March-14

www.businessmanager.in

C o v e r F e a t u r e

Soft competencies skills- A must foraspirantsMost of the employers observed that they could find workers who havethe capability to operate machinery or fulfill other tasks, but manypotential hires lack the soft competencies that a company needs.This iswhere soft competencies or soft skills, which play a vital role in day to dayoperations. An article by Ritu Mehrotra.

05

Unleash the IMPACT CODE for people management

This article describes the ten mantra of people management and how eachone of them is a critical aspect and will help you achieve your goals, asamicably, equitably and often as rapidly as possible.An article by Hemang Desai

07

Self-defeating behaviors

In turbulent times, it's hard enough to deal with external problems. But toooften people and companies exacerbate their troubles by their ownactions. Self-defeating behaviors can make any situation worse. An articleby K.S. Ahluwalia.

10

12 13

Designingeffective andinnovativesalary slip An article by Deepak Malhotra

Makewomen feelspecial atwork!An article by Sharvani Sachidanand

Are we really prepared forzero accident at work? -By Dr. Harbans Lal Kaila

It could happen to you-By Indranil Banerjee

Safety needs to becombined with business-By Dr. Rajveer Choudhary

Role of HR in safety -By M.K. Rao

Human safety : A majorconcern -By Susanta Chattopadhyay

Safety Management & HR-By Asim Kumar Basu

Dr. H.L. Kaila Indranil Banerjee Dr. R. Choudhary M.K. Rao

S. Chattopadhyay

Asim Kumar Basu14-35

NEWSPAPERS WAGE BOARD

Will it not upset thewage fixationprinciples?The Hon'ble SupremeCourt of India shouldhave laid down theprinciples as to what extent theinterference of thegovernment is justifiedand whether theconstitution of wageboards has become redundant or not.An article by H. L. Kumar

InternationalWorkers complianceunder EPF'Excluded employee'means an InternationalWorker, who has beencontributing to a socialsecurity programme ofhis country of origin,either as a citizen orresident, with whomIndia has entered into asocial security agreement ( SSA) onreciprocal manner and has been enjoyingthe status of detached-employee for theperiod and terms, as specified in the SSA.An article by S.K. Gupta.

55

58

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InvaluableThe important judgments of 2013 captured in few lines on various employmentrelations topics is invaluable. This compilation is highly beneficial for all HR persons. Ihave not come across of such a innovative work in any magazine. Truely wonderfulknowledge enhancement contents.This issue is to be kept for long for quick reference.

-Joginder Prasad

Interesting ReadGlimpse of HR researches of 2013 broughtout by BM is interesting read.The contentscan take you long to think what is happening around in HR and employee scenario.Thanks for making dry subject of reports and surveys,a good read.Presentation is verymuch impressive. -Manilal

Thought Provoking Psychological testing in talent acquisition carry very bright prospects. It can be used inmany ways. Dr. Dhar in his article presented the various aspects comprehensively. Hehas also touched upon innovations in this testing. It is rightly said that psychology is

now better equipped in technique, methodology,empirical data and experience ever before.It is good toread thought provoking article. -Jaswant

QualitativeDr. Sanjay Bhattacharya’s article on feedback culture isa qualitative work.Organisations,where culture of feedback either not nurtured positively or used for covertagenda, are not able to sustain for long in terms ofhuman capital value. -Lalchand

UsefulBM is proved to be a very useful magazine for HRemployees and employers due to all in one apart fromnetwork without linked in. -Anand

BeneficialMr.Surendra Nath (Jan.014 issue) in his article has very intelligently explained the valueof circumstantial evidence in domestic enquiry through the findings of Arushi murdercase. Normally enquiry officer and the management consider direct evidence forfindings whether the employee is guilty of charges.But law is very clear that there maybe some situations where employee committed the misconduct and there were no eyewitnesses to the commission of misconduct.In such situation circumstantial evidenceshave a great role to play and enquiry officer should not take lightly.A very good articleon the subject which can be of immense benefit to all HR persons and legalprofessionals. -Tejeswar Pillai

Questions by readers on variety ofproblems they face at work and answeredby Anil Kaushik Chief Editor. Look at it.These may also be of some help to you.39

37

Is your job under threat?- Dr. PVR Murthy

- BY SIMRAN OBEROI

Diversity & Inclusion

36

The Other Side ofHR Function

Discipline has to be prime objective

62

- Prof. Ravi Dharmarao

64

The Reverse Discrimination Challenge

04

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Latest from theCourtsLatest verdicts from different High Courts and SupremeCourt effecting employer employee relations.41

GovernmentNotifications

Though, workplace safety is a big concern for industries but seems attimes of accidents only and not otherwise. Overall safetypreparedness appears to be low. Shop floor people, be it managers orworkers pay less importance to perform with safety. Basicallyworkplace safety is a culture. It is a habit which has to be ingrainedamong all. Safety has to come from top and every CEO has to wear thehat of chief safety Officer. It is felt that safety is more or less notpracticed every moment at work but celebrated on safety day everyyear with slogans, posters and banners. It remains in manuals but notin practice to the extent required.

It is evident that normally accidents happen either due to unsafetechnologies or work methods. Behavioural safety also plays an

important role. Mindset of management andworkers makes the workplace safe or unsafe.

The issue of Human safety at workplace hasgone un-noticed, un-addressed and underreported. At least contradictions in data oflabour Ministry, insurance companies and ESIindicates the fact.While labour ministry dataindicates fall in fatal and non fatal accidents,insurance benefits claimed by companiesindicate a rate of accidents that far outweighthose that are reported.

In spite of having sufficient rather stringentsafety regulations in Factories Act, accidents

have not reduced. Law alone can not be a remedy of every problem.Attitude of managements and workers is the core. Industries have tounderstand and evaluate few things like the cost of human life,amount to be paid in terms of compensation and regular investmentin safety training. Employees have to be made aware of risks involvedand remedial steps required.There should not be any short cut tosafety. Research has shown that 96 per cent of the accidents arecaused by human error with remaining caused by accidents.Managements have to realize that they can bring quality only if safetyimproves. Employees need to be motivated at all levels for safety andit should begin from the top. It is evident from the fact how much weare concerned for safety, is that in many organizations safety officersare appointed just to meet the compliance of provisions of FactoriesAct . He hardly gets any importance in the matters of safety.

The cover feature is centered on human safety at work-an attempt tounderstand the issue from different perspectives through the writingsof experts and industry heads and sensitize the HR to bring it oncenter stage once again and increase the level of safety consciousnessamong all stakeholders.

If you like it let us know. If not, well, let us know that too.

Happy Reading!

Un-addressed

Business Manager March 201403

Chief Editor ANIL KAUSHIK

Associate Editor Anjana Anil

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Anil Kaushik



COLU

MN

Diversity & Inclusion

SIMRAN OBEROISenior Knowledge Consultant, SHRM India

Organization's visionof diversity should

not be one of creatinga separate or special

privilege which isviewed as an unfair

treatment orreservation.

The ReverseDiscrimination Challenge

W e have been discussing the merits, challenges and businessreasons of having a diverse workforce. However, there is alwaysanother side to every story and in this case too, as an

organization, one must have a balanced approach so that the situation ofReverse Discrimination does not arise. In our enthusiasm to becomediverse, we may sometimes marginalize the majority group within theworkforce.The important element to understand is that the organization'svision of diversity should not be one of creating a separate or specialprivilege which is viewed as an unfair treatment or reservation.The visionor approach should be one of inclusion and embracing differences.Theunderlying message should always hinge on the individual's performanceand capabilities in the role he or she is assigned.

While this is not recognized as a serious concern area in India as yet, reversediscrimination lawsuits seem to be on the increase in the United States. InIndia,since regulations related to having a diverse workforce are not in place,the private sector has the ability to define its diversity policy as per what worksfor its own business strategy. But reverse discrimination in India tends to havesocio-political under-currents and one has to be cognizant of the escalationthat can take place. Therefore while framing the diversity strategy as well aspolicy, the organizations must balance their approach by keeping the followingelements in mind-

1. Defining the percentage of candidates (prospective employees orexisting employees) without incorporating the performance and potentialaspects would not be the right approach. Representation of employeesfrom diverse groups is important but important decisions such aspromotions, career movements, development opportunities and so onshould be made based on the employee's performance and capability. If anemployee who is less capable or experienced is given a preference only dueto the fact that there is a diversity imperative, it leads to disengagement.

2. Role identification - This is particularly essential when includingdifferently abled individuals into the workforce so that there is a definedand transparent process for all employees to see and understand.Thehigher their understanding, the higher the acceptance and the lower thechances of reverse discrimination.

3. Sensitization - Organizations can avoid difficult situations of reversediscrimination by sensitizingthe managers about the implications of bothdiscrimination as well as reverse discrimination.This will also allow themanagers to seek clarifications that they might have related to what isperceived as inappropriate treatment under these two brackets. Hence thediversity trainings should also discuss what is reverse discrimination andthe consequences.

4. Regular monitoring / tracking - Just as there is a need to conduct regulardiversity audits, there is a need to also track reverse discrimination instanceswhen it comes to people processes.

5. Grievance handling - Just as there is a process for handling discriminatorygrievances that process should includeredressal of reverse discriminationrelated instances as well.The committee should take this seriously since itimpacts the morale of the employees as well as the perception that theyhave of the organization's fairness and transparency. An employee whoexperiences this or sees another employee experiencing the same shouldhave the comfort level and trust to bring it to the attention of the HR team,the requisite committee or the manager.

HR practitioners are currently grappling with Diversity related concerns and howthat is impacting business.But while reverse discrimination is still in the initialstages,awareness of such issues is important for the organization and its HRteam to be able to develop the right future-focused strategy related to peopleand managing their differences,as well as similarities in an optimal manner.Inclusion is truly about bringing each employee ( whether in the majority orminority) within the organization's culture sphere and absorbing them with theirdifferences,as well as enabling them to adapt to each other. BM

There are many aspirants who holddegrees from top notchuniversities with high percentagesand have also done enough ofshort-term courses to land them a

job but fail to grab one during therecruitment. There are many who holddegrees from recognized universities and notso high percentage but are able to land theirdream job at the first try. The reason behindthis can be due to the lack of softcompetencies skills. While looking for a job, afresher often lays emphasis on his/her skillstowards the abilities, training and knowledgeof specific skills required for the job.However, they often neglect the softcompetencies or soft skills, which play a vitalrole in day to day operations. These skills area bunch of personal qualities, attitudes,habits and social graces. These attributesenhance an individual's interaction, jobperformance and career prospects. Therefore,it is important to focus on the development ofthese skills as you do on your hard skills.Employers seek candidates with both types ofskills when hiring for most positions.

Some of the important softcompetencies that need to be inculcatedare as follows:

CommunicatingWhile scanning through a job

advertisement, I am sure you must haveobserved the importance of communication

skills. The ability to communicateinformation accurately, clearly and asintended, is something that cannot beundervalued. An aspirant who feels he/shelacks this skill must work on improving it.There are courses which are designedspecifically to help people improve theircommunication skills.

Listening The ability to accurately receive and

interpret messages during the communicationprocess is called listening. Misunderstandings,confusion, misinterpretation, lack of enoughinformation are often occurring due to lackingof listening skills. This skill is so important,that many organizations are training theirstaff on the basis of this skill. Having this skillwill lead you to a better understanding, greaterproductivity with a few mistakes andincreased sharing of information. Aspirantsneed to spend some time thinking about anddeveloping your listening skills they are theblocks of success.

TeamworkTeamwork is an essential skill. The

reason is, no company runs under oneperson. They work in a team; whether it'stwo people in a group or hundreds. A personwho can work in a team is very much soughtout by the employer. Some people arecomfortable working in a group, whileothers may have a problem and prefer to



Soft competencies skills- A must for aspirants

Most of the employers observed that they could find workers who have the capabilityto operate machinery or fulfill other tasks, but many potential hires lack the softcompetencies that a company needs.This is where soft competencies or soft skills,which play a vital role in day to day operations.

RITU MEHROTRA, V.P.Global HR & Talent Management, Bristlecone

work individually. For those who do not preferworking in a group, they should try to inculcate thisskill as this is one skill which can help them sustainthroughout the long run.

FlexibilityThe ability to multitask is another skill which

can help you climb the ladder of success. When anemployee can take on even unanticipated tasks,employers are happy and would like keep him/herin the company sometimes at any cost.

Time managementTime management is a process of planning and

exercising conscious control over the amount oftime spent on a specific activity. It is very importantto develop effective strategies for managing yourtime to balance the conflicting demands of your job,especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency andproductivity. A candidate needs to clear differentlevel of tests while applying for a position in anycompany. These tests whether written or onlineinvolve requires a lot of time management.

Personal organizationA person who always gets his things done in a

perpetually frantic state is a person who lacksorganization skills. Without this skill a person tendsto waste time, feel stressed and frustrated. "Practicemakes a man perfect" as the saying goes; aspirantsmust instill this skill in them. They must learn howto prepare, plan, priorities and even schedulingtheir free time.

Problem solving and decision making

Problem solving and decision-making are veryimportant skills. Problem-solving generally involvesdecision-making, and decision-making is especiallyimportant for management and leadership. Thereare processes and techniques to improve decision-making and the quality of decisions. Decision-making is more natural to certain personalities, sothese people should focus more on improving thequality of their decisions. People that are lessnatural decision-makers are often able to makequality assessments, but then need to be moredecisive in acting upon the assessments made.

Personal drive and initiativeProblem solving and decision-making are very

important skills. The initiative is that first steptoward action. It means doing something on yourown, without having to be told to do it. The initiativealso means sometimes going above and beyond whatis expected of you. Initiative makes you stand outfrom the crowd and it convinces the employer totake you. When you take the initiative, you arecreating an opportunity. The more initiative youtake, the more opportunities you are creating foryourself. Initiative in a person is usually respectedand rewarded. These skills are important, if notmore important, than the traditional skills to anemployer looking to hire, regardless of industry orjob type. Therefore, aspirants must develop theseskills gradually while perfecting their traditionalskills required in the job description.


Soft competencies skills-A must for aspirants

Problem solvingand decision-

making are veryimportant skills.

Problem-solvinggenerally involvesdecision-making,

and decision-making is especially

important formanagement and

leadership.

BM



Mr. Ajit Jain, otherwise a highly successful architect was often found strugglingwith people management issues among his small team of highly talentedarchitects and engineers. He was finding virtually impossible to find anescape route to people management. He discovered that it is challenging foranyone to survive totally independent of other people in the society. Each day

in almost all walks of life-be it home, work or during travel or in a movie hall- we cannot

Unleash the IMPACT CODEfor people management This article describes the ten mantra of people management and how each one ofthem is a critical aspect and will help you achieve your goals, as amicably,equitably and often as rapidly as possible.

Hemang Desai CEO & Chief Counselor @ HD Management & Counseling Consultants

Initiative

Mutual respect

Perseverance/

persuasion

Adaptability

Communication

Tactfulness

Creativity

Objectivity

of

(self) p

erceptio

n

Discipline

Ethics


avoid interacting with other people. However, itwould entirely depend on the manner, clarity andfairness with which we express our point of view toother people, how effective these interactions can be.

While we may not be fully aware of it, in nearlyevery personal interaction- whatever the purpose ortopic, could be significant or trivial, we always striveto achieve our goals, as amicably, equitably andoften as rapidly as possible.

This is the premise of the IMPACT CODE, whichunlocks the barriers in managing people aroundyou. The IMPACT CODE is a password whichrestructures some simple acts, which often practiceunknowingly to handle difficult and masked peoplein our daily surroundings:

1. Initiative :For any objective to be achieved, the right start

plays a major role. Be the first to initiate a dialogue ora negotiation and suddenly you will find yourselfleading others. This initiative might require you totranslate your self-motivation into a realistic action.This initiative triggers within an individual the needto act on original thought process, to confront andresolve important issues or to rise to opportunitiesthat are waiting to be capitalized. Further five majorconstituents of the initiative are anticipation,judgement, energy, action and follow-through.

2. Mutual respect For any relationship to exist, two ingredients

become quite significant, mutual trust and respect,as individuals. It also gets built through honesty,integrity, reliability and commitment of anindividual. In order to influence and manage peoplearound you, you got to build credibility for yourself.The ability to apply one's own knowledge,experience and conscientious efforts towardsoptimal solution of a given problem helps inachieving this personal credibility. As a part offamily, team, group or any social organization, aleader's past performance creates a track record,which builds up credibility and trust.

3. Perseverance/persuasion For any leader to be successful, exhibition of

perseverance to know and understand individualpersonalities becomes extremely critical. Hereperseverance can also be the level of determinationto resolve more complex problems than the teamotherwise can. Persuasion is the individual abilityto gain approval, acceptance or agreement of one'sown decision by the team. Here both the terms areused in very positive sense and thereby it is one ofthe most desired virtues in any successful leader.

4. Adaptability Adaptability is a valuable people-skill for

improving personal effectiveness, as we interactwith various types of people. It is directlyproportional to the success for a leader. Adaptabilitycan be an index of one's flexibility to ever changingand dynamic environment, circumstances andresponsibilities. The Darwinism and theLamarckism have come into vogue. Survival of thefittest and the Struggle for existence have becomethe mantras of modern day management. Hence oneis expected to change constantly and adjust to theconsistently changing expectations. A caution herewould be that adaptability does not implyindiscriminate change. It is only when changes aredesirable, necessary or inevitable that adaptabilitybecomes beneficial.

5. Communication One of the finest American President Abraham

Lincoln, once said : 'When I am getting ready toreason with a man, I spend one-third of my time onmyself and what I am going to say-and two-thirdsabout him and what he is going to say.' It emphasizesthe multi-dimensional aspects of communication asan effective people management skill. In effectivecommunication, we convey messages, ideas,information, emotions and often intentions,concisely and clearly. Another very important pointis what is unsaid is often as meaningful as what issaid. This is especially important, whether

For any relationship to exist,two ingredients become quitesignificant, mutual trust andrespect, as individuals.



communicating verbally or in writing. Silence canbe resounding. At times, saying nothing can say itall !!

6. Tactfulness Tactfulness is the ability to deal with others

thoughtfully with genuine understanding andconcern for their feelings. Tact cannot be contrived(artificial); it should neither be obsequious(flattering) in behaviour nor condescending (lofty)in attitude.

My first experience with a highly tactful person Icame across in my professional career was mark of atrue leader, in my earlier assignments I wasrequired to prepare a few write-ups for the Trainingpolicy manual, we were preparing. One day, Ipresented a particular write up, which I evidentlywas very proud of to show because I had spent a fewnights, apart from, part of tedious days…He lookedit over deliberately, his green pen hovering overeach of my lines and his eyes looming out of hisspectacles watching out for every error, myinexperienced mind would have committed…That'swhat that inexperienced mind thought at thatmoment…At last he looked up and said, " This hascome out very well, but can we make it a little betterby just finding an alternate word for this, I am surewe can, don't you think so ?" , making a blue circlearound a word…Not only did I changed the word butcreated a history by completing the manual muchbefore the stipulated time frame.

7. CreativityCreativity is the ability to present your identity

in your ideas. The leader is expected to exhibitcreativity in his dealings, if he wants to make themost of any situation. Creativity helps you instarting a quest for solution, where others give up,proving to be a canny knack in effective peoplemanagement. Actually creativity armed with tactand appropriate communication can prove to bemuch more effective tool for managing the peoplearound you to desired level of success.

8. Objectivity of (self) perception Objectivity is the ability to evaluate the relevant

elements of a situation influenced by emotion,belief, conjecture or personal preference. Being non-

judgemental to self and others will ensure trust andrespect for the beliefs and decisions taken by theleader. Being objective and receptive to new ideasimplies acquiring new skills and new learning.Objectivity and being free of prejudices, will allowyou right choices in life. It will enable you to knowthe persons fairly by character, capability andconduct. Fairness is one of the most desiredoutcomes of the objectivity. Fairness amongleadership will prevail where objectivity is ensured.Reviewing our persistent attitudes, beliefs or ritualsobjectively will reduce indifference, avoidance,resentment and antipathy among groups and teams.

9. DisciplineOne of the greatest thinkers of his times, Plato

once said, "The first and the best victory is to conquerself". Self discipline is a hallmark of leadership. It isa characteristic that enables a leader to lessenpersonal feelings when serving the best interest ofthe group or the organization. The ability toexercise restraints over our impulses, emotions aswell as personal preferences is considerablyachieved by imposing discipline. At the same timediscipline trains us to act without hesitation, so as tomaximize the value of the opportunity or minimizethe possibility of unwanted consequences. Thereare some simple steps to follow the disciplineprinciple:

a) Focus on the bright end

b) Establishing priorities and probabilities

c) Timing and timeliness of milestones

10. EthicsAnd last but not the least…Ethics is basic to

establishing and maintaining highest standards ofexcellence in the practice of the other peoplemanagement skills mentioned above. Ethics is anindividual's commitment to the practice ofpositive ethical behaviour. Good characterstemming from this practice of good ethics is adistinctive characteristic of leadership. Itdistinguishes any leader who exhibits thischaracteristic from others who may simply wish todominate or get their way without giving dueconsideration to truth, fairness or equity. Ethicsestablishes an underlying self-assurance in theleader who practices it.

The IMPACT CODE equips you with:

Tools to manage people around you at home, at work or in a public place

Simple-to-practice yet tested and effective leadership skills

Apt team skills, enhancing participative and collaborative feeling

Increasing group cohesiveness across the team

Much needed 'engagement' for any given goal

Better self awareness and interpersonal relationships

Unleash the IMPACT CODE for people management

BM

In turbulent times, it's hard enough to dealwith external problems. But too often peopleand companies exacerbate their troubles bytheir own actions. Self-defeating behaviors canmake any situation worse.

