THE UNIVERSITY OF BURDWAN

DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

M.B.A. 4st SEMESTER

SESSION: JAN 2019 TO JAN 2021
PAPER CODE: HRMD 404
PAPER NAME: INTERNATIONAL RLL

Assignment Topics
in
Employees Grievance Redressal procedure of WBSEDCL

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 05-12-2021

NAME: KUNAL DAS

ROLL NO: 3019010031

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 CONTENT

TOPIC PAGE NO.

❖ Company Profile 3
❖ Objective of the Study 4
❖ What is Grievance 4
❖ Type of Grievance in WBSEDCL 5
❖ What are the main causes of grievances in WBSEDCL 5
❖ Role of HR in case of grievance handling 6
❖ Different type of Department handling different type of grievance 6
❖ How do they identify employees grievance 6
❖ How do a HR write a grievance description 7
❖ How a HR of WBSEDCL deals with grievance at work 8
❖ Employee Feedback: 9
❖ Different type of initiative taken for grievance redressal 9
❖ Conclusion 9
❖ Reference 10

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 ❖ COMPANY PROFILE
Name: West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited
(WBSEDCL).

Service Provided: Supply of uninterrupted and quality power to all. Premium

customer service, efficiency and financial viability.

Area of Operation: All over West Bengal.

About Company:

The Government of West Bengal unbundled the erstwhile West Bengal State
Electricity Board (WBSEB) into two company’s viz., West Bengal State Electricity
Distribution Company Limited
The main business of WBSEDCL is distribution and hydro generation of electricity. It is
also the nodal Agency of the Government of West Bengal for undertaking Rural
Electrification task in the State with objective of providing access of electricity to all
rural households in the state in line with the National Rural Electrification Policy.
Over the years, WBSEDCL has been continually evolving to position itself as a leading
Power Utility services organization of the Country. In the changing landscape, post
recent global slowdown,
it is anticipated that demand for electricity will change rapidly and expectations will also
increase exponentially. WBSEDCL continually strives to enhance the quality of
services delivered to its customers. WBSEDCL provides quality power to a gargantuan
customer base of more than 1.95 crore across West Bengal through its service
network spanning 5 Zones, 20 Regional Offices, 76 Distribution Divisions and 530
Customer Care Centers.
.After successful implementation of Purulia Pumped Storage Project in 10th Plan
period with a capacity of 900 MW hydel power, the Company has taken up the
ambitious plan of implementing Turga Pumped Storage Project in the 13th Plan period
with installed capacity of 4 x 250 MW.
WBSEDCL is innovating and embarking upon an IT-enabled system across the
organization to ensure greater engineering predictability and to position itself into the
best utility in the country in terms of customer service, efficiency and financial viability.

Registered Office: Vidyut Bhavan, Block- DJ Sector-II,Bidhannagar, Kolkata-700091

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 ❖ OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

❖ To know about different type of Grievance for employees.

❖ Types of Grievance in WBSEDCL.
❖ To know the awareness among the HR’s about the various type of Grievance of
employees of WBSEDCL.
❖ Why should grievance redressed.

❖ To secure social Security of the employees by compensation.

❖ To know about different type of Redressed technique for employees.

❖ Roll of HR in Grievance redressal.

❖ Grievance

Grievance refers to the employee's dissatisfaction with company's work policy and
conditions because of an alleged violation of law. They may or may not be justified and
usually represent the gap between what the employee expects and gets from the
company.

Grievance has to be properly addressed because it lowers the motivation and

performance of the employee and affects the work environment.

❖ Three types of grievances in WBSEDCL

There are three types of grievances, which are largely applicable to organizations as well
as across the globe. They are:

Individual Grievances

When an individual employee grieves against a management action like demotion based on
bias, nonpayment of salary, workplace harassment etc.

Group Grievances

This type of grievance is when a team or a group collectively grieves against the
management for example when none of the team members receive the promised overtime
bonus as mentioned in the policy.

Union Grievances

This is rare, especially in a corporate setup where unions don't often exist. But in this type
of a grievance, the entire union complains against the management generally over contract
misinterpretation.

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 ❖ Why should grievances be redressed?

