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Employee
Grievance
Settlement
Procedure:
A Case
Study of
Two
Corporation
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Article in Management
Review • July 1994

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GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURE:
A STUDY OF TWO CORPORATIONS IN SRI LANKA
Introduction
Grievance handling / settlement is one of
the important functions leading to management
of human resources. This paper is an attempt
to achieve the following objectives :
i. To present theoretical formulations on
grievance and Grievance Settlement
Procedure(GSP)
ii To explore and describe the current
practice of Grievance settlement pro
cedure in two corporations.
iii. To comment on the practice in the
light of theoretical formulations.
This paper focuses on two corparations
which are manufacturing organiza-
tions. The two corporations are
identified as corporations A and B
without revealing their real names.
Grievance
Defining a grievance is rather difficult.
Different authorites have defined the word
grievance variously. For example, Davis
(1971 p.34 ) defines it as " any real or imag-
ined feeling of personal injustice which an em-
ployee has concerning his employment rela-
tionship". On the other hand, yoder defines it
as " a written complaint filed by an employee
and claiming unfair treatment". According
to Jucius ( as in Tripathi 1992 p.422), the
term " Grievance" means " any discontent
or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or not
and whether valid or not, arising out of any-
Henarath H D N P Opatha
Senior Lecturer
Department of Business Administration
University of Sri Jayawardenepura
thing connected with the company that an em-
ployee, thinks, believes or even feels, is un-
fair, unjust or inequitable". The International
Labour Organization defines that a grievance
is a complaint of one or more workers in re-
spect of wages, allowances, conditions of work
and interpretation of service stipulations, cov-
ering such areas as overtime, leave, transfer,
promotion, seniority, job assignment and ter-
mination of service.
Having done an anallysis of various defi-
nitions, Mamoria (1991,p.828) notes that :
(i.) Grievance is a word which covers dis-
satisfaction and which has one or more
of the folowing characteristics :
(a)It may be unvoiced or expressly Aated
by an employee;
(b) It may be written or verbal;
(c)It may be valid and legitimate, untrue
or completely false or ridiculous and
(d)It may arise out of something con-
nected with the organization or work.
(ii) An employee feels that an injustice
has been done to him
The term " grievance" means any discon-
tent or dissatisfaction arising from a feeling
or a belief of injustice felt by an employee or
a group of employees in connection with the
work environment. It refers to any complaint
or discontent of an employee relating to his/
her employment in the organization. The
grievance must arise out of something related
to the organization where the grievant is work-
ing. An employee can be dissatisfied due to
outside reasons such as illness in the family,
dislike for the spouse, quarrel with a neighbour
etc. These outside reasons creating discontent
within an employee are beyond the control of
the organization and, therefore, discontents
arising out of such outside sources are not re-
garded as grievances.
In practice, grievances can arise owing to
variety of causes such as causes relating to
job, (eg. Improper matching of the employee
with the job, inability of the employee to do
job duties etc.), causes relating to working con-
ditions (eg: inadequacy of toilet facilities,
lunch rooms and others, noise, fumes, and
other unpleasant or unsafe physical conditions
etc), causes relating to personnel management
decisions (eg complaints about wages, incen-
tives, transfers, promotions, leaves, etc.) and
causes relating to alleged violations of collec-
tive agreement, organization rules and proce-
dures, past practice etc.
Grievance Settlement Procedure and its
Importance
Generally speaking, GSP is a method used
for handling employee grievances. It is also
called by alternative terms such as grievance
redressal a procedure and grievance handling
procedure. The GSP is a device by which
grievances are settled, generally to the satis-
faction of the trade union or employees by the
management ( Mamoria, 1991, p. 832) Mathis
and Jackson (1985, p. 596) define GSP as a
formal channel of communication used to re-
solve formal complaints (grievances). GSP is
a guideline to action setting forth a list of chro-
nological steps to be followed in handling
grievances. It contains a number of steps ar-
ranged in a hierarchy.
The number of steps involved in the GSP
varies according to the size and nature of the
organization. Mamoria (1991,p.833) notes:
" The details of the grievance procedure
vary from industry to industry and from trade
union to trade union because of the variations
in the size of organizations, in trade union
strength, in the management philosophy, in the
company traditions, in industrial practices and
in the cost factor. The procedure may have as
few as two steps or as many as ten, depending
on the size of an organization. In small plants,
it may involve no more than three steps. In
medium and large organizations there may be
five or six steps, with minor variations."
In an organization where there is a union
GSP has to be included in labour / manage-
ment contract. The GSP depends on what the
employer and the union have agreed upon and
what is written into the labour contract (Mathis
and Jackson, 1985,p.596).
A grievance, whether expressed or unex-
pressed,real or imaginary, may be a serious
potential source of conflict. Two authors
namely Mathis and Jackson note that hidden
dissatisfaction grows and soon arouse an emo-
tional state that may be completely out of pro-
portion to the original complain. Discontent
in one employee may convert into a discon-