Put these five on the what-not-to-do list.

Demanding a bigger share of a shrinking pie

Leaders defeat themselves when they seek gainwhen others suffer, for example, rising prices in atime of high unemployment when consumers haveless to spend, to ensure profits when sales are down.McDonald's raised prices three percent in early 2012and by the third quarter, faced the first drop in same-store sales in nine years. The executive responsiblefor that strategy was replaced.

At bankrupt Hostess Brands, bakery workersrefused to make concessions (though the Teamstersdid), thereby forcing the company to liquidate,eliminating 18,000 jobs. By trying to grab too much,the bakery union could lose everything.

This happens to executives too. A manager in aretail company demanded a promotion during therecession, because he was "indispensable," he said.The CEO, who had cut her own pay to save jobs, firedhim instead. Greed makes a bad situation worse.

Getting angryAnger and blame are unproductive emotions.

Post-U.S. election, defeated Mitt Romney blamed hisdefeat on "gifts" that "bought" the votes of youngpeople, women, African-Americans, and Latinos forPresident Obama. Losing the Presidency is a big


Self-defeatingbehaviors

K.S. Ahluwalia, Executive Coach and Mentor- Excalibre

5.There's a

cure forself-defeating

behavior:

Get over

yourself.

4.A related

form ofself-defeat is

to allowbloat.

3.Sometimes

self-perpetuated

decline occurs

more slowly,

through taking

core strengths for

granted while

chasing the

greener grass.

2. Anger and

blame are

unproductive

emotions.

1.Leadersdefeatthemselves

when they

seek gain

when others

suffer.

defeat, but Romney further defeated future electoralprospects with public bitterness and insults. Historymight remember the bitterness, not his graciousconcession speech.

Anger hurts companies too, especially ifmisplaced. Years after a tragic explosion on an oilplatform in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 inwhich 11 people lost their lives; BP was back in thenews with a record fine and criminal charges.Former CEO Tony Hayward defeated himself anddamaged the company in the public mind by issuingbitter statements about how unfair this was. Angrywords leave a long trail. An employee in anothercompany who threw a temper tantrum over a deniedproposal was surprised that this episode was stillrecalled two years later, overwhelming hisaccomplishments. He was the first terminated inreorganization. Bitterness turns everything sour.

Giving in to mission creepSometimes self-perpetuated decline occurs more

slowly, through taking core strengths for grantedwhile chasing the greener grass. I can't say that thisis happening to Google, a company I admire, but I dosee potholes ahead - although driverless cars are anextension of mapping software close to Google's corestrength in search. But should Google expand itsterritory to be a device maker and communicationsnetwork provider, building a fiber-optics and mobilenetwork?

This could be mission creep. Perhaps Googleshould focus on improving Googling.

Trying to become something you are not whilethere's plenty of value in who you can be self-defeating. For professionals, this can meanbranching out into new fields while falling behind inthe latest knowledge in the field that made theirreputation.

People can get caught in the middle - not yet goodenough to compete in the new area, while losingstrength in the old area.

Adding without subtractingA related form of self-defeat is to allow bloat.

Adding new items without subtracting old ones ishow closets get cluttered, bureaucracies expand,workloads grow out of control, national budgets gointo deficit, and people get fat. It takes discipline tocut or consolidate some things for every one added.Too often that discipline is missing.

A technology company tacked on acquisitionswithout integration, which made acquiredcompanies happy. But one consequence was 17warring R&D groups and the lowest R&D in theindustry. Bankruptcy followed. Growing withoutpruning is bad for gardens and for business.

Thinking you'll get away with itWhatever "it" is - lying, cheating, foreign corrupt

practices, or swallowing extra bites of chocolate -lapses cannot remain secret for long in the digitalage. Believing otherwise is delusional.

The mistake will show up somewhere - in routineaudits, unrelated FBI investigations, smart phonephotos by strangers, or the bathroom scale. In theultimate example of self-defeating behavior, toomany otherwise-intelligent politicians, militaryleaders, and CEOs think with their zippers, therebyjeopardizing companies, countries, and careers.

Happily, there's a cure for self-defeating behavior:Get over yourself.

Humility prevents self-defeat. A desire to serveothers, an emphasis on values and purpose, a senseof responsibility for long-term consequences, andknowledge of both strengths and limitations canmake it easier to avoid these traps.

Google has enjoyed outstanding success, but thatdoesn't mean it will succeed at everything.

The bakery union that fought Hostess intoliquidation had solidarity, but perhaps it, too, shouldhave eaten a little humble pie.


Not-to-do

BM


What's innovation? In simple words, it'sjust providing a better solution to aproblem. Innovations can be in anyform be it an idea, a service, a process,or in technology. This piece has chosen

a simple topic -- Innovations in Human Resource (HR)through salary slips. By the end of it, I believe it willhelp the reader to think differently.

Why salary slips? The answer is here.

In any organisations, the management speaks to itsemployees through various communication platformslike an e-mail, intranet, newsletter, portal, etc. But howmany people actually respond or view thesecommunications. The response rate is never more


Designingeffective and

innovativesalary slip

Deepak Malhotra,Vice President-HR, IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure

& Services Limited, New Delhi

than 10-12 per cent. One document that is viewed by allemployees at least once a month and that's the 'SalarySlip'. On the first of every month the online HumanResource Information System (HRIS) gets a 100 per centhit as people visit it to download and take a print oftheir salary slips.

I hope the readers will have an answer by now! I amoften amazed how we have never thought about it. Nowfor proof, you may go back to your IT teams and ask fornumber of log in hits in your SAP or People soft orwhatever software you are using day on day.

Ways to innovateFirst of all, before we look at innovating, we need to

look at and decide on the right composition of aneffective salary slip. It should basically provide anemployee's complete information. It should also lead tocalculation of gross salary easily. Apart from themandatory fields like Name, Employee Id, and so on; itshould capture all components including deductionstoo. Ideally like a balance sheet, with a credit and debitside to it. For me there is no set rule, keep it very simpleso that every employee can read and understand it.

Before we look at the other part which is difficultand yet interesting, do remember that the data in thesalary slip is important and you can't have anything onyour salary slip, which is not agreeable to the biggestassets, "people". With the above thoughts, now look atthe other part on innovation in salary slips. We may geta solution for the remaining ½ page. I call it half page:as most of the organisations' salary slips end in the tophalf of the page and if it does fit in to one page, it is justas a default. ½ page that you have open for yourideation and creativity. Every month if someone givesme this ½ page, I feel I can make a difference. You cantoo.

Whenever I see anything plain that is circulated orprinted, I immediately think about its utility in termsof recycling. Let's all go 15 years back, when we used toget manual print out salary slips. They were better interms of space utilisation. Those thin dot matrix printouts. At least, they were cheap and no paper waswasted. Then came these systems and all innovativegenes stopped working. We started relying on thesystem driven print outs only. Now the mostspontaneous answer which our HR teams haveprovided me in various forums to the above questionsis: it is technology driven. Is technology meant for youor we are for the technology? This is my question tothem. Where there is a will, the format can be changedtoo. Speak to your business partner or IT teams,solution is in your approach and igniting the thought.

Making a differenceI have often asked this question in colleges and other

forums too, the immediate answer/solution isMD/CEO/COO write up, leadership team write up orinterview. As a professional would you & your teammembers be interested in it? Will it make a differenceto them? Yes, but only to 5% people. Being honest andfair to all CEO's may be less! Then what?

People connect with masses better at their level.When you do a Engagement Survey, a worker alwaysadmires the quality of work his team/colleague isdoing but always gives a bad score to quality of work

Salary slip is one piece of information that is viewedby 100% employees, hence, it is essential that we

make this document effective as well as innovative.

Any economy cannot hope to be successful and have a sustained balanced growthwithout the crucial participation of one half of its population. Yet in India, womenaccount for less than 30 per cent of the total workforce.According to the InternationalLabor Organization's Global Employment Trends report, 2013, the participation ofwomen in India's labor force was a dismal 22 per cent in 2011-12.Out of 131 countries

with available data, India ranks 11th from the bottom in female labor force participation. In India,challenges abound for women in their participation in the economy. But, increasingly severalsectors of industry in India are coming to realize the importance of having women on board inlarge numbers. Not only do women employees bring more vitality and vibrance to anorganization's work culture, they also bring a much-needed human touch to daily work. Anumber of industries particularly media and hospitality among others today are banking heavilyon women. Juggling between responsibilities at home and at work, women employees are alsocoping with high stress levels. In such a scenario, recognition for their good work and

contribution to an organization can make a lot of difference totheir will power.Rewards and Recognition are a key factor that cankeep an employee motivated and raring to go. InternationalWomen's Day offers a perfect occasion to make womenemployees feel rewarded and appreciated.

Here are some options you may try this year:Gift vouchers: Often companies greet their women employees

on Women's Day with flowers and wishes.They can do a little moreto make them feel valued. Give them gift vouchers they canredeem to buy their favourite items /experiences (like a spatreatment etc). Juggling between work and home gives her littletime to actually go out and shop for her requirements - so givingher an option to shop online and bring in the convenience ofdelivery at home is something she will really appreciate. Thiswould give her more time to herself and her family.

Crèche facility for children: For women who are working mothers, there is no worry biggerthan that of their children.Did my baby take her milk,did she eat on time,hope she is not hurt.If you as an employer are serious about keeping your women employees happy, start acrèche facility for their children in your company building. By keeping them closer to theirchildren and giving them the satisfaction that they are being looked after, you can relievetheir stress manifold and improve their productivity.

Hospital appointments for health screening: As a country, Indians are yet to convert tothe idea of getting themselves checked and screened regularly. Women, more so, arehabitual of putting their health at the last priority. Sending them for a day of health checkup and screening for heart disease, breast cancer etc is a precious reward employers canoffer.This is much like returning the human touch the women themselves bring to the workplace and telling them 'we care'.

Send them out: If you are a small company and do not have the budget to do something ona larger scale, just book a table for lunch at a restaurant for all your women employees or givethe tickets for an amusement park or film to chill out.

Call a counselor for a chat session: If you desire to do something to help ease out the stress andproblems of your women employees,book half a day at the company for a counselor or a psychologistwith whom the women can share their problems and have an honest discussion. Interpersonalengagement with employees goes a long way in keeping them satisfied and secure. Make yourwomen employees feel special this women's day.They will love it and return back in loyalty.

his/her supervisor is doing. Let'stake a clue from there, can weinterview or pen down theexperience of the oldest employee ofthe organisation in that ½ page orachiever. Will it make a differenceand better reading and also improveengagement. The answer is may be'Yes'. May be more connecting. Maybe it will get 50% employees to readit. What's better 5% or 50%, I don'tthink I need to teach you probability.It does not mean in any way thatyour CEO or MD or COO, should notconnect with people through thismedium. However, the first monthshould always feature the seniormanagement for impact.

Solutions orinnovations--

Have we all started thinking ofsolutions? Have we all startedworking through the grey matter? Ifyes, then let's look out of more suchsolutions or innovations.

Can salary slip be used as anengagement and training tool? Yes itcan be. Training or an engagementinitiative may feature here. Pictures,snapshots, etc., can make this ½ pagelook more interesting and appealing.We only need to be careful ofprintouts in that case. On that yourIT teams may help you. Again someof you would point out the usage ofthe newsletter. My answer againwould be the number of views andthis is only a snapshot.

The other conservative section ofHR is R&. Many organisations havemodern R&R systems like CreditCard Points or Have Employee of theMonth or CEO Clubs, etc. We mayfeature these points, employees, etc.,in the salary slip.

As a caution …..If you wish to do so, your

organisation should be matureenough. Transparency and integrityshould also be high within theorganisation.

In the same way, we should look atseparate sections of HR and do goodwork through salary slip. Now youmust sit with your teams and ideateto come up with better usage of thesalary slip. The more intellectualminds work on it, the bettersolutions we would have.Rememberalways, at the end of the day, it isonly salary slip which are viewed byall employees. Work on it and youwill get better results.



Women's Day

Make women feelspecial at work!

Sharvani Sachidanand, Director & Co-Founder, annectos

BM BM


According to reports in2013, three employees

have died each day dueto work-related accidents.

Moreover, major surveyshave found that people

experience more physicalproblems at work than

before; dispelling theoften fashionable belief

that new technology haseradicated difficulties

such as manual lifting ofheavy objects.To ensure

zero accidents/injuries atwork requires several

change managementstrategies and initiatives.In addition, encouraging

people to think that allaccidents are preventable

is crucial. In many cases,employees tend to

tolerate dangers andaccidents at work

because they feel theycannot be prevented or

are inevitable. Hence,accumulated safety

efforts by theorganization,

government, and societyat large can help in

making commendableprogress in preventing

accidents. Over andabove, our thinking needs

to change to meet thedemands of new workpractices and settings.

Cover Feature

Are we reallyprepared forzero accidentat work?



Dr. Harbans Lal KailaFormer Professor of Psychology, Mumbai

Achieving zero accident at theworkplace remains one ofthe major social andeconomic areas of concernglobally. Every day, 6,300

people die as a result of occupationalaccidents or work-related diseases -more than 2.3 million deaths per year(International Labour Organization,2013). Struggle to manage safetysituation at workplaces continues.Safety audits are done, awards arereceived, and documents are in place.Still organizations wonder what best canensure adequate safety of people. Aninjury hurts the organization as muchas the worker.

The concept of zero-accident(JICOSH, 2013) refers to the totalparticipation campaign into theorganization which sounds attractive ina theoretical sense. Practically, zero-


accident seems a far-fetched promise of businessmanagements as human safety would not get anabsolute preference over profits from production.There is a safety perspective but implementationremains an unlikely endeavor in view of theaccident statistics of almost every organization.Work places have continued killing and disablingpeople regardless of a variety of existing safetysystems, standards or international certifications.Safe workplace is a myth or reality, this paper probeson the issues involved as depicted in Figure 1.

Zero accidents/injuries perspective requires ahost of change management strategies andinitiatives for shifting existing safety situation to anew level, which would need a stringent review ofthe prevalent safety systems and implementation ofthe latest behavioural safety approach (Matthews,Grainne A. 2013). Further, it is necessary to appraisethe organizational safety values especially the coreconsiderations to human life. Above all, the centralpart is the safety leadership at all levels acrossorganization and linking safety to employeeperformance objectives is vital.

Though this framework provides a strongtheoretical base, practically what we lack isimplementation especially in view of organizationalexecutive leadership. According to Health and SafetyExecutive (2013), effective health and safetyperformance comes from the top; members of theboard have both collective and individualresponsibility for health and safety.

Directors and Boards need to examine their ownbehaviours, both individually and collectively. Asper Head of Environment Health Safety (EHS), L&T,

Infra, "The Rules, Code of practices, Standards andSafety Manual - all these are well defined and readilyavailable as mandatory requirement, but the road -block is "Implementation during job Execution".Only 50% we are achieving in implementation thattoo are in limited construction activities. There iscascade effect. It's a paradox that "No cost forSafety". There must be proper budgeted cost forSafety since the conceive stage of any project.Through a cut throat competition one bagged acontract; he always endeavors how cost effectivelythe job can be executed. Obviously "Safety TakesBack Seat". It's a long way travel to go before we say"Indian Construction Industry is Poised for Incident& Injury Free" (Personal Communication, 2013).

According to Japan International Center forOccupational Safety and Health, there are threepillars of the zero-accident Campaign: the positiveattitude of the top management; the completemanagement of the safety and health system by linemanagers and supervisors; and the promotion ofvoluntary activities in the workplace (JICOSH, 2013).

The Indian companies which participated in suchBBS programs were Maharatna / Navratnacompanies, Energy Giant, chemical, automobile,pharmaceutical, electrical, nuclear, steel,construction, shipping, coal, heavy engineering, andso on). They were exposed to the BBS concepts;observation and feedback processes; andimplementation of BBS in an organization. Theworkshops were held in English/Hindi language ofabout 30-50 per batch of training participants. It istrue that India, as predicted by many, is to becomethe world's third largest economy by adopting thebest work systems such as behavioural safety.

1. Reasons for not achieving zeroaccidents at work place

A senior HSE professional of Indian OilCorporation points out, "It is only desire or we cansay target to have zero accident. But, when we workpractically in the field, our concentration is alwaysdirected towards more production to meet themarket demand. One most important issue isdevelopment of infrastructure which is happeningalong with growth of demand. And, this createspressure on production and safety system isbypassed. However, in recent days, everywheremanagement as well as workers have becomecautious while working in the field."

The best safety plans and programs don'tcontinue and/or show a failure as a result ofinactive leadership behaviours across departments

This article is an extract from the qualitative/narrative data of a longitudinal nationalaction research survey on behaviour based safety in India. It's an on-going study in whichalmost 500 BBS training workshops were conducted for nearly 9300 workmen (operators,technicians, contractors) and union representatives and about 1800 managers at all levels

between 1997 to 2013 in diverse multinational organizations across industrial sectors.

Figure 1: Theoretical Framework for Zero Accidents

(Kaila, 2012)

Safety at work : The HR agenda


in an organization. Hence the zero accident targetremains a myth and do not convert into reality. Theapplication of behavior-based safety (BBS) approachis facing a severe challenge that safety performancemay decline when BBS intervention is removed(Mingzong Zhang, Dongping Fang, 2013). Zeroaccident targets appear to be a very difficultproposition for organizations for a series of reasons(Kaila, 2012) as follows:

Organizations lack in strong implementation ofsafety systems;Organizational leadership vary in emphasis overhuman life safety;Business is a clear priority over safety function;Safety is mostly not a performance objective;Every industrial project has killed one or morepersons (mostly contract labour) which is anaked reality; then what would make us thinkthat zero accident is achievable;Zero accident looks perfect in documentation, notin real work life;For most of the organizations, safety is a stafffunction; employees are not involved as perOHSAS 18001: 2007 clauses on behavioural safety.The hundreds of unsafe behaviours arenoticeable at any workplace on daily basisdepending upon size of an organization. Hencethe potential for accidents exist in everyorganization unless unsafe behaviours aretapped and controlled daily. So it would not be asurprise if there is a minor or major accident anytime due to these unsafe behaviours.Showing zero accidents record and internationalcertifications do not really ensure a safeorganization unless we target zero unsafebehaviors at workplaces.Organizational case studies revealed that a singleunsafe behaviour can prove to be fatal.Lack of or partial safety enforcement reinforcesunsafe behaviours at the workplace.

To reduce accidents, the managements haveexecuted safety interventions such as riskassessment, suggestion scheme, training, safetycommittee, auditing, motivational programmes(quiz, award, incentives), SOPs, plant inspection,work permit system, etc. Most of these safetymanagement systems have aimed at controllingunsafe conditions, whereas most of accidents are

triggered by unsafe acts or behaviors, even unsafeconditions are the result of unsafe behaviours.

Zero accident would mean Total Safety Culturewhich can be created if we have active safetysystems combined with BBS implementation in theplant. Safety systems (such as SOP, work permits,training, incentives, Lock-out Tag-out (LOTO)procedure, inspection, audits, incident analysis,mock drills, celebration, certifications, compliance,etc.) are very necessary and prepare the work forcewith the safe attitudes, but it does not reflect in theirsafe behaviour. The attitude-behaviour gap exposesan organization with the at-risk behaviours ofemployees which is now being tackled byimplementing behavioural safety.

2. Targeting zero unsafebehaviours to achieve zeroaccident

Behavioural safety postulates that unsafebehaviors are at the base of any near misses, injury,fatalities (Figure 2). If unsafe behaviors arecontrolled, even the near misses can be avoided.

Three clauses of OHSAS 18001:2007 documentemphasize behavioural aspects of safety inOccupational Health & Safety (OH&S) ManagementSystems that organizations shall establish,implement and maintain a procedure(s) for: theparticipation of workers by their appropriateinvolvement in hazard identification, riskassessments and determination of controls; forhazard identification and risk assessment that shalltake into account: human behaviour, capabilitiesand other human factors; and to make personsworking under its control aware of: the OH&Sconsequences, actual or potential, of their workactivities, their behaviour, and the OH&S benefits ofimproved personal performance. Behavioural safetypopularly known as behaviour based safety (BBS)encourages contribution towards safety fromeveryone in the organization.



Figure 2: BBS Triangle

(Kaila, 2008)

The best safety plans and programsdon't continue and/or show a failure as aresult of inactive leadership behavioursacross departments in an organization.Hence the zero accident target remainsa myth and do not convert into reality.



"Due to BBS implementation, the AccidentFrequency Rate from April 2012 to May 2013indicates reducing trend in-general. However, weare trying to improve the performance further withthe challenges being the high manpower turn-over.BBS is the best policy to run my plant safely, and ourtarget is to achieve zero unsafe behaviour ratherzero accident," says a manager.

Behavioural trends reveal that at-risk behavioursexist in every workplace which can trigger accidentanytime. Poor knowledge, short of supervision andmaintenance are the obvious reasons for accidentsbut these factors are actually nothing but the unsafebehaviours of the concerned people for not carryingout their jobs responsibly. The socio-culturalbackdrop of employees may also impact the practiceof unsafe behaviour (Kaila, 2013).

