WORKPLACE GRIEVANCE AND DISCIPLINE

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GRIEVANCE

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Definition

• A grievance is defined as a complaint by an

employee that the behavior of management or
that of an employee has been unfair or unjust
in its application to him or her. (Gennard and
Judge).

• Farnham defines a grievance as a formal

expression of a perceived dissatisfaction that an
employee feels towards an employer.

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Definition

• On the other hand Singh defines a grievance as:

“any discontent or dissatisfaction whether
expressed or not, whether valid or not, arising
out of anything connected with the company
which an employee thinks, believes or even feels
to be unfair, unjust or equitable.

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Definition

The ILO gives a broader definition of grievance as

a complaint of one or more workers with respect
to wages and allowances, conditions of work and
interpretation of service conditions covering such
issues as salary/wage, promotion, deployment or
assignment of work, harassment and other
complaints.

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Symptoms and discovery of grievances

A grievance may be communicated expressly

through writing or orally. It may also be implied
from the conduct of the employee as evidenced
by a number of symptoms. State any five
symptoms.

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Symptoms and discovery of grievances

Knowledge about the grievance is important in

handling them. Some of the important ways of
discovering grievance are as follows:-
a) Direct observation
b) Grievance procedure
c) Gripe boxes – boxes in which employees can drop
their anonymous complaints.
d) Open door policy
e) Exit interview
f) Follow up on issues that may concern workplace and
employees

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Causes of Grievance

Grievances are caused by many problems. The

causes of grievances relate to:
• employees terms and conditions of
employment,
• collective agreement
• problems of a personal nature.

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Causes relating to terms and conditions
of employment

Terms and conditions of employment relate to

employment contract and its execution. They can
create problems from the following fronts according
to (Osea, 2014)
a) Ambiguity which leads to misunderstandings
b) Unauthorized variations by the employer
c) Rigidity of the contract of employment
d) Rigidity of the terms and conditions – thins one must
agree to before they are employed.
e) And standards that are too high for the employee or
otherwise. One example in each case.

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Causes relating to collective bargaining

Many grievances related to collective bargaining agreements

result from the omission and ambiguities in its provisions or
clauses (Chruden and Sherman) these grievances are due to:-
a) The CBA creating unachievable standards.
b) Non-implementation of the CBA.
c) An overzealous union or employee-led push for newer and
better terms and condition of employment. Employer
agrees out of exhaustion.
d) In the case of government a collective bargaining being
vetoed by the National Treasury.
Teachers Service Commission vs Government

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Causes relating to personal problems

When it comes to personal problems the list is

endless;
– Poor health.
– Family illness.
– Marital discord.
– Personal addictions.
– Having a family member who is addicted to
something.

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Additional classification of causes of
grievances

Wage grievances i.e. demand for individual wage

adjustment, complaint about job classification,
incentive system.

Supervision grievances i.e. complaint against

discipline/administration, complaints against
behavior of supervisor and objection to the
method of supervision.

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Additional classification of causes of
grievances

Working conditions i.e. safety and health, violation of

rules.

Seniority, promotion and transfers i.e. loss of seniority,

calculations/interpretation of seniority, promotion of
denial and delay, transfer or change of shifts.

Discipline i.e. discharge, dismissal, layoffs, alcoholism

absenteeism, harshness of punishment and penalty.

Union management relations

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Effects of Grievances

Grievances may adversely affect an organization’s

productivity and competitiveness. The effects of
grievances may include:-
a) Lack of motivation.
b) Productivity.
c) Wastages and costs are likely to increase.
d) Quality of production may be poor.
e) Employee turnover often increases.

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Effects of Grievances

f) Absenteeism.
g) Indiscipline may increase as a result.
h) Reduction in employee commitment to the
organization.
i) Increase in incidents of equipment getting
spoilt (intentionally done by disgruntled
employees).
j) Straining the management and worker
relations.

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Handling Grievances

• One of the most effective ways of handling

grievances is to have in place a grievance
handling policy.

• The policy guides management on what type of

procedures to put in place. It also shows that
the procedures are well-thought out.

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Handling Grievances

According to Osea (2014) the requirement that

must be met so as to have a good policy are as
follows:-
a) The policy should be written for certainty,
evidence and availability.
b) It should have been prepared by management
with an input from employees through
employee participation and involvement.
c) It must stress fairness and quick thoughtful
settlement of grievances.

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Grievance Policy

d) The policy must ensure the grievance is dealt

with at point of source or as near as possible
to take advantage of familiarity of
circumstances.

e) It must contain an indication that employees

have a right to be given notice and be heard in
person and that he/she has the right of being
accompanied by a colleague.

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Grievance Policy

g) Right to appeal should be part of the policy.

h) Policy should be tailor-made for the employer

and conform to industry norm.

