Human Resources

UNIT 10
Structure
10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Objectives

EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE AND DISCIPLINE

Introduction Grievance Grievance Handling Procedure

10.3.1 10.3.2 Model Grievance Procedure Essentials of a Sound Grievance Procedure

10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10

Discipline Principles and Procedure for Disciplinary Action Employee Exit Let Us Sum Up Key Words Answers to Check Your Progress Terminal Questions

10.0

OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you should be able to: define the term grievance discuss the grievance handling procedure identify the essentials of a sound grievance procedure make distinction between discipline and indiscipline describe the disciplinary action procedure explain the term employee exit and exit interview

10.1

INTRODUCTION

Every employee of any Organization will certainly have some expectations from the Organization in which he/she is working. When the Organizations fail to fulfill the expectations, the employee develops a feeling of discontent and dissatisfaction. When an employee feels that something is unfair in the Organization, he/ he is said to have a grievance. When grievances are not addressed by the Management, it leads to indiscipline which ultimately affects the efficiency of the employees and productivity of the Organization. Disciplinary and grievance procedures provide a clear and transparent framework to deal with difficulties which may arise as part of working relationship from either the employers or employees perspective. In this unit, you will learn about grievance handling procedure and disciplinary action procedure. You will further learn about the concept of employee exit and exit interview.

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10.2

GRIEVANCE

Employee Grievance and Discipline

In every Organization, employees do get dissatisfied with various aspects of working which may be with the attitude of the manager, policy of the Company, working conditions, or behaviour of colleagues. Employers try to ignore or suppress grievances. It may not be possible to suppress grievances for long. Grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with ones employment situation that is brought to the attention of management. It is any discontent or dissatisfaction whether expressed or not, whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the Company that an employee thinks, believes or even feels, is unfair, unjust or inequitable. Grievance becomes a complaint if not resolved or attended to. Majority of complaints are due to unresolved Grievances. Hence Grievance handling is more important part of HRM to minimize, if not completely eradicate the complaints. The National Commission on Labour Observed that Complaints affecting one or more individual workers in respect of their wage payments, over time, leave, transfer promotion, seniority, and work assignment and discharges constitute Grievances. Causes of Grievance In order to handle the grievances efficiently, it is necessary to find and analyse the grievances of the subordinates. If a grievance is found to be genuine or real, corrective action should be taken immediately. Before dealing with the grievances, their causes must be diagnosed. The manager may realize the existence of grievances because of high turnover, high rate of absenteeism and poor quality of work. These problems will go on multiplying if the causes of grievances are not corrected. The causes of grievances may be broadly classified into the following categories: (1) Grievances resulting from working conditions (i) (ii) Improper matching of the worker with the job. Changes in schedules or procedures.

(iii) Non-availability of proper tools, machines and equipment for doing the job. (iv) Unreasonably high performance standards. (v) Poor working conditions. (vi) Bad employer employee relationship, etc. (2) Grievances resulting from management policy (i) (ii) Wage payment and job rates. Leave.

(iii) Overtime. (iv) Seniority and Promotion. (v) Transfer. (vi) Disciplinary action. (3) Grievances resulting from personal reasons (i) (ii) Over ambition. Excessive self-esteem.

(iii) Impractical attitude to life etc.

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10.3

GRIEVANCE HANDLING PROCEDURE

Maintaining quality of work life for its employees is an important concern for any Organization. The grievance handling procedure can affect the harmonious environment of the Organization. Managers must be educated about the importance of the grievance process and their role in maintaining favorable relations with the employees Union. Effective grievance handling is an essential part of cultivating good employee relations and maintaining a fair, successful, and productive work environment. The procedure should be flexible enough to meet the requirements of the Organization. It should be simple so that an average employee is able to understand it. Though such a procedure will vary in different Organizations, yet the following principles should be observed while laying down a procedure: i) A grievance should be dealt with in the first instance at the lowest level: Dealing a grievance in the first instance at the lowest level is possible when an employee raises grievance with the immediate superior. It will help to settle the grievance on the spot and that will be the end of it. It must be made clear to the employee what line of appeal is available: If the aggrieved employee is not satisfied with reasons of the immediate superior, the employee should know the next higher authority to which the grievance can be reported. Grievance should be resolved speedily: Since delay causes frustration, it is essential to deal with the grievances as speedily as possible.

ii)

iii)

iv) The grievance procedure should be set up with the participation of the employees: In the finalization of grievance procedure, employees participation needs to be ensured. The grievance procedure so finalized should be applicable to all in the Organization. The policies and rules regarding grievances should be laid down after taking inputs from the employees. Steps in Grievance Handling Procedure are i) identify the grievance and acknowledge the same, ii) listen carefully to the complainant, iii) define the grievance clearly, iv) gather the complete information with facts and figures, v) analyze and search for multiple solutions to the grievance and finally select the best feasible and possible solution and implement the same, vi) ensure that there is follow-up at each stage for successful grievance procedure

10.3.1 Model Grievance Procedure

The code of the Discipline adopted by the Indian Labour Conference in 1957 laid down that the management and unions should establish, upon a mutually agreed basis, grievance procedure which would ensure a speedy and full investigation leading to a settlement. At present the Model grievance procedure in India provides for five successive time bound steps, each leading to the next in case the aggrieved employee prefers an appeal. These steps are: 1) 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 departmental head, present his grievance to the head of the department. ii)
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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. iii) 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 are differences 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.

