wou prevent
able to 1dent1fy . the
issue getting extended any further and aff~cting· a larger group of workers. · · '
Nature.and Causes of Grievance .' '.•

A grievance may b~ ·expres~~d-by';~_-'.sili_gl~ ~or~_
~f,, :C?r ,h/ .~.e ~r~~-io~~~~s? ?.r by a · union of ~Y~Il
workers, if tlJe, _s~bj~~t.rp.att~r ;<>,f ~gtj~y~~e,i~ .qf ~~f h -n.a~~ e,_J.~fl~} ! !11ay ~ct several "~ _o rkers_of the
organisation, in wbJch ¢ase it I}~, lc:,~ger re~~s );e~qi_c~~d fO) ! gt;te~¥1pe. ,~at~am ,~?006) proposes
that W~_f~ )ndi~J9wi! ~grieva#~~s _.ar_e·,_noti i~r~~_seg.,.~cl ?.~ er.,j YO!k:t r~: i,ils? _aff ~y ,· ~e same
situation~t.Qen it..b~c.omes a colle~tive-gtjeyance,. whicll ;n<3_rmally. collle~ up.der µt_y P-llfY,IC:!W _of collec-
,._ • t_ .; • ,, - - , ... .. •.· . • .• -:. • . - -'~ - ..,-~----'· ·- )- •'-,.· .--- -.-. ~ - •. -.:..
tive l>argaining: As laid down in the Model° Grievance proce<;l.µre l?y the First Natipmil. Collllllission
._on Labpur, ··~omplaints affecting 0 11~ or .irw_
. . - ' ' -
re iridlvictuaLsY.orl,(yrS in_TespecLo:( their wag.~ payments,
• .. . . - ' . • ,;,. • - { . ,. i'· -~· •. :!" -.."t. .- ••- . • -· • • - ,,__ i . . • . .
overtiµie, l~ave, transfer, promotion, seniority, WOtk, ,~ssignm:ent, .and disc.barge woµld constitute griev-
, ~ fy Yf~~re,. point~ of dispute are pf g~neral applici bility, 0~\>f_ consideraJ?:ft? ·magnitpde.·, they _will fall
0
outsjge,the scope of this procedure". _- · · ·_ . · _. · '• .. . •· ·•-· · · · · · · ·

.. :_A}thpp~fi.tp~if·;~_atu~~ .is .foun~. to vary acr~ss o;ganis~ti~~s, \1' gen~/ ~ -griev~~~e~ .fall u~de/ the 0
followi?g cate~~~e,t ~1-~ ost.In_djen__prga11tsa\ion.~ (Ra~nain~:~006): p,ro~ ~tions '. (matters:~elated to SU·
p~rse~s~~n, P!Omoti?~::-i-~.~ni~~cy A~d:fixc\lt,io.1! _of ,pay); cqmpens~tion (issues o~_' i~cr~ments, payment
a?d ~ec_o ye~ 0~ ~ues);: a¢enJtl~~-(l~e, i~equitable <;iistri~ution, e~titlement,and ~dical benefit~); ser-
VIC~ matters·(l~e ~~~f~rs: c?11ti~1:1ity_of service anq s~perail,nu~tiQn);._di~ciplinary a~ti~n (including
purushment, fines and v1cturusatton); n_ature of job (like .allocation .of job); ~ondition of work (like
safety_and hazards); and leave. , . ·, · · · · · · 1 · · .. · • · · ·
, H _andling of Grievances · ·
_B,y no~• it ~u_st be clear that any grievance in an o . . . . . . . .· . : : . . ..
m~_st be addressed by the management with. - :· d" rgamsatton, W,h~ther exphc1tly ~xpress~d ?r no~
appropriate steps to eliminate the cause(s)
1
/m~-
~te e~ect. In fact, management is required -~? tak;
:~~~~::J:~: ~~:t:~!ons de.~\ wi';, is;;::::!~!::;;::ti~~7.:~~ ~

to their work and to the·organisation No oths~c . gne~ance, so as!~ ensure· employees are conunitte
. ~:;1 fiWil-firJ;l'~I lfIIII