tent of many employees. This may lead to
impairment of employee productivity and con-
tributes to development of anti-attitudes fer-
menting of opposition leading even to con-
frontation. In order to prevent these unfa-
vorable situations handling grievances for-
mally and properly is essential. The adoption
of formal GSP is indispensable for many rea-
sons which follow :
i.Most grievances seriously disturb the
employees. This may affect their marole, pro-
ductivity and their willingness to cooperate
with the organization. If an explosive situa-
tion develops, this can be promptly attended
to if a grievance handling procedure is already
in existence (Mamoria, 1991, p.832).
ii.It helps in preventing larger problems
(like strikes) from occurring in future by solv-
ing smaller problems early.
iii.It requires managers to become more
careful in making decisions because manager's
decisions / actions are subject to challenge and
review in the grievance procedure.
iv.It enables the management to detect
any flaws in the working conditions or in la-
bour relations and undertake appropriate re-
medial actions.
 v. It gives a reassurance to a grievant by
the mere fact that there is a mechanism avail-
able to him/her which will consider the griev-
ance inpartially. Putting forward grievances
and discussing them, even if they are not ulti-
mately settled in the employees'favour, gives
a worker the satisfaction of having communi-
cated with, and been heard by, the manage-
ment (Monappa and Saiyadain, 1991,p.240).
According to Armstrong a well designed
and a proper grievance procedure provides :
(i)A channel or avenue by which any
aggrieved employee may present his
grievance;
(ii)A procedure which ensures that there
will be a systematic handling of ev-
ery grievance;
(iii)A method by which an aggrieved
employee can relieve his feelings of
dissatisfaction with his job, working
conditions, or with the management;
and
(iv)A means of ensuring that there is
some measure of promptness in the
handling of the grievance (As in
Mamoria, 1991,p.833)
Desirable Features of a GSP
It is wise to establish an effective GSP in
the organization. According to the Indian
Institute of Personnel Management (As in
Singh et.al., 1990,p.355-56) the following prin-
ciples should be observed while laying down
a grievance procedure;
(i) A grievance should be dealt with in the
first instance at the lowest level, that is, the
employee should raise his grievance with his
immediate superior. It may be simple to settle
it on the spot and that will be the end of it .
Even if it cannot be settled at that level, the
superior will know what is happening. This is
necessary not only to maintain his authority
but also to prevent him from being aggrieved,
as he will certainly be, if he is by-passed and
later hears of the complaint from his own
superior.
55
(2)It must be made clear to the em-
ployee what line of appeal is, so that, if he
cannot get satisfaction from his immediate
superior, he may know the next higher author-
ity to whom he can go.
(3)Since delay causes frustration and
tempers may rise and romours spread around
the work, it is essential that grievances should
be dealt with speedily.
(4)It must be clearly understood in es
tablishing a grievance procedure that if the
grievance is against an instruction given by a
superior it is in the interest of discipline that
instruction must be carried out. Only then can
the employee register his protest and set in mo-
tion the procedure.
(5)The grievance procedure should be set
up with the participation of the employees and
it should be applicable to all in the orga-
nization. It should be agreed that there will
be no recourse to the official machinery of
conciliation unless the procedure has been car-
ried out and there is still dissatisfaction. More-
over, there must be no direct action on either
side which might prejudice the case or raise
tempers while the grievance is being investi-
gated.
Tripathi (1992, p.426) has noted that the
grievance procedure must be acceptable by
everybody. In order to be generally accepted
it must ensure (a) sense of fair-play and jus-
tice to the worker, (b) reasonable exercise of
authority to the manager and (c) adequate par-
ticipation of the union. Also Tripathi notes tha'
time limit should be placed at each step and it
should be rigidly followed at each level for
speedy settlement of a grievance. A good
grievance procedure should be simple so that
an average employee is able to understand it
(Singh et. al. 1990, p. 356). Momoria
(1991.p.845) stresses that if it is necessary for
any worker to leave the department during
working hours on call from the labour / per-
sonnel officer or any other officer of the es-
tablished grievance machinery, the prior
premission of his superior should necessarily
be obtained. Subjcet to this condition the
worker should not suffer any loss in wages for
the work-time lost in this manner.
 Practice of Corporation A
Whenever an employee wishes to make
re-presentations to the management with re-
spect to an individual grievance he/she should
in the first instance discuss the matter with his/
her sectional head. In case that the Sectional
Head is unable to resolve the matter the em-
ployee concerned can discuss the matter with
his/ her Departmental Head. If the Depart-
mental Head is unable to settle the matter the
grievant along with his/ her Trade Union rep-
resentative can discuss the grievance further
with the Head of the department concerned.
If the grievance is still not satisfactorily dealt
with, the grievant, if he/ she so desires, can
togather with his/ her trade Union representa-
tive discuss the grievance with the personnel
officer. In the event of the grievance not be-
ing satisfactorily settle at this step, the matter
can be discussed by the Trade Union repre-
sentative with the Assistant Mill Manager or
Personnel Manager in the case of those work-
ing at the Head Office. If the matter is still