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Formal grievance procedure

A formal grievance procedure is one that is in

writing. Such a document should fulfill a number
of requirements namely:-
a) It must be in written form so that it is known or
readily available to the employees, supervisors
and the management.
b) Must be in accordance to the grievance policy.
c) It must have been agreed to by management
and the union/employees representative.

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Formal grievance procedure

d) Each step of the procedure must be

expeditiously completed.
e) It must encourage aggrieved employees to
approach their supervisors or managers as the
case may be.
f) An appeal procedure should be provided for.

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Essentials of a good grievance handling
procedure

The procedure should fulfill certain prerequisites

which are:
a) Conformity with labour laws.
b) Simple and straight forward.
c) Promptness to quickly go over the issues.

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Advantages of formal grievance
procedure

a) The procedure becomes readily available.

b) Ensure uniformity of rules and application.
c) The are inculcated as part of the organizations
culture.
d) They are pragmatic and one of the factors
taken into consideration in a human resource
audit.

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Grievances and Industrial Relations

If grievances are not diagnosed and known causes

settled, relations suffer.

State five effects of resolving grievances

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BREAK-OUT SESSION – 20 MINUTES

1. A grievance may be communicated

expressly through writing or orally. It may
also be implied from the conduct of the
employee as evidenced by a number of
symptoms. State any five symptoms.

2. State five effects of resolving grievances

P.T.O

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BREAK-OUT SESSION – 20 MINUTES

2.Terms and conditions of employment relate to employment

contract and its execution. They can create problems from
the following fronts according to (Osea, 2014)
a)Ambiguity which leads to misunderstandings
b)Unauthorized variations by the employer
c)Rigidity of the contract of employment
d)Rigidity of the terms and conditions – thins one must
agree to before they are employed.
e) And standards that are too high for the employee or
otherwise. One example in each case.(5 groups needed)

P.T.O

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DISCIPLINE

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Definition

Discipline has been defined as

constructive action instigated by management
against the employee who fails to meet
reasonable and legitimate expectations in terms
of performance, conduct or adherent to rule.

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Definition

From this definition the elements of discipline may be

identified as:-
a) they are rules set by management
b) there are employees who must perform and conduct
themselves as required by the laid down standards.
c) discipline is the prerogative of management.
d) management has expectations on how employees
should conduct themselves.
e) management has the right to take disciplinary
action.

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Purpose of Discipline

• The essence of discipline should be geared

towards corrective action.
• The primary purpose of corrective action is to
eliminate the cause of ineffective performance
rather than to punish the employee.
• Only just and fair grounds should provoke
disciplinary action.

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Purpose of Discipline

a) Correction of undesirable behavior of

employees.
b) Warn employees of tendency towards
undesirable behavior as deterrence to an
individual or entire workforce.
c) Ensues following of orders.
d) May lead to solving of certain problems for
the employees. (Once beaten twice shy!)

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Purpose of Discipline

f) Necessary where encouragement, guidance,

training and support have not resulted in
employee improvement to an acceptable
managerial standard
g) Encourages improvements in individual
conduct in the workplace and even elsewhere.

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Indications of Performance Problem

The fourteen warning signs of the development of

performance problem identified by human
resource experts are:-
a) output decrease
b) work quality deterioration
c) missing due dates
d) little or no initiative shown
e) avoiding tougher tasks and assignments
f) increased complaints

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Indications of Performance Problem

g) decreasing interactions
h) difficulty in following or taking directions
i) blaming others for mistakes or failuers
j) absence from desks increase
k) negative feedback from others increase
l) absenteeism
m)tardiness increase

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Scope of Discipline

Workplace discipline is meted out against the

employees. Independent contractors and
outsourced workers are not subject to discipline.
The main forms of discipline are:-
a) Instruction and coaching
b) Warning which is either spoken or in writing
c) Suspension from employment for a specified
period usually with half salary and full housing
allowance to allow investigation to be carried
out.

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Scope of Discipline

d) Transfer although suitable if the problem has

been occasioned by a mismatch of skills in a
particular department.
e) Dismissal which is a drastic action equated
to a death penalty.

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Severity of disciplinary action

The factors to consider when gauging the type of

corrective or disciplinary action to take are:
a) Degree of severity of the offence.
b) Employee’s length of service with company.
c) Provocation.
d) The number of previous offences.
e) The nature of previous offences
f) Employee pattern of conduct
g) Supervisory practices

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Disciplinary Policies and Procedures
An organization should have in place disciplinary policies and
procedures.

These are necessary for:-

a) Promoting order and harmony in the workplace.

b) Avoiding ambiguity and inconsistency in employee relations

c) Setting standards which determine acceptable employee

behavior

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