nd 0
devoid of any f9rri1al rilechani::~~~ s:::a, ~mg ?f grievanc~s ~s often . }~'forrau'g h~vaht~-H~ndliri;
may be dealt with by the · t . an informal system gnevance c..:.sys.j e.n-r prov1des· a·n._>: av.enu,
• • , 1)1_ ervention of managers h d" t : . l . ·.·.·: . .. . ·· their
issues with their subordinates and sort'tbese .. ' w 0 , lSC~SS such ·;J?: ~rcnp oye_e~, t~ Nent . in
tions, on the contrary have · f,0 · p~obl~ms out. Large Qrganisa- . 9f1E:Yanc.es; -1t. c1ss1gns" certa
. , a rma1 mechanism fo · ,. , · · , indt ·d l h. •· ·d fer or
Gnevances may be h di d b •. · ·· .· .. r gnevance redressal ·,'<- Yt uc1s. to ea,r an re -
. an e Y a single official or - , .·· . · · · , ,resolve e l · van,es,
ent1re department that would deal exclusively withe maly even _include· an ~tmf_P od..ytee grie
mp oyee gnevances. A _.· :, __ 1xe 1mes.
foflllal sy stem pr~vides an ave~ue to empl~yees t~ their ·grie~anc~s; it assigns certain individuals
and
to hear . - refer or resolve
. employee
. gn·
, , : . _ances, usuf}lly at fixed· - times.
ev . - - a procedure m
Such · d-·irect1Y
helps.to improye re1~tlons ~etwee,n the parties to the colle~tive agr~eme:nt (Thomso,ri, 1974), renders
justice (Balfour, 1984) and improves perceptions of fairness and equity ·(Lewin and Peterson, 1988).
fhe grievrce ~r~_c_edure also s:~e~ .~s the ,mec~anis~ by which management an4 uni~n repres~nta-
uves can barg~m over_,the app~icabih~y._9f _th_e ter,ms in question (Thomson and Murray, 1976; Lewin,
!983), Bot)l uru?n offi~i~s and m~agers i_nves!-.their ti~«?-and energy in grievanc~ procedures to ensure
that employees pomplamts ._cµ-~,-~ealt with ~~ -an effect~ye maimer (Bemmels and Lau, 2001). Su~h
aforrn_al .syst~m te_nds to be p~osedui:al and _ritualisec{.J n _fact, employees may become disillusioned
with the effectiv~n~~s:of ,t~e p:1e9hanism_if th~ system ta)(~s iong time .to find a workable ·solution to
the griev~ce_ ~c;. ~o~ld be ~lking ipore al;m~.t a f~rmal sy~te·m of grievance handling in
a subsequent sect19n. · _ _ _ _ · · · ·' ·, · · ·
According !o.tl).e First, ~~tional ~ommission,o,n Labour. (1969), a grievance procedure should be
simple a11d hav~. prqvJ,sR?n.fo~ ar l~ast 1 appeal.· the-Commission recommends· a formal grievance
.9r
procedure to ~e "introdtic~ in umts_employing ,JpO m9re worker,s. e~~i~ph~ 24.29 .~d ·2~.3? of the
recommendations.suggest that a gnevance prpcedure. should nqrmally provide 3 steps_:_submtss10n of a
grievance by the aggrieved worker_ to the immediate superior, appeal to the departmental head/manager,
and appeal to a bipartite~grievance committee representing the~managemeni and the recognised union.
In rare ~as1/~ where ~unanimity ~luc;les me comµtltte.e jn the t4ird step, the matter may be referred to
an ar~itrator..The <;ommission_p~escribes j ' con'ditio~s' ne~is~~ for any._foqrtal or informa}: system
of grievance_handling, _i:ianiely: ~atisfaction_o:fthe individual worker; reasonable exer~ise of authority
by the man~ger
'. : .! ;
arid
- ,
participation:
.
by, uni9ris- '(Paragraph_
. . • _. . • . '. - ,, . . • . . . "
24-.2~). -
. .· ~- •,
. , .
- /.; I ; > • ,,_ ;. •.
DiscQv~~iryg-.Grievances .:. ,~ . ·.
~is- a
-Under~fandin·g griev~ces always· difficufi _taskfo~-_ ma~ag~r_s' ;hen ·ther~ :i~ n~ expli~it m~ife~ta- -
tiori. Managers '.ned:i to ·b e sensiti~e iriprid~ts~din~ whafmay be bo~eri~¥ empl~yees~In tlle absence
of a formal mechanisrp., · a" ·useful source -of informati~n on grie\lances .and th~ causes therein would
be the grapevine/ in fact, 1.n orgams~tions···~n_wh_i,c~ there is µ_o _fo~al griey~ce handling mechanism,
emplo~ehs may approach' "the 'ifa~{uni_on for ·~e~o~al of their gnevances. A~ su~h, ~~ion may be an- _ .
Other source 'of. infonI1at1011 "oii. issues· of grievance: Let us focus on some of the most common ways
of dis'covering ,grievanc~s-· ::. ; .:,:,,.; .,_,·,· - .. .. - - ·- . - .
Direct Observatio~: 'In' ifu·s-'method i 'mahager generally obsei:ves any change in the behaviour
. of. subo d. · ·t.
r ma es auec
cc ting-.their erfonnimce. Example~ qf changes in behaviour may include.
·p·
. . ... . ,- - · N dl th'
absen"
. .. t'e·eism,• " -·m
· d.. .· l°'in'e·,_
iscip · la;c
. _k~'of
. _."et1thusiasm'
_, . _ , .at work;
. . etc.
., ee: ess to say, • is method . - would
nee
·· 'es·· ·1a
· t · ·- , · · tr- · be· s'ensitive to the chfficulties subordinates may face at work and em-
. SI ea manager , o .. _ ; , .... - . - . . - '.: . · .
athi ;th~th. - ·:.A
'· · · · ager m:ust also be efficient enough t? observe changes m behav10urs
. P se WI em. man . 1. - d. • . f . - 1
and other traits that may aciualiy hint__at ah,iddlen issue of . 1ssa~~s actl~O- - '
e
·; . _. ox •. ,e gnp _.· . . ··
an·
• Gripe B. : Th. , . box serve·s as innovative way to discover. i 'l~Jiflt;tJtJ_
file com laints about ·. ' . -,. ~ •.
,_ :._i-i:~t.
] J_ffr_-.;
1 ·!:1-"}1 4
gnevances; it ·1s a fac1bty to empl~yees t.0 . . hp . · , Tnthgripe ootds._ta '.fac_llhy_·• to_·_::,
a h' . d. f sfactwn mamtammg t elf anonym- .. l , -, f l- .--- -_-.-,_ ·•·"'"
. nyt mg that is causmg issa i .• . . ' . . h .. . . · .;ernp ~yees,,tq'.·, i e c0R1plaints:'. :
· . minent Iocat10ns m t e orgarusation ,6 • th· - h- . , , - ,_.
lty. These boxes are kept at pro. . . ·. · . ·,:a ou~any 1i1ng \t at is causing)
or factory premises for the convemence of employees ~o ~xpress ..'?i~§a!15,.f~ctii:>~;,maintai~lt9 .t~;Jr:-.
their feelin s or o inion about any aspect o_f the orgams~t10n. I~ .': aQ~n~rn.1ty; . . .. . -. /.•·.
rnan . p • lo ees are apprehensive of expressmg their - ,.
ori Yorgan_isations emp .. Y the wrath of the management. Under such circumstances the gripe
b' ,evances m fear of facmg
l R. lat . and Labour Laws "d · & •
,I
6.16 lndu,1,;, ' ,ons . . . . ployee to provt e m,onnatton Wit]i
- ful as it encourages an em . out
d is articularly use_ , . . . . . .
box;'etht be~ reprimanded or victinns~;i- es are encouraged to enter a manager's chaini,
the earDo Policy•· 1n this technique _emp oy~. way of sec·u ring information about grievan er
• Open oor _ _ ·. Th. s is a democra 1c _ . ·_ ce
and express ·their gnevance. t . . .. . . . . -: .' . 8
t Work . · an ·: organisation _for greener
a • .· _ ployee 1eaves . pastures,
. b A1t often . .Intri0i,
(:)\les
• Exit Interview: ~en an e~nsti ated the employee to leave t~e _present JO .· . n ex~t Intervie'I{
the management as to what i _ g · h i-eiiSOns These interviews are nothing but interaction
is a useful source of informat10_~ ~ndsu,c 'a' men~ The outcome of such interviews can provids
· ployee an man ge _· . - - e
between the
·- . • · departmg
· em . th
.
hat are e pro - . .", bl . em ·ar
· ea
· s which
_ compel
. an employee
. . . to leave,
- anct i~
.,,
valuable ms1ghts .mto "': . , - d :improvement Exit interviews can thus go a very long way
h all eas the organ1sat1on nee s - . . . th b
w at ar . - . . . . . . .
tn improving work conditions t . e man . {th . ; agement- addresses. the problem areas,
. : .. .ere y .ensuring
. .
employee retention. · , . . . . . · al - ·-th · h'
• Opinion Surveys: Management can ~so
conduc~ surv~ys a~ mterv _ s to -~~takug~ . e ar~~s tn w. 1ch
employees may · -b···e_ h avmg · ·. · -·=•'ces
· · '.gnevan _. / 'This .c·an·be
, . _ a: ptoacttve
0
_ ..·_ _ method
_ _ . _ to_ · _, e_ _corrective
_ _ actions
before dissatisfaction takes the shape of~gne~:~ce. ; __
. . .- : . . - _. l . : . .
' - ' .
RecommendatiotJ No. 13() (1967) dn the Ex3II!i~'atl~ri, of (}ri~VanCe(~i;~~With a speCi~ category
of labour disputes: grievances of one or several_w?rker~ _a &amst ~pectfic aspects ·of -~etr ~mpl?Y·
ment ·coi:1ditio~s or labour' relations. The grqurids•for a grievance· ~a:y any· meas~e or_SI~atton
that concerns employer-worker relationship ·or ih~tis likely to affect the \::oriditions of eniiJloyment
of one or more workers in the enterprise, if the situation appe_ars to be contrary_Jo the provisions
of collective agreement, individual employment contract, national laws ~ or other :nlle's.;In case
grievance procedures are established through collec~ive ·_agreements, the _p3!ties,_inv<>lve~ sl;l9uld
be encourag~d -to .promote the settlement of grievances using thos~ procedures::abs.t.~ ni~g-,from
any act(oti thich Wo\lld impede ~e. effective fnllC)ioning .o f suC11 pr0Cedllres. : .· · : . . . . •. . •
Recommen4ation No. 130 explicitly calls_, for work~rs' .org~nisations and workers' representa-
tives to be -as,soci~ted on an· equ~\ pasi~ -~ith ~mployers and tpeir. <;>rganisatiOQ.& jn tp,e ~stabli,sh-
me~t and implem~nt~ti~~ 9f ~rie~~~ce procedures . .1°.e _Reco~en~ation- ~s9 highlights th,e
vanous el_e~~nts that form the basis of grievance procedure in any enterprise., An attempt s.h<?~d
be 01ade imtially to s.ellle the grievance directly between the workers or. grciup worke!"8 and ot
the immediate supervisor. 111 the event of failure . to settle. the lirievance at the initial leVel, the
worker shoul1, haye the right to !]ave \Jle, casti considered at a . high.er level, dC,i'Cnding on the
nature of th~ gp.~vanc~ as_\Y.~11 as struc;:tur~ of the enterprise. _Grievance procedures shouid. pe so
formulated and applie? that .there i,s a possjl,ility for settlement Of displlie at eve,y leV\'IJheY
should also be expe_dtl)qus "?d simple. Worke~ concerned in any grievance shqul~ haVe the.ngbl
m
to take part directly the_g_qevance procedure. During the procedure, workers m~y b<l assisted or
represented by a trade umon.representative or any other pers. on of hi /h h · · · - .& ' rnu·ty •
. nat10nal
with . , .
law and practice. · . s er c · 01ce ' ·m con1
., 0 1
(Adapted from: Lee, Chang-Hee (2006). "Industrial Relations and Di·spute s ttl · . ,,,.. · m" /LO
. . . · e ement
Discusswn Paper. Retrieved from: www.apirnet.ilo.org/resourceslindustrial- z t· · d. m vletna ,
tl ment-in·
vietnam on 24/12/2013.) · re a ion- ispute-Sf e
Industrial Di~cipline and Grievance Ha nd ling
6·17
• Gdevance ~cedui-e: 1::,- Jormal and systema~ic gi;i_eva,nce procedure is perhaps the best way
.to understan~ what al~ aspects of the organisatio~ are causing dissa.t:isfaction_to employee~. It
gives elllploye,es avenu~_to:v~nt th~ir grievances..Presence of a robust griev_ance ~e~hamsm
instills confidence m employees about their grievances being heard and corrective actions to ,b~
tak~~-· In absence .(?f sue~ a procedure~ employees may not be able to express_their grievanceS,
and ~s ,may eve~tually lead, to uni9n interveritfon, w~ch may disrupt the harmony ~etw~en
_empl~yer_~d. employees. , _ .____ . · __. __ · _ __
It may :_b~ n9t~d he~e th_a~ ~here i_~, .no perfect metho_d among _those specified above: An
organis~4~n may actu~lly.:U~t! mor~-: than one of th~se ,ways_to discoyer. causes of grievances among
employe~s.. -- ,
LegaCFra~ew~~k of G~i~van-c e Ha~dlin'g i~ :India