not satisfactorily resolved at this step the
Branch Union Committee can discuss the
matter with the Mills Manager together with
the Assistant Mills Manager or the Personnel
Figure - 1 Grievance Settlement Procedure of Corporation A
Trade Union Branch and Parent Union
Representative
t t
Branch Union Committee/ Parent Union
Representative
t t
Branch Union Committee
t
Trade Union Representative
Grievant together with Trade Union
Representative
Grievant along with Trade Union
Representative
Grievant
t 1
Grievant
56
Manager in the case of employees working at
the Head Office. Discussion should be held
after having fixed a date and time which are
convenient to both parties and having provided
agenda to the Management in time so that all
the relevant documents are available at the
discussion. If the grievance still remains un-
settled at this discussion, a request for a dis-
cussion with the Managing Director or Gen-
eral Manager may be made by the Branch
Union Committee. Arrangements can be made
by the trade Union Branch so that its parent
union representative can participate in such
discussion. If the grievance is not resolved
even at this step, the Trade Union Branch can
opt to meet the chairman and if necessary the
Board of Directors.
Meeting with the Mills Manger, Manag-
ing Director or General Manager or board of
Directors should be organized by prior ar-
rangement. It is permitted for any employee
or two officials from each Branch Trade Union
to meet the Personnel Officer between 2.00
p.m to 3.00 p.m. on every working day if griev-
ance does not require immediate attention of
the management. The GSP in this corpora-
tion is shown in the folowing figure.
•
Chairman and (if necessary)
Board of Directors
Managing Director
or General Manager
Mills Manager together with Ass. Mills
Manager or PM at the Head Office
Asst. Mills Manage/ Asst. Personnel
Manager or PM at the Head Office
Personnel Officer
Departmental Head
Departmental head
Sectional Head
 Practice of Corporation B
In the corporation's manual of personnel
procedures definition of a Grievane has been
given. It defines a grievance as any discon-
tent or dissatisfaction, justifiable or not,arising
out of anything connected with the corpora-
tion that an employee thinks or believes is
unfair, unjust or inequitable.
A separate personnel officer and a com-
mittee for grievance handling are being used
by the corporation. A separate personnel of-
ficer is appointed to be responsible for han-
dling employee grievances. When an em-
ployee has a grievance, in the first instance
he/she should notify his/her immediate supe-
rior to seek solution. Immediate superior may
be a Supervising Officer/ Sectional Head or a
Work Manager/ Divisional Head. If the griev-
ance can not be settled satisfactorily with the
immediate superior, the grievant should set out
his/ her grievance clearly and briefly in a form
called the Grievance Settlement Form which
can be obtained from the factory personnel
officer at sites or personnel officer appointed
for grievance handling ( hereafter the abbre-
viation GHPO, which stands for Grievence
Handling Personnel Officer, is used).
After setting out the grievance in the form
it should be handed over to his/ her immedi-
ate superior. The immediate superior should
forward the grievance along with his/her ob-
servations to the works manager/ divisional
head within 3 working days since the date of
receiving the grievance. Thereafter, the griev-
ance should in turn be forwarded by the works
Manager/Division Head along with his/her
observations to the GHPO within 7 working
days of receipt thereof. GHPO acknowledges
the receiving of the grievance withing 2 work-
ing days of the date of receipt through the
immediate superior of the grievant. GHPO
studies carefully grievances received by him/
her during a particular month and prepares a
schedule which gives name, designation, pay
code number of grievant, the division and site
to which grievant is attached, a brief descrip
tion of each grievance, observations of relevant
superiors and his/her comments on each griev-
ance. A copy of this schedule is sent to every
member of the Grievance Settlement Commit-
tee. Copies are to be distributed among com-
mittee members at least a week before next
sitting of the committee which constitutes of:
(i) General Manager or in his/ her ab
sence the Additional General Manager or
the Deputy General Manager ;
(ii) The Personnel Manager;
(iii) 2 Works Managers
(iv)Head of Division of Grievant
The committee sits during the 3rd week
of every month in order to consider and de-
cide upon the grievances received by the
GHPO during the preceding month. Having
decided upon the grievance the committee
conveys its decisions in writing to the griev-
ant through his/ her works Manger/ Divisional
Head and Sectional Head/ Supervising Officer
within 5 working days of the date of the meet-
ing. The decision of the committee will be
treated final. There is an exception that the
committee submits its observations/ recom-
mendations on grievance (for which the
committee has no authority to make a deci-
sion) to the chairman within 5 working days
of the date of the meeting. In this case, the
chairman's decision will be considered final.
In case where the grievant does not re-
ceive an acknowledgment for the grievance
within 21 working days of submission to the
immediate superior it is possible for him/her
to submit the grievance again in the prescribed
from through the immediate superior and send
a copy directly to the GHPO. If the grievant
receives no intimation of a decision within 3
months of submission for the second time, he/
she is permitted to make a further fresh sub-
mission to the GHPO (with due reference to
the two earlier submissions) through the im-.
mediate superior and to send copies directly
to the GHPO and members of the committee.
Figure -2 indicates the GSP in this corpora-
tion.
 Figure 2 Grievance Settlement Procedure of Corporation B
-