The unsafe / at-risk behaviour are also caused bysome HODs who emphasize/ force completing thework by avoiding basic safety rules or regulations,e.g., allowing under-capacity cranes/ hydra to lift /shift heavy jobs. The project manager asks the siteengineer to complete certain jobs by today itself. Hecarries out the jobs somehow by-passing safetyregulations. He can't negate the project managerand make him unhappy. This is a very commonscenario in construction sites. It takes a second ofunsafe behaviour and turning into an accident orbig fire and delaying the production process for longtime. Unsafe behaviour can happen to anyoneregardless of position, education, experience andage. A Vice-President went up on the fourth floor toinspect a construction project, he received a call onhis mobile and started talking, got so engrossed thathe just put his step forward and fell down from the4th floor and died on the spot. An engineer on theshop floor thought of crossing a conveyor belt whileit was stopped, as he crossed, it started working, hegot crushed and died. A Deputy General Managergot a serious eye injury when he was observing aworkman without wearing safety goggles and anobject flew from the machine and hit him. Soaccident/injury spares no one, even managers.Punishment in terms of fine or loss of pay will set asense of fear and would not let an employee dounsafe behaviour; it seems contrary to BBS positive

approach. But then, that fear also reduces the unsafebehaviour for some employees to a certain extentwhich is indirectly positive for safety of people atwork.

3. Managers' concept ofbehavioural safety

According to Deputy General Manager of IndoGulf Fertilisers, "The company has given toppriority to safety, health and environment rightfrom the design stage. To minimise the possibility ofaccidents, we have developed people to know theirequipment intimately and to be consistently safety,health & environment conscious." The linemanagers are committed to safety and health.Unsafe conditions and acts observed are brought tothe attention of the concerned departmental headfor quick remedial action. Safety consciousness ofan employee is given due importance in his AnnualPerformance Appraisal.

"We implemented BBS at Qatar Chemicals Ltd inthe year 2008. It has given result and we reached tothe certain maturity ladder of the BBS process. Astime passes people are losing interest now,observations are not done consistently, clean sheetobservations are increasing, Steering Committeemembers are not getting motivated and hazards arenot identified properly, etc. Sustainability is themain issue right now in our process. I need torevamp the process, what to do next, how I can bringback the energy in the process," says a BBS co-ordinator.

"Safety in Indian scenario is considered as fire-fighting approach for emergency situations.Normally people complete the jobs fast towardsmeeting a deadline following a series of unsafebehaviours. An unsafe behaviour being practiced byco-workers would once for sure turn into anaccident someday. In India, safety departments areunderstaffed and over-worked. It is not possible forthem to deliver their jobs effectively for safety ofemployees and contract staff," says a GeneralManager. BBS provides more eyes for safety in theorganization. It has three basic principles (3i):Interaction between observers and observees,


Behavioural safetypostulates that unsafebehaviors are at the baseof any near misses, injury,fatalities (Figure 2). Ifunsafe behaviors arecontrolled, even the nearmisses can be avoided.



Inclusion of every workman/employee in safetyefforts, and intention to provide injury-freeenvironment.

The top managements' role is significant in termsof monitoring, motivating, and mentoring thoseinvolved in BBS project, failing which the projectmay collapse or weaken its purpose. There is aninteresting positive turn in the Indian safetyscenario. The top managements are emphasizingand communicating their safety concerns down thelevel. What they are saying is that merely providingsafety infrastructure in the organization orlocation/ sites is not enough or adequate for safetyof the people. The HOD/ supervisors need to involveall employees at all levels up to the last person whomay be least aware of safety (such as contractors'workmen or housekeeping staff). The Section Headsopined that we are ready to implement BBSapproach but we are apprehensive of topmanagement's leadership to this project. Manysystems have come and gone, there is a lack of longcommitment. If BBS is top-driven then we have to doit. On the other hand, the top management showed adeep concern for the section heads' varied level ofinvolvement, credibility, acceptability and safety-mindedness for implementation of BBS with fullspirit in their respective units.

4. Research implications "Whether we are in business or not, we need

safety. One accident can change our life. We havecreated little vibration for safety in industry, is itenough? We need to work more on safety anddevelop a culture in which every employeeunderstands safety. We need to train them so thatthey have the mindset for safety. Safety is stronglylinked to the human thought and behaviour. It's aculture which we would not get in a day. It needspersistence," says a Vedanta plant head.

According to a HSE Vice President of a company,"All failures of health, safety, and environment arearound behaviours". Behavioural based safety (BBS)approach is a planned effort and an organizationalintervention/ procedure for making safety a trueline function. Though Occupational Health andSafety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001:2007 haveincluded three clauses that emphasize behavioralaspects of safety, organizations have yet not followedit as OHSAS 18001:2007 does not provide anyguidelines on how to implement these clauses.

According to an EHS Head, "we are expandingour business, growing revenues but every year wehave 40-42 fatalities in all independent companies(ICs). We are not factories to kill people or to createpermanent disabilities due to accidents in our work

premises. We have hardware but not the softwarewhich is the 'feeling', this is the 'disconnect'. We havenot valued human life. And now as per newguidelines, if there are more than three fatalities atour workplace, we are not qualified for tenderregistration for any new business. So safety ofpeople is related to business.

The managements have started believing thatengineering controls alone do not provide adequatesafe workplace and unsafe behaviors need to becontrolled in order to ensure total safety atworkplaces. The Indian multi-nationalorganizations have begun to consider the humanbehavior aspects of workplace safety more ascompared to yester years. Figure 2 depicts picturesof some BBS programs conducted as part of thisstudy.

According to a general manager (safety),"Behavioural-based safety is all about changing thebasic organizational culture to inculcate positivesafety at the workplace". The body of researchliterature created through behavioural safetyinterventions has made us realize the value ofmacro-ergonomics aspects. It is important tounderline that people behave unsafe or take riskseven in well designed work stations. People tend totake risks in safe environments and be very alert inunsafe environments. People speed-up their vehicleson highways and tend to be very alert in crowdedstreets.

The engineering systems, the process or taskdesign provided at workplaces are the hardwarepart; and the software part is the behaviours ofpeople who tend to behave safe or unsafe at times.Even with well designed work stations, theworkmen/operators tend to engage in at-riskbehaviours (such as not using personal protectiveequipment, work area not maintained appropriately,not using correct tools for the job or tools not in goodcondition, inappropriate body mechanics whilelifting, pushing and pulling material, not complyingwith work permits or following Safe OperatingProcedures (SOP), and using mobile while working)that may trigger injury or accident. Also severalcase studies in organizations have revealed thateach of these at-risk behaviours has been fatal toworkmen, engineers, and managers (Kaila, 2010).

As per Head HSE, ONGC, "Industries arenurturing safety culture these days and focusing onpeople behaviour as one of the indices for avoidingaccident". Behavioural safety is getting wellaccepted in India and showing good results in termsof improved safety records, building positive SHE(safety, health & environment) culture and reducedat-risk behaviours at workplaces and is also being



"Safety in Indian scenario is considered as fire-fighting approach for emergencysituations. Normally people complete the jobs fast towards meeting a deadline

following a series of unsafe behaviours.



applied successfully worldwide instead ofcommand-and control approach to occupationalsafety (Geller, 2004). Despite best safety programsbeing available and exercised, it needs to beunderstood as to why each year witnesses hundredsof thousands people being killed at workplaces.Attempting new safety programs from time to timehas not enabled the industry to achieving zeroaccidents. Does it point out the lack of will power onpart of managements to lead and implement thesesafety plans effectively on regular basis for thesafety of human being? A Vice President of Larsen& Toubro expresses, "If you look at the Indianindustry as a whole, we are not poised for a zeroaccident scenario. This is becausewhile all safety measures are beingtaken we still have not mastered theart of 'safe behaviour'.

There is not enough visiblecommitment from seniormanagement of industry to thisissue", (Personal Communication,2013). In the wake of large numberof fatalities taking place each yeardue to workplace accidents, the zeroaccident targets appear far fromreality for industry and we cannotyet claim our workplace to be safe.Journey towards zeroaccident/injury goes on. Thehuman life value consideration fororganizations falls short to thebusiness targets. Human safety isclearly not a core value forindustrial world. "In the Indianculture, we are more concerned forlife after death than the 'present life'. The 'value forlife' is not prominent in the industrial culture due towork pressures", concludes a project manager.

5. ConclusionTo wrap up, "Is our Industry Really Ticked for

Zero Accident", HSE Manager of Jindal Powernarrates many things. Any industry is related tophysical, chemical and biological hazards. It maynot be advisable to say that Zero Accident means

indicating towards injury only. It can be also zeroharm. Any industry's safety aspects lie with the HSEpolicy, adaptation of standard safe practices inorganization, commitment, involvement andimplementation by top management, empoweringsafety personnel for putting innovativeideas/techniques in company as per withinternational safety standards and monitoring ofdeviations with latest techniques/ software. Againthe zero accident indicates about the size ofcompany, the work methodology implemented,deployment of skilled personnel, strict guidelinesfor adherence to safety norms etc. Finally in Indiamany of the industries are prone to accidents as

there are no stringent statutoryobligations, law abiding factors, nothreat for the management etc.According to a safety practitioner ofBosch, "any activity we do in anindustry we face few hazards, be it,improvising on process safety everyday.

As long as our standards orexpectations keep increasing, sodoes our knowledge on the hazards,we will plan to work without thosehazards, and try looking for newones. But we still are unsure, withall the systems in place, can we beaccident free. It's hypothetical untila full-proof-system is created"(Personal Communication, 2013).What does really matter is anundeterred active commitment ofsenior management to implement

the safety systems along with their employees andworkmen.

Managements must aim to achieve business-safety balance for the cause of human safety whileemphasizing the behaviour-safety connection in thebroader organizational perspective. The capacitybuilding programmes on 'change managementinterventions' to senior managers in organizationswould help to better the safety situation. Safetysurvives, business thrives.


REFERENCESGeller, E. Scott (2004). Behavior-based safety: a solution to injury prevention: behavior-based safety empowers employees and addresses the dynamics of injury prevention. Risk& Insurance, 15 (12, 01 Oct) p 66.Health and Safety Executive (2013). Why leadership is important. Retrieved on June 30, 2013. http://www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/whyleadership.htmInternational Labour Organization (2013). Safety and health at work. Retrieved on June 30, 2013. http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/lang--en/index.htm JICOSH (2013). Concept of Zero-accident Total Participation Campaign. Retrieved on June 29, 2013. http://www.jniosh.go.jp/icpro/jicosh-old/english/index.htmlKaila HL. (2010), Behavior-based Safety Programs Improve Worker Safety in India. Ergonomics in Design' vol. 18 (4), Fall, 17-22. CA, USA.Kaila HL. (2008), BBS Winning Over Employees in India. Occupational Health & Safety, December 2008. http://www.ohsonline.com/Articles/2008/12/BBS-Winning-Over-Employees-in-India.aspx Kaila HL. (2011), "Organizational Cases on Behaviour Based Safety (BBS) in India". International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 22, 10-12, 2135-46, June-July 2011.Kaila HL. (2012), "100 Reflections on Behavioral Safety: Developing injury-free organizations. Industrial safety chronicle, vol. XLIII, 3, 21-26, Oct-Dec 2012.Kaila HL (2013). Review of BBS Implementation in Indian Organizations. World Focus, Vol. 13 (1), 1, 10-16. http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/688b5926#/688b5926/1 Matthews, Grainne A. (2013). Behavioral Safety from the Consumer's Perspective: Determining Who Really Provides Behavior safety. Retrieved on 4 July 2013. Cambridge Centerfor Behavioral Studies. <http://www.behavior.org/safety/consumer.cfm> Mingzong Zhang, Dongping Fang (2013). A continuous Behavior-Based Safety strategy for persistent safety improvement in construction industry. Automation in Construction 34(2013) 101-107.OHSAS 18001. (2007). Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series. http://www.scribd.com/doc/10081792/OHSAS-18001-2007-Occupational-Health-and-Safety-Management-Systems-Requirements1. Retrieved on 02 February 2010.Personal Communication (2013). Email discussion with safety professionals, July 2013.

Despite best safetyprograms being

available andexercised, it needsto be understood

as to why each yearwitnesses

hundreds ofthousands people

being killed atworkplaces.



BM

On Republic Day evening, thebreaking news thatdominated news channel wasthat of a tourist ferrycapsizing at the Andaman.

We are used to such news in general, andduring festivities, in particular. Accidentinvolving loss of human life throughcapsizing of boat, stampede byovercrowding; numerous road accident,train catching fire, electrocution bysnapped conductor, all are a way of lifefor us. We take these issues for granted.We discuss it for a while and try to findout some immediate cause and end up bycommenting upon the weakness of thesystem. In case the catastrophe is ofbigger dimension, the actions furthered;may be by identifying the person behindthe incident or may be by constitution ofa commission and declaring some relief.

Early report of the accident suggeststhat there were no life-jackets or driversin the ferry as a mandatoryprecautionary measure and once theovercrowded ferry blasted, a goodnumbers of tourists drowned and lost

their lives. There is a reason for theincident to have caught the eyes amonghundreds of such happenings around.Just a month back, I had a vacation to thearchipelago and in fact used the sameroute for visiting few historical touristspot. I tried to figure out the safetypractices followed by the ferry services atthat time. The operator was repeatedlyharping for proper sitting arrangementsso that the water craft could have abalanced distribution of load. But thetourists had their own priority andpreferred sitting with their near and dearones. The carrying capacity of the craftswas clearly written on the body of craft;also there was life jackets staged in allsuch small ship. But tourist werepreferring not to use them and even theguide was not warning them for adoptingbasic safety practice necessary for seatravel with speeding small boat,especially if one is not verse to swim orfloat for some time, in case of capsizing.So, the vital question emerging is thatwho is actually responsible, thegoverning system, the business owner,



This article exploresthe importance of

maintaining safetystandards at work and

in our personal life. Itdiscusses the critical

role of HR in ensuringthat safety standardsare met and abided.HR has to integrate

manpower planningwith change of

production priority.

It couldhappen to you

Indranil Banerjee Sr. HR Practitioner

Any industrial accident not only attractsregulatory questioning and outflow of moneyfrom organization exchequer but also itcreates havoc to the employee morale and inturn loss of productivity.



the employee or the customer? There may be argument to off load theresponsibility by either or all of them but surely at the end of day oneissue is unquestionable. All are affected by such incident. The reason wecall safety for all!

Safety at workAn organization's safety practice and policy development issue falls

under the ambit of safety professional. In the factory environment, themandatory requirement of safety professional has been spelt out in theFactories Act. The duties, qualifications and conditions of service ofsuch professional are the domain of State Government throughprescribed rules. The Government has also scrupulously dealt the Safetyissue in some other accident prone industry like Mines, Electricity, etc.,through respective industry governing acts. If we peruse, would find thatthe majority of typical organizing structure advocates safety to be a


Consider this statistic: 80 out of every 100 accidentsoccur due to the fault of the person involved in the

incident. Unsafe acts cause four times as manyaccidents and injuries as unsafe conditions.

Accidents occur for many reasons. In mostindustries, people tend to look for "things" to blamewhen an accident happens, because it's easier than

looking for "root causes," such as those listed below.Consider the underlying accident causes described.

Have you been guilty of any of these attitudes orbehaviours? If so, you may have not been injured-

but next time you may not be so lucky.

Seven commonaccident causes 1. Taking shortcuts: Every day we make decisions we hope will

make the job faster and more efficient. But do time savers everrisk your own safety, or that of other crew members? Short cutsthat reduce your safety on the job are not shortcuts, but anincreased chance for injury.

2. Being over confident: Confidence is a good thing.Overconfidence is too much of a good thing. "It'll never happento me" is an attitude that can lead to improper procedures, tools,or methods in your work. Any of these can lead to an injury.

3. Starting a task with incomplete instructions: To do the jobsafely and in the right way the first time, you need completeinformation. Have you ever seen a worker sent to a job, havingbeen given only a part of the job's instructions? Don't be shyabout asking for explanations about work procedures and safetyprecautions. It isn't dumb to ask questions; it's dumb not to.

HR can integrate with line personnel on maintaining safety standard throughdeveloping a feedback mechanism.

support role directly reporting to linebosses. So question may arise that howdoes the HR figure out in the frame?

Any industrial accident not onlyattracts regulatory questioning andoutflow of money from organizationexchequer but also it creates havoc tothe employee morale and in turn loss ofproductivity. The critical analysis ofaccident suggests that the cases are inrise when people are lax, works inseclusion, works for extended time,works on holidays and works instretched condition etc. The operationmanager has own priority of matchingtime line. And here HR has a role; it candefinitely integrate manpower planningwith change of production priority.Employee over confidence is anothermajor cause for industrial accident. "80out of every 100 accidents are the faultof the person involved in the incident.Unsafe Acts cause four times as manyaccidents & injuries as unsafeconditions" - the statistics is the evidentof such resolution and calls for seriousHR intervention.

Communication which ispredominant area of public relation isanother significant area where HRcould add value for the safety mission ofthe company. Communication includesinternal and external, i.e.,communication with employees andcommunication beyond theorganization corridor. Each industryhas its own challenges and style offunctioning. The inputs from HR couldbe of immense help to create awareness

for employee communication through designing ofcustomized solution rather than sticking of marketavailable safety posters atwork place. Similarly, if theresearch inputs of accidentenquiry from HR are properlyused for externalcommunication theorganization could earnrespect from people andemerge as serious corporatecitizen. In long time this could help in sustainabilityendeavor of the organization.

Role of HRHR can integrate with line personnel on

maintaining safety standard through developing afeedback mechanism. Checklist created by the safetyprofessional has to be repeatedly upgraded withaccident enquiry findings. HR could also keep a closeeye on near mis cases of accident so that theapproach of organization becomes preventionoriented than correction oriented. HR can play agreat role in finding user friendliness of protectivedevices. In this demanding climate, often it is foundthat in spite of availability personal protective devicethe employees prefer not to use them. In lieu ofjumping into discipline related issue for identifiedlapses the organization can thought for developing anappreciative framework. The candid criticism fromthe employee could be integrated with the vendor forcustomization of product. HR can also try toestablish a culture that does not attract SILOfunctioning of individual managerial stream. Oftenit is experienced that when asked to recommend foradopting safety standard the inspecting personnelcomes out with numerous issues. Catch up withdilemma it becomes a trouble for execution authorityto implement a few or all of such recommendation. Abusiness organization has several issues to handle;then there are budgetary constraints. At thisjuncture HR could try to build cross functionalconsensus so that the prioritization of different

safety issue is made. Understanding internationalbest practice is another issue where HR could

intervene. Mostly the industryis prone to adopt correctivemeasure; once some untowardincident takes place we try tofigure out the deviation andtake corrective measure. Theremay be issues that organizationhas not experienced. Theknowledge from larger canvas

could be helpful to understand the process intricacyand design the safety standard, in line. Holdingsymposium, workshop by experts could have a farreaching impact for adhering safety standard.

Make safety a way of lifeObservance of safety standard is more a mind

game than mere physical acceptance. Atinternational level, the youngsters wear head geareven during cycling but for a while let us reach outto our streets; you would find young couples in bikeswearing helmets in fear of the traffic police. But it isnot unusual to notice that they have a bare headedtoddler in between. This kind of sensitization isneeded for safety in our daily individual life. Andthere is no limit to it at the organization level. Maybe the organization is government, private ormultinational. With the "National Safety Week"knocking the door it is the time to remember that wein India experienced Biggest Industrial Genocide atBhopal (1984) due to safety lapses; Courtesy amultinational, Union Carbide India Limited.Regrettably, that neither internal experts nor theinspecting end ever thought that how a leakage ofgas could turn devastating for the society it isworking around. People are paying heavily, evenafter long three decades and the successor entity ofUCIL has compelled to disown the responsibility,conveying the message through its website. Safety isall about paying now or pays for rest of life. Theneed is to realize the necessity of safety standardelse, "it could happen to you" ……. and me too.


4. Poor housekeeping: When clients, managers or safety professionals walkthrough your work site, housekeeping is an accurate indicator of everyone'sattitude about quality, production and safety. Poor housekeeping creates hazards ofall types. A well maintained area sets a standard for others to follow. Goodhousekeeping involves both pride and safety.

5. Ignoring safety procedures: Purposely failing to observe safety procedures canendanger you and your co-workers. You are being paid to follow the company safetypolicies-not to make your own rules. Remember, being casual about safety can leadto casualty.

6. Mental distractions from work: Having a bad day at home and worryingabout it at work is a hazardous combination. Dropping your 'mental' guard can pullyour focus away from safe work procedures. You can also be distracted when you'rebusy working and a friend comes by to talk while you are trying to work. Don'tbecome a statistic because you took your eyes off the machine "just for a minute."

7. Failure to pre-plan thework: There is a lot of talktoday about job hazardanalysis. JHA's is aneffective way to figure outthe smartest ways to worksafely and effectively.Being hasty in starting atask or not thinkingthrough the process canput you in harm's way.

Instead, plan yourwork and then

work your plan!


REFERENCE:1. http://www.toolboxtopics.com/Gen%20Industry/Seven%20Causes%20for%20Accidents.htm

Observance of safetystandard is more a mindgame than mere physical

acceptance.

BM

Inculcating culture of "safe production" for sustainable growth

Safety is not a bitter pill. It's a juice that provides energy to the organization to achievenew milestones. Safety is paramount in the industry. The industry has for many yearsfocused on injury prevention at workplace through procedures and training and hasachieved considerable success. Safety risk assessment is the systematic identification ofpotential hazards in the work place as a first step to controlling the possible risk involved.Unsafe condition in the industry, lead to a number of accidents and cause loss in terms ofinjury to human lives, damage to property, interruption in production etc. But the hazardscannot be completely obliterated and thus there is a need to define and reckon with anaccident risk level possible to be presented in either quantitative or qualitative way.