If we locik ~ack'in ,time a! th~ _histori_c':11, evol~tion of grievance handling in Indian orga~sations,' we
would find ~e firs(~fficial reference to -grievance fo legislation given in: the Model Standing Orders
of the Industrial' Employment (Standing 'ordets) :Aci: 1946. A"s pet Clause 29 of the first Schedule of
the Act, all complaints·arising otit _of empl6ymelit~fobluding ·t4ose reiated to u·nfair treatment or wrong-
ful exaction on the part of an employer or"-hi·s :agerit/ slihll tie s~bmitted to the manager or any-other
pe~on specilied··in ,this behalf, \\Tith theiight tb'app~al)o'the emplgyer. Standing orders· regulate the
conditions of employment, dischl;ltge, grievances, rnis_coiidtict,-ai~ciplinary actio·ns, et¢; of workmen,
and faul~ or inadequate application 'and ~tlministratioir'df :ttie standing
.J ; , . ,~ . i. .'
orders ,-by an'.'employer
.... -:: -,~....-t -· . . .
·may '
lead to ·grievances and' miscpnduct,'·whkh may ·have adverse 'e,ffe'ct oh industrial relations.
• - • • . - ._ - ---- f - • - • "' • • • • -·-· •
.
Section 49 of the Factories Act, 1948 provides ·for the _appointment of such nurtiber of welfare
officers as may ·be prnscribe~ by State Governments in _every; factory- employing 500 or more
workers. One of the duties or' such welfare officers i.s !<> bring fo th~ ]]ptice of the factory management
0
the grievances of workers, individuals·as ,well as col\~ctive, with a·yiew to se_ curiiig their expeditious
redressal and to,·act'as ~a liaison officer betwien the Itjanagement anp workers.;The Industrial Disputes
Ac~ 1947 has includ~d_Section 9C iii Chapter IIB~ that pre~cri_pe~ _setting up of a Qrievance Settlement
Authority for the settlement of industrial disputes connected with an i1!di~i~~~ workman employed in
every industrial est~bli;~e~t--in !Which 50 or m(?r~ 'Yorkmen _are,.~mplqyed ot ~ave been employed on
an~ day in the preceding 12 months/ flw .!n~ustrial,Dispul~'.s~(~endmel)t) Bill, 201~ passed by the
RaJ_ya Sabha on 3n1 August 2010:seeks to ·establish 1- or more Gnevance Redressal Committee within
anindu~~ :al ~stablishment having-with 20 or more workme?, ~ith 1 ~t~ge
appeal at the·head·'c;f ihe e·sia6Iishment for resolution of disputes ansmg
out of ind~yiduai giie~~n~~;;;With :this ,ainendm~nt, a -workman will get . .~) >~->::
~e lllore alternative grievance redr~ss-~lmec.hanism for the resolution of
fo:~~'. d~spu~es -~!thin the organisation itself, wi!l:1 mi_~imu~ n,ecess~tY,
in no ~udication. ~etting_up of a Griev_ aiwe Re.~ressal:•Commtttee would . "- _. ,>h'-'H •,'<¾, :p~f
j
is Way affect the rig' ht of a workman to raise a dispute on the same ~lr,dq~i(Q\,;ij}$p~te , , A
sue Under the provisions of the Industnal · Disputes
· Act, 1947 · ·
1t~ _-,:i~\~},;~~\l:/F)~~}{\i\'½J0l1j\~it\;~j:~~~~~)~
Model C . -- - d
1n rievanc:e Proc;:e ,µre
th
e8~~~ Session of the Indian Labour Conference held in 1957 haq emphasi~ed:on t~e need for an
as lo lshect grievance procedure for the country as a wh~le, that would be acceptable to unions -as well
Sessj Illanagement. In response to this, the Model Gnevance Procedure was drawn up in the 16th
on of the Indian Labour Conference in 1958 in pursuance of the Code of Discipline. We have
· · 1 d" · · 1· · · this chapter The p
already explained _the Code of Discipli1:1e _~_nder_md~stna _isc~p t~e ,n. . .. . ., . · . .. . ,rocedure
· ' · · t·1me-
drawn up has successive · · boun•-d s.-·t""·ps-- w·ith access
. to the -next stage · 1f. sat1sfact1on
. · d. -. ··1 : 1s not
. · obtain".i
"\I
· ·· d. 1·0 ·
in the previous stage. Let us describe 'the ¥0 _e .. nev~ce roce _ . · --p dure here m . _etat · 0 • •: , , ,
The process .of grievance redressai, as .per tlie "Model"', stru:ts .Wlt~ :gn~~a~t wo~ker_ Who can
make a verbal 'complaint to the ·supervisor' or any other ·m~nager designated_f?r .!re ~U'J'OSe. The
supervisor musf ~ive a reply
to th~ g~e~ant wf~i~ 48 hours :of lodgin_g o~ the gn~ance:}t·the reply
or solution offered is satisfactory,' the process 'of redressal erids there. Ho~ever, _if the e~ployee is
not satisfied, he/she can move the ..grievance to the departmental head or ·any other designated officer
within 72 ~ours (or·3 days) after the receipt of the ·reply. If the empioyee ·fs satisfi~, ·~lie matter would
end there; otherwise the 'grievance is r~ferted again withi~ 72 ·hours to the Grievance Committee
which must be a joint committee of at least 2 or 3 workers and 2 or 3 managers.- The Conuni~
would get a time limit of 7 days to considet; the !Il~tter and suggest a suitable solution~ff the decision
given is unanimous, then it has to be •implemehted:~ith irtlinediafo-. effect. ff, the:·grievant ·continues
to re~ajn ·dissatisfied, _he/she can. proceed fyrther~_with~n anoth_e r 72 -hours .to appe~ to-the Chief
E~~utive of t?e en_terprise or·~e ~ea(~f.t~e·e~~bli~hwe,pt, wh~.ge.t~ 3 dars to 2?nsicfer.th¢ l)robiem.
noti-~~ ~rievant h~s 3 optio_ns: ~e/she _may_ ~1~:

