Employee relations/ Industrial

relations
 Managing the relations of employees with the organization
and with each other.
 Affects every human resource decision made in the
organization.

 Employee relations ensures:

 Fairness and consistency in the treatment of employees.
Elements
 Organizational culture
 Employee engagement
 Conflict resolution
 Workplace investigations
 Employee discipline
 Communication
 Work- life balance
 Rewards and recognition system
 Assisting developmental needs
 Organizational culture
How things are here
Values
Behaviours

 Employee engagement
Level of commitment
Connection
Loyal and productive
Directly affects the financial health of organizations
Actively invested in the work and adds value to the
organization
Satisfaction- outcome
Engagement and productivity can be affected by teamwork,
feeling supported by one’s supervisor, information sharing,
common goals and vision, communication, and trust.

 Conflicts arise when ideas, interests or behaviours of two or

more employees or employee groups clash.
Conflict management programs

 Workplace investigation- attempts to determine what

happened/ what is happening in a situation when
allegations rise.
Mostly depends on a neutral third party perspective
 Employee Discipline- corrective actions taken to change
employee behaviour and instil organizations expectations.
Communicate organizational expectations and employee
discipline policies (handbook).
Progressive discipline- series of increasingly severe
penalties for repeated offences starting with verbal warning
or counselling.
GROUP DISCUSSION
 Divide yourselves into smaller groups of 6, each person should introduce

the internship site they were in- the name of the organization, the industry
it belongs to, nature of work they involved in, were there teammates/other
interns they worked along, and who was the reporting supervisor/manager.

 Reflect on the nature of employee relations that existed in the organization

along the key elements discussed earlier. Each person is expected to share
their experiences, learnings, and perspectives (especially if one didn’t have
a firsthand experience) on the same.
REFLECTION
 What new did you learn?
 How would you evaluate the group dynamics?
 Did you notice that your team members had perspectives different from
yours?
 Did you have arguments at any point of time?

 Based on the listening today, engage in a conversation with your group on

your perspective about employee relations. Do you think the experience
will be different for an employee ?
 Will you like someone like your team member to be part of your team when
you become employee? What are you basing your thoughts on?
 Are employee relations associated to the industry in which an organization
belongs to? Why? Are there standard practices?
Theoretical approaches- Employee/Industrial relations
 Unitary approach
 Pluralistic approach
 Marxist approach
 Systems approach
 Oxford approach
 Psychological approach
 Sociological approach
 Human relations approach
 Gandhian approach
 V.V Giri approach
 Social action approach
Individual relations and joint consultations between
employers and employees at their workplace
Collective relations between employers and trade unions
and the role of the state in regulating these relations.

Unitary approach
Pluralistic approach Analytical with limited
Marxist approach predictive values

There is no one right approach, but rather individually

or collectively the approaches give an understanding
of the complexity and diversity of the concept.
 Employee participation

 Participative management

 Employee participation is the process whereby employees are

involved in decision making processes, rather than simply

acting on orders.

Features

 Mental and emotional involvement of employees

 Leads to employee empowerment

 Instils teamwork

 Identify employee strengths and weaknesses and promote

growth
Outcomes

Better employee involvement and commitment

Self- esteem improves

Job satisfaction improves

Co-operation with higher authorities improves

Reduces stress, absenteeism and employee turnover

Boost employee morale

Democratic process – leading to increased perceived

organizational support
 Employee empowerment is giving employees a certain

degree of autonomy and responsibility for decision-making

regarding their specific organizational tasks.

 It allows decisions to be made at the lower levels of an

organization where employees have a unique view of the

issues and problems facing the organization at a certain
level.

3 approaches

 Socio-cultural perspective

 Psychological perspective

 Critical perspective
 The socio-structural perspective focuses its attention

on developing or redesigning organizational polices,

practices, and structures to give employees power,
authority, and influence over their work.

 The psychological approach focuses on enhancing and

enabling personal effectiveness by helping employees

develop their sense of meaning, competency, self-
determination, and impact.