At the outset, let us share the fact to understand depth of the problem. All of us knowthat as per ILO report, each year about 23 lakh man and women die from work- relatedaccidents , this means every 15 seconds, some of the workers die due to work relatedaccident or disease. It seems that safe working place may come as a slogan, but not inpractice. Be remembering that "You can fix a machine, but you can't fix a person.




Safety needs to be combinedwith business

The articleexplores therelevance of

combining theSafety, Health &

Environment(EHS) with

business andmaking it an

integral part ofthe organization

by inculcating theculture of 'safe

production'.Dr. Rajveer Choudhary, Chief Operating Officer, Kajaria Ceramics Ltd., Gailpur

Safety is not a bitter

pill. It's ajuice thatprovides

energy to the

organizationto achieve

newmilestones.

Common reasons that contributeto accidents at workplace

There are many statutes in our country to ensuresafety at workplace. There are also enforcementagencies. Provisions for punishment to violators arealso there. However, many personal experiences tellthat its effect in real life situation is nominal.

Following are the important reason behind thewhole process to make the law mockery. Let us pinpoint the role of various stake holders to inculcatesafety culture in our workplaces.

Almost 80% workers come from Greenfield. Theydo not have any idea about the industry or itshazards. Large number of workers are eitherilliterate or with poor education level. They donot dare to demand for a safer work place in afear to lose their jobs.

Workers are also treated by many of theemployers as an off the shelf replaceablecommodity, and not as a human being. In case ofmajor accident, procuring a spare machine or itsparts is costly and time consuming. However, anydisablement or death of workers can easily bereplaced from the vast pool of unemploymentyouths waiting outside the factory gate.

Tropical climate in our country makes thePersonal Protective Equipment's (PPE's) veryuncomfortable for prolonged use. Even whenPPE's are supplied, there is a trend of not -to-usePPE's among the workers. PPE's are considered assecond line of defense, but are not real substituteto safer technology and better housekeeping.

Many of factory owners are not industrialists byprofession. Even most of the MNCs outsourcetheir jobs to such industries for cheaper cost ofproduction. Their actual aim to spin more moneywithin a shortest possible time and invest inother more profitable ventures. Profit in Balancesheet is their main and only concern. But safework places require meticulous planning andengineering excellence.

Central and most of the state governments do notconsider that prevention of safety andoccupational diseases are very important tasksfor sustainable development of the Indian

industries. Number of factory inspectors againsttotal numbers of factories in state or number offactories against each inspector can amply provethe mindset of the government machinerytowards this important problem.

Preventing accidents throughbehaviour based safety (BBS)

Research and experience indicate that 90% ormore of the accidents are due to unsafe human actor behaviors; 50% of the unsafe behaviours areidentified or noticeable at any plant at any givenpoint of time; 20-30% of safety awareness is lackingamong employees which gets reflected in theirunsafe behaviours; unsafe behaviours are at the coreof any near misses, injury and accidents. If wecontrol unsafe behaviours, we may not even havenear misses.

The engineering systems, the process or taskdesign provided at workplace are the hardware part;and the software part is the behaviours of peoplewho tend to behave safe or unsafe at time. Theorganizational behaviour theory believes that boththe hardware and software are equally important toimplement any new approach or system in theorganization.

The conventional philosophy of the "safety first-business later" is no more relevant in the presentcontext of competitive era where sustainability ofthe organizations is on stake. What is more relevantis combining the Safety, Health & Environment(EHS) with the business and making it integral partof the organization by inculcating the culture of"safe production". This can only be achieved bychanging the conventional thinking, changing theculture. Building the culture of "safe production"requires new thoughts and rigorous effort from allaspects of business, starting from top managementto bottom line worker. These are some of the fewmethods that can make our system more productiveby maintaining highest standards of safety.



Workers are also treated by many of theemployers as an off the shelf replaceable

commodity, and not as a human being.In case of major accident, procuring a

spare machine or its parts is costly andtime consuming.



BM

The top management in the industryincreasingly recognizes Safety as its "corevalue". Its definition has also changedover the last few decades and has becomemore stringent with time1. Currently, it

is defined as "Freedom from unmanageable orunacceptable risk". For example, if an employeeenters the plant area without wearing a hard hat,he/she is at risk. Thus, today's definition of safetydemands the absence of all undesirable situations/behaviours which can cause an incident.

Types of incidentsThe incidents, in a process industry can be

broadly classified as

1. OHS incidents: For example, work relatedincidents during construction, operations,startup/shutdown and maintenance activities such as:

Exposure to hazardous chemicals/ noise/temperatures (low & high) / flying or fallingobjects/ moving parts of machinery/ electricity

Slipping/ tripping, etc.

2. Process hazard related incidents: Forexample, incidents related to release of highlyhazardous materials (in terms of temperatures,toxicity, flammability, etc.)

Generally, the OHS incidents are of higherfrequency, but of relatively lower severity and theireffect is limited to the work premises. The processhazard related incidents are of relatively lowerfrequency, but of higher severity having thepotential to affect larger workforce and even thesurrounding community (e.g., Bhopal, 1984)

Increasingly, the chemical process industry isimplementing safety management systems such asBBS and PSM.




Role of HR in safety

This author brings out a proactive way

of reducing incidentsand how HR can be

a proactive agent indriving it. But

most importantly,he discusses the

different types ofhazards and ways to

tackle them.

M.K. Rao, Executive Director, India Glycols Limited, KASHIPUR

Follow-up on the improvement measures and making visible changes in the workplace would not only boost themorale of the employees, but also make them believe - howimportant safety.

BBS (Behaviour Based Safety):

- It is about bringing-in desirable changes inhuman behaviour through a process of makingobservations and providing the feedback andcounselling in a positive manner (More on this topicas referenced2).

- It is effective in reducing human errors andespecially the OHS incidents.

PSM (Process Safety Management):

- It is a systematic/ pro-active approach to reduceprocess hazard related incidents.

- It enables preventing or minimizing theconsequences of a release of hazardous substancesin large quantities. The system consists of 14requirements (elements) covering process, training,contractors, plant integrity, hot work, incidentinvestigation, emergency planning/response,compliance, management of changes, employeeparticipation, etc.

The methodology/ details on this approach canbe found in the reference listed3.

At the outset, safety is every one's business.Eliminating the incidents and making theworkplace safe requires an active and enduringparticipation from every department and everyindividual. Before the role of HR is specificallyaddressed, it is quite in place to start with a fewimportant roles of others.

Role of top management(To set the tone & walk the talk)

The top management needs to recognize safety asa "core value" to the organization and demonstrateits commitment towards safety for others to follow.Without their encouragement, support and regularmonitoring, no safety programme can sustain andsucceed.

Top management should ensure that productionpressures exerted by them do not jeopardize safetyat the workplace. Also, the follow-up on thecorrective/ preventive actions after an incidentshould be directly taken-up with the relevantproduction/ section manager and not with safety orHR managers. This approach would send a strongmessage and set the right tone on the accountabilityand responsibility w.r.t. Safety across theorganization.

Role of safety manager (a catalyst)

Safety managers should not let themselves beseen as "inspectors". Instead, they must

Strive to earn the reputation of being dedicatedto safe environment at the work placeAct as a catalyst for positive changes (e.g.,Introducing new approaches like BBS, new/more effective and comfortable PPEs, etc.,).

Selling Safety to top management is also aninevitable but an important function, e.g., how aproposed fire protection system can limit thedamages and reduce a major risk.

Role of production/ facility manager(To act as a process owner)

Every time, ask / check - Is there a safer way ofdoing this job?Treat safety on par with production,maintenance, quality and product despatchesSet an example, while following safetyprocedures, including wearing the PPEsInclude Safety performance and relatedimprovements in the agenda while reviewing thedepartment's performance

Role of HR (A facilitator)

Statistics2 indicate that over 90% of incidentshappen are due to human factors. When the word"human" creeps in, HR's role becomes relevant andimportant. HR can contribute/ coordinate positivelyin many ways as below to improve the overall safetyculture in the organization. However, in most cases,HR needs to work with safety and other functionalareas.

1. Developing policies and communication

Developing, communicating and enforcingpolicies & procedures on

Training.PPEs wearingConsumption of alcohol/drugs, smokingChecks at entry pointActions in case of non-compliance

2. Screening at entry level

While interviewing the candidates, especially formiddle/ Sr level positions, the topics should includesafety.

Safety culture/ performance in theirorganizationEfforts put in by them to enhance safetyperformance

A good track record and safety attitude would bea big plus!

3. Training

Though most of the training sessions (technical& practical) are handled by the Safety department,HR can ensure the following steps and finer aspectsto leave a long lasting/ positive impact on theemployees/ trainees.





a. Safety should be the first intensive topic for thenew entrants

b. Let the very first session on safety be deliveredby the Unit head. It makes the single/ biggestimpact!

c. Include case studies which can develop a strongbelief--

Incidents do not just happen. They are always caused!

It means- all safety and environmental incidentsare preventable!

d. Topics to be general and specific to themanufacturing process/ site.

e. Training to include practical aspects as well (e.g.,Operating fire hydrants / entering a confinedspace with a BA set)

f. Make it interesting.

Safety training programmes are generallyconsidered "Dry" and do not readily generateinterest among the participants. To make themengaged, audio-visual presentations and short filmswould help.

4. Medical check-up

Pre-employment or initial medical check-up isgenerally practiced.

Periodical check-up should continue taking intoaccount the age, medical history and the workplace(high noise/ dust prone, etc.).

5. Providing the right quality of PPEs

Personal protective equipment (PPEs) likegoggles, gloves & safety shoes are an important partof Safety compliance. Many a time, the reasons fornot wearing them are attributed to their poorquality - too bulky/ heavy. If PPEs are light andcomfortable, the employees would be more readilyusing them and relatively lesser efforts are requiredto ensure their compliance. Compared to thesituation existed, say 15 -20 years ago, there aremany options in PPEs now and their comfort levelhas markedly improved. HR can work with SafetyDept. on these developments for enhancing theirutilization.

6. Display safety posters

Large size safety posters carrying "touching"messages at the factory premises would make agreat impact and also act as a reminder - how

important the safe work practices are!

7. Safety committee meetings

These meetings are generally convened by safetymanager, chaired by the unit head and importantlyinclude representation from field staff. HR manageris also a key member on the committee. He/sheshould also ensure adequate participation from theemployees. This is a structured forum to listen to theemployees'

Concerns about working conditions, unsafesituations.Suggestions for improvements.

Not surprisingly, some of the suggestions maylook too simple - like providing adequate lockers inthe field to securely store their PPEs! Not a difficultthing to provide - but it can have a major impact onPPEs usage!

This forum can also be utilized forcommunicating organization's commitment to OHSand safe practices.

8. Dealing with contractors

Contract/ temporaryemployees are often engaged foroutsourced activities, project/construction jobs and duringannual turnaround, etc.Ensuring their safe working isthe shared responsibility of boththe employer and the contractor.HR can facilitate

(a) Process of jointly arriving atall the compliance related issues,e.g.,

- Medical examination - initial& periodical

- Safety Training (general andjob specific)

Often, the turnover of contractor employees ishigher -compounding the training efforts required

- PPEs - quality and compliance

- Supervision (quantitative and qualitative)including a safety supervisor from the contractors

- Actions for non-compliance (e.g., disciplinarymeasures/ penalties)

(b)Periodical reviews (at least once a quarter)

- Review compliances status and arrive atimprovements desired

(c) Consolidate the number of contractors

- Consolidating to a fewer contractors of higherquality/ track record. It may sound expensiveinitially. However, improved quality of work andcompliance and reduced administration andcoordination efforts can payout in the long run.

9. Plant/ workplace rounds

HR managers should take periodical rounds inthe workplaces and interact with the employees. Itwould help in assessing/ improving

- Working conditions and hazard levels, e.g.,hygiene/ lighting/ noise/ dust levels/ ventilation




- PPEs - their adequacy, adherence to utilization

- Ergonomics

- Quality of snacks and hot beverages served tokeep them refreshed and alert

All the genuine concerns and areas ofimprovements need to be taken-up with the plantheads and safety manager.

Follow-up on the improvement measures andmaking visible changes in the workplace would notonly boost the morale of the employees, but alsomake them believe - how important safety is to themand to the organization.

10. Manpower review

This is an unenviable job and the toughest!! HRgenerally has a task in hand to keep the manpowerin check or even reduce it. Quite often, additionalmanpower requirement w.r.t. Safety may not lookvery obvious. A closer understanding of theworkplace and job hazard analysis would help inmaintaining a balance.

11. Safety performance monitoring and rewards

The employee appraisal system should give adequate points to the safety performance.Managers with a strong safety attitude and proven results have a positive impact on theorganization's safety culture when they move upthe ladder.

12. Keep the topic 'active & alive'

Celebrate important HSE days like Safety day(4th March), Fire services day 14th April) &Environmental day (5th Jun) by,

Rewarding the departments who come-out with agood safety performance. Let such recognitionsbe extended to contractors as well

Conducting safety competitions (slogan/cartoon/ essay, etc.)

Tree plantation etc.

13. Use authority

To the extent possible, BBS approach should bepursued with for safety compliance. Most employeeswould comply once they understand the necessity,the PPEs provided are of good quality and the workprocedures are clear. Yet, there could be a few whowouldn't be wearing the necessary PPEs and evenkeep using the cell phones in prohibited areas. Theyshould be given a warning and if it doesn't help let apenalty be imposed. Punishment should be the lastresort and HR should use this authority when it iswarranted.

Case study

After implementing BBS, its effect on thefrequency rate of incidents, as experienced, isplotted below. It includes all minor incidents.

Overall Safety Performance

Responsible Care (RC):

Finally, many chemical industries are comingforward to become signatories to Responsible Care(RC). It is a voluntary initiative to improve HSEperformance and thus the image of the organizationin the marketplace and the community around.While implementing this initiative, HR has a verybig role in enhancing the safety performance (asexplained above) and in continuously improving thedialogue with the neighbouring community. Itincludes recognizing and positively responding tothe concerns of the community about the chemicalsand the overall operations in the company.

Glossary/ Abbreviations:

Accident: An unplanned event causingdamage to humans, material &machinery

BA Set Breathing Apparatus

BBS: Behaviour Based Safety

FR Frequency Rate i.e.

Number of incidents x1000000

Total Man-hours

HSE Health, Safety & Environment

Incident: An unplanned event causing ( orcould have caused) damage tohumans, material & machinery

PPE Personal Protective Equipment

PSM: Process Safety Management

RC Responsible care

Risk: A factor of incident potential -severity & likelihood ofhappening.



REFERENCES:1. M.K. Rao, What is the right safety attitude? A fairy tale way of addressing this question! , Journal of Psychosocial Research, 8(1), 2013.2. H.L. Kaila, Behaviour Based Safety in Organizations, PRASAD PSYCHO Corporation, 2012.3. B. Karthikeyan, Practical Process Safety Management, Prism Consultants, 2009.



BM

The Constitution of India provides for therights of the citizen and other people andfor the principle in the governance of thecountry labeled as "Directive Principlesof State Policy". Directive principles

provides for securing the health and strength ofemployees. Article-42 of constitution of Indiaprovided for just and humane conditions of work.On the basis of these Directive principles, a numberof safety and health legislation have been enacted byGovernment of India for safety and health of theworkers. The Industrial Safety & Health Branch ofthe Ministry of Labour & Employment under theGovernment of India discharged the overallfunctions relating to policy decision in consultationwith the State Governments and otherOrganizations of employers and employees. Theprovisions under the various labour laws areenforced by the Department of Labour of State




Human safety :A major concern

This articlediscusses the

role of HR & Amanagers in

occupationalsafety and

health withspecial

reference toWest Bengal

State ElectricityDistribution

CompanyLimited

(WBSEDCL). Susanta Chattopadhyay, Adviser (Safety & Statutory Compliance) WBSEDCL

Government. Factory Inspectors are appointed at local andDistrict levels for enforcing the provisions of various labourrelated statutes.

The National Policy on safety, health and environment atthe work place was declared by the Government of India on20.2.2009. The fundamental purpose of the national policy wasto eliminate the incidents of the work related injuries,diseases, disaster etc. for achievement of high leveloccupational safety and health as also the enhancement ofwell-being of the society at large.

In line with the above National safety policy, Section-53 ofthe Electricity Act, 2003 has entrusted the power utilitiesmainly the licensees to specify suitable measure for:-

a) Protection of public from danger arising fromgeneration, transmission or distribution or trading ofelectricity or use of electricity supplied or installationmaintenance and use of any electrical line or electrical plant.

b) Reduction of risk of personal injury to any person ordamage to property of any person.

It has been established by the National Safety Council thatcomprehensive safety management systems are effective inreducing the risk of workplace incidents, injuries & fatalities.Safety management system is an organized and structuredmeans achieving and ensuring high standards of safetyperformance. While there is no single all-covering method toensure safety-excellence, the following procedures may beadopted:-

a) Leadership-management Commitment of managementSystem-management and communicationAssessment audit and performance measurement

b) Technical-operationHazard identification and risk reductionWorkplace design and engineering

Operational processes and procedures

c) Cultural behaviourWorker and management involvementMotivation, behaviour and attitudeTraining and orientation

WBSEDCL affirms its commitment to provide safetyand healthy work place for all its employees and ensureprotection of the public by creating congenialenvironment by promoting a positive culture complyingwith all healthy, safety and environment relatedlegislation. A safety manual has already been prepared byWBSEDCL highlighting the necessity to provide thesafety norms to be adopted for the activities being carriedout by WBSEDCL at all levels in the organization. VariousCirculars, Office Orders have already been issuedcontaining safety procedures and guidelines, safetyequipment to maintain safe work environment. It hasbeen impressed upon that without the active support ofthe employees in general starting from top level to thebottom level of the employees the very purpose ofimplementing safety procedures and maintaining safeworking atmosphere is almost impossible.

Role of HR&AAt this stage, the role of (HR&A) Wing in health and

safety compliance becomes important. (HR&A) Executive,although are not expected to understand all the technicalaspect of O.S.H. they can play an important role infacilitating the compliance of safety rules. The (HR&A)professionals are expected to be aware of statutoryobligations and accordingly can play positive role toimplement those throughout the Organization. InWBSEDCL the (HR&A) officials also act as a link betweenmanagement and employees. They also keep close contactwith the Contractor and their labourers. (HR&A) officersare also concerned about various employee demands andrequirements. They can in turn communicate theOrganization objectives to its employees and boost theemployees' morale and commitment to the organization.However, (HR&A) officers' most important role is toensure that every member of the organization realizesthat safety is for everyone of everyone and by everyone.

WBSEDCL as a power utility engaged in distributionof electricity throughout the State of West Bengal catersthe need of 1.33 crores of consumers. This Company has tomaintain 467 Nos. 33/11 KV Sub Station, 1,79,935distributors, transformers, 13146 KM 33 KV Lines, 1,50,946KM, 11 KV Lines & 2,70,880 KM M&LV Lines. Forproviding consumers uninterrupted 24 hours supply ofelectricity and also to provide electricity connectionwithin the stipulated period to all sections of people andalso to fulfill the government's commitment to electricityall houses within 2014 huge workforce are engaged for 24hours a day. It is very difficult to keep watch over all theworking personnel & to ensure use of safety equipment inthe right manner. As a result, approximately 200 accidentsare experienced by WBSEDCL every year causing injuryto employees, contractor's labour and general people.

On analysis of causes of such accidents, it hasbeen observed that following are the major reasonsin WBSEDCL behind accidents:-

a) Non-observance of safety rules and procedures

b) Non-use of personal protective equipment

c) Snapping of conductord) Earth failuree) Fall from heightTo curb the rate of accident and to reduce the

number of injuries WBSEDCL has initiatedfollowing action such as:-

1) Arrangement of regular safety meeting, seminar andworkshop throughout West Bengal to create awarenessamong employees and the general public.

2) Inclusion of safety training for newly recruitedWBSEDCL employees at all induction trainingprogramme.

3) Arrangement of Safety Award & Safety Quizcompetition among public.

4) Printing of Safety Posters and distribution amongunits for display in workplace.

5) Preparation of CD and Film on adopting safetyprocedure for awareness of employees and contractorworkers.

6) Fixing of constructive liabilities of employees.7) Initiating disciplinary action for violation of safety

procedures and rules.8) Introduction of improved technology and safety

measures.

(HR&A) officials in WBSEDCL are entrusted within following activities:-

a) Evaluation of performance of employees in relationto maintenance of safety towards achieving theorganizational objective.

b) Arrangement of adequate Training for WBSEDCLemployee as well as contractor employees.

c) Arrangement of Public Awareness Campaigningand other programmes to educate general people on safeuse of electricity.

d) Preparation of Accident Enquiry Report to find outthe proper reasons behind the accident as well as tosuggest remedial measures in consultation with thetechnical officials.

e) Maintenance and regular inspection of all relevantstatutory safety records.

f) Arrangement of safety promotional activities likemock drill, safety seminar, safety workshop, safetymeeting in all units.

g) To see that sufficient welfare facilities like drinkingwater, toilet facilities, good housekeeping are provided forthe employees.

h) Arrangement of regular inspection of work-site tosee that safety measures are properly taken and safetyprocedures are followed.

ConclusionOccupational safety and health require to be accorded

highest priority in workplaces. It is suggested thatexchange of information and sharing of experience aswell as making employees aware about the accidentsoccurring in the organization, and the measures to betaken to arrest such accidents will result in improvedworking conditions, and also create awareness amongemployees and public. OSH compliance, besides, legalobligations, derives significant business benefits. Byincreasing employee productivity, achieving thecompany's public reputation and cutting cost-involvement towards payment of compensation, medicaltreatment and other incidental expenses, OSH ensurespositive financial impact on the organization.