If t~~_.suggest10n _given_by su~h authority sati~fie_s ~e: employ~~-_ coricemed, the pro~letjijs._ solved. If
a' i:evi;s~~ii~petiJ1on .l ? tb~ . 11 . .
m~agem~nt f~r a complete review of t~e enme :ll}~tter, _or proceed for · t+
' -.: ,' , ;
C?~ciliation _~y ~oving the.govenµpe~t iab~µ(p,ro'~~qure f'or ;redie~sal,
-or a~k_; for voluntary -~~iq:ation._~chev~J -9(~~~~.~p~io~{ t~ ch~~'eh by;.
~e gnevant mai:J,cs the fin~ st~p i~ the pn;>c~~s,,,:sine~ iti ~-~;o-~jf~s~J~le io ·
carry the _redr~ssal any ~er. Figure 6.1 s1~e.s a_. ~upcin,ct explari~tion_
_ of th:e entrre-p~~cess. . . . . · ·_ . · __ , . . - _· · ' ·
;, ! ' ,;, .~•~ I - • •
.. Grievant . :
· Grievance
· .. -Ce>mmittee
l .
Supervisor or
· . Manager . -
< ,. 48 hours I If not .
satisfied
( 72hours
I
Chief Executive
If not satisfied
Departmental Head t '