Grievance Settlement Committee (To convery its decision

in writing within 5 working days of the date of the meeting)

t
Grievance Handling Personnel Officer
(To forward at least a week before next sitting of the committee with comments)

Works Manager/ Divisional Head

(To forward within 7 working days with observations)

Supervising Officer / Sectional Head

(To forward within 3 working days with observations )

Grievant presents the grievance in writing

1
If not settled, go to
1
Grievant notifies immediate superior verbally

Comment

Before assessing the practice in the light of theoretical formulations it is interesting to compare
grievance settlement procedures of the two corporations. There is much difference between corpo -
ration A's and corporation B's procedures. The following table shows comparing corporation A's
and corporation B's grievance settlement procedures.

Table : Comparison of procedures of the two Corporations : Differences.

Procedure of Corporation A Procedure of Corporation B

1. Step-ladder type 1. Committee and quasi types

2. Many steps 2. Relatively a few steps

3. Involves Union participation 3. Does not involve union participation
4. Time limits between different steps were 4. Time limits were specified .
not given or ignored
5. No separate personnel executive ap 5. Separate personnel executive for griev
pointed for grievance handling ante handling
6. No special form to be used to present 6. There is a special form for presenting
grievance in writing grievance in writing.
7. No step where grievance is attempted to 7. First step is that employee presents the
settle at the lowest level (between grievance to the immediate superior for a
grievant and immediate superior) solution.