BM

It is an established fact that about 96% ofworkplace injuries are due to human failures -be it process lapses, carelessness, lack ofknowledge, untrained workforce, overenthusiasm, fatigue, mental condition, time

pressure etc. Whatever might be the reasons, it isunfortunate that all people coming to workplaceevery day do not go back home unhurt. In India, the

Industrial Legislatures have provided for enoughLegal provisions regarding Health and Safety atworkplace. While most of the enlightened SeniorExecutives really do not want to see their employeesharmed at work, there are unfortunately still somewho view managing health and safety at workplaceas a burden and just another legislative obligationthat costs the business time, money and resources.

Role of HR in managing Healthand Safety at workplace:

Human Resources Management being amanagement function, its mandated role withrespect to occupational health and safety is basicallyto support the line management and theorganization as a whole by creating and overseeingpolicies, procedures and programs, dealing withregulatory compliances and reportingrequirements, and advising, coaching and trainingline managers and employees.In addition, HR mustplay a very important role of employee advocacyespecially where employees express concerns abouthealth and safety as because, many a time managersdo try to cut corners, keep hazards under wraps orfail to report workplace safety incidents.

Some of the core HR functions, such as:attendance management, disability management,workers' compensation claims, return to workprograms, job design, wellness initiatives andperformance management are closely related toHealth and Safety Management.

Where to start from?HR to sell health and Safety as a good business

proposition: While CEOs are fully aware of theirlegal responsibilities, the significant benefits of


Safety Management

& HRAsim Kumar Basu, Head, Corp. HR, Hindustan Motors, Calcutta



Health and Safety might not get their attention all thetime. HR professionals can help make it clear to the topmanagement that if increasing employee productivity,enhancing the company's public reputation andincreasing annual profits sound like the type of thingsthey would like to see, it's important to start payingmore attention to health and safety. Some establishedfacts may be highlighted as mentioned below:

Injuries and ill-health caused by poor workingconditions can impose significant and oftenunrecognised financial and legal costs tobusiness: Not to mention the ramifications thatcould result if the company management are foundto be negligent. Few worst examples of poor safetymanagement are Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 andAMRI hospital incident in Kolkata about 2 yearsback.

A healthy and safe employee is a moreproductive employee: The last thing anymanagement would like to have is a group ofincreasingly disgruntled employees who might viewtheir organisation's management team as one thatcares only about profits and nothing for employeewell-being and this will only render this group lessproductive.

Health and safety compliance can have anextensive and highly positive impact on theorganisation: The costs involved in maintaininghealth and safety compliance are not at all high,when compared with the possible costs involved inan accident or fire.

In reality, good health and safety management is along-term business investment for the overall well-being of a company, its employees and its goodwill.

While HR professionals are not expected tounderstand all the technical aspects of Health andSafety Management, they must play very importantroles in administrating, communicating, facilitatingand championing the process.In many organizations,health and safety responsibilities are within the humanresources department.In order to meet theseresponsibilities, human resources professionals must:

Understand and define the health and safetyresponsibilities of employers, managers,supervisors and employees within the organization;

Help develop safety policies, procedures andmechanisms to disseminate the same to all levels ofthe organization,

Help implement management policies to ensurethrough training and communications that everyonein the workplace is aware of his/her responsibilitiesat workplace;

Establish effective ways of complying to health andsafety responsibilities; and

Ensure that employees fulfil their health and safetyresponsibilities as outlined in the organizationalpolicies and programs.

The general guidelines for HR professionals tointegrate workplace health and safety in humanresources management practices could be broadlysummarised as the following:

Preventing work related injuries and illnesses;

Fostering a workplace safety culture in whichemployees and their supervisors work togethertoensure workplace safety;

Establishing administrative procedures thatencourage employees to report unsafe conditionsunsafe practices to their supervisors without fear ofbeing disciplined;

Developing appropriate hiring, training andperformance appraisal practices;

Recruiting and retaining the best employees whocare about their own well-being and the well-being ofco-workers.

Ensuring that the health and safety policies andprocedures conform to the applicable occupationalhealth and safety legislation and accepted bestpractices in similar organizations;

Establishing procedures for enforcing companysafety rules;

Helping reduce costs associated with losses due toinjuries leading to absence from work, Workers'Compensation,disability, and health care;

Maintaining records of injuries, illnesses andworkers' compensation;

Coordinating first aid training and the provision offirst aid to employees;

Providing advice to employees and the employer inmatters of occupational health and safety.

As a first step, HR professional should get a fullsafety audit conducted for the organization. This willidentify where the organization could be falling short interms of health and safety. The second step is to followthe recommendations gathered from the audit to ensurethat the organization is fully compliant with currentlegislation and ultimately protect the organization, itsemployees and the public.

Without being technical, the following three simplesteps HR professionals can take to increase health andsafety compliance:

Hazard identification & risk mapping throughexperts

Risk analysis

Developing risk mitigation plan

Ultimately, safety management and safetyperformancesare about human beings at workplace.Employees need to be motivated so that they arefocused, alert and work for continuous improvement. Itcalls for leadership, commitment, technical competenceand engagement where HR plays a vital role.

Let us now elaborate a bit on these aspects of safetymanagement and role of HR.

LeadershipMost of the large organizations have the

fundamentals of safety well covered in its operationalperformance parameters, but surprisingly, there aredramatic differences in performance across suchorganizations. Leaders for all of such organizations aredefinitely interested in preventing workplace injuries.As a fundamental management commitment to safety,





such leaders help create safety structures and systemsto achieve good safety performance results. Thedifference in safety performances among suchorganizations is attributable to the personalinvolvement of its leadership. In many organizations,senior leaders create their personal safety plan, andthey set very high safety performance goals and makeeveryone accountable for achieving those goals. Theythemselves demonstrate what they demand, and theytruly believe that all accidents are avoidable and that anaccident-free work place should be a managementcommitment. Such committed leaders create a visionand demonstrate their personal commitment in veryobservable way. They help create a sense of ownershipand make safety everybody's responsibility. When aCEO follows up about an injury investigation directlyfrom the plant manager instead from the safetydepartment, it sends a very strong message. Whenleaders are active in safety audits and as individualsalways follow safety rules and address others who donot, it creates an environment where everyoneunderstands the importance of safety.

On the other hand, when leaders accept accidents asunavoidable; when they choose not to put on safetygadgets as they are just going out into the plant for aquick visit; or, when they ignore anyone at the shop-floor not following even a minor safety rule orprocedure, they also send a strong message.

HR to define Leaders' role as safetychampions:

Leaders' commitment to safety combined withexcellence in leadership definitely create an enormouspositive impact on their organisations. Though it isreally difficult to pin down exactly what distinguishthese leaders from others, but they definitely tend to usecertain practices that define how they interact withothers in the organisation and how they go about theirday-to-day work. Not surprisingly, these behaviourspositively correlate with cultures and environmentsupporting good safety practices. These are:

Vision - The effective leader is able to "see" whatsafety excellence would look like and conveys thatvision in a compelling way throughout theorganisation. This leader acts in a way thatcommunicates high personal standards in safety,helps others question and rethink their assumptionsabout safety, and describes a compelling picture ofwhat the future can be.

Credibility - The effective leader fosters a high levelof trust in his or her peers and reports. This leaderis willing to admit mistakes with others, advocate fordirect reports and the interests of the group, andgiving honest information about safety even it if isnot well received.

Collaboration - The effective leader works well withother people, promotes cooperation andcollaboration in safety, actively seeks input frompeople on issues that affect them, and encouragesothers to implement their decisions and solutions forimproving safety.

Communication - The effective leader is a greatcommunicator. He or she encourages people to givehonest and complete information about safety even ifthe information is unfavorable. This leader keepspeople informed about the big picture in safety, andcommunicates frequently and effectively up, down,and across the organisation.

Action-Orientation - The effective leader isproactive rather than reactive in addressing safetyissues. This leader gives timely, consideredresponses for safety concerns, demonstrates a senseof personal urgency and energy to achieve safetyresults, and demonstrates a performance-drivenfocus by delivering results with speed and excellence.

Feedback & Recognition - The effective leader isgood at providing feedback and recognizing peoplefor their accomplishments. This person publiclyrecognizes the contributions of others; uses praisemore often than criticism, gives positive feedbackand recognition for good performance, and findsways to celebrate accomplishments in safety.

Accountability - Finally, the effective leaderpractices accountability. He or she gives people a fairappraisal of the efforts and results in safety, clearlycommunicates people's roles in the safety effort, andfosters the sense that every person is responsible forthe level of safety in their organisational unit. It isimportant to note that this practice is placed last;accountability, absent the context of the otherpractices, can be counterproductive. Employees willknow they will be held accountable, but notnecessarily given the resources, information,leadership, support, and encouragement they need toaccomplish the task. When used as part of the othersix practices, however, accountability complementsthe work begun.

Making of Safety Leaders - Roles of HR

Safety leadership behaviours can be learned anddeveloped. Like all new behaviours, these take practice,self-knowledge, and an attention to the qualities andabilities of the individual leader. Done well, leadershipdevelopment supports a comprehensive approach tosafety improvement, and positions leaders at any levelto make a difference in the lives and livelihoods of theircoworkers.

Building Commitment:Demonstrating commitment requires hard decisions

at times but it will be just as visible to the rest of theorganization as is leadership. There is always a tensionbetween production demands and safety. Giving in tothe production requirements at the expense of safetywill make commitment go out the window. That is notto say that every situation is an either/or, productionversus safety. Often there are win/win opportunitiesthat allow demonstration of commitment to safetywithout sacrificing production performance. For




example, many ergonomic solutions can actuallyimprove performance while reducing risks.

What others see that leaders are willing to accept interms of safety performance visibly demonstrates theircommitment to the organization. Leaders can talkabout zero accidents all day long but if they are silenton actual recordable or lost time cases, they will not becredible in the eyes of the organization.

Commitment also means that safety performance isa key factor in promotion decisions and that a leaderwith unacceptable results experience consequences.Remember, who gets promoted is always a very strongvisual to the organization.

Developing Technical Competence:There is a very real technical aspect to safety and

this element of safety can be intimidating to the HRprofessional. Safety as a subject is not covered indetails in HR curriculum, but is briefly covered atconceptual level and that really cannot satisfy a realpractitioner. Mastering the concepts of hazardrecognition and mitigation along with risk analysis arekey requirements in safety management.

Once the technical aspects of the safety role areaddressed, it is important to focus on the other areasthat are key to an effective safety culture - leadership,commitment and engagement.

Ensuring Employee EngagementinHealth and Safety Management:

Great safety performance is never achieved whenorganizations rely on a few believers. It requires theengagement of a critical mass of the employees.Involving people gets them invested in the efforts andmake them part of the solution. When the efforts are toimprove safety, that is having fewer colleagues, peers,and or friends injured, it is not a difficult sell. Itprobably goes without saying, but this has to be real.Safety teams that have recommendations ignored willgive up quickly. It is also observed that most of theteams are highly reasonable and committed when itcomes to budgets and expensive solutions for safetymanagement. In fact, these teams usually come up withgreat ideas for affordable fixes, but they normallywithdraw when it comes to practising anddemonstrating commitments for results.

As people practitioners, HR has the unenviable taskof balancing the best interests of employees with thoseof the organisation.

Organizations are obliged to provide employees witha safe and healthy work environment. HR must play thevery important role of administrating, communicating,facilitating and championing the process:

The statutes require the employer to bring about andmaintain, as far as reasonably practicable, a work

environment that is safe and without risk to thehealth of the workers. The statutory provisions arebased on the principle that risks in the workplacemust be addressed by communication andcooperation between the workforce and theorganization. In mining industry, there areprovisions for workmen inspector. Many companiesfollow a practice of Safety Marshall from workmen.The workforce and the organization must share theresponsibility for health and safety in the workplace.Both parties must proactively identify possible risksand develop control measures to make the workplacesafe.

Health and safety compliance may be quite technicaland often requires the services of health and safetyprofessionals or an outsourced health and safetyconsultancy. However, HR is an important linkbetween management and employees.

While communicating the importance of occupationalhealth and safety to management not just from a legal,but business case perspective, HR also plays animportant role in ensuring that employee concerns areheard and raised. HR can in turn communicate theorganisation's commitment to its employees and theirhealth and safety, further boosting employee moraleand commitment to the organisation

In addition to overseeing policies and procedures,and ensuring employees adhere to these, HR's mostimportant role is to ensure that every member of theorganisation, from the top down, understands thatHealth and Safety is everyone's responsibility.

HR can help reduce unsafe acts by screening outaccident prone persons before they are selected, andfor others by organizingrelevant safety training

HR can help set up and monitor Employee AssistanceProgramme (EAP) offering counselling and otherhelps to employees having emotional, physical orother personal problems. This type of programmemay be organized through a social service counselingagency, which may be handled by HR.

While driving such a vital and importantorganizational issue, the HR professionals mustconvince themselves of the benefits associated withthis. The benefits of fostering good health and safetypractices in organizations may be summarized as:

Staffs become more competent;Staffs become more productive;Staffs become more motivated;By educating employees about workplace health andsafety, they are empowered to take responsibility fortheir own health and safety.



REFERENCES:1. Getting HR On Board with Your Safety Efforts by David Libby2. 7 Practices for Safety Leadersby Guy Boyd3. HR's responsibility for occupational health and safety by Brian Kreissl4. What is the role of HR in health and safety compliance by JOHN KILIAN5. HR and Safety by Rick Williams, Vice President Human Resources, Printpack, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia



BM

Blue Collar unemployment, is anaccepted phenomena as is oftenprevalent depending on

fluctuations in economy. Seasonalemployment in certain sectors likeagriculture is an yearly prevalence.

As industry is unable to absorb thefresh graduates and school and collegedropouts every year, there has been alarge segment of educated unemployedyouth in the country. However thereally employable may be less amongstthem.

Due to high unemployment rate(almost double digit), they may end upaccepting jobs for which they areoverqualified or over skilled, asituation known as under-employment.

While unemployment of bluecollar, agricultural labour, educatedand under employment are longaccepted phenomena in India, theunemployment among white collar andmanagerial segments needs attentionof researchers.

Managerial unemployment is aprocess where persons working inmanagerial levels lose their job andlook for new jobs. Data about this isnot available in India although it iseasily available in countries likeAustralia. In some countries, economiceffects of job loss are not drastic due tosocial security provisions andunemployment insurance etc.

Causes for job loss could be manyfor example like :

1. His/her employer company mighthave folded -up ;

2. Due to re-engineering andoutsourcing of jobs, entire middlelevel is eliminated;

3. Due to the fact that the roleholder has skills different from thedemands of the job- and he was notable to cope with rapidly changingdemands.

In evolution, human body

periodically loses parts that have norole like the tail. Similarly, everyorganization over a period of time,drops certain functions/roles that haveno relevance and add new ones,resulting in job loss to the current roleholders. For example, how many of usheard of roles like "Time and Motionstudy" or "Industrial Engineering" role? The costing jobs may slowly fade.With every organization going forERP, the cost is available on real time.With practice of "just-in-time "pickingup, role of stores is changing. Do weany longer have positions of "QualityInspectors" as the quality is nowinbuilt with TQM and othermovements. The role of MedicalRepresentatives in pharmaceuticalcompanies is drastically changing.

In Finance function in early 90s,advt., used to specifically mentionthat the "Applicant need to haveexperience in working incomputerised environment" - Isn't it agiven reality today ?

In IT industry, do we remember tohave heard of specialists in Fortran?New jobs in the area of "cloudcomputing" may replace some of theexisting jobs. Growth of "Remote Infrastructure maintenance" may replacesome of the networking jobs. New jobswill emerge with Big Data andAnalytics is catching up.

The job losses may be due totechnological developments or due tochanging consumer preferences or dueto structural changes like doing awaywith middle level.

In all such cases, persons who fail toupgrade their skills in tune withchanging demands may lose jobs.

HR function is not an exception,where some HR professionals arelosing their jobs and becomingunemployable gradually over the lasttwo decades. The number of HRpersons seeking jobs is on increase. Arecent advt. for HR Head elicited close

to one thousand responses. Number offactors lead to their job loss.

Technological implementations inHR have resulted in cutting some HRpositions. For eg. Kiosks on the shop-floor of manufacturing companiesprovide on time information to everyemployee like his latest leave balanceor PF loan availability and evenpermit updating of records in somecases as a self help practice.

Increasing number of HR sharedservices have impacted every HRdepartment. Starting with canteen,security, and time office, majority ofHR functions today are getting outsourced. HR is poised to move fromtransactional roles to more valueadding transformational roles.

Expectation from HR is to play highlevel role in areas like OrganisationDesign, Leadership and Culturebuilding , Success Coach, PotentialAssessment and providing Right fit ofEmployees (R Elango, People Matters2013)

HR friends have three optionsunder these circumstances:

1.Read the writing on the wall inadvance and rebuild necessaryCompetencies in tune with changingdemands;

2. shredding social inhibitions, joinoutsourcing vendors even for lessersalaries;

3.Accept unemployment in alearned helpless manner as aninevitable reality. Being prudent, I amsure they would opt for the firstoption.....

I strongly suggest that each one ofus need to spend 10%of our time andresources on self-develoment. As thesaying goes in a race with a tiger ,weneed to run faster than the tiger.Toavoid threat of unemployment ,weneed to develop ourselves withcompetencies needed in the futurefaster than the changes.

Dr. PVR MurthyFounder Director,

Exclusive Search Recruitment Consultants, Chennai

Is your job under threat?

BM



Employees' Provident FundOrganisation, New Delhi

8th November, 2013

CircularNo. Pension/Misc./2013/Higher Salary/528

To,All Regional Provident Fund CommissionersRegional Offices/Sub-Regional Offices

Subject: Contribution on salary exceeding thestatutory limit under Para 11(3) of the EPS'95

Reference:

1. Circular No. Pen/4(2)96/SLP/Vol.V/16598 dated26.6.2004

2. Letter No. Pen.4(38)96/WB/59867, dated 1.12.2004

3. Circular No. Pen/Misc/2006/Vol.1 dated 25.4.2006

4. Circular No. Pension/Misc./2005/65836, dated22.11.2006

Kind reference is invited to the headquarters circularscited above wherein the issue of contributing on a payexceeding the statutory limit under Para 11(3) of theEmployees' Pension Scheme, 1995 has been the point ofconsideration.

2. This matter has been receiving attention in headquartersand the following significant facts have emerged in theanalysis:

(i) Every option for contribution on higher wages is puttingthe Pension Fund under strain on account of the higherpayout obligations arising out of it. The payout isdisproportionate to the contributions received in respectof cases where there is an option for contribution onhigher wages.

(ii) Currently the Pension Fund is running at an overalldeficit as per actuarial valuations and it would beunwarranted to increase the deficit by accepting optionsfor contributions on higher wages knowing fully well that

benefit payout in such cases are detrimental to theviability of the fund.

(iii) Members contributing on higher wages draw benefitsdisproportionate to the contributions, even given the factthat in their case the contributions are on higher salaries.In effect the poor members are subsidizing he benefits forthe relatively richer members. This is a most undesirableand repugnant situation that needs to be correctedimmediately.

3. In view of the foregoing, it has been decided that henceforthand until further orders no permission will be accorded forcontribution on higher wages under EPS.

4. As may be evident under EPS there is no contributionpayable separately. Under Para 3 of the EPS, from and out ofthe contributions payable by the employer in each monthunder section 6 of the Act, the employer shall remit a part ofcontribution representing 8.33% of the employees' pay to theEPS. Accordingly, the option to contribute on a pay exceedingstatutory limit is available to a member only under Para 26(6)of the Employes' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952 and not underPara 11(3) of the EPS.

5. Para 26(6) of the EPF Scheme, 1952 provides that thecontribution on higher wages would be permitted by an officernot below the rank of APFC on the joint request of theemployer and employee. The option for contribution on higherwages to the EPS would have to be regulated under this Para.Accordingly, in all cases where joint requests from employerand employee preferring option for contribution on higherwages are received under Para 26(6), the permission forcontribution on higher wages may be accorded subject to thecondition that contribution to the EPS on higher wages wouldnot be allowed and shall be limited to wage ceiling only. Thereason for declining option for contribution on higher wagesto EPS, that have been detailed in paragraph 2 above shouldalso be clearly mentioned in the option acceptanceletter/order.

(This issues with the approval of the CPFC)

Yours faithfully,Chandramauli Chakraborty

Regional P.F. Commissioner-I(Pension)

Government Notifications

Building and Other ConstructionWorkers (Regulation of Employment and

Conditions of Service) Act, 1996Punjab Govt. Gaz. (Extra), December 05,2013 1391

(Aghn 14, 1935 Saka)

NOTIFICATIONThe 2nd December, 2013

No.S.O.109/C.A.27/1996/S.2/2013.- In exercise of thepowers conferred by clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 2 ofthe Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation ofEmployment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 (Central ActNo. 27 of 1996), and all other powers enabling him in thisbehalf, the Governor of Punjab is pleased to specify the worksgiven in the table below to be the works for the purposes of theaforesaid Act, namely :-

TABLE

1. Making and erection of Tent or Pandal;

2. Making and erection of Hoardings or Banners;

3. Maintenance by way of sweeping and cleaningof building or other construction work;

4. Making and transportation of raw bricks;

5. Stone breaking work except stone breaking byPower Crushers;

6. Tiles or block making from fly ash, cement andother material;

7. Cutting, stacking or transportation of wood inSaw Mills; and

8. Cutting and fitting of glass.

VISWAJEET KHANNA,Principal Secretary to Government of Punjab,

Department of Labour



Government Notifications

Government of PunjabDepartment of Labour

NOTIFICATION6th December, 2013

No. 21/46/2013-4Labour/837.- The Governor of Punjab ispleased to formulate a Scheme for the Industries/Establishments in the State to ease the regulations undervarious labour laws as under :-

1. INTRODUCTION :- This Scheme is being introduced tostreamline the implementation of various Labour Laws beingimplemented by the Labour Commissioner-cum-Director ofFactories and also to facilitate the employer/entrepreneur.The Scheme will be applicable on Very Small, Small, LowerMedium, Medium, Large Scale and Very Large ScaleIndustries/ Establishments which are defined as under :-

1) Very small industry means any factory/establishmentemploying less than 10 workers.