or ' · ' ' ' Revision -Petition
Voluntary · ,
Designated Officer ·
Arbitration ·
' j ..
., ._ ,Conciliation
Figure 6 .1 Modet·Grievance·Procedure
. ; -.
Recommendations of the Second National Comrryission on Labour

The Second Natioiial Commission on Labour (2002) · recognises right to redressal of grievance as
among those rights that are inalienable and hence must accrue to every worker under any system of
Jabour laws and labour policy. Every establishment to which the general law of employment relations
applies, i.e., those with 20 er more workers, shall establish a Grievance'Redressal Committee consist-
ing of equal number ~f representatives of Workers and employers. Such committee shall not- be larger
than 1Omembers or smaller than 2 members, depending on.the employment size of the establishment,
as may be prescribed. 1 member of the committee inay be designated as the Chairman and another as
the Vice Chairman. A system'may be established to ensure that 1 of them is from the management,
and the other from among employees' representatives~The ·Grievance Redressal Committee shall be
the body to which all grievances of a worker in respect of his employment, including his non-employ-
ment, will be referred for decision~within a given time frame; Where the worker is not satisfied with
the decision of the committee, he shirll be free to seek arbitration of the dispute by an arbitrator, to be
selected from a panel of arbitrators to be maintained in:·the·tnanner prescribed, or seek adjudication
of the dispute by the Labour Court. The decision of ·the Labour:€ourt·or the
arbitrator shall be final.
As regards" resolution of disputes between employenf'and workers; ihe Commission has ·recom-
mended that all matters pertaining to individual -workers;beit termination of employment or transfer
or any other mater, be determined by recourse-to the Grievance Redressal· Committee, conciliation
and arbitration or adjudication by·the Labour Court. These disputes need tibt be elevated to the rank
::~~;:;:~:;];;~~~i:~~:~ffi]~;:~!~~ ·l ~;J~i
o~ 'industrial disputes' which would then take the' forin of collective· · :;~
I 'l'ff J
the workers in that establishment, by referring the dispute to the_Griev- t;P~1~iningto individy~f w§i-½ers;'•
ance Redr<!ssal Committee for' a decision: W_here the ·co~~tee _is not i:need nobbe el~vate.d t8 thJ rank"'
ab~e to settle the dispute ·within 30 days; or.if~o sue_~, co~ttee is in }of Iindustr_ ial disp.Lt~~·_1wh1 d{'.
7
eXIstence, the dispute may.be referred for arbitration to a mutually agre~d ·• would tH~~'ta~e<the fdrrh!of'
Arbitrator or Conciliation Officer or to a Lok Adalat or Labour Court m :1 ~~ttt i!,~i,~f
.~!~~}_:ti-;t-c·., , _ _ ,;;;:;
the prescribed manner.
SUMMARY ii 1111111111111111111111n1111u1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111 1111111