Grievances are inevitable in an organisation. And important too. They are a part and
parcel of any organisation’s administrative machinery. Employees can have grievances
with each other, with their managers or even clients. A grievance redressal mechanism is
important for tracking the number and frequency of grievances which signify the efficiency
of an organisation. The better it is run, the lesser will be that number. Redressing a
grievance effectively and swiftly ensures a high level of trust towards the company and
employees feel heard.

A virtual help desk that is managed by the HR department is a great way to redress
employee grievances.

❖ What are the main causes of grievances in WBSEDCL?

There could be various causes for employees to register grievances. They are:

o Economic: This usually concerns employee wages when they feel like they are being paid

less than others in the same band or grade, or when they receive inaccurate salary. Other

examples could be delayed payment of bonuses, arrears, hikes etc.

o Work Environment: Sometimes, physical work conditions like too much heat or cold,

cramped or limited work space, low lighting, bad quality equipment, faulty appliances etc all

constitute work environment related grievances and are valid causes of it.

o Supervisory: More often than not, supervisors, managers and other top management

professionals can also cause grievance to employees. Biased performance rating, berating,

subtle insulting, harassment of any sort, all constitute supervision related grievances.

o Employee Relations: When colleagues who work together don’t gel well, have issues

working together on a project, get into too many conflicts etc. they can be a big cause of

grievance.

o Organizational Change: Sometimes, when there are policy changes or actual shifting of

workplaces, employees may find themselves unaligned to the changes and that can be a

cause of grievance too. An intelligent HRMS should be able to categories the causes of

grievances for swift redressal by the concerned departments.

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❖ Role of HR at different level in case of grievance handling -
Grievance handling is the management and redressal of grievances by the HR
department. It is one of the responsibilities of the department to set up a formal
process to redress employee grievances. In most large enterprises, an agile and
intuitive HR enables this process through a virtual help desk and assists HRs in
swift redressals.

❖ Different type of Department handling different type of grievance:-

(i) Bottom level offices- Bottom level offices like Customer Care Units,
Divisional Offices, or other units. Lower level managers are
designated for this type of grievance handling. Minimum rank of the
officer is Asst. Manager (HR &A).
(ii) Middle Level Offices- Middle level offices like Regional Offices,
Zonal Offices, RE Project, Hydra Projects, PPSP, Turga project.
Middle level managers are designated for this type of grievance
handling. Minimum rank of the officer is Manager (HR & A).
(iii) Top Level Officers- Top level offices like Vidyut Bhavan. Top level
managers are designated for this type of grievance handling.
Minimum rank of the officer is Sr.Manager (HR &A) / AGM (HR&A).
There are different type of cell in Vidyut Bhavan HQ for different type
of grievance. At first an employee should determine about his/ her
grievance. After make decision they can go this cell for redressed
their grievance.
HR related grievance Cells- Dir (HR) cell, ES & ER- I, ES & ER-II, IR
Cell, Transfer Cell, GM (HR&A) Cell, R & MP Cell etc.
Finance related grievance Cells- GM (F&A) cell, PF Cell, Pension
Cell, HBL Loan Cell, Medical Cell etc.

❖ How do they identify employees grievance:-

There are multiple ways in which HRs can gather employee grievances.

Direct Observation

Most good HRs have a knack for catching the pulse of employees. Just by keenly
observing their talent and keeping a close, empathetic ear to how they are feeling
every day, they are able to ascertain if someone is going through a tough time
whether at work or home. Moreover, with the help of pulse surveys enabled by
their HRMS, HRs are able to keep track of their employee sentiments to foresee
any grievances.

Help Desk

By setting up virtual help desks through a smart HR tech, cloud-based solution,

HRs can identify employee grievances and categorise them into various buckets
for swift redressal.

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 Open Door Policy

It is important for employees to feel heard and they should have non-judgmental
talking spaces within the organisation to openly discuss their issues. Enterprises
need to build a culture of empathy to enable employee expression and this can be
furthered by the HR department by keeping an open door policy where an
employee of the lowest bands and grades have access to the CXOs to raise their
grievances.

Exit Interviews

These are another way to identify grievances. When an employee leaves the
organisation, they are often able to openly express things that they were hesitant
to while employed. Well conducted exit interviews can highlight the strengths and
weaknesses of the organisation that can help HRs resolve any future grievances in
advance.