Employee Grievance and Discipline

(iv) In either case, the final decision of the manger shall be communicated to the employee within three days from the receipt of the Grievance Committees recommendations. (v) 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 workmans revision petition.

(vi) If worker is still not satisfied, the mater may be referred to voluntary arbitration. (vii) Where a worker has taken a grievance for redressal 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.

10.3.2 Essentials of a Sound Grievance Procedure

A sound grievance procedure should incorporate the following features: 1. Legal Sanctity: The procedure should be designed in conformity with the existing statutory provisions. Where practicable the procedure can make use of such machinery as the law might have already provided for. Acceptability: The grievance procedure must be acceptable to all and should, therefore, be developed with mutual consultation among management, workers and union. In order to be generally acceptable, the procedure must ensure a sense of fair play and justice to workers and reasonable participation of the union. Simplicity: Simplicity in the procedure should be ensured. For that purpose the following issues should be taken care of:

2.

3.

The procedure should be simple enough to be understood by every employee. Channels for handling grievances should be carefully developed. Employees must know the authorities to be contacted at various levels. Information about the procedure should be communicated to all employees.

4.

Promptness: The grievance procedure must aim at speedy redressal of grievances. This can be ensured by incorporating the following feature in the procedure:

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as far as possible, grievances should be settled at the lowest level normally there should be only one appeal. different types of grievances may be referred to appropriate authorities. time limit should be prescribed at each step and it should be rigidly followed at each level.

5.

Training: In order to ensure effective working of the grievance procedure, it is necessary that supervisors and the union representatives should be given training in grievance handling. All the policies should be conveyed to the concerned parties. Follow-up: The personnel department should review the working of the grievance procedure periodically and necessary changes should be introduced to make it more effective. A regular follow up of the system increases the faith of the people in the system.

6.

Check Your Progress A 1. What is meant by grievance? .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 2. Mention any three causes of grievance. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 3. List out the three essentials of a sound grievance procedure. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 4. What do you mean by Model Grievance Procedure? .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 5. Identify the steps in Grievance handling procedure. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................

10.4

DISCIPLINE

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So far we have discussed about the definition of grievance, its causes, grievance handling procedure and essentials of sound grievance procedure. Let us now discuss the other aspects of this unit which includes- Discipline, Indiscipline and disciplinary action procedure which bears equal significance to the human resource management.

Discipline is the regulation and modulation of human activities to produce a controlled performance. It is the orderly conduct of affairs by the members of an Organisation who adhere to its necessary regulations because they desire to cooperate harmoniously. It is to encourage employees to confirm to establish standards of job performance and to behave sensibly and safely at work place. According to Richard D. Calhoon, Discipline is the force that prompts individuals or groups to observe rules, regulations, standards and procedures deemed necessary for an Organization. Therefore discipline means securing consistent behaviour in accordance with the accepted norms of behaviour. The main objective of discipline is to gain willing acceptance of the rules, regulations, standards and procedures of the Organization from the employees and to develop a sense of tolerance and respect of human dignity. Discipline is broadly of two types: Negative Discipline: It is the traditional aspect of discipline and is identified with ensuring that subordinates adhere strictly to rules and regulation. The objective is to ensure that employees do not violate the rules and regulation. It involves fines, demotion, disciplinary action, layoff and transfer, etc. Positive Discipline: In this type of discipline subordinates comply with the rules. Positive discipline can be achieved through rewards and effective leadership. The emphasis here is on cooperative efforts to secure compliance to Organizational norms. This approach to discipline will help the employees to achieve both their individual needs and Organizational goals. It reduces the need for personal supervision required to maintain standards. It would, therefore, motivate subordinates to work with zeal and fulfill their needs. Indiscipline: Indiscipline refers to the absence of discipline. Indiscipline, therefore, means nonconformity to formal and informal rules and regulations. We cannot afford indiscipline as it affects the morale, involvement and motivation of subordinates in the Organisation. Indiscipline often leads to chaos, confusion, and reduces the efficiency of the Organisation. It often leads to strikes, go-slows, and absenteeism, resulting in loss of production, profits and wages. The common causes of indiscipline are: wage discrimination, non-compliance with promotional policies and transfer policies, discrimination in allotment of work, defective handling of grievances, payment of low wages, delay in payment of wages, creating low quality work life etc. These unfair management practices gradually result in indiscipline.