111111111111111111 11111
• lndustri.tl dis~ipline · i~ e~~e~tiai ·fo; th~- smooth run~~ of an organi~ation ~d .also for the
maintenance of industrial .peace ~nd harmony. ,: , · ·
• Discipline on account of e~pl9yees .implies comply:ing with: the, prede_fined .rules and,regula-
tions of the organi_sation, i.e., to cc;mform.to the cod.e ,of _cc;,~duct establishe~ b~ the_org~sation.
Maintaining discipline at work ensures the su~~essf~l ~tt~mment of or~anis~tlo.n~ obJectives.
• There are 2 broad asp~cts of discipline.: pos1~ve disc1phne and negative d1sciphne. Negative
discipline is traditional in approach, under which employees adhere to rules and regulations in
fear of punishment. Positive discipline impli~s ~iscipline without p~nitive action. .
• In orgclQisational cont~~t.misconduct is disobed1enc.e ~f ~ome est~bhshed ~d de.fined rules and
breach of discipline on the part of an em~lo~ee. P1_sc1ph~ary_ actions a~amst nuscon~uc! must
~Onfonn to principle of natural just_ice, pnnciple of 1mpartta1tty or consistency, and pnnciple of
impersonality or consistency. ·
. . · , d . mplaint and preliminary enquin, .
• The essential steps in a d1sc1plmary proce ure are. c? . . . 1, Issue
of charge, slJ.eet, consideration of explanation, suspension pe ndmg enqmry, holdmg of enquiry,
. order of punishment and appeal. .• . . .
• Various forms ,of punishm~nt are warning, penalties, suspension and discharge. In e~tabhshrnen~
covered by the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act,_ 1946, mode~ standmg orders or
certified s_tanding .orders may specify the various forms of pumshmen~ for different acts of rnis.
conduct. Misconduct of lesser gravity would fetch lesser form of pumshment.
• . To majntain harmonious relations and promote industrial peace, the (:ode of_Discipline has been
laid down which applies to both public and private sector enterprises. It specifies various obliga.
tions for both management and workers with the objeGtive-of pr9moting cooperatiQp between
their representatives. ,.
• Grievance is any disconte~t or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or. not, whether valid or no~
and arising out of anything c.onnected ,with .the company that employee thiqks, believes or
even feels as ,unfair, unjust or iQequitable. , .
· _As per the Fir&t National Commissi9n on Labour (1969), a grievance procedure s~01µd.~ simple
· and have the provisio9_for at least 1 appeal. It.should ensure thaHt gives a _sense of satisfaction to
the individual worker, reasonable exercis~ ot: authority to the IT)anag~r, an9 participatipn to unions.
•· · The Model. Grievance Procedure was_drawn.up in the 16th session of Indian Labour Conference
in I?58: '.The proc~dure has successive time-bound steps, with access to the_ne~t ~tage; if satis-
faction 1s not obtai~_ed il) the previous.stage. ·
KEY c·oNC E PTS i I!

11 !IIi ll !11 !II! 11i_!H l111 11 jII UI.I1.i 11111,l !l 01 !l IUII1·1t,iJ ! i°J Ijj !11 11IIl_jII1111111 l Ill ll!!lllll
1
.. ·- .
Discipline Charge sheet . .
'
Misco~duct Mod.el gr.ievan~e p;oc~dure _,
_: ,1)1~_ciplinary _pro~e~ding
Discharge/Dismissal suspen.si.on ,
Natur~~ justice , •. ·
.C~de.of 4~scipli~e . I
' • , I ".
BIBLIOCRAPHY llllllll!l llllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllll!ll!lllllllllllllll llllllllllllillllllll.lll1llillllllllll
Agarwal, S.. L. Labour Relations Law in India, Meerut: MacMillan; 1978 .

