R.Ramadoss Padaiyatchi
M.Phil research scholor

Introduction
DISSATISFACTION , COMPLAINT & GRIEVANCES
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.
International Labour Organization(ILO)

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.

Features 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 expression in some form.
Broadly speaking a grievance is noticeable &
traceable to real or perceived non-fulfillment
of one’s expectations.

Forms of Grievances
a) FACTUAL.
b) IMAGINARY.
c) DISGUISED.

Reasons of Grievances
1. ECONOMIC.
2. WORK ENVIRONMENT.
3. SUPERVISION.
4. WORK GROUP.
5. MISCELLANEOUS.

Human Aspects
1. Work Environment : Light , space ,heat.
2. Use of equipment : Tools / Poor Maintenance.
3. Supervisory Practices.
4. Personality clashes.
5. Managers’ Behavior.
6. Problems with pay / allowances.
7. Perceived inequalities in treatment : Pay,
appeals against performance related awards.
8. Organizational Change.

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.

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 of a group grievance would be
where the employer refuses to pay a shift
premium to the employees who work on
afternoon shift when the contract entitles
them to it.

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.

EFFECT OF GRIEVANCES
1. On Production : Low quality of production , Low
productivity , Increase in wastage , Increase in
cost of production
2. On Employees : Increased absenteeism ,
Reduction in level of commitment , Increase in
accidents , Reduced level of employee morale.
3. On Managers : Strained superior – subordinate
relations , Need for increased supervision/control
& follow up Increase in unrest ,thereby machinery
to maintain industrial peace.

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.

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 where possible 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.

Value Addition - HR Glossary
Joint/labor
management
committee
Key result areas
A panel comprised of management and
union representatives whose purpose is
to address problems, resolve conflicts
and build on relationships.
The parts of an organization’s
intangible assets that relate specifically
to knowledge, expertise, information,
ideas, best practices, intellectual
property and other capabilities.

Value Addition - HR Terminology
Knowledge- based
pay
Knowledge
management
A salary differentiation system that
bases compensation on an individual’s
education, experience, knowledge, skills
or specialized training. Also referred to
as skill based pay.
The process of creating, acquiring,
sharing and managing knowledge to
expand individual and organizational
performance.

Handling Grievance
Amenities
Compensation
Conditions of work
Continuity of service
Disciplinary action
Fines
Leave
Medical benefits
Nature of job
Payments
Promotions
Safety environment
Super Annuation
Supersession
Transfers
Victimisation

Individual or Collective (Group) Grievances
It is important to make a distinction between
individual grievances and 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.

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.
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.

Effects of Grievance
a. Loss of interest in work and consequent lack of moral
and commitment
b. Poor quality of production
c. Low productivity
d. Increase in wastage and costs
e. Increase in employee turnover
f. Increase in the incidence of accidents
g. Indiscipline
h. Unrest, etc.

Value Addition - HR Terminology
Ability test
Ability
Absenteeism
An assessment instrument used to
measure an individual’s abilities,
mental or physical skills level (i.e.
problem solving, manual dexterity,
etc.)
Aptitude or competence, the skill or
proficiency needed to perform
certain tasks.
Referred to as the habitual failure of
employees to report for work when
they are scheduled to work.

© Dr. Parikshit Joshi

Dispute settlement machinery
Different methods for settlement of industrial
disputes provided in the Industrial Dispute Act 1947.
Conciliation
Arbitration
Adjudication

Conciliation
The Government (Central or the State) appoints conciliation
officers who are usually officials of the State Labour
Department or the officials of the Ministry of Labour
Government of India.
Appointed for a particular geographical area, usually a
revenue district.
In certain cases the conciliation officer is appointed for a
particular industry in a particular area.
If any industrial dispute arises between an employer and his
workmen the either can approach the Conciliation Officer for
the area in which the industry is situated and request him to
hold conciliation talks in the dispute and settle the issue.

The talks initiated by the conciliation officer are called
conciliation talks.
The conciliation talks may end in the settlement of the
disputes in which case a settlement is drafted and signed by
the employer, the workmen(trade union) and the conciliation
officer.
There may be cases when the conciliation officer may not be
able to settle the dispute for several reasons.
In such circumstances, the conciliation officer sends a report
to the Government.
This report is called the conciliation failure report.
The Government may refers the issue in dispute to the Labour
Court/Industrial Tribunal.

Adjudication
The Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal gets the jurisdiction to
decide an industrial only if the Government makes a reference
of that dispute to it.
The proceedings before the Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal
are called adjudication proceedings.
The Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal after following the
procedure prescribed under law finally gives its decision.
This decision is sent to the Government and becomes
operational thirty days after the date of its publication by the
Government.
However, any one of the can challenge the decision by means
of a writ petition before the High Court.