 The critical perspective challenges the notion of

employee empowerment and argues that efforts to create

empowerment may actually lead to more, albeit less-
obvious, controls over employees.
Increased commitment to organizational goals

Sense of ownership

Increased productivity

Boundaries of authority may be blurred

Decreased efficiency as decisions are not uniform

Coordination issues within the organization are decisions are

not centralised
Employee Communication
 Employee communication is often defined as the sharing of
information and ideas between the management of an
organization and employees and vice versa.
 Traditional method
 E-mails/ instant messaging
 Social media

 Employee engagement
 Consistency
 Feedback
Employee engagement communication- 4 types
1. The right information
2. Culture
3. 2 way communication
4. Recognition and rewards
The right information
 company vision
 organization news
 business financials
 employee & team objectives
 product, service & process information

The culture
 Values
 Company policies (Against discrimination, harassment)
 “Just for Fun” communications
 Social communications
 Health and Wellbeing
2- way communication
 Feedback and suggestion channels
 Q & A channels
 Internal surveys
 Help desks
 Social collaboration tools

Messenger
Outlook
Drop box
Google drive
Recognition and rewards
 Acknowledgment of contributions
 Employee recognition programmes
 Promotion of employee benefits and perks
 Promotion of employee development programs
 Promotion of training opportunities
 A Multinational Company specialized in food
processing has been operating in India for about 3
decades. The Company has recently decided to
expand its production. It was decided to shift the
factory to a new location about 20 kms. away from its
present site. As the workers transferred to the new site
were living in town, the union demanded an increase
of Rs. 60/- per month in the salary, but the Company
offered to give Rs. 25/- only to cover the transport
cost.

When the plant was being shifted to the new site,

negotiations went on uninterrupted between the
Management and the Union on this issue. However
both the parties could not come to a settlement even
after 6 months.
The Management was firm on their decision even though
the union indicated some flexibility. The Union refused to
compromise fully on the issue. They adopted go-slow
tactics to pressurize the Management. The production went
down drastically, but still the Management was firm on
their stand. In the meanwhile the Management charge-
sheeted some of the Trade Union leaders and suspended
them pending enquiry.
 Questions :

a) Analyse the case given above and elucidate the

problem and causes.
b) Do you justify the Management’s decision ? If Yes/No-
why ?
c) Are the workers right in their approach ? Comment.
d) As a General Manager – HR of this Company how
would you resolve the
problem ?
 In Jay Engineering Works after a three months strike the

work had resumed. However on the very first day of

resumption of work there was a problem on account of

shortage of snacks in the first shift which resulted in a tool

down. In the first shift on the day of resumption of work,

Samosas were served as snacks for breakfast. The normal

rule was that each workman should take only two pieces of

snacks. However as the Samosas were tasty, the workmen

started consuming more than two Samosas which resulted in

shortage of Samosas.
 Ashok, a workman who was a very reasonable person and who was

considered as very close to the management, had come late to the

canteen. When he found that the Samosas were not available, he raised a

hue and cry and demanded from the Canteen Officer that Samosas should

be served to him and that he would not accept any other snacks except

Samosas.
 The Canteen Officer expressed his inability to serve Samosas and instead

offered to serve biscuits. Ashok declined to accept the same and once

again insisted that he should be served Samosas. When the canteen Officer

told Ashok that it was not possible for him to serve Samosas, Ashok got

upset and took his grievance to the Union Committee members.

 The Union Committee members felt that this was an opportunity for them

to win over Ashok to their side. They, therefore took up the cause of

Ashok with the Canteen Officer. They threatened the canteen Officer that

they resort to a tool down if the grievance of Ashok was not resolved. The

Canteen Officer expressed his inability to serve Samosas to Ashok, but

offered to serve biscuits instead. Not satisfied with the solution given by

the Canteen Officer, the Union Committee members gave a call for a tool

down. The activities of Jay Engineering works came to a grinding halt.

 Identify the multiple levels of problems created/raised in the case.