Balfour, A. "Five Types of Non-Union Grievance Systems", Personnel ·M . · '· · -
·,. No. 2~pp. 67-76. ·. : ' · ' .. ~ch-Apnl 1984, Vol. 61,
Be_mmel! , Bria~ and _Lau, D?ra C. "Local Union Leaders' Satisfaction with G ., · · · · ,,
· Journal of Labor.Research; 2001,Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 653-667. .. ~evance Pr?Cedures ,
Bhatia: S:·K: ConstrJtt~ve Industrial' R~latio?s an~ labour Laws, New Delhi: Dee .. . .
· t10ns; 2003. ..... -r 1 • • 1 , · • P and Deep Pubbca-
Brittori,' R.L:· The Arbitration Guide, NJ:. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall; 198 : 1 . -
2
Calhoon, R'.D. Managing Personnel, California: Harper and Row, 1963. ·
Chhabra, T. N. and Suri; R. K. Dynamics of Industrial Relations, New Delhi: Pe t . ·.
D'Cruz, M.N. A Practical Guide to''Grievance Prdcedur'e, Misconduct and Do:~g~n Press; 2007.
s
· Lumpur: Leeds Publication; 1999. ·· 1 • • •_e hc Inquiry, Kuala
Dhingra, L.C-. and Verma, A.S. "~e_Code of Discipline in Industry, 1958," Central In : · . ·
terly, Retrieved from http://md1ankanoon.org/doc/1747153/; 1995 on 2511
21201 3 dia -Law Quar-
Foo,t M. and Hook , C. Introducing Human Resource Management, United Kingdom•· Longm · ·
1999. Paperback. an Group;
fossurn, J.A. Labor ~elation~: Deve!opment, Structure, Process, 71h edition, USA: McGraw-Hill; 2000.
Green, G.D.,Jndustnal
tr Relatwns,
· . edn., London·· Pitman Puhl'ISh'mg,. 1987 .
2°
r,ewin, D. 'Th_eor~, cal Perspe_cllves on the Modem Grievance Procedure, New Approaches to
1,abor Umons , Research m Labor Economics, 1983, Greenwich, CT: JAi Press, Supplement 2,
PP· 127-147. • ,
1.,ewin, D. and Peterson, R. B. The Modern Grievance Procedure in the· United States, New York:
1
Quorum Books;_1988.
Mills, o.Q. Labor-Mana?ement ~elations, 51h edition, Singapore: McGraw Hill Book Co.; 1994.
\R~tnaID, C. S. V. ~ndustnal R~la~wns, New Delhi: Oxford University Press India; 2006.
RePort of the Nattonal Co~ss10~ on_ ~abour, Ministry of Labou~ & Employment.
Rose, E. Employment Relatwns, 20 ed1t1on, England: Prentice Hall, 2004.
sa1amon, M. Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice, 41h edition, Great Britain: Prentice Hall; 2000.
read, O. (1933). Human Nature and Management, 2nd edn., McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc., New York.
Thomson,A.W.J. The Grievance Procedure in the Private Sector, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University; 1974.
Thomson, A.W.J. and Murray V.E
Grievance Proced_ure, Westmead, Engl~d: Sax?n House; 1976.
.
R.EVIEW Q_UESTIONS II II II I I I I II I I I I I II II I lll Ill I I I I Ill II II II II I I IIIIIIIIIII II IIIIII I IIIII IIIIUI IIIUl'IIIIIHII i'· I
,, .
Objective Type Q_uestions

I. State True or False
(i) The minimum number of members of a Grievance Redressal Committee must be 10. I 'I
; I
(ti) If the order of suspension has not been issued along with chargesh_eet, the latter must follow
·'
within 7 days of issue of suspension order.
(ill) Dismissal and discharge are not any type of punishment. :/ l
·:i:
· (iv) Nemo judex in causa sua pertains to the rule of fair hearing.
(v) The exit interview is a democratic way of securing information about grievances at work.
Answers: (i) False, (ii) True, (iii) False, (iv) False, (v) False
II. Fill in the Blanks

(i) The Grievance Committee has ·a time limit of _ _ _ _ _ days to consider a grievance.
(li) As per Model, Standing Orders absence without leave for more than . days is an act
0 fmisconduct .
(iii) Subsistence allowance for a suspended employee is equal to one-half Qf his wages for the first I I
i'
. : : - - - - days of suspension. •
(Iv) The Code of Discipline dissuades both the parties from - - - - - action.
(v) - - - - - is considered the severest penalty.
tuiswers: (i) 7, (ii) lO, (iii) 90, (iv) unilateral, (v) dismissal I I
. I
Diacu . .
ss1on Q_uestions
l. What are the pnnc1p
-. . 1es that di' sciplinary proceedings must adhere to?· ·
2· Clearly <lescribe the process of grievance red~essal ~s per the Model Grievance Procedure.
3· Discus h th Cod f Conduct promotes mdustrial peace _and harmony.
4· s ow e eo 'b . . .
Define · d' . . What are the reasons. contn utmg to md1scipline at work?
1D lSClp1me.
5. What are tl\e most common ways of discovering grievances? Which of them, according lo y
would be the most effective in a software company? ou.
6. Define misconduct. Which acts as per the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Ac~ l94t
are considered
. . to be those of misconduct?
.
7. Give a step-wise description of a disciplinary procedure.
8, What are the different types of suspension? What are the restrictions on a suspended ernploye,,
9. What are the recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour.on grievances 3Jld
.their red!essal? , ,
10. Distinguish betwet!n: .
(a) Positive punishment:and Negative punishment
(b) Discharge and Dismissal _,
· G~s~uov
Taking Bribe at Workplace .
The appellant is aggrieved against the order of the learned Single Judg~ dated 21 • April 20()_8, passed
in WP(S) No. 5477 of 2007, whereby the appellant's writ petition challOitgihg ihe liward-dated 5• June
2007 passed by the Labour Court, Jamshedpur has been dismissed. _.
. The facts reyeal .that the ~tition:~.ip .thi_s c~sc;, w.~ c~u~t re~-handed o,n. 2-;f:~,January./995 taking
bn~ .of .t I 50. ~hen he was on .du~. /n shift . Ii_ , ,The L.abour Court, after c9~s!.1e.ririg the evidence
of the parties, held that the p·e titioner was in fact caught r~d-ha~de4 takiiig bri~e· and the amount of
tl50 was also recovere,l'immediately lh~~~after, The Pllni~hmellt inffi~ted ,:.poµ·the workman Wal
upheld by the award. The learned SingJi, J11dgi, also, after con~idOring· the facts or'the case; dismissed
the writ pe!itio9, . . . . . ·-. : · .. · . · ,· · · ... .
The cOunSei foi the appellaiit submitted that the appellant waii assigned the duty of receivillg goods
only and therefore there was no occasion and ·there coufd not' have •been ·any reasori• for taking a,
well as giving bribe in the present case. It was also submitted that another person was earlier caught
red-handed taking bribe, but he had been reinstated in service. The counsel for the fip~ellant further
submitted·that there is ,no sufficient _evidence on record on the basis of which it can -be inferred that
money was taken as bribe in view of the defence' of the appellant taken in the-departmental proceeding
and before the Labour Court. The defence of the appellant was that at about 11.00.,ain:on 24th January
·1995,. 'the.-c~mcemed supplier came to the Workman ;and asked for an amount of ~150:to ·attend some
urgent work. The said person normally and _in past also had taken some money frQm th.e appellant. In
the instant case, the supplier returned the said money of ~150. 'Fhe workman also admitted that at that
. e he was surrounded by other workmen and other persons of·the respondent company and tI50
tim recovered from him. According to the counsel for the appellant, so f;u-_~s. demanding.and t_aking
was
O . IS
f bnbe . concemed ' there is no evidence in view. of. the
. stand taken
d . byd the2 appellant. .
I . be re1evant to mention here that the wnt petition was
Ill a nutte
. .on f~qunts.
-.. . -F 1rstly
- ' whether
-
::~e
tw .
d of temuna on u· can sustain in law on· the ground of
· non-exanunat1on
· dl o the
h person from whom
the or er . all d t have· received the ·megal .gratification. Secon y, w e_ther the punishment
the appella~t is. , ~ilt, as-the·allegation is of taking bribe ·of t150. only..' : . -
S P
wa roport10nate c r the respon d en. t had submitted .that the ,person from dwhom
d the amount
. was taken
Th e counse1 io . I proc eedings. and therefore the first groun oes nQt survive. It was also
. ed in departmenta
was exanun