2) Small Scale industry means any factory/establishmentemploying 10 or more but less than 20 workers.

3) Lower Medium Scale industry means any factory/establishment employing 20 or more but less than 50 workers.

4) Medium Scale industry means anyfactory/establishment employing 50 workers or more but lessthan 100 workers.

5) Large Scale industry means any factory/Establishmentemploying 100 workers or more but less than 500 workers.

6) Very Large Scale industry means any factory/Establishment employing 500 or more than 500 workers.

2. OBJECTIVE :- The objective of this Scheme is tointroduced transparency and to curtail visits of Governmentofficials for inspection and to reduce visits of entrepreneurs toGovernment Offices, by automatising approval and regulatorycompliances.

3. PROCEDURE :- This Scheme shall be optional and anyemployer/entrepreneur can opt for this Scheme after applyingto the Labour Commissioner in the prescribed proforma atAnnexure-I and Self declaration as prescribed in Annexure-II.Any discrepancy in the application and self declaration shallbe communicated to the applicant within 30 days from thereceipt of the application in the office of LabourCommissioner, Punjab. In case no discrepancy is socommunicated, the applicant shall be deemed to have beenenrolled under the Scheme.

4. FILING OF RETURNS :- The concerned employer/entrepreneur shall file the Self-Certification Return in theprescribed Form No. 21 alongwith the required documents forfactory registered under the Factories Act and for otherestablishment in Annexure-III. The return can be filed onlineduring the prescribed period.

5. VALIDITY OF UNDERTAKING :- Factual informationgiven in the prescribed Return shall be the same as on the dateof filing the return. The undertaking to abide by all the lawsas applicable to the employer/entrepreneur shall be valid forthe period for which he remains registered under this Scheme.

6. AMOUNT OF BANK GUARANTEE TO BEFURNISHED :- Any entrepreneurs/employer who opts forthe Scheme shall give Bank Guarantee in favour of LabourCommissioner, Punjab at the following rates :-

Sr.No. Type of Industry Security Amount (in Rs.)

1 Very Small 05,000/-2 Small Scale 20,000/-3. Lower Medium Scale 50,000/-4. Medium Scale 1,00,000/-5. Large Scale 2,00,000/-6. Very Large 5,00,000/-

7. VALIDITY OF SCHEME :- Once opted for the Scheme,the same shall be valid for a period of five years. The employercan at any time opt out of the Scheme by giving intimation tothe Labour Commission in writing. If during inspection, anemployer is found violating any of the labour laws mentionedin Para 8 of the Scheme then apart from taking legal actionunder the relevant labour laws, the Bank Guarantee submittedby the employer will be encashed and his registration underthis Scheme will stand cancelled. If he wants to re-opt for theScheme he will have to hive double the Bank Guarantee for hisclass of establishment. In case the employer/entrepreneursuccessfully completes five years under the Scheme and hedoes not want to remain in the Scheme or he withdraws fromthe Scheme prematurely, his Bank Guarantee will be released.He will also have an option to continue in the Scheme foranother five years.

8. LABOUR LAWS FOR WHICH THE SCHEME ISVALID:- This Scheme shall be valid for following Acts andRules made thereunder :-i Minimum Wages Act, 1948.ii Payment of Wages Act, 1936.iii Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970.iv Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.v Punjab Industrial Establishment (National and Festival

Holidays and Casual and Sick Leave) Act, 1965.vi Punjab Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1965.vii Payment of Bonus Act, 1965.viii Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.ix Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.x Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986.xi Punjab Shops & Commercial Establishment Act, 1958,xii Factories Act, 1948.

9. INSPECTION PROCEDURE :-1. To ensure ease of doing business, the inspections of the

Establishments covered under the Scheme can be carried outunder the directions of Labour Commissioner-cum-Director ofFactories only. Under the Scheme about 5-10 percent of theunits covered under the Scheme shall be picked up randomlyfor inspection by the Head of Department every year.

2. However, on specific complaint, only the LabourCommissioner-cum-Director of Factories may orderinspection at any time. The inspection will be a jointinspection under the labour laws, Hence it will normally be aone time inspection on authorization by the LabourCommissioner.

10. FORMS :- A copy of this Scheme alongwith prescribedApplication and Returns shall be available with all the DeputyDirector of Factories/Assistant Director ofFactories/Assistant Labour Commissioner/Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer in their offices & can be obtained on theofficial website pblabour.gov.in.

G. VAJRALINGAMPrincipal Secretary to Government of Punjab

Department of Labour


Anil Kaushik Management Expert -HR & IR

Solutions provided here are in context to narrated facts & not in general.

Q. We seek your expert advice on the following : 1) Under section 59(2) of the Factories Act, do we need to pay overtimewages on all allowances and components of wage? 2) Does monthly incentive which is variable pay paid on a separatedate to be included while paying overtime wages? 3) Allowances like washing allowance need to be included whilecalculating overtime wages. 4) Can the Management take a stand that overtime wages are paid on basic and DA and it hasbeen the practice in almost all industries across the region and union cannot raise any demand involving financialliability on the company during the period of existing settlement? (Wage settlement is valid up to 2015).

Ans. As facts mentioned by you, my opinion on yourquestions is as under :

1. Section 59 of the Factories Act 1948 has clear cutguidelines regarding calculation of extra wages ofovertime wherein it is mentioned that workman willbe entitled to overtime wages @ rate of twice of hisordinary rate of wages.

Ordinary rate of wages means-basic wages +suchallowances as the worker is for the time beingentitled to. I have deliberately excluded thecomponent of cash equivalent of the advantageaccruing through the concessional sale of food grainand other articles to workers, because I presumethat you may not be giving this facility.

So, you are under legal obligation to pay overtime onall component of wages excluding bonus. However ifyou have provided house to workers, the value (rent)of the house is not to be taken into account whilecalculating rate of overtime.

2. I am not aware of your incentive scheme so itwould be difficult to comment upon whether it is apart of wage or not, but if the incentive paid toworkmen is a term of employment throughsettlement, award or appointment and ESI is paid onsuch incentive, it has all probabilities to be included

as a part of wages component for the purpose ofovertime.

3. Since washing allowance is a part of wagescomponent, overtime is also to be calculated on thisamount.

4. Any practice adopted by nearby industries in theregion can not have overriding effect on the legalposition.

5. It is advised that you can make it a negotiationpoint and try to hold the practice which is beingcarried out since long. Alternatively you can stopovertime and in place engage other employees to getthe work done at low cost. This may bring down theworkers demand.

However, Kerala High Court in the case of Jossi vs.Flag Officers Commanding-in-Chief 2011 LLR 1168has held that ordinary rate of wages for calculationof overtime not essentially includes thoseallowances like small family norm allowance,traveling allowance and city compensatoryallowance which are not universally payable to eachand every employee. Madras High Court in the caseof Heavy Vehicles Factory Employees’ Union 2012LLR 358 has also held that overtime paymentincludes basic wages and allowances.

Q.what is the time limit for issuing the charge sheet to a person and initiating domestic inquiry?

Ans. No Specific time limit is fixed to initiate thedomestic inquiry proceedings and issue of charge-sheet for misconduct in any law. But pl. check yourservice rules or certified standing orders. If there issome mention about the time frame for thedisciplinary proceedings, you have to follow that.Even if there is no such mention of time frame,there should be some reasoning and rationale for

inordinate delay. Mere delay in initiating thedomestic enquiry proceedings would not be fataland would not vitiate the enquiry. But at the sametime, it would depend on various facts andcircumstances of each case. However, delay ininitiating such proceedings may sometime causeprejudice to the accused employee in defendinghimself as such delay should be avoided as far as



Ans. Yes, you can terminate his services treatinghim as probationer. Such employee will not bedeemed as permanent. Completion of probationaryperiod or continuous working after that would notmean automatic confirmation in service. Nonissuance of formal letter of extension of probationperiod, and mere completion of probation periodwould not lead to automatic confirmation. It hasbeen so held by Delhi HC in the case of HimanshuBhatt Vs.Indian Railway Catering and Tourismcorporation Ltd.2013 (4) LLN/559. Supreme Court inthe case of Head master, Lawrence School,LovedateVs. Jayanti Raghu 2012 LLR 514 has also held thatconfirmation of a probationer can only by a written

order. Calcutta HC in the case of Manjit singh Bawavs. Food corporation of India 2007 LLR 715 has heldthat a probationer will not become permanent evenif he has continued to work after expiry of themaximum period. Now , what I suggest that youshould not terminate his services by alleging him ofcertain misconducts other wise you will have to gothrough disciplinary proceedings. You can simplywrite that your services are terminated due tounsatisfactory work . This will not be construed asstigmatic as held by S.C. in the case of PavanendraNarayan varma Vs. Sanjay Gandhi post GraduateInstitute of Medical sciences 2002 LLR 113.

Q. We employ contract labour in different operations/ processes in the factory. As has been the practice throughout thecountry we also have difference in wage structure of regular workmen and those employed through contractor firms.Many time both set of workers work on same machines. Contract labour Rules say that when employees throughcontractor perform same and similar kind of work as done by regular employees, they will get same wages. My questionis as to who will decide the similarities in nature of work and what are the deciding factors?

Ans. The law is very clear on the point. Rule25(2)(v)(a) and (b) of Contarct labour Central Rulestalk about same and similar kind of work if beingperformed by contract labour, makes them entitledto equal wages paid to regular workmen of thecompany. The question of similarities in nature ofwork is to be determined by Government. The powerto decide this question of similarities rests with theLabour commissioner. This question can not bedecided by the courts. Te supreme court in the caseof State of Punjab vs.Surinder Singh 2007(13)SCC231 has held that the principle of equal pay for equalwork has undergone sea change. Earlier the courtsviewed that if two persons are discharging the samefunctions, they will be entitled to same wages.Subsequently this has been changed. Now the viewis that there should be complete and total identitybetween the two persons similarly situated so as to

grant equal wages for equal work. Identity betweenthe two persons has to be complete and total. S.C. inthe case of State of M.P. vs.Ramesh Chandra Bajpai(2009) 13 SCC 635 also held that the doctrine of equalpay for equal work can be invoked only when theemployees are similarly situated and that similarityof the designation or nature or quantum of work isnot determinative of equality in the matter of payscales. Only if there was wholesale identity betweenthe holders of the two posts, equality clause can beinvoked, not otherwise. Madras HC in the case ofAir port Authority of India 2012 LLR 399 held thatworkmen employed through contractor performingsame and similar nature of work which was beingdone by regular employees of the Air port authoritywill be entitled to same rates of wages, holidays,hours of work and other conditions of the work.

Q. we have many employees who are on probation. Our certified standing orders have a clause of one year initialprobation period. About confirmation it says that such employees will not be deemed confirmed till an order in writingof confirmation is issued. Few employees have crossed the probation period. They are still in employment. Neither theirprobation period is extended nor confirmation is issued. We want to terminate one such employee because he is habitualabsentee. My question is, can we terminate him straightway as probationer or he will be deemed as permanent employeenow?

possible. As held by Supreme court in the case ofAdditional Superintendent of Police vs T. Natrajan[2000 (85) FLR 39], that some delay in initiating theproceeding would not vitiate the enquiry unlessdelay results in prejudice to the delinquentemployee. A.P. High Court in the case of R.Fakruddin vs. DTC 1999 LLR 149 also held that delayin initiating of enquiry against employees forprocuring jobs on bogus certificates will not vitiatethe inquiry. But, Delhi HC in the case ofM.L.Tahiliani VS. Delhi Development Authority2002 LLR 981 has held that Initiation of disciplinaryaction after four years of detection of misconduct

will be quashed. A.P. HC in the case of P. BhaskarVs. Assistant General Manager, Syndicate Bank,2003 LLR 1108 has also held that for variousadministrative reasons an inquiry may get delayedand delay of course in such cases per se does notvitiate the inquiry or absolve the delinquent fromthe charges leveled against him. Delhi HC in thecase of Balvinder Singh Nigah Vs. General Manager(Operations) Hotel Corporation of India 2010 LLR102 has held that initiating the disciplinary actionafter 11 years would be pre judicial to norms ofjustice.

BM

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Recent Important JudgmentsLatest Judgments

AbandonmentWhen the employee involved in criminal case

did not resume duties for three years even afternotices of management and publication in newspaper, abandonment rightly presumed.

Mere pendency of a criminal case against anemployee does not mean that the employee has noobligation to report for duty or there is any legal baragainst him in resuming his duty.

If an employee does not make any response to thenotices sent to him or respond to the publication in thenewspaper, calling him to report for duty, thepresumption to be drawn by the abandoned the job ofhis own accord is justified.

Sending notices to the employee at his last knowaddress and publication in newspaper calling him toresume duty fulfills the requirement of principles ofnatural justice.

Rajbir vs. Agricultural Produce Market Committee &Ors. 2014 LLR 17 (Delhi H.C.)

Unauthorised absence of worker withoutenquiry cannot be deemed as abandonment ofservice. It will amount termination of service.Without complying section 25-F of I.D. Act itattracts reinstatement with full back wages.

Without conducting domestic enquiry by followingthe principles of natural justice, proving on record thatthe delinquent employee was unauthorisedly absent, toconclude on the basis of presumption that thedelinquent has abandoned his job of his own, isuntenable.

Presumption that an employee has abandoned thejob of his own without conducting proper enquiry isviolation of provisions of section 25-F of the IndustrialDisputes Act, resulting into reinstatement of theworkman with full back-wages and continuity orservices.

Awarding lump sum compensation instead ofreinstatement is not justified only on the ground that along period expired in litigation if the delay is not due toany fault of the workman.

When the workman has pleaded that he remainedunemployed since the date of illegal termination of hisservices, which has not been rebutted by theManagement, the workman would be entitled to back-wages.

M/s. O.K. Play India Ltd. vs. Raj Kumar and Another.2014 LLR 31 (P&H H.C.)

Casual canteen employee when remained absentfor about seven years, abandonment rightlypresumed.

An adverse inference is rightly drawn when a casualemployee remains absent allegedly due to sicknesswithout any intimation or application for leave hence itis rightly presumed that by remaining absentunauthorisedly for more than 7 and half years he hasabandoned his job of his own accord.

High Court would not issue directions under itspowers to issue writs for enforcement of Award of theIndustrial Tribunal.

Aniruddha Manna vs. Union of India and Others. 2014LLR 190 (Cal. H.C.)

To constitute abandonment of service theremust be total and complete giving up of duties.

With no intention to resume duties, length ofabsence was sufficient for drawing an inference adverseto employee that he had intended to leave theorganization.

After considering the lexical and legal meanings ofthe expression the Supreme Court held that toconstitute abandonment of service there must be totaland complete giving up of duties so as to indicate anintention not to resume the same.

Applying these tests it can be held that the petitionerhad abandoned the job on his own. The length ofabsence was sufficient for drawing an inference adverseto the petitioner that he had intended to leave theorganization. Again, the surrounding circumstances,such as that he had left without any intimation andthem again surfaced after so many years without anyintimation in between are clear indications of hisintention to relinquish his job. Continuous absence formore than one year without any intimation may betaken as a proof of abandonment of service and therespondents cannot be blamed if they had treated thepetitioner to have left the service.

Aniruddha Manna vs. Union of India and Others.2014(140) FLR 342 (Cal. H.C.)

Back WagesWhen 15% of basic wages was agreed to be given

as hill development allowance, overtime and leaveencashment are not fit to be taken into account for



calculation of this allowance.

An allowance declared to be given to the employeesat 15% of their 'basic wages' will not include overtimewages, leave encashment and extra bonus since theyvary from one workman to another.

'Basic wages' have been defined under Employees'Provident Funds & Misc. Provisions Act and keeping inview the interpretation given, it will comprise thosewages which are universally, necessarily and ordinarilypaid to all the employees across the board.

A compensatory allowance is given to meet the highcost of living in certain areas, places having bad climateand because of special conditions of living includingdisadvantages to an employee not having his familywith him.

Kichha Sugar Company Limited, thro. GeneralManager vs. Tarai Chini Mill Majdoor Union,

Uttarakhand. 2014 LLR 113 (S.C.)

BOCW ActThe State government has no power to exempt

the levy of cess under the Building & OtherConstruction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996 uponthe construction work for the special economiczone since the power vests with the CentralGovernment.

Primal Projects Ltd. vs. Union of India and Others.2014 LLR 106 (Kar. H. C.)

Non-compliance of BOCW Act will keep theworkmen away from the benefits of the Act.

Non-compliance of provisions of the Building andOther Construction Workers (Regulation ofEmployment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 as perdirections issued by the Supreme Court in the case ofNational Campaign Committee v. Union of India andOthers, would keep the concerned workmen away fromthe benefits as provided under the Act.

Ashok Goswami vs. State of M.P. and Ors.2014 LLR 203 (M.P. H.C.)

Charge-sheetSubstitution of former charge-sheet with a

second one does not justify cancellation of theformer charge-sheet as after substitution theformer charge-sheet does not exist.

Pradip Kumar Mitra vs. United Bank of India andOthers. 2014 LLR 194 (Cal. H.C.)

Continuous ServiceA workman is not entitled to challenge the

termination of his services if he has not workedwith the employer for 240 working dayscontinuously.

If a workman fails to prove his continuous servicefor 240 or more working days, on the basis ofdocumentary records/evidence, he is not entitled toclaim retrenchment compensation or such other relieffrom the Management in case his services areterminated by the Management.

Gujarat Viduyut Board and Another vs. MahavirsinhTapubha Gohil and Another. 2014 LLR 84 (Guj. H. C.)

Contact LabourFailure of employer to seek registration and

licence by contractor will not convert theemployees of contractor into the employees ofprincipal employer.

The Tribunal on account of violation of theprovisions of section 7 (2) and 12 of the Contract Labour(R&A) Act had drawn an inference that thearrangement made by the Management was acamouflage. It does not appear to have made any seriousefforts to lift the veil to find out that the engagement ofthese workmen was in the nature of a camouflage orruse employed by the Management through acontractor.

Failure of the employer to seek registration and alsoobtaining of licence by the contractor under ContractLabour (R&A) Act would not justify that the contractlabour system has been in said Act and also that theworkers as engaged through the contractor become theemployees of the principal employer since for suchviolation there are penal consequences as stipulatedunder the Act.

The Industrial Tribunal wrongly drew an adverseinference against the principal employer that on itsfailure to produce the attendance registers, itestablished that 27 workers of the contractor have beenemployed for more than 240 days and as such theyshould be regularised whereas there has been no suchdirection of the Industrial Tribunal upon the principalemployer to produce the attendance register.

M/s. Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. vs. Their Workmen bySecretary, Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union and Another.

2014 LLR 64 (Jhar. H.C.)

Principal employer is liable to pay wages tocontract labour in case of default by contractor.

Principal employer is liable for payment of wages tothe workmen as per section 21(4) of the Contract Labour(Regulation & Abolition) Act when the immediateemployer i.e. contractor fails to discharge hisobligation.

Even it is categorically stated in section 34 of theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947 that in the event of thecontractor failing to pay wages, the principal employershould be liable to pay the wages to the workmen.

Shyamji Srivastava & Ors. vs. Management of M/s.Public Works Department & Ors. 2014 LLR 130 (Delhi

H.C.)

If the contract is not genuine or merecamouflage, the contract labourer will be treatedas an employee of the principal employer.

The Industrial Tribunal has the jurisdiction todecide the issue whether a contract between theprincipal employer and the contractor is genuine orcamouflage.

No machinery is created under the Act of 1970 foradjudication of issue whether the contract is genuine orcamouflage.



Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd. vs. LabourCommissioner and Others. 2014 LLR 198 (Bom. H.C.)

Contractual EmployeeThreat to the contractual employees is basically

for their replacement by another set of contractualemployees. However, such arrangement is notpermissible. It is directed that employer will notreplace one set of contractual/ad hoc/ temporaryemployees by another.

Amra Bhambi vs. State of Rajasthan and Others.2014(140) FLR 286 (Raj. H.C.)

Court PowersHigh amount of care and caution should be

exercised by labour court while invoking thediscretionary powers under Section 11A of I.D. Actfor replacing the punishment of dismissal. Suchdiscretion cannot be used in a casual fashion.

When the conduct of the employee towards theestablishment as well as its fellow employees and higherauthorities was highly condemnable, therefore, therewas absolutely no scope for exercising the discretionarypower vested in the Labour Court under the section 11Aof the Industrial Disputes Act.

While exercising its powers under section 11A of theIndustrial Disputes Act, the exercise of its power ofdischarge and dismissal for stated reasons and provenmisconduct, the interference with such order ofpunishment cannot be made by Labour Court in acasual manner or for any flimsy reasons.

Past conduct when not satisfactory and very bad willbe taken into consideration by the Management whileimposing punishment upon a workman for seriousmisconduct in misbehaving with the superiors.

