Grievance and Discipline Handling

ASSSIGNMENT I INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

SUBMITTED TO: Ms. Rupinder Bir Kaur

SUBMITTED BY: Priya Tiku MBA-B

7/4/2011

Grievances and Discipline Handling

This chapter deals with the nature, meaning and various manifestations of grievance and indiscipline. An employee would feel aggrieved if his/her expectations were not fulfilled. An employer considers an employee to be undisciplined if his/her expectations about the employee arising out of the employment contract, are not fulfilled. Thus grievance and indiscipline are two sides of the same coin. Grievance There are several ways in which employees express their dissatisfaction ranging from a passive indifference or apathy to a more aggressive reaction of hostility or even violence. Acts of indiscipline, violence, loitering, restriction in output, and the like are some other forms of behavior which can be attributed to feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction among employees. A complaint becomes a grievance when: a) The employee feels injustice has been done to him/her. b) It is formally expressed either verbally or in writing c) It is related to policies, procedures and practices of the organization The International Labour Organization(ILO) classifies grievance as a compliant of one or more workers with respect to wages and allowances, conditions of work and interpretation of service conditions, covering such areas as overtime, leave, transfer, promotion, seniority, work assignment, and termination of service. The Grievance Procedure Most large organizations have a formal grievance procedure. There are advantages of having a formal grievance procedure: 1. It provides established and known methods of processing grievances and keeps the channel of communication open. 2. The role of emotion, which may have caused the grievance in the first place, can be minimized by following the process of objective analysis. 3. The mere existence of this procedure is satisfying enough even though the employee may never have the occasion to use it. 4. Involving various hierarchical levels like middle and senior management in the grievance redressal process provides a safeguard against the possible arbitrary or biased decision of the immediate supervisor. 5. Various levels of organization get to know about the kinds of issues that concern the management and the employees.

The managerial approach to dealing effectively with employees grievances can be stated as follows: Immediacy of action: The grievances of employees must be recognized and settled immediately as and when they arise. The first line supervisors therefore need to be trained properly to handle such a situation. Acceptance of grievance: A grievance, when presented to a supervisor must initially be accepted as an expression of genuine feeling on the part of the employee. Acceptance simply conveys willingness of the supervisor to look into the complaint objectively and dispassionately. Problem Identification: The supervisor needs to listen to the complaint properly and to provide help in identifying the real problems. Getting the facts: It is necessary for the supervisor to collect the relevant and adequate facts relating to the nature of the grievance. Causal analysis of the grievance: An attempt must be made to identify the real causes, after ascertaining the facts, leading to grievance. This requires deeper understanding of the situation. Taking decisions: Alternative solutions need to be developed, and a decision needs to be taken which is best suited to the situation. Implementation and Follow up: The decision thus implemented should be followed up and reviewed to see whether the grievance has been satisfactorily resolved or not. In case the grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved, one has to go back to the first step of redefining the problem and following the subsequent steps. Managing Discipline Discipline means conformity to the norms, rules, regulations and expectations of the management by the employees. In case of deviation of norms, particularly the formal ones, which is referred to as misconduct, the management initiates disciplinary action. Misconduct Misconduct is not defines in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 nor the industrial Employment Act, 1946. The dictionary meaning of misconduct is improper behavior, intentional wrong doing, or deliberate violation of a rule of standard of behavior. There are several approaches for managing discipline and misconduct. Positive Approach: It says discipline in the context of management process needs to be viewed as a behavioural control mechanism. Discipline should be a willing acceptance of the norms of

conduct of an organization and a commitment to behave in an appropriate and desirable manner so as to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the organization. Traditional Approaches Punitive approach: The underlying principle is that people need to be coerced or forced to conform to the laws of the organization, thereby necessitating policing functions on the part of the management. Also punishment is necessary for correcting deviations and changing the behavior of people in a desirable direction. Judicial Approach: Here the major disadvantage is the time lag between the occurrence of undisciplined behavior and the initiation of a necessary action. Also judicial approach is a time consuming process so management generally tends to avoid this route. Humanistic approach: Here the emphasis is on establishing a healthy interpersonal relationship between the labour and its employees. It is often perceived as a soft approach. HRD Approach: This school of thought believes that through a system of appropriate training and education, multi-pronged motivational strategy, proper job allocation etc. the efficiency of employees can be raised. Viewed in this context, the causes of indiscipline are inadequate and inappropriate training, motivation system and personnel policies as perceived and interpreted by employees individually or collectively. Punishment Various forms of punishment for different types of misconducts and their gravity are often specified in the standing orders of those organizations where the Industrial Employment act is applicable. Some of the penalties available are: y y y y y y y y Warning or censure Fine Withholding of increments Demotion to a lower grade Suspension Discharge simpliciter Discharge dismissal

Of the above forms of punishment, suspension, discharge and dismissal are severe penalties while the rest are considered minor punishments.

In the end, if the problems relating to discipline and employee grievance are not properly managed, the relationship is strained and harmony is disturbed. The strained relationship adversely affects the productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.