 As a Personnel Manager of this Company how would you handle this case?
 Employee health and safety
 Work place accidents
 How to use the resources to respond to employee concerns
 Understand the health and safety responsibilities
 Frame policies
 Implement and manage health and safety requirements
 Prevent work related injuries and illnesses- promote
workplace safety culture
 Establish administrative procedures to report unsafe
conditions and practices
 Recruiting and retaining those who show concern for one’s
own and other health
 Satisfying legal responsibilities
 First aid training and provision of first aid to employees
 16 laws related to working hours, conditions at work
and employment.
 2 acts containing the main provisions for legal measures
for the protection of health and safety of workers- the
Factories Act (1948) and the Mines Act (1952)
 Factories act, 1948, amended in 1987 stipulates pre-
employment examination as a pre-placement procedure,
statutory periodic medical examination for job in
hazardous areas.
 Factories amendment bill- 2016
 Occupational health is under two ministries: 1) Labour and
2) Health and Family Welfare.
 The Ministry of Labour and the labour departments of the
states and union territories are mainly responsible for health
and safety of workers.
 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is responsible for
providing health and medical care to workers through its
facilities.
 The DGMS (Directorate General of Mines Safety) and the
DGFASLI (Directorate General – Factory Advisory Services
and Labour Institutes) assist the Ministry in technical
aspects of occupational health and safety in mines, ports
and factories respectively.
 Constitution- 3 articles
 Article 24 prohibits employment of children under the age
of 14 years.
 Article 39 (e and f) states that the health of men, women
and children should be protected, and children should be
given opportunity and facility for healthy development and
should be protected against exploitation.
 Article 42 states that humane conditions at work and
maternity relief should be provided.
 The National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) was
established in 1970 at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, as a WHO
collaborative and reference centre for occupational health.
 Two Regional Occupational Health Centres (ROHCs) have
been set up in Bangalore and Calcutta.
 The National Safety Council of India (NSCI) was established
to promote safety consciousness among workers to prevent
accidents, minimise dangers and risks and arrange related
education and awareness programmes.
 The Central Labour Institute (and its associated institutes)
and the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health.
 The Indian Association of Occupational Health (IAOH) is an
association of over 3000 members comprising health
professionals, industrial hygienists, safety professionals,
social workers and others.
 The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of
India, approved the national policy on safety, health and
environment at workplaces in February 2009.
 It provides guidelines for developing and maintaining
safety culture and environment at workplaces for all
stakeholders. It also deals with provision of a statutory
framework, administrative and technical support
services, providing incentives (both financial and non-
financial) to employers and employees, developing
research and development capabilities, prevention
strategies and their monitoring and providing required
technical manpower and inclusion of safety, health and
environment improvement in other national policies.
 Occupational health was one of the components of the
National Health Policy in 1983 and 2002. The Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, launched
a programme entitled “National Programme for Control and
Treatment of Occupational Diseases” in 1998–99.
 As per The Indian Factories Act 1948 3rd Schedule,
Sections 89 and 90 – list of notifiable diseases, there are
29 enlisted diseases.
 Poisoning by metals and compounds such as lead, tetra-
ethyl lead, phosphorous, mercury, manganese, arsenic,
nitrous fumes, carbon bisulphide, benzene, their nitro or
amido derivatives or its sequelae, chrome ulceration,
anthracosis, silicosis, radium or other radioactive
substances, halogens or halogen derivatives, cancer of
the skin, toxic anaemia, jaundice, oil acne or dermatitis
due to mineral oils, byssionosis, asbestosis, contact
dermatitis, noise-induced hearing loss, beryllium, carbon
monoxide, coal miners’ pnoumoconiosis, phosgene,
isocyanates, occupational cancer and toxic nephritis.a
 The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, has four chapters
and the following schedules:
 Schedule I, Parts 1 (list of injuries deemed to result in
permanent total disablement) and 2 (list of injuries
deemed to result in permanent partial disablement)
 Schedule II (list of persons who are included in the
definition of workmen) and
 Schedule III (list of occupational diseases).
Challenges
 Large proportion of the workforce is in the unorganized
sector
 Implementation is questionable
 High rate of unemployment- if labour is available at lower
wages then health and safety at workplace is compromised
 Awareness among stakeholders
 Child labor

An organizational risk assessment, broadly defined, is a

structured means of identifying, assessing and rating
the risks faced by an organization within the context of its
financial reporting processes, operations and compliance
with laws and regulations
HR RISK
ASSESSMENT
 RISK ASSESSMENT
 Risk assessment in Human Resource Management (HRM) involves identifying,
evaluating, and mitigating potential risks related to the workforce, employment
practices, and HR processes within an organization.
Legal compliance
Occupational health and safet6y
Talent management
Succession planning
Diversity and inclusion
Employee relations
Data privacy and security
Organizational culture
Change management
Continuity planning
RISK MANAGEMENT- PROCESS
4 COMMON HR RISK
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
 Avoidance

 Retention/acceptance

 Loss prevention and reduction/mitigation

 Transfer/sharing