Q1: What is a Grievance Procedure? Steps involved in a Grievance Procedure. Give a model redressal format for introduction in an organization?

An organization is a joint place where various people of different characteristics work under a common roof. As such, existence of difference of opinion has become a common subject nowadays with the employees getting dissatisfied with various aspects of their work environment, such as the attitude of the manager, policy of the company, working conditions, or behaviour of colleagues. Employers & superiors mostly try to ignore or suppress grievances for as long as possible. But they cannot be suppressed for long as Grievance acts as rust which corrodes the very fabric of organization. An aggrieved employee is a potent source of indiscipline and bad working. Thus, grievance is one emotion that plays a vital role in any organization.

A grievance can be defined as any sort of dissatisfaction, which needs to be redressed in order to bring about the smooth functioning of the individual in the organization. Real or imaginary, legitimate or ridiculous, rated or unvoiced, written or oral, it however finds expression in some form of the other. – In employment law, a grievance is a formal, itemized complaint to management that it has treated one or more employees unfairly or has violated the contract or collective bargaining agreement.

Forms of Grievances: A grievance can take the following forms, viz;1. Factual: When legitimate needs of employees remain unfulfilled, e.g., wage hike has been agreed but not implemented citing various reasons.2. Imaginary: When an employee’s dissatisfaction because of a wrong perception, wrong attitude or wrong information he has. Though management is not at fault in such instances, still it has to clear the fog’ immediately.c) Disguised: Employee may have dissatisfaction for reasons that are unknown to himself like pressure from family, friends, relatives, neighbours,

Causes of Grievances: Grievances may occur for a number of reasons:a) Economic: Wage fixation, overtime, bonus, wage revision, etc..b) Work Environment: Poor physical conditions of workplace, tight production norms, defective tools and equipment, poor quality of materials, unfair rules, lack of recognition, etc.c) Supervision: Attitudes of the supervisor towards the employeeSuch as bias, favouritism, nepotism, caste affiliations, regional feelings,d) Work group: feelings of neglect, victimization, object of ridicule andHumiliation, etc.e) Miscellaneous: certain violations in respect of promotions, safety methods, transfer, disciplinary rules, fines, granting leave, medical facilities, etc.

Effects of Grievance: Grievances, if they are not identified and redressed, may affect adversely the workers, managers and the organization. Some of the effects are;

1. Increase in absenteeism, turnover, and commitment of employees.

2. Reduces the level of sincerity, employee morale, dedication to work & increases accidents in the workplace.

3. Strains relationships between the managers & workers increase in the level of control & supervision & disciplinary actions leading to more industrial disputes.

4. Low quality of production, increase in the wastage of materials, leakages…

5. Increases the cost of production.

Grievance Redressal : there are 2 types of Grievance Redressal, viz;

1. Formal Grievance Redressal

2. Informal Grievance Redressal.

Grievance Procedure / the Formal Grievance Redressal : Step by step process an employee must follow to get his or her complaint addressed satisfactorily. In this process, the formal (written) complaint moves from one level of authority (of the firm and the union) to the next higher level. Grievance procedures are typically included in union (collective bargaining) agreements. A systematic grievance procedure is best means to highlight employee dissatisfaction at various levels. Management, to this end, must encourage employees to use it whenever they have anything to say.

Model Grievance Procedure & the Steps involved in a Grievance Procedure: The grievance procedure mainly being a voluntary measure, was adopted by the Indian Industries during the 16th Indian Labour Conference in 1958. Despite differences between organizations, the common four phase model is largely applied by all industries. The four stages of the machinery are briefly discussed here:

An aggravated employee shall just present his grievance verbally in person to the officer designated and the answer should be given within 48hrs.

If the worker is not satisfied with the answer, he along with one department representative will present the grievance to the departmental head. He will give his judgment in 3 days or state the reason for delay.

If he is not satisfied yet, then he may be requested to refer the case to the grievance committee. The grievance committee will make recommendation within seven days. Management has to implement it,

If even then he remains unsatisfied, he can report to the higher tier of the management for revision.

If the worker is still not satisfied with the decision then the union may ask for voluntary arbitration and the decision of which will be binding on both the parties.

