GRIEVANCE

Introduction
Dissatisfaction :Anything that disturbs an employee, whether
or not the unrest is expressed in words.

Complaint : A spoken or written dissatisfaction brought to the

attention of the supervisor or the Shop Steward ( In – Charge ).

Grievance : A complaint that has been formally presented to a

Management Representative or to a Union Official
 Grievance Defined
 A grievance as a complaint of one or more
workers with respect to wages and
allowances, conditions of work and
interpretation of service, condition covering
such areas as overtime, leave, transfer,
promotion, seniority, job assignment and
termination of service.

Definitions of Grievances

1. A grievance is a formal dispute between an

employee & management on the conditions of
employment.
2. Grievances are complaints that have been
formally registered in accordance with the
grievance procedure.
3. A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of
injustice in connection with one’s
employment situation that is brought to the
attention of the management.
Importance of Grievance Procedure

 Allow employees and management to resolve

problems
 Allow employees to voice concerns on workplace and

environment
 Keep lines of communication open

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NATURE OF GRIEVANCES
 Discontent or Dissatisfaction.
 Dissatisfaction must arise out of
employment & not due to personal reasons.
 The discontentment can arise out of real or
imaginary reasons.
 The discontent may be voiced or unvoiced
but it must be expressed in some form.
 A grievance is noticeable & traceable to
real or perceived non-fulfillment of one’s
expectations.

© Dr. Parikshit Joshi

 Need for Grievance Procedure
(i) Most grievances affect employees morale, productivity and their
willingness to cooperate with the organization. If an explosive situation
develops, this can be promptly attended to if a grievance handling
procedure is already in existence.
(ii) It is not possible that all the complaints of the employees would be
settled by first- time supervisors, for these supervisors may not have had a
proper training for the purpose, and they may lack authority. Moreover,
there may be personality conflicts and other causes as well.
(iii) It serves as a check on the arbitrary actions of the management
because supervisors know that employees are likely to see to it that their
protest does reach the higher management.
(iv) It serves as an outlet for employee gripes, discontent and frustrations.
The employees are entitled to legislative, executive and judicial protection
and they get this protection from the grievance redressal procedure, which
also acts as a means of upward communication.
Causes of Grievances

 1. ECONOMIC.
 2. WORK ENVIRONMENT.
 3. SUPERVISION.
 4. WORK GROUP.
 5. MISCELLANEOUS.

© Dr. Parikshit Joshi

 Reasons for Grievances
 Economic
 Wage fixation, wage computation, overtime, bonus
 Employees feel they are getting less than what they
ought to get
 Working Environment
 Poor working conditions, defective equipment and
machinery, tools, materials, Light, space, heat
and Poor Maintenance of machinery / tools.
 Supervision
 Disposition of the boss towards the employee
perceived notions of favoritism, nepotism, bias etc.
 Reasons for Grievances
 Work Group
 Strained relations or incompatibility with
peers. Feeling of neglect, obstruction and
victimisation.
 Work Organisation
 Rigid and unfair rules, too much less work
responsibility, lack of recognition,
Perceived inequalities in treatment
EFFECT OF GRIEVANCES

1.On Production : Low quality of production,

Low productivity, Increase in wastage, Increase
in cost of production, Poor quality of production,
Increase in the incidence of accidents.
2.On Employees : Increased absenteeism,
Reduction in level of commitment, Increase in
accidents, Loss of interest in work and
consequent lack of moral and commitment,
Increase in employee turnover, Indiscipline
3.On Managers : Strained superior –
subordinate relations, Need for increased
supervision/control
© Dr. & follow
Parikshit Joshi up Increase in
 Forms of Grievances
a) Factual: A factual grievance arises when legitimate needs
of employees remain unfulfilled, e.g. wage hike has been
agreed but not implemented citing various reasons.
b) Imaginary: when an employee‘s dissatisfaction is not
because of any valid reason but because of a wrong
perception, wrong attitude or wrong information he has.
Such a situation may create an imaginary grievance.
Though management is not at fault in such instances, still
it has to clear the fog immediately.
c) Disguised: An employee may have dissatisfaction for
reasons that are unknown to him. If he/she is under
pressure from family, friends, relatives, neighbors, he/she
may reach the work spot with a heavy heart.
 Types of Grievances
 Individual Grievance: Complaint
that an action by management has
violated the rights of an individual as
set out in the collective agreement or
law, or by some unfair practice.
 Examples: discipline, demotion,
classification disputes, denial
of benefits, etc.

