What is a Grievance?

•An expression of
discontentment with any aspect
of organization.
•Raising a voice against any
fulfillment of expectation.
•Usually grievance relate to
problems of interpretation or
perceived non fulfillment of one’s
expectations
 The International labor
(ILO) defines a grievance
• As a complaint of one or more
workers with respect to wages and
allowances, conditions of work and
interpretation of services conditions
covering such areas as overtime,
leave, transfer, promotion, seniority,
job assignment and termination of
services.
The National Commission on
Labor observed…..
• That “complaints affecting one or
more individual workers in respect of
their wage payments, overtime,
leave, transfer, promotion, seniority,
work assignment and discharges
would constitute grievances.
Grievance Management

procedural issue
V/s
a complex psychological issue
 Classification
1. -Factual
-Imaginary
-Disguised
2. -Group
-Individual
3. -Expressed or implied
4. -Legitimate or illegitimate
5. -Rational or Irrational
 Individual V/s Group
grievances
• Issue involved, relate • General issues with
to one or few policy implications and
individual employees wider interest are
involved
• Needs to be handled • Subject matter for
through a grievance collective bargaining
procedure
• Trade unions should • Trade unions need to
have less or no role be involved
 Causes of Grievance
• Working Conditions
• Management Policy
• Alleged Violations of…
• Personal maladjustments
 Causes
Economic, Wage Fixation, Wage Fixation, Wage
computation, Overtime, Bonus
• Welfare, lack of proper amenities like canteen, rest room,
crèches, drinking water, medical facilities like first aid, sick
room, availability of doctor or trained attendant.
• Work Environment, poor working conditions, defective
equipment and machinery, tools , materials etc.
• Work Conditions. Insecurity of job, non existence of
proper rules, leave, nature of job, Promotions etc.
• Supervisor’s attitude of the boss towards the employees.
Perceived motions of favoritism, nepotism, bias etc
• Work Group Strained relations or incompatibility with
peers. Feeling of neglect, and victimization.
• Work Organization Rigid and Unfair rules. Too much or
too less work responsibility, lack of recognition etc
 Effects of increasing
Grievances
• Loss of interest in work
• Consequence lack of morale and commitment
• Poor quality of production
• Low productivity
• Increase in wastage and costs
• Increase in employee turnover
• Increase in absenteeism
• Increase in the incidents of accidents
• Indiscipline, unrest
All these effects are essentially counter
productive.
 How to handle Grievance
• Employees grievances are essentially human
problems, real or imaginary.
• Whatever be the cause, the approach should be
humane.
• Sensitivity and empathy are required in handling
grievances diligently. So they need to be handled
with care the way you handle glass.
• We must listen to even a small complaints,
because these small complaints, if not attended
takes the shape of “grievance”
• Have to be handled promptly
• To be settle at the level at which they occur.
• Each complaint is an opportunity for us to learn
and improve.
 Recurring Grievances
• When Grievance occur , it is
important to make sure that they do
not recur. If more grievances occur
over the same issue, time again
and/or more number of employees
are found to have a simple
grievance, the focus should shift
from person and (grievance)
procedure to policy and practices.
 Right Strategy
• Prevention is better than cure
 How do we discover the
grievances?
• Exit interview
• Gripe box
• Opinion surveys: through various meetings
• Grapevine
• Through unions
• Open door policy. Upward channels of
communication provide the dependable
sources for discovery of grievances
• Observation-change of behavior.
• Normally more than one method is used
 Limitation of Open Door
Policy
• Workable only in small organizations
• Immediate supervisor is bypassed…
• The top management is unable to assess
the supervisor skill of handling grievance.
• Top management may be unfamiliar with
the ground realities of the work situation
grievance occur-distortion may occur.
• Physiological barriers in employees mind
 Grievance Procedure
• Can be voluntarily established by the
management
Or
• Installed as a result of a collective
agreement to that effect
 Purpose of a grievance
procedure
• Let aggrieved employees know what to do if they have a
grievance and where to look for appeal to.
• Check on arbitrary management decision by providing for
appeals at three levels above the level at which such
grievance occur. However ,the less frequently the higher
levels are used, the more effective they become.
• Promote fair and equitable treatment and personnel
practices having regard to the rights of the employees. The
supervisors will be more careful in their arbitrary use of
power and authority.
• Assist in minimizing discontent and dissatisfaction that may
have adverse effect upon cooperation and productivity.
 Grievance Procedure
• Levels depend on the size of the organization.
• The first and the last steps are the same for all
organizations.
• Labor union may not be essential.
• First level is the supervisor. Second level is
P.O/Middle level.
• Third level (Top management is involved when
company wide issues are involved).
• Even after fourth step, the possibilities could be
temporarily or permanently dropped or workers
may go on strike.
 Benefits of Grievance
Procedure
• Existence of the grievance procedure itself is a positive sign since
this means that the management is appreciating that the
employees have a right to appeal..
• Organizational focus towards individual towards personal and
interpersonal issues
• Tool for management for getting feedback
• It helps in implementing the line of authority of the management.
• Objectivity and uniformity of the decisions of the management.
• Brings openness
• Helps in preventing grievances from assuming big.
• Provides formal means of emotional release for the dissatisfaction.
• Even not aggrieved workers feel better
• Acts as a check on arbitrary action by the management. Manager
takes rational decisions
 Desirable features of a
grievance procedure
• Conformity with existing legislation
• Acceptability
• Simplicity
• Promptness
• Time bound
• Training
• Follow up
 Points to Remember
• Every grievance is important.
• Do not postpone thinking that people will themselves
understand.
• All grievance should be put in writing.
• Relevant fact should be collected and proper records
maintained.
• Workers should be given free time to pursue his grievance.
• Make a list of all probable solutions and then decide.
• Decision should be clearly communicated to the concerned
employee and must be acted upon.
• In case of unfavorable decisions ,legitimate decisions
should be well explained.
• Follow up to be done to see if the decision is right.
Legal status of grievance in
India
• Has not received adequate attention in out
legislation, though following acts indirectly deal
with it.
-Industrial Employment standing orders
act,1946.
-Factories Act,1948.
-ID Act,1947.