Informal Grievance Redressal Method: 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. Therefore, he not only saves himself from a lot of time but also mental tension and pressure, which many employees claim to have acquired during the course of a formal grievance redressal procedure.

Conclusion:

Therefore, if an organization has to move towards excellence, maintenance of harmonious and cordial relationship is a vital condition. Failure to meet with the workers or organization’s expectation or the deviations from what has already been accepted leads to indiscipline, grievance and stress and often judicial- legal process may not be of much help in resolving them. This has now been understood by many organizations, who now adopt the Proactive method, where instead of the worker undergoing a formal redressal process, the mgmt by itself enlists the workers on the problems they face during production, which reduces a large no of the disputes & problem apart from increasing production & profits.

Model Grievance Redressal Proforma:

S.NO

NAME OF EMPLOYEES

GRIEVANCE( TITLE)

SUPERVISOR

SOLUTION

Q2: ILO and the concept of decent work propagated & promoted by the ILO.

ILO:

The International Labour Organization (ILO), founded in 1919 & headquartered in Geneva, is a specialized agency of the United Nations system which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights.

The ILO formulates international labour standards which take the form of Conventions and Recommendations. These set the minimum standards in the field of fundamental labour rights: freedom of association, the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining, the abolition of forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, as well as other standards addressing conditions spanning across the entire spectrum of work-related issues.

Founded primarily to stop the exploitation of workers all over the world, the ILO today, employs a tripartite structure consisting of the workers representatives having an equal voice as that of the employers & the ILO in helping the governments formulate the Labour Laws, when the ILC (International Labour Conference) meets once every 2 yrs in Geneva funded by the 175 member countries including India.

Concept of Decent Work propagated by the ILO:

The concept of Decent Work was first introduced by the ILO on 11 Dec 05 , in an unusual meeting , wherein Religious leaders of the world were asked to debate on the concept of “Decent work Agenda” propagated & promoted by the ILO worldwide.

The concept of Decent work encompasses four strategic objectives – 

         I.   Promotion of Rights at Work - It calls for renewed attention to ILO’s standards, as well as a fresh look at complimentary means and instruments for achieving this goal.

        II. Employment - Creation of greater employment and income opportunities for women and men as a means to reduce poverty and inequality.

        III. Social Protection – This section emphasises expansion of social security schemes.

        IV. Social Dialogue – This emphasises examining ways of strengthening the institutional capacity of ILO constituents as well as their contribution to the process of dialogue. 

The concept of Decent Work emphasises that the quantity of employment should not be divorced from quality of work and stresses that a social and economic system should be evolved to ensure basic security and employment without compromising workers’ rights and social standards in a highly competitive world.

India’s stand on the concept of Decent Work:  

India, which has been a major member since the inception of ILO, has an ILO area office in New Delhi since 1929. Mainly maintaining links with the Government of India, it focuses on collecting & disseminating info about employment generation, employment in rural areas , select sectors & to convene tripartite meetings between the Govt and the representatives to make any amendments under the articles of Convention 182 ie , hazardous labour practices...

While India has ratified 4 of the 8 core conventions of the ILO & agrees that the four strategic objectives are necessary for decent work, it however maintains a stand that the above holds no meaning unless an opportunity to work is provided. Therefore, employment generation should be the focus of the all ILO programmes and activities. The basic requirement of Decent Work should be to first ensure work to any potential worker and then all other elements of the decent work concept will automatically follow. This stand of India was appreciated by other nations as well. India also made it clear in the meetings of the ILO that the concept of decent work has to be fixed keeping in mind the conditions of work in the social, economic and cultural context of each country. It cannot be made applicable uniformly to every country.  

Conclusion: The NUPGE (National Union of the Public & General Employees) reported that while concluding The ILO Director General Juan Somavia, had said people throughout the world face deficits, gaps and exclusions –  unemployment and underemployment, poor quality and unproductive jobs, unsafe work and insecure income, denied rights, gender inequality, migrant workers who are exploited, lack of representation and voice, and inadequate protection and solidarity in the face of disease, disability and old age, that the overriding goal of the ILO is to promote "opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity,” which is the Concept of Decent Work , which must be at the heart of all local, national ,economic & global strategies for social & economic progress.

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