MECHANISM FOR

HARMONIOUS - Animesh Kumar

EMPLOYEE
RELATIONS
 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING :
DEFINITION, MEANING,
NATURE
- Collective Bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of
employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits,
and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. 
- The interests of the employees are commonly presented by representatives of a Trade
Union to which the employees belong. 
ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS
According to Flippo, “Collective Bargaining is a process in which the
representatives of a labor organization and the representatives of business
organization meet and attempt to negotiate a contract or agreement, which specifies
the nature of employee-employer union relationship”.

According to Beach, “Collective Bargaining is concerned with the relations between

unions reporting employees and employers (or their representatives).
 ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS
According to an ILO Manual in 1960, the Collective Bargaining is defined as:
“Negotiations about working conditions and terms of employment between an
employer, a group of employees or one or more employers organization on the other,
with a view to reaching an agreement.”
ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS -
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Favorable Political and Social Climate
Trade Union
Problem Solving Attitude
Availability of Data
Continuous Dialogue
FUNCTIONS AND
IMPORTANCE
The Collective Bargaining advances the mutual understanding between the two
parties i.e., Employees and Employers.
Functions :
a. Settle Disputes and Grievances
b. Preserve Employee Rights
c. Negotiate contracts, salaries and benefits
d. Ensure safe working conditions, and job safety
THE ROLE OF COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING MAY BE EVALUATED FROM
THE FOLLOWING POINT OF VIEW:
From Management Point of View
From Labor and Trade Union Point of View
From Government Point of View
PROCESS AND ITS
IMPLEMENTATION
1. Preparing for Negotiations
2. Identifying Bargaining Issues
3. Negotiations Procedure
4. Bargaining Strategy
5. Reaching the Agreement
6. Ratifying the Agreement
7. Administration of the Agreement.
 WORKERS PARTICIPATION IN
MANAGEMENT AND PROBLEM
SOLVING ATTITUDE
Like other behavioral terms, WPM means different things to different people depending
upon their objectives and expectations. Thus, WPM is an elastic concept.

For example, for management it is a joint consultation prior to decision making, for workers
it means co-determination, for trade unions It is the harbinger of a new order of social
relationship and a new set of power equation within organizations, while for government it
is an association of labor with management without the final authority or responsibility in
decision making.
GRIEVANCE : MEANING
- A real or imagined cause for complaint, especially unfair treatment.

- A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice having connection with

one's employment situation which is brought to the attention of management.
Speaking broadly, a grievance is any dissatisfaction that adversely affects
organizational relations and productivity.
FORMS
Employee compensation and benefits
Employment and personnel policies
Workload and Work Distribution
Work conditions
Management-employee relations
PROCEDURES
1. The supervisor or a manager takes informal action.
2. A formal meeting is held with the employee.
3. Further investigation is conducted
4. A decision is made and communicated to the employee.
5. If the grievance is rejected, or it was resolved but the employee was not satisfied
with the resolution, the grievance may be taken to the next level in the management
hierarchy
MODEL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE AND
GRIEVANCE
HANDLING COMMITTEES.
An arrived employee shall first present his grievance verbally in person to the officer designated by the management for this purpose. The response shall be given by
the officer within 48 hours of the presentation of the complaint. If the worker is not satisfied with the decision of the officer or fails to receive the answer within 48
hours he will, either in person or accompanied by is departmental head, present his grievance to the head of the department.

The head of the department shall give his answer within 3 days or if action cannot be taken within this period, the reason for delay should be recorded. If the worker is
dissatisfied with the decision of the department all head, he may request that his grievance be forwarded to the Grievance Committee.

The Grievance committee shall make its recommendation to the manager within 7 days if the workers request. If decision cannot be given within this period, reason
should be recorded. Unanimous decision of the committee shall be implemented by the management. If there is a difference of opinion among the members of the
committee, the matter shall be referred to the manager along with the views of the members and the relevant papers for final decision.

In either case, the final decision of the manger shall be communicated to the employee within three days from the receipt of the Grievance Committee's
recommendations.

If the worker is not satisfied even with the final decision of the manager, he may have the right to appeal to the manager for revision. In making this appeal he may
take a union official with him to facilitate discussion with the management. The management will communicate the decision within 7 days of workman's revision
petition.
MODEL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
AND GRIEVANCE HANDLING
COMMITTEES
If worker is still not satisfied, the mater may be referred to voluntary arbitration.
Where a workers has taken a grievance for readdress under the grievance procedure
the formal conciliation machinery shall not interview till all steps in the procedure
have exhausted. A grievance shall be presumed to assume the form of a dispute only
when the final decision of top management is turned down by the worker.
The Grievance Committee shall consist of 4 to 6 members.
CASE : ARKAL GOVIND
RAJRAO VS. CIBA GEIGY OF
INDIA LTD. 1985
Appellant was working as an stenographer and an accountant with the Respondent company.

Later Promoted as an assistant and subsequently his services terminated. He filed a dispute and it was referred to the
labor court for adjudication.

Labour court dismissed on the grounds that the claimant was not a workmen as he was doing administrative job
along with clerical job. And therefore employed in officer cadre.

Supreme Court while hearing the appeal filed by the Appellant held that the appellant was indeed a workman as per
the definition of the industrial dispute act 1947. It was further held that person would no be a workmen if he is
having certain supervisor duties.

The supreme court observed that the while adjudication on such questions court has to keep in mind as to what are
primary and basic functions of the person. . It has further observed that what are the additional duties suuince the
additional duties can’t change the nature and character of an employee.
INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE ACT
1947 SECTION 2 S
Section 2(s) defines workman as any person (including an apprentice) employed
in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational,
clerical or supervisory work, for hire or reward, terms of employment be
express or implied and includes any such person who has been dismissed,
discharged or retrenched in connection with, or as a consequence of dispute.

It excludes persons employed in army/Navy/Air Force/Police and those

employed in mainly managerial or administrative, supervisory capacity and
drawing wages of more than INR 6500.
:
MAJOR DEFINITIONS