Employee Grievance and Discipline

10.5

PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURE FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Despite best efforts, acts of indiscipline occur and it becomes necessary to take a disciplinary action. While taking disciplinary action the following principles of natural justice should be followed:

Disciplinary procedures apply to all staff and will be applied in a nondiscriminatory manner No action other than suspension where necessary will be taken until the allegations have been fully investigated. It is important to ensure national labour law and best practice is followed.
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The staff member will be advised in writing of the nature of the complaint and the possible sanctions. He/she will be given the opportunity to state his/her case before any decision regarding disciplinary action is made. At all stages the staff member will have the right to be accompanied by a work colleague or Trade Union representative. No staff member will be dismissed for a first breach of discipline except in the case of gross misconduct. The staff member will have the right to appeal misconduct and gross misconduct in accordance with the appeals procedure

The main purpose of the disciplinary process is to encourage a staff member, whose standard of work or conduct is unsatisfactory, to improve. The aim is to ensure fair and consistent treatment for all. 1. Issue of Charge Sheet: Management issues a charge sheet to the employee after the prima facie case of misconduct is established. Charge sheet is merely a notice of the charge and provides the employee an opportunity to explain his/her conduct. Charge sheet is generally known as a show cause notice. The charge sheeted employee is expected to show the reasons for such conduct of behaviour. Each charge should be clearly specified in the charge sheet. There should be a separate charge for each allegation. 2. Consideration of Explanation. The explanation of the charge sheeted employee should be considered. If it is found satisfactory, no disciplinary action needs to be taken. On the contrary, when the management is not satisfied with the employees explanation, the management may initiate a full-fledged enquiry. 3. Suspension Pending Enquiry. If the charge is major and serious, a suspension order may be served on the employee along with the charge sheet. According to the Industrial Employment (Standing Order) Act, 1946, the suspended worker is to be paid a subsistence allowance equal to one-half of his wages for the first ninety days of suspension. The three-fourths of wages for the remaining period of suspension is paid if the delay in the completion of disciplinary proceedings is not due to the workers conduct. In accordance with the Code of Discipline, the management decides whether the charge is grave or serious. 4. Holding of Enquiry. An enquiry officer should be appointed to hold the enquiry. The concerned employee will be served notice to this effect. The employee should not be denied the chance of explaining his / her point of view on the issue. The enquiry officer should give sufficient advance notice to the employee to provide an opportunity to prepare and present the case and make submission in his /her defense. The enquiry officer should proceed in a proper manner and examine witnesses. Fair opportunity should be given to the employee to cross-examine the management witnesses. On the conclusion of the enquiry, the enquiry officer should record the findings and the reasons thereof. The enquiry officer should refrain from recommending punishment and leave it to the decision of the appropriate authority. 5. Order of Punishment. Disciplinary action can be taken when the misconduct of the employee is proved. While deciding the nature of disciplinary action, the employees previous record and precedents,, etc, should be considered. When the employee repots that the enquiry conducted was not proper and the action taken was unjustified, the employee must be given a chance to make appeal.