Travelling without ticket by the driver of thetransport corporation has itself with a misconduct butits gravity was further increased when he misbehavedwith the checking squad threatening him that he will doaway with his life as such the punishment of dismissalhas been rightly upheld by the Labour Court and theDivision Bench of the High Court.

Davalsab Husainsab Mulla vs. North West KarnatakaRoad Transport Corporation. 2014 LLR 1 (S.C.)

If the enquiry conducted is fair and properfollowing the principles of natural justice, labourcourt has no power to weigh or re-appreciate theevidence recorded in the enquiry.

Mohal Lal vs. Hotel Marina. 2014 LLR 9 (Delhi H.C.)

Labour court can go into the merits byrecording evidence of the parties and can differfrom the findings of the enquiry officer.

After inception of section 11A of the IndustrialDisputes Act, the Labour Court can go into the meritsby recording evidence of the parties and can differ fromthe finding of the Enquiry Officer by reappraising theevidence recorded before it.

Unless the workman has proved positively that hewas not otherwise employed during the period for

which back-wages is claimed, the same cannot beordered by the court.

While the charges stand no-proved through evidencerecorded before the Labour Court, awardingreinstatement with continuity of service and back-wages is justified.

While calculating amount of full back-wages, asawarded by the Court, from the date of Award,adjusting payment, if any already made under section17B of the Industrial Disputes Act during pendency ofwrit petition, is appropriate.

K. Dharmaraj vs. Management of MetropolitanTransport Corporation Ltd. (Formally known as

Pallavan Transport Corporation Ltd.), Chennai & Anr.2014 LLR 164 (Mad. H.C.)

Date of BirthSending workman to undergo medical

examination after 26 years of service to ascertainhis correct date of birth is not justified.

Correctness of date of birth of an employee shouldbe taken care of at the earliest after his joining service,atleast within a reasonable time, but not at the fag end ofhis service.

If an employee does not agree to undergo a medicalexamination from the doctor of the choice of theemployer, for ascertaining his correct date of birth aftera long service or at the fag end of his retirement, todraw an adverse inference by the employer against theworkman mere on the basis of presumption, therebyterminating him from his services, is not justified.

Management of M/s. Woodlands Hotel (P) Ltd., by itsManaging Director vs. G. N. Gundappa S/o. Late

Neelappa. 2014 LLR 87 (Kar. H.C.)

Disciplinary ProceedingsNotice sent at wrong address will not amount to

service and make proceedings vitiated.

Communication sent to the delinquent employee atwrong address would not serve the purpose of havingno legal force, making actions taken on the basis ofsuch wrongly addressed communication to beineffective.

Notice of enquiry sent on wrong address to thedelinquent employee would make the ex-parte enquiryinvalid.

Mohd. Yousuf vs. Director - General of Fire Services,A.P. & Ors. 2014 LLR 55 (S.C.)

Non-examination of foreign guest as witness inthe domestic enquiry, by the Hotel Management, isnot fatal to the validity of the enquiry.

No law mandates that a written complaint ismandatory, to be made by a hotel guest against thewaiter or other official of the hotel, for initiatingdisciplinary proceedings against the delinquentemployee.

Even the High Court under Article 226 of the




Constitution of India cannot re-evaluate/reappreciatethe evidence, recorded by the Enquiry Officer andconfirmed by the Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal,can only re-evaluate/reappreciate there is violation ofprinciples of natural justice or conclusions are basedon 'no evidence' and not otherwise.

A lenient view taken by the Management payingretrenchment compensation to the workman who hasbeen held guilty of misconduct of misappropriationand loss of confidence of the Management, in thedomestic enquiry, instead of dismissing him fromservice, by itself would not establish it to be his illegalretrenchment attracting provisions of section 2 (oo) ofthe Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Mohal Lal vs. Hotel Marina. 2014 LLR 9 (Delhi H.C.)

Employer has to be given an opportunity toprove the charge in the court if enquiry conductedis vitiated.

Giving a proper opportunity to the employer to provecharge against the workman is the paramountconsideration in the interest of justice.

Even if the domestic enquiry, conducted by theemployer, is vitiated by the Labour Court/IndustrialTribunal then the permission to lead evidence in thecourt, if an application is moved by the Management,requires to be granted.

One of the facets of industrial adjudication is thatthe Management has to be given an opportunity toprove the charge against the delinquent employee byleading additional evidence in Court.

An application for amendment of written statement,filed at the stage when workman has filed his affidavitin evidence, if allowed, would not prejudice theworkman.

Kundil Alloys (P) Ltd., Goa vs. Govind Fadte S/o.Gharso Fadte & Ors. 2014 LLR 23 (Bom. H.C.)

If the management did not produce the relevantrecords to contradict the defence of employee,the whole proceedings would be liable to bequashed.

Dismissal of a bus driver from service on account ofcausing road side accident while driving a defective busunder pressure of his seniors, despite recording themechanical defect in the relevant log sheets, isunjustified and liable to be quashed.

If evidence recorded during the course of enquiryproceedings prove that the Management failed toproduce the log book/relevant records to rebut thedefence taken by the delinquent employee, the enquiryproceedings would be liable to be quashed.

An Enquiry Officer is bias if it is established fromthe approach on the part of the Enquiry Officer, byconsideration of the evidence on record that he did notconsider the problem involved in commission of allegedmisconduct by the delinquent employee with open mindi.e. not considering properly the evidence on record ortaking a lenient view to non-production of relevantdocuments/records by the Management or making anerroneous approach to the evidence on record orignoring relevant piece of evidence etc. while giving hisfinding.

E. Maari vs. The Managing Director, Tamil Nadu StateTransport Corporation (Villupuram Dvn.III) Ltd.,

Kancheepuram and Another. 2014 LLR 78 (Mad. H.C.)

Non-production of passengers in enquiry aswitness will not vitiate the enquiry.

Mere non-production of passengers in the witnessbox as witness is not sufficient to discreit the wholeversion of the petitioner that the delinquent employee,Bus Conductor, was caught by the checking squadhaving not issued the tickets despite having receivedfare from the passengers.

Evidence of a member of checking sqauad 9 (MW2)who has categorically proved the charge, ought to havebeen taken as sufficient proof of the misconductcommitted by the Bus Conductor.

Production of passengers either in domestic enquiryor before the Labour Court is not at all necessary beingimpractical or a difficult task as per law already settledby the courts.

Reappreciation of evidence to take an independentview by the High Court for judicial review under Article226 of the Constitution of India is limited, notpermissible except in the cases where the finding of thecases where the finding of the Enquiry Officer orIndustrial Adjudicator is perverse, suffers frommanifest error of law or jurisdiction.

No period of limitation is prescribed for filing writpetition under Article 226 of the Constitution of Indiabut a person aggrieved is expected to approach theCourt expeditiously.

When an employee is found guilty of pilferage or ofmisappropriating the Corporation's funds, there isnothing wrong in the Corporation losing confidence orfaith in such an employee.

Awarding punishment of dismissal/removal fromservice to a delinquent employee, held to be guilty ofmisappropriation of money, is justified.

Delhi Transport Corporation vs. Rajbir Singh. 2014 LLR101 (Delhi H.C.)

When employee took 25 adjournments in theenquiry, but did not avail, he cannot say that hewas deprived of his right to defend.

Division Bench of the High Court would notinterfere with the findings of the Labour Court asupheld by the learned Single Judge to the effect that theenquiry held against the petitioner is not to be vitiated- Moreso when the delinquent has taken as many as 25adjournments during the course of enquiry and he wasgiven ample opportunity to defend himself but he failedto do so.

John D'Souza vs. Divisional Controller, K.S.R.T.C.,Bangalore Central Division, Bangalore. 2014 LLR 106

(Kar. H.C.)

Criminal as well as disciplinary proceedingsmay proceed simultaneously as both have to bedecided on the basis of separate principles of law.

Proceedings in domestic enquiry as well asproceedings in criminal trial may proceedsimultaneously as the both have to be decided on thebasis of separate principle of laws i.e. departmentalproceedings on principle of preponderance of



probabilities whereas criminal trial is based on theprinciple of strict rules of Evidence Act.

When no complicated questions of facts or law areinvolved, staying of disciplinary proceeding is notcalled for.

Sanjay Nagar vs. Delhi Tourism and TransportationDevelopment Corporation Ltd. & Anr. 2014 LLR 132

(Delhi H.C.)

Strict rules of evidence not applicable toenquiry.

Strict rules of evidence are not applicable to enquiryproceedings but mere conjecture or surmises cannotsustain the finding of guilt even in departmentalenquiry proceedings.

Confession statements cannot be said to have beengiven under threat or coercion if the same stand provedby the cogent evidence duly recorded later on by thedelinquent employee.

M. Thonthi vs. Presiding Officer, Central Govt.Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Chennai & Anr.

2014 LLR 145 (Mad. H.C.)

Non supply of documents and list of witnesseswith opportunity to cross-examine managementwitnesses will make enquiry invalid.

Termination of services of a workman on the basisof finding in the enquiry report is liable to be set asideif the enquiry conducted is against the principles ofnatural justice.

If the Management has not given the list ofwitnesses, documents, opportunity to cross-examine theManagement witnesses, opportunity to defend his case,defence assistant etc. to the workman, the same isagainst the principles of natural justice.

Non-supply of documents and list of witnesses ifavoids opportunity to the workman to defend his case byrebutting the averments of the Management, theenquiry proceedings are liable to be set aside.

Ashok Kumar vs. Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Hissar and Others. 2014 LLR 183

(P&H H.C.)

An employee does not have an absolute right toask for copies of documents, if not provided inService Rules.

Non-supply of documents cannot cause prejudice tothe employee when he was given opportunity forinspection of the documents as provided in Regulationof the Bank/employer.

Conclusion reached by a disciplinary authority inenquiry cannot be interfered lightly by the Court unlessthe same is perverse or improper.

Non-conducting of preliminary enquiry beforeissuing charge-sheet is no ground for setting aside thedepartmental enquiry unless the Service Rules soprovide.

Pradip Kumar Mitra vs. United Bank of India andOthers. 2014 LLR 194 (Cal. H.C.)

The general observations or consequencescannot be the foundation of the order imposingpenalty of dismissal from service, on the employee.

When the order of the Disciplinary Authority ishaving such drastic consequences, the order imposingpenalty cannot be based on the general principles of lawde hors the facts of the case. Though in the disciplinaryproceedings, the charges need not be proved beyondreasonable doubt as in criminal trial but, there has to besufficient material on the record placed in theDisciplinary Enquiry which in no uncertain terms leadto the conclusion of guilt and misconduct by thedelinquent and the conclusion of guilt and misconductcan be reached only after examining the factual aspects.

Vinayak Narayan Navkar vs. State of Maharashtraand Others. 2014 (140) FLR 321 (Bom. H.C.)

DismissalDismissal justified for mis-appropriation of

funds of society by forging vouchers.

The punishment of dismissal from service to anemployee, on account of proved misconduct ofmisappropriation of money resulting into loss ofconfidence of the Management providing bankingservices, discharging the office of trust, requiringabsolute integrity, is justified.

Unless the punishment shocks the conscience of thecourt or tribunal, there is no scope for interference bythe Court.

If the Disciplinary Authority's decision is based onEnquiry Report which is held fair and proper, theinterference by the court in substituting the quantum ofpunishment is not called for.

The Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal, undersection 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, mayinterfere in substituting he quantum of punishment,imposed by the Disciplinary Authority, only when itshocks the conscience of the court or tribunal.

Once the employer has lost confidence in theemployee, discharging the office or trust, requiringabsolute integrity, reinstatement cannot be directed asit would be an act of misplaced sympathy which canfind no foundation in law or in enquiry.

The scope of judicial review is limited to thedeficiency in the decision making process and not thedecision.

K. Gunasekaran vs. Management of the Nilgiris DistrictPlantation Workers Co-op. Credit Society Ltd. & Anr.

2014 LLR 139 (Mad. H.C.)

Punishment of dismissal from service on chargeof unauthorised absence is too harsh unless thesame is proved to be clearly wilful, habitual,unauthorised with intention to dislocate the workof employer.

Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal is having powersunder section 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 tomodify the punishment awarded by the disciplinaryauthority under the provisions of Certified StandingOrders, in case the quantum of punishment is dis-proportionate or too harsh to the gravity of misconduct.

Management, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation(Salem Division) vs. Presiding Officer, Labour Court,

Salem & Anr. 2014 LLR 162 (Mad. H.C.)




Employees’ Compensation ActEven if the vehicle was owned by elder brother

and younger brother was working as paid driver,he will be entitled for compensation being died inaccident.

When, the Commissioner under the Employees'Compensation Act allowed the claim for accidentcompensation to the appellant holding that the accidenthas occurred during the course of employment whenher deceased husband died, the High Court should nothave testified the order of the Commissioner sincethere was no substantial question of law and also thefindings of facts by the Commissioner under the Actshould not have been interfered or reversed by the HighCourt.

Smt. T.S. Shylaja vs. Oriental Insurance Co. & Anr.2014 LLR 117 (S.C.)

The interest on compensation will be applicablefrom the date of accident and not from the date ofadjudication.

The Compensation Commissioner has rightlyallowed the claim for compensation in an accident to thedependent of the deceased driver whereby in additionto compensation the interest was allowed @12% fromthe date of accident but the High Court in first appealerroneously held that the interest was payable from thedate of Award of the Commissioner and not from thedate of accident.

Saberabibi Yakubbhai Shaikh vs. National InsuranceCo. Ltd. & Ors. 2014 LLR 119 (S.C.)

Under a general insurance policy, the coverageof a driver remains valid despite change ofregistered owner of the vehicle.

Insurance Company (insurer) is liable to indemnifythe compensation in the case of death of the driver inaccident despite change of name of the registeredowner of the vehicle when the coverage of driver isunder a general insurance policy.

New India Assurance Company Ltd. vs. Smt. JareenaAnsari & Anr. 2014 LLR 48 (Uttar. H.C.)

Section 31 of the Employees' Compensation Actmandates that in case the CompensationCommissioner fails to recover the compensation,the High Court, in its writ of mandamus, can issuethe direction for recovery.

M. S. Murugesan vs. District Collector, Chennai Districtand Others. 2014 LLR 111 (Mad. H. C.)

In case of 100% loss of earning capacity,compensation has to be calculated as per section4(1)(b) subject to maximum within explanation IIof section 4.

If the accident has incapacitated the driverpermanently to drive the vehicle causing 100% loss ofhis earning capacity, the amount of compensation hasto be calculated accordingly as provided under section4(1)(b) of the Act subject to maximum withinExplanation II of section 4 of the Act.

Commissioner under Employees' Compensation Actis not bound by technical rigidity of the rules of Code ofCivil Procedure and Indian Evidence Act.

Compensation amount is to be just, fair andreasonable, irrespective of claim mentioned inapplication.

United India Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Suryakant DamodarMeherkhambe and Another. 2014 LLR 137 (Bom. H.C.)

Mother and minor brother being non-earningcan be wholly or partly dependants and entitled toreceive the compensation.

No-earning mother can be wholly or partlydependant upon the earning of her son (deceasedworkman) entitled to receive compensation under theEmployees' Compensation Act.

Father, being earning hand is not dependant uponthe earning of his son (deceased workman), and notentitled to receive compensation under the Employees'Compensation Act.

Minor brother can be wholly or partly dependantupon the earning of his elder brother (deceasedworkman), entitled to receive compensation under theEmployees' Compensation Act.

Dinesh Chand and Others vs. General Manager O andM MPMKVV Co. Ltd. 2014 LLR 143 (M.P. H.C.)

Compensation rightly awarded when loader dieddue to electric shock while driver moved thevehicle and deceased came in contact with electricwire.

Compensation Commissioner has rightly awardedcompensation to the dependents of the deceased loaderwho died by coming into contact with electric wire andsuccumbed to injuries resulting death on way tohospital.

Branch Manager, M/s. Reliance Gen. Insurance Co. Ltd.,Bangalore vs. Siddaiah and Others. 2014 LLR 189 (Kar.

H.C.)

In case of permanent partial disablement ofdriver to 40%, he will get total compensation.

If an employee is permanently disable to dischargehis duties, he will get total compensation instead of 40%as awarded by the Compensation Commissioner hencethe High Court enhanced the amount of compensation.

Sanjay Bhimrao Sule, Mumbai vs. Onkar SinghHarnam Singh & Anr. 2014 LLR 201 (Bom. H.C.)

Employees’ Provident FundNo appeal under section 7-I of the Employees'

Provident Funds and Miscellaneous ProvisionsAct, 1952 is maintainable for challenging the order,passed by the EPF Authority, imposing onlyinterest under section 7-Q of the Act.

An order passed by the EPF Authority, determiningthe EPF dues towards employer and imposition ofinterest thereon for belated remittance, is a compositeorder under sections 7A and 7Q of the Employees'Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,1952 and is appealable before the EPF AppellateTribunal.

Once the statutory authority takes recourse to themeasure for computation of interest and sends a baldorder definitely the affected person can ask forclarification or for raising objections as there can be




errors with regard to the period and the calculation.

Right of appeal cannot be assumed to exist unlessexpressly provided for by statute.

Any strict construction would adversely affectlegislative objects as well as hamper proceedings beforeappropriate forum, hence provision providing forappeal should neither be construed strictly norliberally.

Arcot Textile Mills Ltd. vs. The Regional ProvidentFund Commissioner and Ors. 2014 LLR 89; 2014(140)

FLR 233 (S.C.)

Determination of money under section 7-Ashould not be on the basis of presumption andassumption but after identification ofbeneficiaries.

An order passed by the EPF Authority under section7-A of the Employees' Provident Funds andMiscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, without affordingan opportunity to be heard to the employer forsubmitting his defence, is liable to be quashed.

An order passed by the EPF Authority under section7-A of the Act without exercise of its power under theAct, to collect evidence for ascertaining actual wagespaid as well as for identification of actual beneficiaries,before determination of the contributions, is liable to beset aside.

Rallis India Ltd. vs. The Asstt. Provident FundCommissioner & Ors. 2014 LLR 25 (Bom. H.C.)

During the time when firm was not working andalso not employing required number of workers,firm cannot be prosecuted for non-payment of PFcontributions.

When the evidence recorded by the Trial Courtreveals that no cogent evidence has been placed andproved on record by the EPF Authority i.e. complainantto substantiate that during the material time, firm ofthe respondents was working, employing a particularnumber of workers etc., the question of depositing theEPF contributions by the employer does not arise.

When the complainant fails to prove any recordestablishing the proof of service of alleged noticesupon the respondents, the prosecution of therespondents is untenable.

If the Trial Court has given good reasoning bydiscussing evidence on record while acquitting theaccused as per law, the impugned judgment of the TrialCourt cannot be said to be perverse or against law orevidence on record.

Regional Provident Fund Commissioner vs. Atma Ramand Sons and Anr. 2014 LLR 29 (P&H H.C.)

Unless the issue with regard to contribution, aspending before the EPF Appellate Tribunal, isdecided, the petitioner cannot be directed by theEmployees' Provident Fund Authority to payinterest and damages.

Guru Nanak College, Chennai vs. Assistant ProvidentFund Commissioner, Chennai and Others.

2014 LLR 110 (Mad. H.C.)

Section 7-O mandates clearly pre-deposit whilechallenging the order.

Section 7-O of the Employees' Provident Funds andMiscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 mandates clearlythe requirement of 'pre-deposit' while challenging orderpassed by the EPF Authority under section 7A of theAct only.

Even the authorities to pass orders under sections7A and 14B are different.

No doubt, Central Provident Fund Commissioner isauthority to pass order under both the sections i.e., 7Aand 14B of the Act, but it does not mean that heexercises same jurisdiction under the two differentsections.

Interpretation of law has to be done to advance theobject of the Act, not to detriment the object of the Act.

Section 45A and 85B of Employees' State InsuranceAct, 1948 are analogous to sections 7-A and 14-B of theEPF & MP Act.

Appeal under section 75 of ESI Act would lie againstorder passed under sections 45-A and 85-B of the Act.

Section 75(2-B) of ESI Act uses word 'or any otherdues' unlike section 7-O of EPF Act where the words 'orany other dues' has been omitted by the Parliament.

The Appellate Authority cannot insist upon pre-deposit while admitting appeal challenging damageslevied under section 14B of the EPF & MP Act.

Sri Naga Nanthana Mills Ltd. Virudhnagar Distt. vs.The Presiding Officer, Employees' Provident Fund

Appellate Triubunal, New Delhi. 2014 LLR 204 (Mad.H.C.)

When the orders passed by the EPF Authorityare illegal, arbitrary showing high-handedexercise of powers of his authority, burdening thatauthority for payment of interest @12% perannum, upon the principal amount deposited bythe employer, is justified.

If the conduct of official of the EPF Department ishighly deplorable, intending sabotage to theproceedings before the EPF Appellate Tribunal,direction to Central Provident Fund Commissioner fortaking action against the EPF Authorities concerned, isappropriate.

AC Nilsen Org-Marg Private Ltd. vs. Regional ProvidentFund Commissioner & Anr. 2014 LLR 169 (Guj. H.C.)

To cover the establishment under the EPF Actregular employment of 20 persons is necessary.

The word 'employment' as given in the Act, must beconstrued as employment in the regular course ofbusiness which obviously would not includeemployment of a few persons on account of someemergency or for an abnormal contingency beyond thecontrol of the establishment.

For making the provisions of the Act applicable toany establishment, the requirement is that theestablishment must be employing 20 or more than 20persons for its regular business in major part of theyear which will not include employment of few personsfor a short period for some necessity or emergency.

Regional Provident Fund Commissioner vs. UniversalFastners, Chandigarh. 2014 LLR 192 (P&H H.C.)