Arbitration
The parties agree that the issue in dispute
between them should be settled by referring the
issues for arbitration.
The parties to the dispute can select the person
who should arbitrate the issue i.e., the arbitrator.

Grievance Redressal Procedure
Grievance Redressal Procedure has been divided into
three stages:
Stage I
Stage II
Stage III

The Unit Grievance Redressal
Committee/Work Committee
Comes into picture in stage III.
Matter to be dealt with committee include the following:
Settlement of grievances relating to the terms and conditions of
employment of employees in the day today working
Questions as to whether or not the Company’s rules have been
followed in any particular case, e.g. violation of acting rules
Matters relating to discipline and conduct as between the management
and the employees
Matters relating to severity of punishment given as a disciplinary
measure.
Complaints regarding withholding of increments.
Questions relating to the abuse of privileges of provision of amenities

Limitations of committee
The committee is not concerned with the problems
of planning and development in their wide sense.
The committee also does not discuss matters which
are trade questions such as wages, allowance, hours
of work, leave, old age benefits and the like, which are
covered by agreement with the trade unions or by
reports of Conciliation boards or awards of Industrial
tribunal.
Any decision of the committee must be superseded
by an agreement between the management and the
union.

Members of Committee
The committee consists of ten members of whom five
represent the management and five represent the
employees (Joint Management Committee)
Management Representatives : The representatives of
the Management on the committee are nominated by
the management
Employees Representatives : The representatives of
employees on the committee are nominated by the
union, which is registered under the Trade Union Act,
is representative of the employees and is recognized
by the management for this purpose.

Officers of the committee
The Committee has a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman
and a member Secretary
The Chairman is nominated by the management
from amongst its representatives on the
committees
The Vice-Chairman is nominated by the union
from amongst it’s employees’ representatives on
the committee.
The Secretary is nominated by the management
from amongst its representatives on the
committee

Tenure of Officers
Term of office of the employee’s representative
on the committee other than members
nominated to fill casual vacancies, is 36 months
from the date of formation of the Committee.
A member nominated to fill a casual vacancy
holds office for the unexpired term of his
predecessor.

Quorum of
meeting
Meetings
Payment to employee
representatives
Decision of
committee
 At least one-third of the number of members from each
side can form the quorum for a meeting of the
committee. No quorum is necessary for an adjourned
meeting.
 The committee can meet as often as necessary but not
less than once a month.
 The employee’s representatives, if they attend meetings
while on duty, are paid by the Corporation their full
wages of the time they spend in the committees as if
they are on their usual duty.
 The recommendations of the Unit Grievance Redressal
Committee are not unanimous, the Chairman puts up
the case to the Central Grievance Redressal Committee
for consideration.

Date and Time of
Meeting
Notice of meeting
Decided by chairman
The notice of meeting with it’s
agenda is ordinarily sent by the
secretary to each member of
the committee three days
before the date of the meeting.

The Central Grievance Redressal
Committee
If the matter involves large number of employees.
The Central Grievance Redressal Committee has the power to
deal with :-
Cases which have been referred by the Unit Grievance Redressal
Committees and the non-factory employees works committee.
Cases in which the unanimous decisions of any of the Unit Grievance
Redressal Committees and the non-factory employee’s works
committee have been objected to by management or union.
Individual grievances or complaints of employees, which the union
wishes to discuss
Issues of policy and their interpretation in regard to labour matters
which the union wishes to discuss.

Limitations of committee
The committee is not concerned with the problems of
planning, works development and management of the
plant in the wider sense.
Any decision of the committee can be superseded by
an agreement between the management and the
union

Membership
Term of officers
Officers of
committee
Quorum of
meeting
Eight members of whom four represent
the management and four represent
the employees.
36 months
Chairman, Vice-Chairman and
Secretary
Atleast half of the number of members
representing management and the
employees constitute the quorum for a
meeting of the committee. No quorum
for an adjourned meeting.

Notice of meeting
Acting on
committees decision
The notice of the meeting, together
with the agenda, is ordinarily sent one
day before the date of the meeting.
The unanimous decision of the
committee is binding on the
Management, the employees, and the
union where the decision relates to a
matter of policy or general principle,
the approval or order of the managing
agents is necessary. In all such cases,
decision of the committee is
forwarded by the Chairman to the
appropriate authority for necessary
action.

Informal Grievance Redressal Procedure
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.

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