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10.6

EMPLOYEE EXIT

Employee Grievance and Discipline

In the previous section we have studied about different concepts like discipline, indiscipline and disciplinary action procedure. Now let us learn about employee exit. A person joins an Organization to achieve his/ her career goals. While performing various jobs in the Organization, the employee gains learning experience and develop skills and abilities over the years. All employees may not like to continue longer years in a particular Organization. They may prefer leaving the Organization for better pay and benefits, better experience, and for better career. In some occasions the management of the company may ask the employee to exit from the Organization, may be due to indiscipline, superannuation, policy of downsizing employment and so on. There may be many causes of employee exit. These causes can be classified into two categories: avoidable causes and non-avoidable causes. A brief account of each is given blow. Avoidable Causes: Avoidable causes can be on personal reasons like incompatibility with peers or superiors, lack of interest or aptitude of the given job, perceived fears and apprehensions about ones own career prospects, change of technology, change of product mix, production volume, poor working conditions, etc. Non-avoidable Causes: Employees preferences or incompetence or poor health could be considered as unavoidable causes. Types of Employee Exit Employee exit takes place in many ways. The following are the ways followed in business Organizations. Resignation: Resignation refers to the termination of employment at the instance of the employees. This is a manner of separation taken up by the employee. Retirement: organizations generally have clear-cut rules for retirement. Employees retire from services as per the rules laid down in the Organizations. Retirement is generally connected with age. Employees retire on attainment of superannuation. Dismissal: Dismissal is the termination of services as a punishment for some major offences done by the employee. Such punishment is awarded through a judicial or quasi-judicial process. Ample opportunity is given to the accused employee to defend himself, call witnesses in defending his case, etc. Discharge: Discharge is permanent separation of an employee from payroll. The reasons for discharge may be personal or Organizational. The personal reasons, such as incompetence, indiscipline and poor health etc. and Organizational reasons such as reduction in volume of business, technological obsolescence, etc., may lead to the discharge of an employee. Downsizing: Downsizing means reducing the number of employees in an Organization. It refers to the process of reducing the number of employees on the operating payroll by way of terminations, retirements or spin-offs. Exit Interview An exit interview is typically a meeting between at least one representative from a companys human resources (HR) department and a departing employee. (The departing employee usually has voluntarily resigned vs. getting laid off or fired.) The
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HR representative might ask the employee questions while taking notes, asks the employee to complete a questionnaire, or both. Exit interviews are widely used methods to collect feedback from employees leaving the Organization. Such employees are expected to reveal true feelings, opinions and facts as there is no psychological pressure on them. It provides vital clues to sense emerging problems and facilities and take preventive measures. The management can take measures to reduce employee turnover based on the feedback from exit interview. Check Your Progress B 1. What do you mean by the term Discipline? .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 2. What is meant by Indiscipline? .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 3. Define the term Employee Exit. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 4. What is Exit Interview? .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 5. Which of the following statements are True or False? i) ii) When grievances are not addressed by the Management, it leads to indiscipline. Poor working conditions do not lead to grievance.

iii) The main objective of discipline is to gain willing acceptance of the rules, regulations, standards and procedures of the Organization from the employees. iv) Exit interviews are widely used methods to collect feedback from employees leaving the Organization. v) Disciplinary procedure applies to lower staff people only.

10.7
1.

LET US SUM UP

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In every Organization, employees do get dissatisfied with various aspects of working which may be with the attitude of the manager, policy of the Company, working conditions, or behaviour of colleagues. When an employee feels that something is unfair in the Organization, he/ he is said to have a grievance. When grievances are not addressed by the Management, it leads to indiscipline which

ultimately affects the efficiency of the employees and productivity of the Organization. Grievance procedures provide a clear and transparent framework to deal with difficulties which may arise as part of working relationship from either the employers or employees perspective. Model grievance procedure in India provides for five successive time bound steps, each leading to the next in case the aggrieved employee prefers an appeal. Therefore, sound grievance procedure assumes greater importance and it must contain the following features: legal sanctity, acceptability, simplicity, promptness, training and followup. Presence of discipline in any organisation is must. It is the orderly conduct of affairs by the members of an Organisation who adhere to its necessary regulations because they desire to cooperate harmoniously. Discipline is of two type- positive discipline and negative discipline. On the other hand indiscipline refers to the nonconformity to formal and informal rules and regulations. It often leads to strikes, go-slows, and absenteeism, resulting in loss of production, profits and wages. The common causes of indiscipline are: wage discrimination, defective handlings of grievances, payment of low wages, creating low quality work life etc. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a disciplinary process to address these issues amicably. Disciplinary process includes - issue of charge sheet, consideration of explanation, suspension pending enquiry, holding of enquiry and order of punishment. Employee exit is yet another issue that demands special attention. When employees leave the Organization for better pay, benefits, better experience, and for better career, it is called employee exit. Whatever be the reason for the exit, the employee leaving the Organization should move out with positive feelings on the company. Managers should plan for conducting exit interviews to get feedback from these employees who may provide useful information for correcting the policies and processes and also for the growth and development of the Organization. Exit interview is a meeting between at least one representative from a companys human resources department and a departing employee

Employee Grievance and Discipline

10.8
2.

KEY WORDS

Grievance: Discontent or dissatisfaction arising out of anything connected with the company that an employee thinks, believes, or even feels as unfair, unjust, or inequitable Grievance procedure: A mechanism devised by an Organization to handle and settle employees grievances Exit interview: a meeting between at least one representative from a companys human resources department and a departing employee Discipline: the regulation and modulation of human activities to produce a controlled performance Indiscipline: the absence of discipline that indicates the existence of nonconformity to formal and informal rules and regulations

3. 4. 5. 6.

10.9

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

(B) 5) i) True ii) False iii) True iv) True v) False

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10.10
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

TERMINAL QUESTIONS

What is meant by discipline? Explain the procedure for taking disciplinary action. Define grievance. Why do grievances arise? Explain the procedure for redressal of grievances. A sound grievance procedure must contain some essentials features. Explain. Describe the grievance redressal procedure prescribed by law in India. Write a short note on the following: i) ii) iii) Employee Exit Exit Interview Discipline

7.

Discuss the principles to be followed to maintain discipline.

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