58
 The procedure of corporation A has sev-
eral weaknesses. The weaknesses which can
be revealed by examining the procedure are
as follows:
1.Grievance is not settled at the lowest
level. It is appropriate that the grievance is
dealt with in the first instance at the lowest
level of management, that is, the aggrieved
employee should discuss the matter with his/
her immediate superior. The immediate su-
perior is in the best position to solve the griev-
ance due to some reasons some of which have
been mentioned earlier. In addition immedi-
ate superior is in the best position to judge
the validity of a grievance, he can take imme-
diate action provided the solution is within his
authority and it makes for better relations be-
tween the employee and the supervisor if the
latter takes care of the employee's complaint
without making it necessary for the employee
t o c a l l o n a hi gh e r au t ho r i t y ( D a v a r ,
1988,p.314).
2.There are no time limits specified be-
tween different steps of the procedure. Con-
sequently it is not possible to deal with the
grievance speedily. Grievances should be re-
dressed as expeditiously as possible in order
to achieve objectives of the procedure. Time
limits required for settling grievance at each
step should be decided by the employer in con-
sultation with workers or union.
3.The procedure does not seem to be
simple and prompt. But it seems to be com-
plex. There are many steps (8steps) in the pro-
cedure and there may be a possibility of oc-
curring delay or complexity or vagueness
which may lead to aggravate the discontent of
the grievant.
Apart from defects some desirable fea-
tures can also be seen in the GSP of corpora-
tion A. A sound channel through which a
grievance may pass for settlement if the pre-
vious state of channel has not been found to
be adequate, acceptable or satisfactorily ex-
ists. The procedure consists of 8 steps. In a
unionized organization., union's involvement
59
to settle the grievances is significantly, help-
ful for maintaining cordial and sound em-
p lo y e e an d i nd u s t r i a l r e l a t io n s. T h is
corporation's procedure allows the union to
participate in handling grievances.
In corporation B following pitfalls/ de-
fects can hP found in the GSP.
1.There is no possibility for the ag-
grieved employee to take a union official along
with him/her to facilitate discussion with the
management. This corporation is a unioized
one where union participation in handling em-
ployee grievances is necessary for promotion
and development of healthy labour-manage-
ment relations.
2.There is no union representative on the
grievance settlement committee.
3.The grievant is allowed to appeal for
two times. Thus the corporation has accepted
the right of the grievant to appeal to the man-
agement for a revision if the decision of the
management is not communicated to him/ her
within the stipulated period. This is an appro-
priate feature in the GSP. However in making
these appeals the procedure does not give a
provision that the worker will have the right
of taking a union official along with him/her
to facilitate discussion with the management.
This may discourage proper industrial relations
between workers and management.
The GSP of corporation B has the follow-
ing desirable features:
i.Grievances are attempted to settle at
the lowest level.
ii.The procedure is simple, definite and
prompt.
iii.Steps in handling grievances have been
clearly defined.
iv.There are time limits at each step for
solving the grievance.
 The procedures of both corporations does
not give a clear indication in terms of a provi-
sion that the union and the management can
refer the grievance to voluntary arbitration if
no agreement is possible in the final step of
the procedure. Mamoria (1991,p.847) notes
that it may be useful to classify grievances as
those arising from personal relationships and
others arising out of conditions of employ-
ment. In the former case, grievance should be
taken up in the first instance with the author-
ity in the line management immediately above
the officer against whom the complaint is
made. This is also missing from the proce-
dures of both corporations. Also the proce-
dures of both corporations lack the following
provisions which are essentials in an effective
GSP;
a.If it is necessary for the grievant to
leave the work place on a call from any au-
thority under GSP, prior permission of his im-
mediate superior should be obtained.
b.If a grievance is against an order given
by a superior, the order should be complied
with for the interest of discipline before the
grievant concerned invokes the procedure laid
down for settlement of grievances.
Thus, there are weaknesses and strengths
(In fact, many weaknesses) associated with the
grievance settlement procedures of the two
corporations. As a whole, it can be mentioned
that effectiveness of the procedures is unsat-
isfactory and they need to be improved.
Conclusion
In the first part of this paper a presenta-
tion of theoretical formulations on grievance
and grievance settlement procedure has been
opidnist would sap "cwt is ha-ffull"
A pessimist would saT " cwt is ha-femptp"
60
attempted. The second part of this paper has
described the current practice of grievance
settlement procedure in the two corporations
concerned. A comment of the current prac-
tice of procedures of the both corporations has
been given in the third part. Effectiveness of
grievance settlement procedures of the both
corporations is not satisfactory. The implica-
tion of this finding is that the two corporations
should take necessary actions to revise and
improve the existing grievance settlement pro-
cedures for more effective grievance handling
and cordial industrial relations.
References
Davar R.S. (1988) Personnel Manage-
ment and Industrial Relations, Vikas Publish-
ing House Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
Davis K. (1971) Human Relations At
work : Dynamics of Organization Behaviour,
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Mamoria C.B. (1991) Personnel Manage-
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Mathis R. L. and Jackson J. H. (1985)
Personnel: Human Resource Management,
West Publishing Company, Ne\w York.
Monappa A and Saiyadain M.S. (1979)
Personnel Management, Tata McGraw- Hill
Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi.
Singh B. P. Chhabra T. N. and Taneja P.
L. (1990) Personnel Management and Indus-
trial Relations, Dhanpat Rai & Sons, Delhi.
 Tripathi P. C. (1978) Personnel Manage-
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and Sons, New Delhi.