However, no specific mention of any procedure

as to de followed by the employers for handling
today grievances of his workers.
 ID Act,1947 amended but
not yet enforced
• In order to remove the shortcoming in 1982,ID act was
amended but not yet enforced. It provides for setting up of
a grievance settlement authorities and reference of some
individual disputes to this authority.
• Section 9-d of the amended act provides that
-If one or more workman are employed, GSA is required.
-Individual disputes as referred to in sub sec(1) to this
GSA.
-GSA shall follow such procedure as and proceeding as may
be prescribed .
-No reference of such individual disputes shall be made
unless it has been referred to GSA, which has taken a
decision and the decision is not acceptable to both the
parties.
MODEL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE (only a voluntary grievance
procedure available in India)

• Was formulated in 16th session of INDIA LABOR CONFERRENCE

in 1958.
• An agreed worker shall present his grievance verbally in
person to the officer designated by the management for this
purpose.
• An answer shall be given to him with in 48 hours.
• He can present his grievance to the head of department
designated by the management. The head shall give the
answer with in 3 days.
• Request for forwarding the case to grievance committee which
shall make the recommendations within 2 days. If the decision
of the comity is unanimous, it gets incremented otherwise will
forward the recommendation to the manager who shall
communicated the decision to the worker within 3 days.
• He may appeal for revision. He can take union representative
with him for discussion with the management in 3 days time.
• If still no agreement is reached, both the parties may refer the
case to voluntary arbitration within a week.
 Rourkela Steel Plant
• Workers approaches his foreman/HOD at
the shop floor only.
• Can invoke zonal grievance committee for
his zone
• Can approach central grievance
committee.
• Can approach general manager whose
decision is final.
• Both zonal and central committee are
bipartite and personnel officer acts as a
coordinator
 Aspects of Grievance
Handling.
Grievance Handling

