Employee Welfare

Learning Objectives

• The nature of employee welfare and its merits

and demerits
• The types of welfare schemes
• The approaches to labor welfare
• The different steps in administration of the
welfare schemes

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 Nature of Welfare
• Welfare means faring or doing well
• It is a comprehensive term, and refers to the physical, mental, moral
and emotional well-being of an individual

• Labour welfare, also referred to as betterment work for employees,

relates to taking care of the well-being of workers by employers,
trade unions, and governmental and non-governmental agencies

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 Merits of Welfare Measures
• Labour welfare is justified for several reasons
• The social and economic aspects of the life of a worker have a direct
influence on the overall development of the nation
• the facilities help motivate and retain employees
• may help minimise social evils, such as alcoholism, gambling, drug
addiction and the like
• A further argument in favour of welfare is that a reputation for
showing concern helps improve the local image of the company as a
good employer and thus assists in recruitment

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 Pause and Ponder

Select 3 firms from public sector and 3 from private sector. Talk
to their HR managers and ascertain the welfare facilities they
respectively provide in their companies.

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 Types of Welfare Activities
• Welfare Measures Inside the Work-Place
– Conditions of the Work Environment
– Conveniences
– Workers’ Health Services
– Women and Child Welfare
– Workers’ Recreation
– Employment Follow-up
– Economic Services
– Labour-Management Participation
– Workers’ Education

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 Types of Welfare Activities (Contd.)
• Welfare Measures Outside the Work-Place
– Housing
– Water, sanitation, waste disposal
– Roads, lighting, parks, recreation, playgrounds
– Schools: nursery, primary, secondary and high school
– Markets, co-operatives, consumer and credit societies
– Bank
– Transport
– Communication
– Health and medical services
– Recreation
– Security
– Community leadership development

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 Types of Welfare Activities (Contd.)
• Intra-mural Facilities: consist of facilities provided within the factories
• Extra-mural Facilities: cover the services and facilities provided
outside the factory
• Welfare Facilities by the Government: With a view to making it
mandatory for employers, to provide certain welfare facilities for their
employees, the Government of India has enacted several laws from
time to time - Statutory Provisions
• The Factories Act
• Labor Welfare Officer
• Welfare Provisions
• Welfare Funds

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 Types of Welfare Activities (Contd.)
• Welfare Activities by the Trade Unions
– Labour unions have contributed their share for the betterment of the
employees
– The welfare activities of the Textile Labour Association, Ahmedabad,
are worth noting. The Association runs:
• Twenty-five cultural and social centres
• Schools for workers’ children, reading rooms, libraries, gymnasia
• Dispensaries and maternity homes
• A co-operative bank
• Office offering legal help to members
• Training programs in the principles and practices of trade unionism
• A bi-weekly, the Mazdoor Sandesh

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 Types of Welfare Activities (Contd.)
• Welfare Work by Voluntary Agencies
– Many voluntary social-service agencies have been doing useful labour-
welfare work

Non-statutory Benefits: also called voluntary benefits, include loans for house
building, education of children, leave travel concession, fair price shops, loans
for purchasing personal conveyance and a host of other facilities

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Administration of Welfare Facilities

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Administration of Welfare Facilities (Contd.)
• Organisation for Welfare
– In most organisations, welfare is the responsibility of Welfare Officers
– Legal provisions invariably stipulate that certain minimum facilities
should be provided to employees in industrial establishments
– It is argued that the prime responsibility for welfare should rest with
line managers as they are in a vantage position to understand the
problems of employees
– The obvious alternative is the HR manager who knows how help can
be provided and is capable of exercising counselling skills
– Technology is playing its role in employee welfare

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Administration of Welfare Facilities (Contd.)

• Assessment of Effectiveness
– Trend Analysis: HR experts must assess the impact of each of these,
before and after a particular welfare activity is being introduced

– Opinion Survey: The most effective assessment technique is to conduct

a survey and elicit opinion of employees on the welfare schemes
• Employees may be requested to express their views on the usefulness or
futility of a particular welfare scheme

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Administration of Welfare Facilities (Contd.)

• Assessment of Effectiveness
– Trend Analysis: HR experts must assess the impact of each of these,
before and after a particular welfare activity is being introduced

– Opinion Survey: The most effective assessment technique is to conduct

a survey and elicit opinion of employees on the welfare schemes
• Employees may be requested to express their views on the usefulness or
futility of a particular welfare scheme

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 Welfare Par Excellence

Source: “India’s Best Companies to Work for 2009”, The Economic Times, June 11,
2009)
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Welfare Par Excellence (Contd.)

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