Employee Grievances

Module 4

Grievances

• A grievance is a formal dispute between employee & management on the conditions of employment.
• Grievances are complaints that have been registered in accordance with the grievance procedure.

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• A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with one's employment situation that is brought to the attention of management.

Grievance must fall under the following categories:

• Amenities
• Compensation
• Conditions of work

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• Continuity of service
• Disciplinary action
• Fines
• Leave
• Medical benefits

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• Nature
• Payment
• Promotion
• Safety
• Superannuation

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• Transfers
• Victimisation

Grievance - Sources

Forms of Grievances

• Factual
• Imaginary
• Disguised

Approaches

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• Human relation
• Legalistic Approach (contract employee)

Steps in the Grievance Procedure

The number of steps in the grievance procedure may differ according to the union involved but generally contain the following:

• Oral Grievance

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• Written Grievance
• Grievance Advanced to Employee Relations
• Arbitration

Steps in the Grievance Procedure

ORAL GRIEVANCE:

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• Employee presents oral grievance to supervisor within timeframe specified in Company policies.
• Immediate Superior provides written response to the oral grievance within timeframe.

Steps in the Grievance Procedure

WRITTEN GRIEVANCE:

If the oral grievance is not satisfactorily adjusted:

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• The aggrieved can submit the grievance in writing to the department head on a standard grievance form signed by the grievant.
• The grievance must be submitted in writing within timeframe specified in Company Policy.
• The department will arrange a grievance meeting between the department head and the grievant.
• The Department shall submit a written response within the timeframe specified in Company Policy.

Steps in the Grievance Procedure

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GRIEVANCE ADVANCED TO EMPLOYEE/LABOR RELATIONS:

If the matter is not satisfactorily adjusted in the department or an answer is not given within the time specified:

• The written grievance previously submitted is forwarded to the Human Resource Department within the timeframe.

If the matter is not satisfactorily adjusted in the Human Resource or an answer is not given within the time specified:

• The written grievance previously submitted is forwarded to the Managing Director within the timeframe.

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• On policy matters only.

Discipline is the bridge between Goals & Accomplishments

MEANING

The word “discipline" is derived from the Latin word "disciplina", which means teaching, learning and growing.

Megginson offer three distinct meanings for the word discipline:

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• Self-discipline
• Necessary condition of orderly behavior
• Act of training and punishing.

Grievance vs Discipline

DEFINITION

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• Discipline is the orderly conduct of the members of an organization who adhere to its necessary regulations because they desire to cooperate harmoniously in forwarding the end which the group has in view and because they recognize that, to do this, their wishes must be brought into a reasonable unison with the requirements on the group in action. - Ordway Teads
• Discipline is the process of training that he can develop self-control and become more effective in his work.

Causes of indiscipline:-

• Non-placement of the right person on the right job
• Undesirable behaviour of seniors

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• Faulty evaluation of persons and executives leads of favoritism.
• Lack of upward communication
• Leadership which is weak, flexible, incompetent and distrustful.
• Defective supervision and an absence of supervisors who know good techniques and are in a position to appreciate critically the work of their subordinates.
• Lack of properly drawn rules and regulations

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• Workers' personal problems, their apprehensions, hopes and aspirations, lack of confidence in and their insecurity with their superior and equals.
• Worker's reactions to rigidity and arbitrariness in rules and their improper interpretation
• Intolerably bad working conditions

APPROACHES TO DISCIPLINE

The different approaches to discipline are:

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• Human relation approach: In human relation approach the employee is helped to correct his deviations
• Human resources approach: Under human resources approach, the employee is treated as a valuable resource and the act of indiscipline is considered as a failure in the area of maintenance and utilization of human resources.
• Group discipline approach: The group as a whole sets the standards of discipline and determines the punishments for the deviations. The individual employees are awarded punishment for any violation under the group discipline.
• Leadership approach: In this approach the supervisor administers the rules and regulations, guides, trains and controls the subordinates regarding disciplinary rules.
• Judicial approach: In judicial approach, all indisciplinary cases are dealt on the basis of legislation and court decisions. The Industrial Employment Act, 1946 to a certain extent, prescribed the conditions that should be followed before awarding any punishment to an employee in India.

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PRINCIPLES FOR MAINTAINING DISCIPLINE:-

The most important principles to be followed for the maintenance of discipline have been suggested by Yoder, Heneman, Turnbull and Stone. They are:

• All the rules should be framed in consultation and collaboration with the representatives of the employees.
• All the rules should be appraised at regular interval to ensure that they continue to be, appropriate, sensible and fair.

CONT..

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• Rules should vary with changes in the working conditions of employees.
• Rules should be uniformly enforced in order to be effective.
• Penalties for any violation of any rule should be clearly stated in advance.
• A disciplinary policy should have as its objectives the prevention of any violation of rules rather than the simple administration of penalties; however it should be corrective rather than punitive.
• Extreme caution should be exercised so that infringements are not encouraged

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• If violations of a particular rule are repeated, the circumstances surrounding them should be investigated and studied in order to determine the cause or causes of such violations
• Recidivism must be expected. Some employees almost certainly violate rules more than others. These cases should be carefully considered so that their causes may be discovered.
• Definite and precise provisions for the handling of all disciplinary actions should be mentioned in the employees' handbook and union agreements.

EFFECTIVE RULES OF DISCIPLINE

McGregor (1967) developed a set of guidelines for enforcing discipline so as to make it as constructive and growth producing as possible. These guidelines are called "hot stove rules" because they can be compared to someone touching a hot stove.

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The following rules explain his theory:

• All individuals must be forewarned about the hot stove (i.e., break a rule), they then will be (punished or disciplined). They must know beforehand and be aware of the punishment.
• If the individual touches the stoves (breaks the rule), there will be immediate consequences (they will be burned). All discipline should be administered immediately after rules are broken.
• If the individual touches the stove, they will again be burned. Therefore, there is consistency. Each time, the rule is broken, there are immediate and consistent consequences.
• If any other individual touches the stove (breaks the rule), they will also get burned. Discipline should be impartial and everyone must be treated in the same manner if the rule breaking occurs.

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DICIPLINARY PROCEDURE

The following steps should be taken:

• Accurate statement of the problem- It is essential to ascertain the problem by seeking answers to the following questions:
  • Does this case call for a disciplinary action?
  • What exactly is the nature of the violation?
  • Under what condition did it occur?

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  • Which individual or individuals were involved?
  • When or how often, did the violation occur?
• Collecting facts bearing on the case- When action is to be taken in a case, it is essential to gather all the facts. A thorough examination of the case should be made in the stipulated time limit.
• Selection of tentative penalties- The penalties to be imposed for an offence should be determined in advance.

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• Choice of Penalty- When a decision has been made to impose a penalty, the punishment to be selected should be such as would prevent a recurrence of the offence.
• Application of the Penalty- The application of the penalty involves a positive and assured attitude on the part of management. If the disciplinary action is merely a reprimand, the executive should calmly and firmly dispose of the matter.
• Follow-up on disciplinary action- The purpose of disciplinary action is to maintain discipline, improve productivity, and avoid a repetition of the offence. The disciplinary action should, therefore, be followed up to see of its effectiveness after it has been taken.

Key principles to remember

Always remember the Hot Stove Rule where discipline is:

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1. You had a warning – you knew what would happen if you touched the stove
2. The penalty was consistent – everyone gets the same burn
3. The penalty is impersonal – a person is burned not because of who he or she is, but because the stove was touched
4. The penalty is not delayed.
5. So check out the facts first, follow due process and then apply the discipline as soon after the event as investigation allows. If you fail to be consistent, you may end up getting you burned.

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