Grievance procedure Grievance interview

Formal and systematic Not formal and

mode Psychological mode
 Grievance Interview
• Human being’s nature is complex, mere
procedures may not serve the purpose.
Specially for imaginary and
disguised grievances ,procedure does not
necessarily solve the problem in isolation.
• Personal grievances are to be handled in
such cases and therefore personal
interview becomes an important part.
Even in cases of factual grievances,
interview helps in identifying whether the
grievance is actual or not.
 Skills required for
conducting interview
• Maturity
• Understanding
• Patience
• Extremely good listening skills
• Empathy
• Professional handling of the situation
• Interview and counseling skills
 Primary aim of grievance
interview
• Seek clarification
• Provide an opportunity to the
employees to vent out his ill feelings
• Improves industrial relations in long
run
 Common pitfalls that
management commit in
grievance handling
• Stopping the search for facts too
soon
• Expressing a management decision
before gathering full facts
• Failing to maintain proper records
• Arbitrary exercise of executive
discretion
• Settling wrong grievances
 Do’s and don'ts
• Investigate and handle each and every case as
though it may eventually result in an arbitration
hearing.
• Talk with the employee about his grievance, give
him a good and full hearing.
• Enforce the contractual time limit on both sides.
• Do not argue the merits of the grievance first, if
the grievance is ultimately.
• Don’t make agreements with individuals that are
inconsistent with the labor agreement.
• Don’t hold back the remedy, if the company is
wrong.
• Examine the relevant contract provisions.
 Do’s and Don’t
• Determine if the company has been consistent.
• Examine the total agreement and make interpretations
based on the whole.
• Don’t admit to the binding affect of a past practice.
• Examine the prior grievance records.
• Collect all available evidence.
• Permit a full hearing of the issues.
• Identify the relief the union is seeking.
• Treat the union representative as your equal.
• Don’t relinquish your authority to the union.
• Admit your errors and take corrective action.
• Settle grievance on the basis of what is fair.
 Do’s and Don’t
• Don’t argue grievance issues off work premises.
• Don’t give away your copy of written grievance.
• Don’t trade grievance settlement for a grievance with drawl .
• Handle cases involving discipline or discharge of union
representative with extra caution and consideration.
• Don’t deny grievances on the premise that your hands have been
tied by management.
• Control your emotions, your remarks and your behavior.
• Don’t withhold grievance information.
• Maintain records of matters relevant to your labor relations
situations.
• Fully inform your own supervisor of grievance matters.
• Command respect from employees and union representative.
• Hold your grievance discussion privately.
• Don’t make mutual convent agreements regarding future
management act on.
 Developing a right kind of
attitude for grievance
management

• Treat employee as a customer.

• Anticipate what an employee wants.
• Learn to listen what is not
communicated.
• Empathy.
 Interesting facts
• Most loyal employees are those who
complain
• More than 90% unhappy never
bother to complain.
• One unhappy employee tells ,on an
average
 Some facts about an
Employee
• Very important person of our organization.
• We are dependent on him.
• Employee is not an interruption in our
work ….he is the purpose of it.
• We are not doing a favor by serving him
but he is doing a favor by giving us an
opportunity to serve him.
• We should not think of wining an
argument with an employee.
 Employees Satisfaction on
Complaints Handing
• 77% of employees believe that a
complaint has been handled
satisfactorily if they only need to deal
with one person.
• Satisfaction level drops to 61% if
employee has to deal with second
person.
 ECONOMICAL ISSUSES
BASED GRIEVANCE
Satish has been working Jr. Engineer in the company for last
7 years. He is an ITI. He is disciplined and no complaint
has ever come to light about him. His salary is
Rs.6700/p/m.
• Mr. Mahesh is also an instrumentation who has recently
joined your company last month. However, he is a degree
holder with just one year of experience. He has been taken
on a salary of Rs.10,000/p/m/.
• Mr. Satish comes to you “ sir, you are doing injustice to us
by bringing in less experienced persons from outside and
paying them highest salary than our. Sir, I challenge you
that let me and Mahesh operate the same machine, I will
handle it in better way than him.
 Role Play/Discussions
• M/s A K Enterprises is a company manufacturing shoes.
• One day, you are informed that one fitter from plant has
left the duty in between and his time out at gate is
mentioned at 2 pm as against his regular outgoing time of
5:30 pm. You as personnel officer tied to find out with an
engineer. Mr. Satish who told you that he was not listening
to my instructions. I scolded him to which he reacted and
said he cant work. Therefore I gave him the gate pass for
going out.
• Next Day you called the fitter, Mr. Sanjay. You asked him
about what happened. He said “sir, saab ne mujhe gali
diya” saab mai kam nhn kar sakta