© Dr. Parikshit Joshi

 Types of Grievance
 Group Grievance: Complaint by a
group of individuals, for example, a
department or a shift that has been affected
the same way and at the same time by an
action taken by management.
 An example: The employer refuses to pay
a shift premium to the employees who
work on afternoon shift when the contract
entitles them to it.

© Dr. Parikshit Joshi

 Types of Grievance
 Policy Grievance: Complaint by the
union that an action of management (or its
failure or refusal to act) is a violation of
the agreement that could affect all who
are covered by the agreement.
 Group grievances are often treated as policy
grievances.
 For example, management assigns a steady
day-shift employee to work on an off shift
without regard to seniority.
© Dr. Parikshit Joshi
 Individual Vs Collective (Group)
Grievances
 If the issue involved relate to one or a few
individual employees, it needs to be
handled through a grievance procedure,
but when general issues with policy
implications and wider interest are
involved they become the subject matter
for collective bargaining.
 BENEFITS OF GRIEVANCE
HANDLING PROCEDURES

 1. It encourages employees to raise concerns

without fear of reprisal.
 2. It provides a fair & speedy means of dealing
of grievances.
 3. It prevents minor disagreements developing
into more serious disputes.
 4. It saves employer’s time & money as solutions
are found for workplace problems.
 5. It helps build in organisational climate based
on openness and trust.
© Dr. Parikshit Joshi
OBJECTIVES OF GRIEVANCE HANDLING

1. To enable employee to air his/her grievance.

2. To clarify the nature of grievance.
3. To investigate the reasons of dissatisfaction.
4. To obtain a speedy resolution to the problem.
5. To take appropriate actions & ensure that the
promises are kept.
6. To inform the employee his /her right to voice
the grievance & take it to next stage of the
procedure.
Key Features of Grievance Redressal
Procedure

1. FAIRNESS.

2. FACILITIES FOR REPRESENTATION.

3. PROCEDURAL STEPS.

4. PROMPTNESS.
 Discovery of Grievance

a) Observation.
b) Grievance procedure.
c) Gripe Boxes.
d) Open Door Policy.
e) Exit Interview.
f) Opinion Survey.
 Handling Grievance
 Amenities  Nature of job
 Compensation  Payments
 Conditions of work  Promotions
 Continuity of service  Safety environment
 Disciplinary action  Super Annuation
 Fines  Transfers
 Leave  Victimisation
 Medical benefits
Grievance
Procedure
Steps intheGrievance Process
STEP 1: In the first step the grievance is to be submitted
to departmental representative, who is a
representative of management. He has to give his
answer within 48 hours.

STEP 2: If the departmental representative fails to

provide a solution, the aggrieved employee can take his
grievance to head of the department, who has to give
his decision within 3 days.

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 Steps in Grievance Process
STEP 3: If the aggrieved employee is not satisfied with the decision of
departmental head, he can take the grievance to Grievance Committee.
The Grievance Committee makes its recommendations to the manager
within 7 days in the form of a report. The final decision of the management
on the report of Grievance Committee must be communicated to the
aggrieved employee within three days of the receipt of report. An appeal
for revision of final decision can be made by the worker if he is not satisfied
with it. The management must communicate its decision to the worker
within 7 days.
 Steps in Grievance
Process
STEP 4: If the grievance still remains unsettled, the case may be referred
to voluntary arbitration.
Informal Grievance Redressal Procedur

 More than half of the employees interviewed

said that the informal method of resolving
grievances by way of oral consultants with
their superiors is a much better and less
complicated method to undertake.
 The aggrieved employee can directly
approach his shift incharge or the section
head (in case of a major grievance) engage
into a direct consultation and have his
grievance resolved amicably in stage I itself.
 Case Study

Let us consider a unit level works grievance procedure as followed in the

Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO). The procedure consists of the
following stages:
Stage 1: The worker fills in a grievance form and submits the same to the
shift in charge for information and consideration.
Stage 2: In case, he is not satisfied with the decision, he goes to the
departmental head for the settlement of his grievance.
Stage 3: If the aggrieved employee is still dissatisfied, he forwards it to
the appropriate chairman of the zonal works committee (ZWC). Each
zonal works committee consists of five management and five union
representatives. Their decision is final and binding on both the parties.
The individual grievances considered by the zonal committee pertain to
promotion, suspension, discharge and dismissal.
Stage 4: If the zonal committee either does not reach to a unanimous
decision or the decision is not accepted by the employee, the grievance
is, then, forwarded to the central works committee. This committee
consists of representatives of top management and union officials. Here
also, the unanimity of principle operators and the decision taken by the
committee is binding on both the parties.
Stage 5: If this committee also does not reach to a unanimous decision,
the matter is referred to the Chairman of the company. His or her
decision is final and is binding on both the parties