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Industrial Discipline and Grievance Handling

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. .:Ol"ieV~n'C~ Harldlin9 ~- <]. ' ·:[' -·~ ..-

~. ••• \ : .;: '._ •. . . "J.l .. \_~·

':i?;.:~on and n~w

I;· ·. Con_cept and :- M,ea~in.g of Qiscipline ~_'- _ ._ ·. _. . ,. __ " --

fin divl.dual obJ1ectives

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In _Shar~apr~{ad-Onkarp"rasqf:l Tlwf:Zri ,vs. 1Jivi~ional.Sup~ri~tendent,

~11ns of e at standing or. ers or those pertaimng

(i) habitual negligence·or neglect of work; . , .

.~XHIBIT 6.1 MISCONDUCT OUTSID,E THE PREMISE,S -°-F A~ Es:TABqSHMENT_.

In Mis Glaxo Laboratories Ltd. ~s. iy(>~/wien (AIR !198-4 ~c:

Steps in .Discip~inary Procedure - ·follows: . - ..

must be -initiated by a c_omp am th " harg·ed officer" adverse tO·'

j period of suspension if th/:ei°u~s ~f wages f?r the remaining

' must e decided m accordanc.e-with the Code of.Discipline-

· · _;. . · .><~ - · · ·· · . _· ·· . . DisciPLINARY PROCEEDINcs

· ·· · · ·- . employee , ,w orking · 1n a government .

Forms of Punishment 1.. .:,

EXHIBIT6.3 · QUANTUM OF'PtiNISHMENT · _. · •.

Su . der the following situations:

Code ~f Discipline· in l_nd~stry ' . '

• faci~~t7- _ fr~e gr(?~th,of tr~<J.e. uaj_9ns; ._an,4, _ . _;· : . . . . . . ,. .

t Agrees · ' - ' · '· · ttled otherwise;· · .

b e Or authority .m any form, . nd implementat10n of settlements, aw'1d,

decision and orders; , . • he undertaking the provisiorrs·ofthe Code focal language; 10

grievance procedure; · .· . . : - ·ffi · rs and members in cases where enquiries

Union Agrees . . .. . . . .. I d . ' t to ~ermit db!hOnslr:itioriS Which_·are not peac,,

• ~::~:1::;::~a~i,'::°,ti;.'::ctices such~ nei ligO.~\:e of ~Uty, ~tiuige ti; pioperl)', in~rference

. by an emp1oyee o express . issatisfactton·- with . management. be-

unjust, or inequitable. What is noteworthy is ·that, according ·to- JucJus~ · .

(111) When ·t e· comp1dam 1sh 10 li'cies procedures

Nature.and Causes of Grievance .' '.•

outsjge,the scope of this procedure". _- · · ·_ . · _. · '• .. . •· ·•-· · · · · · · ·

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. ~:;1 fiWil-firJ;l'~I lfIIII

LegaCFra~ew~~k of G~i~van-c e Ha~dlin'g i~ :India

noti-~~ ~rievant h~s 3 optio_ns: ~e/she _may_ ~1~:

Departmental Head t '

Recommendations of the Second National Comrryission on Labour

SUMMARY ii 1111111111111111111111n1111u1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111 1111111

KEY c·oNC E PTS i I!

BIBLIOCRAPHY llllllll!l llllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllll!ll!lllllllllllllll llllllllllllillllllll.lll1llillllllllll

Agarwal, S.. L. Labour Relations Law in India, Meerut: MacMillan; 1978 .

Objective Type Q_uestions

II. Fill in the Blanks

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