❖ How do a HR write a grievance description?

A grievance description or a grievance letter must have the following attributes:

o The letter must clearly state the type of grievance and then the actual grievance.

o It must be to the point and must get to the issue directly

o It should state the facts, as objectively as possible

o It would be advisable to not use any offensive language or obscenities

o The letter is not about expressing anger but should objectively mention what the

employee is feeling and what is the reason it has become a grievance for the

employee

o It should conclude by asking for swift redressal and willingness to cooperate with the

concerned people for the same

What is the difference between a complaint and a grievance?

While the terms grievance and complaint are used interchangeably, they are
marginally different from each other. While a complaint is usually informal and is
generally accusational in nature, a grievance is a formal complaint raised by an
employee to the concerned authorities, often in a written format. While complaints
tend to be coloured with emotions and not always based on facts, grievances are
more objective and are based on facts that made the employee feel uncomfortable
about something at work.

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❖ How a HR of WBSEDCL deals with grievance at work:-

Disconcerted employees can pull down the productivity of an organization. Hence,

it is important for HRs to build a system of hearing and redressing employee
grievances. It can be done through the following simple steps:

o Create a mechanism: HRs can use a well-designed HRMS to build a strong system

of gathering and processing employee grievances.

o Listen more than talk: While hearing the grievances, it is a good idea to practice

deep listening and empathize with the griever to fully understand what they are

unhappy about.

o Inquire and investigate: Once you have the employees’ point of view on the matter,

set in motion your own inquiry to understand all the facets of the issue and figure out

the root cause.

o Hold a formal meeting: Call in all the relevant parties and ask the employee to

present any evidence to back up their issue. You can also ask them about how they

woud like the issue to be resolved

o Decide and act: Once you reach a conclusion, take a decision you think is best and

then act on the resolution.

o Set up and communicate the appeal process: Have a system in place that allows

the employee to formally appeal in case they are unhappy with the resolution. Clearly

communicate the rules for the same.

o Review the situation: Decide on a relevant time interval and review the situation to

understand if any further intervention is required. Act accordingly.

o Analyse and plan ahead: Retrospect and gather insights about different issues and

plan to prevent the same problems in the future.

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❖ Employee Feedback:- Employees of WBSEDCL are fully satisfied about finance
related grievance redressal process of department. But employees are not
satisfied by the transfer process, no-objection (Passport/ Outside employment
related) and dependency updating process of the department.

❖ Different type of initiative taken for grievance redressal:-

(1) Anomalies committee formed for Pay revision at ROPA 20- An anomalies
committee was formed on April 2020 for redressed the grievance for any
anomalies in Pay structure / Promotional Structure of employees in ROPA 20
at WBSEDCL.
(2) Single Window ERP Portal- A employee can See, apply, and track there
application in the single window portal system. Employee can apply leave, PF
loan, submit their IT application, Medical, LTC/HTC application and terminal
benefits through this portal. Employee can see his/her pays lip, PF
contribution, Employee life cycle event, and Current CL, EL and Medical
Leave status under a single window. Employee can track his application
status in this system.
(3) Terminal Claim- WBSEDCL take an initiative for retired employees for theirs
terminal claims like PF, Gratuity, Leave Encashment, Pension etc. Employee
can track and take their benefit through ERP Portal and Retired employee
Portal through company’s web sites www.wbsedcl.in.

❖ Conclusion:- WBSEDCL take different initiative like single window ERP

Portal, terminal claim portal for retired employees to redress the time limit of the
process. Employees of WBSEDCL are fully satisfied about finance related
grievance redressal process of department. But employees are not satisfied by
the transfer process, no-objection (Passport/ Outside employment related) and
dependency updating process of the department. The HR related grievance
redressal process must be modified and updated for reduced the time frame of
the work and redress the employees grievance.

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 References

➢ The data have been collected from the following sources:

1. The Internet
2. Google Search Engine
3. Wikipedia
4. Youtube Video Player
5. Study Material for International Business of DDE, Burdwan
University
6. Official Websites of WBSEDCL/WBSETCL

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