Provident fund dues to the retiree-employee arepayable at the place where he/she resides afterretirement.

Section 20 of Civil Procedure Code provides that asuit may be instituted in a Court in whose jurisdictionthe cause of action wholly or partly arises.

Non-payment of provident fund at the place ofresidence to the retiree creates a part of cause of actionin favour of the retiree against the Employees'Provident Fund Organisation at the place of residenceof the retiree itself.

Dispute between employee and Provident FundsOrganisation is not covered by the definition of'industrial dispute' as provided under the IndustrialDisputes Act, 1947.

T.N. Nair vs. Zonal Manager (West) FCI, Mumbai andOthers. 2014 LLR 209 (Ker. H.C.)

E.S.I.During pendency of a dispute between

Employees' State Insurance Corporation and theemployer before adjudicatory authority, thecomplaint, if filed by the ESI Corporation, is notmaintainable.

When employer does not fall under the definition offactory as per Section 2(12) of the Factories Act, 1948,the launching of prosecution against the employerunder Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, is not valid.

Employees' State Insurance Corporation vs. ManinderSingh and Another. 2014 LLR 33 (P&H H.C.)

Two units for clubbing under E.S.I. cannot beeffected in the absence of functional integrality,common ownership and common workforce.

In the absence of substantial evidence to establishfunctional integrality, common ownership of units,common workforce with inter-changability, one firmcannot survive without the other unit etc., clubbing ofthe two units for covering under the Employees' StateInsurance Act, 1948 is not justified.

Report of the Inspector of ESI Corporation withoutverification of attendance registers, payment of wagesregisters and such other records, indicating full name,father's name, address etc., of the concerned employees,showing number of employees 20 or more for coverageunder the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 that tooin the absence of sufficient proof of use of power inmanufacturing process, is not tenable for the purpose ofdetermining the ESI Contributions by covering the firmunder the Act.

The appeal against the order of the Employees'Insurance Court, without having any substantialquestion of law, is not maintainable.

Employees' State Insurance Corporation vs. TowerReadymades, Nagercoil. 2014 LLR 34 (Mad. H.C.)

When hotel is running with more than 10persons with the aid of power, it falls with indefinition of factory under sec. 2(12) of E.S.I. Act.Notification under section 1(5) not required.

Hotel having kitchen run with aid of electricityemploying more than 10 persons falls within definition

of 'factory' under section 2 (12) of the Act, attractingapplicability of the Employees' State Insurance Act,1948.

Where an establishment falls within the definition offactory under section 2 (12) of the Act, there is no needfor issuance of notification in terms of section 1(5) ofthe Act by the State Government.

When alternative efficacious remedy for deciding thefactual controversy over the question of applicability ofthe Act is available to the respondent by approachingthe Employeess' Insurance Court under section 75 ofthe Act, the petition under writ jurisdiction is notmaintainable.

Union of India & Ors. vs. Jammu DevelopmentAuthority & Anr. 2014 LLR 40 (J&K H.C.)

E.S.I. contribution, damages and interest can bedemanded either from principal employer orcontractor. Principal employer would have a rightto recover it from the contractor.

As per section 40 of the Employees' State InsuranceAct, 1948 recovery of ESI contribution, interest anddamages can be made either from principal employer orimmediate employer i.e. Contractor providingmanpower and the establishment where the manpoweris provided by the contractor.

As per section 41 of the Employees' State InsuranceAct, 1948, if the recovery is made from the principalemployer, it would have a right to recover the same fromthe immediate employer as provided under section 41 ofthe Act.

Viskaan Associates, Proprietory Concern vs. ISROSatellite Centre & Anr. 2014 LLR 51 (Kar. H.C.)

An establishment providing shipping services tothe prospective customers would be treated as ashop for the applicability of the ESI Act.

Trans Asian Shipping Services Pvt. Ltd. vs. RegionalDirector, ESI Corporation, Thrissur. 2014 LLR 109 (Ker.

H.C.)

Contribution has to be made by the employer onthe extension of the Act on a suo moto basis andnot from the date of knowledge of the provisions ofthe Act or when a notice was made by the officialsof ESIC.

Section 1(5) notification cannot efface section 1(3)notification already made to any State/Part of State,issued by the Central Government.

Exception as provided under section 1(4) of the Actthat the Act could not be extended to the employersalready providing better medical facilities is only forthose factories which are under the control of theGovernment.

State Government may extend the notification toareas which are not notified by the Central Governmentunder section 1(5) of the Act.

Notification issued by State Government would notcause the notification already issued by the CentralGovernment to cease to operate or annual the effect ofnotification already made under section 1(3) of the Act.

Providing better medical facilities to employees bythe employer is no ground to avoid applicability of theESI Act until proper exemption is obtained from the





applicability of the Act from the Government.

Employer is liable to pay contributions from the dateof notification issued by the Central Government.

Employees' State Insurance Corporation, Chandigarhvs. Collector, Bathinda. 2014 LLR 174 (P&H H.C.)

Fixed Term EmploymentNon-renewal of contract of employment on its

expiry or such a contract being terminated under astipulation contained in the employment contractitself is excluded from the provisions of Section 2(oo) (bb) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

If the termination of services of an employee iscovered by the provisions of section 2 (oo) (bb) of theAct, compliance of section 25F of the IndustrialDisputes Act, 1947 is not attracted.

M/s. Delhi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd. vs. LabourCourt-X and Anr. 2014 LLR 126 (Delhi H.C.)

GratuityWhen neither the employee caused pecuniary

loss to employer nor found guilty of moralturpitude, his gratuity cannot be withheld.

Gratuity can be withheld or forfeited if the employeehas caused pecuniary loss to the employer by hismisconduct or negligence during his service dulyproved by conducting domestic enquiry, that too to theextent of pecuniary loss so caused.

Gratuity can be withheld if charge-sheeted employeeis guilty of moral turpitude which must have beenproved by conducting domestic enquiry in the course ofemployment of the employee with the employer.

The term 'Moral turpitude' is not defined in Paymentof Gratuity Act, 1972.

Commonly sexual harassment of a female employeeor questionable acts of personal morals are coveredunder the term 'moral turpitude'.

In the event of delayed payment due to pendency ofdomestic enquiry, if the employee is exonerated,interest, upon the amount withheld is payable by theemployer.

When the charge-sheet does not contain any chargeof causing pecuniary loss to the employer or anymisconduct constituting 'moral turpitude', withholdingof gratuity is not justified.

P. K. Kataria vs. Chairman & Managing Director,National Fertilizers Ltd. 2014 LLR 6 (Delhi H.C.)

Trainee not engaged under the provisions ofApprentices Act would be employee entitled topayment of gratuity.

A trainee employed under contract of employment isnot an 'apprentice' under the Apprentices Act.

A trainee engaged with a dominant object/intent toimpact learning in any trade under the Apprentices Actis an 'apprentice', excluded from the definition ofemployee under section 2 (e) of the Act.

A Guard (Trainee) not engaged under the provisionsof the Apprentices Act would be 'employee' entitled topayment of gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity

Act, 1972.

Indian Rare Earths Ltd. vs. John. 2014 LLR 43 (Ker.H.C.)

Non-deposit of gratuity amount before filingappeal will be non-compliance of section 7(7) ofthe Act.

Non-deposit of gratuity amount, as arrived at by theControlling Authority, under the Payment of GratuityAct, 1972, prior to filing of appeal against order of theControlling Authority, is non-compliance of statutoryproviso 2 to section 7 (7) of the Act, attracting dismissalof appeal on this ground alone.

National Textile Corporation Ltd. & Anr. vs. Dy. LabourCommissioner Appellate Authority under P.G. Act &

Ors. 2014 LLR 71 (M.P. H.C.)

Notice period cannot the recovered from thegratuity.

Section 4 (6) of the Payment of Gratuity Actprohibits any recovery from the gratuity and as suchthe Controlling Authority has rightly allowed the claimof the respondent (employee) for gratuity by holdingthat neither the leave salary as paid nor the notice pay asprescribed for resignation can be recovered from thegratuity of an employee.

The Fertilizers and Chemicals, Travancore Ltd. vs.Sebastian K. John and Others. 2014 LLR 72 (Ker. H.C.)

Notification granting exemption under KeralaShops Act cannot apply to Gratuity Act.

Gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972cannot be denied to any employee who is otherwiseentitled to the payment of gratuity, on the basis of anynotification of State Government, exempting anestablishment under the Shops & Establishments Act ofthe State as the Payment of Gratuity Act is Central Act.

Shops and establishments covered under the Shopsand Commercial Establishments Act, 1960 (Kerala)would continue to be covered under the Payment ofGratuity Act, 1972 irrespective of any amendment,repeal or exemptions brought under the Shops Act.

A hospital being run through a Charitable Trust,carrying on professional work, extending medicalservices for a fee, would not come out of the definition of"commercial establishment" or "shop" under the KeralaShops and Establishments Act, 1960.

Even if a hospital is said to be not falling under thedefinition of "commercial establishment", applying theprinciple of "ejusdem generic" the definition of "shop"would take in a hospital.

When a referential legislation is made, anyamendment made to the earlier legislation, would alsobe applicable to the later legislation whereas if thelegislation is made by way of incorporation, thennecessarily the later legislation and the incorporationmade therein would be unaffected by any amendment toor even a repeal of the earlier legislation.

Lourdes Hospital vs. Dr. Abraham Methew. 2014 LLR 102(Ker. H.C.)

Wages includes the component of grade paywith that of basic wages.

Grade pay of the teachers has been rightly allowed to


be forming part of wages for calculation of gratuitysince the same has been included in their payment ofgratuity of other two teachers and it also formed part ofencashment of leave of other teachers hence the HighCourt, in writ petition, will not interfere with the ordersof Controlling and Appellate Authorities under thePayment of Gratuity Act.

ST. Xavier's School vs. State of Jharkhand and Others.2014 LLR 104 (Jhar. H.C.)

Industrial Disputes ActInstructions of Management to perform

additional work by consuming additional timewithout any additional remuneration to theworkmen tantamount to changing the conditions ofservice, impermissible without making complianceof section 9A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Instruction required the workmen to carry their bagto weighing machine and get it weighed which tookabout an hour after the shift was over. Workmenconcerned could not be accused of either deliberatedefiance or misconduct. Instruction amounted tochanging the condition of service.

Management of Sundaram Industries Ltd. vs.Sundaram Industries Employees' Union. 2014 LLR 121;

2014 (140) FLR 297 (S.C.)

Ex-parte award even after 30 days of publicationof award can be set aside subject to cost to mitigateloss caused to workman.

Loss caused to the workman due to delay in filing theapplication by the Management for setting aside ex-parte Award or due to non-participation in the legalproceedings despite receipt of court notice, can becompensated by awarding reasonable costs, for settingaside ex-parte Award.

An appropriate opportunity to be given to theManagement in the interest of substantial justice forsetting aside ex-parte Award is justified by imposition ofreasonable costs upon the Management.

The Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal has power toset aside the ex-parte Award if sufficient cause is provedby the Management.

M/s. Tech. Mahindra Limited vs. Mr. Ajay Bhagat(Major). 2014 LLR 49 (Kar. H.C.)

Merely because an employee has been directedto be reinstated with continuity of service butwithout back-wages, does not mean that he canclaim benefits of increments, promotions, specialallowance etc. during the period when he was noton duty or during the period when he was out ofservice.

Even where continuity of service is directed, itshould only be for the purposes ofpensionary/retirement benefits, and not for otherbenefits like increments, promotions, etc. It is in thisview of the matter and the settled position of the law,the apprehension expressed by the Corporation, in theopinion of the court is unfounded hence in anycircumstances, the respondent-workman shall not beentitled to consequential benefits in view of the order,impugned in the present writ petition.

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation vs.Shiva Basavegowda. 2014 LLR 85 (Kar. H.C.)

Badli worker if completes 240 days, he cannot beremoved without complying section 25-F of I.D.Act.

If Badli worker has completed one year ofcontinuous service in the establishment, he would ceaseto be so and cannot be retrenched unless conditionsembodied under section 25-F of the Act are adhered to.Continuous service should be considered in the light ofsection 25-B of the Act.

Gloster Limited and Another vs. State of West Bengaland Others. 2014(140) FLR 255 (Cal. H.C.)

MisconductDisobeying the unlawful instructions to do

additional work will not be a misconduct anddismissal would be illegal.

Disobeying the instructions of Management by theworkmen, to perform additional work by consumingadditional time without any additional remuneration,is not a misconduct on the part of the workmen.

Defying unlawful instructions of the Management isnot a misconduct attracting any punishment to theworkmen.

Dismissal of the workmen from their services on thebasis of disobedience of unlawful orders of theManagement is liable to be set aside, attractingreinstatement with full back-wages.

Management of Sundaram Industries Ltd. vs.Sundaram Industries Employees' Union. 2014 LLR 121;

2014 (140) FLR 297 (S.C.)

Giving false declaration in respect to childrenwho were not his for claiming LTC benefits is aserious misconduct, sufficient for punishment ofremoval from service.

When the petitioner had caused substantial financialloss to the employer illegally benefiting himself, notdisputed the charges against him while replying showcause notice except contending only harshness ofpenalty praying apology on humanitarian grounds,rather had admitted the charges, the punishment ofremoval from service is justified.

High Court can only interfere, under its writjurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution ofIndia with the quantum of punishment when there isviolation of principles of natural justice during thecourse of enquiry proceedings or there is perversity ofthorities or there is violation of rules or law orprinciples of natural justice and not otherwise as aroutine.

Shri Narayan Singh vs. Indian Oil Corporation andOrs. 2014 LLR 18 (Delhi H.C.)

Non-using of loan taken for construction ofhouse i.e. for the purpose it was taken, is a majormisconduct justifying punishment of dismissalfrom service.

In the absence of documentary evidence likereceipts/bills of construction materials, the stand ofthe workman that rains and floods destroyed his



construction or building/construction materials etc.,purchased by him is not justified/tenable.

In domestic enquiry, strict rule of Evidence Act doesnot apply.

Fair and transparent procedure to be exercised bythe Enquiry officer while recording enquiryproceedings is sufficient to establish validity of anenquiry.

A plea of fact if not taken in reply to show causenotice, memorandums and statement of claim, by theworkman, is not permissible before higher court orlater on.

S. K. Taqui vs. Cement Corporation of India. 2014 LLR57 (Delhi. H.C.)

Act of violation of guidelines while grantingfinancial facilities without power would be seriousmisconduct warranting dismissal.

Non-compliance of pre-sanction and post-sanctionrequirements/guidelines while granting financialfacilities to customers without power, concealing thesame from higher authorities, resulting in losing bank'sentitlements with ECGC etc. are serious and gravemisconducts attracting and justifying punishment ofdismissal/removal from services of the concerneddelinquent employee.

When most of the charges concerning violation ofguidelines while granting financial facilities tocustomers without power, concealing the same fromhigher authorities of the Bank, resulting in losingbank's entitlement with ECGC etc. are proved againstthe delinquent employee by conducting domesticenquiry, the requirement of following the principles ofnatural justice is complete.

While deciding writ jurisdiction under Article 226 ofthe Constitution of India, the High Court is not to sit asan Appellate Court to re-appraise the findings of factsand law arrived at by the departmental authorities.

Orders of the departmental authorities can only bechallenged under Article 226 of Constitution of India onground of perversity in the finding, violation ofprinciples of natural justice, violation of rules/law anddoctrine of proportionality.

Mr. Ashok K. Nanda vs. Punjab National Bank & Ors.2014 LLR 100 (Delhi H.C.)

Dismissal for misconduct of mis-behaving andtrying to assault Deputy P.M. not justified.

High Court will not interfere in the writ petitionwith regard to findings of facts by the Labour Court.

Misbehaving and trying to assault the Dy. PersonnelManager resulting into dismissal of the workmanwould not be punishment proportionate to themisconduct hence requires to be re-examined by theIndustrial Tribunal.

Sanjai Kumar Mohan Nigam vs. Labour Court, P.O.Labour Court, Dehradun and Others. 2014 LLR 108

(Uttar. H.C.)

ProbationerTermination order of a probationer stating

'performance not being satisfactory' is neither

stigmatic nor punitive in nature.

Termination of service of a probationer is notcovered by the definition of 'retrenchment' attractingsection 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act since it doesnot amount to retrenchment.

Termination of services of probationer as percontract of employment is not 'retrenchment' as definedin section 2 (oo) of the Industrial Disputes Act as suchtermination is covered by clause (bb) of Section 2 (oo) ofthe said Act.

M/s. Air India Ltd. vs. Mahinder Singh & Anr. 2014LLR 60 (Delhi. H.C.)

Completion of probationary period or continueworking after that would not mean 'automaticconfirmation' in service.

Termination of services of a probationer stating inthe order that his services are not satisfactory is notstigmatic.

When Service Rules do not mandate that services ofprobationer ought to be terminated after holdingenquiry, termination order passed without conductingenquiry, is valid.

Non-issuance of formal letter of extension ofprobation period, mere completion of probation wouldnot lead to 'automatic confirmation'.

Himanshu Bhatt vs. Indian Railway Catering andTourism Corporation Ltd. and Ors. 2014 LLR 103 (Delhi

H.C.)

A probationer has no right to hold the post andhis services can be terminated at any stage ofprobation period on account of generalunsuitability.

A probationer has no right to hold the post and hisservices can be terminated at any stage of probationperiod on account of general unsuitability or the post inquestion. A preliminary enquiry can be held to find outif a, prima facie, case was made out to initiate a regulardepartmental enquiry or not. During such enquiryparticipation of the workman is not necessary. Afterholding the preliminary enquiry it is the discretion ofthe employer to hold or not to hold a regular enquiry forproving the guilt of the employee. The employer canstop the preliminary enquiry at that stage and pass asimple order of termination. The facts as gathered orrevealed in the preliminary enquiry may be the 'motive'and not the 'foundation' since there was no enquiry as tothe correctness made.

D.T.C. vs. Presiding Officer, Labour Court No. 1 andOthers. 2014(140) FLR 361 (Delhi H.C.)

PunishmentPunishment of dismissal for taking bribe was

converted into compulsory retirement with retiraland other benefits keeping in view his old age.

Sacked for taking bribe for issuing fitnesscertificates, a doctor now 75 years old gets relief fromthe Supreme Court by conversion of his removal (since2 out of the 3 charges) for taking meager amount ofbribe were proved as such the punishment shocks tojudicial conscience.





Ishwar Chandra Jayaswal vs. Union of India & Ors.2014 LLR 115 (S.C.)

Dismissal appropriate for misconduct ofremoving jewels from safe locker, tampering withbank record and making benami transaction bybank employee.

If the quantum of punishment imposed upon thedelinquent employee is not disproportionate to thegravity of misconduct proved against him, shocking tothe conscious of the court, it would not be justified toexercise the discretionary powers under section 11A ofthe Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 by the court to reducethe punishment.

When charges of removing the jewels from the safelocker, making benami transaction, misappropriation ofamount of Bank, tampering with the Bank's record,posting fictitious entry were not only admitted by thepetitioner/delinquent employee, in his confessionstatements or proved in the domestic enquiry but thebank successfully proved the same by leading evidencebefore the Industrial Tribunal also, the punishment ofdismissal from service, on the basis of such provedcharges being serious in nature in banking services, isfully justified.

Punishment imposed by the disciplinary authority,based upon evidence proving guilt against thedelinquent employee, duly confirmed by the IndustrialTribunal or Labour Court by recording evidence ofboth the parties which does not suffer from anyirregularity, infirmity or perversity, interference of theHigh Court under writ jurisdiction is not called for.

M. Thonthi vs. Presiding Officer, Central Govt.Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Chennai & Anr.

2014 LLR 145 (Mad. H.C.)

ResignationEmployee who resigned and received full and

final settlement of dues after acceptance ofresignation, is not entitled to any relief.

It is well-settled law that before the resignationbecomes effective, the employee can withdraw hisresignation and in such an event, the resignation wouldstand withdrawn and the employee would be deemed tobe continuing in service but in the present case, theresignation was withdrawn when it stood accepted.

Labour Court, after receipt evidencing the full andfinal settlement of the dues, came to the conclusion thatthe petitioner did not receive the dues petitioner finalsettlement under any protest hence looking at the casefrom any angle, the impugned Award passed by the FirstAdditional Labour Court, Chennai does not call for anyinterference.

A resignation cannot be said to be obtained underthreat, under coercion or duress when the employeeshas failed to prove any such threat or duress and assuch, the Labour Court has rightly rejected the plea ofpetitioner.

L. Ravi vs. Presiding Officer-I, Additional Labour Court,Chennai and Anr. 2014 LLR 74 (Mad. H.C.)

Resignation obtained under threat in policedetention will not be sustainable.

Finding of the Labour Court are perverse if theevidence on record either has not been considered ordeliberately twisted catching words from the scruff oftheir neck and plastered them into Award according toconvenience.

If the workman was detained in Police Station for 3days, giving third degree treatment, threatening todeath where he was forced to sign the resignation at gunpoint on some blank paper, such a resignation is notsustainable.

Deposition of Deputy Superintendent of Police thatsettlement was got executed against the will of theworkman, dismissal from service prior to settlementwithout issuance of any charge-sheet, conductingdomestic enquiry etc. forms violation of human rightsof a citizen, sufficient to prove victimisation of theworkman.

Settlement between workman and Managementoutside conciliation proceedings in Police Station afterhis dismissal from service has no value in law.

Normally no oral evidence is permissible to be led toprove contents of a document but when the documentitself is clouded by compelling circumstances or resgestae the Labour Court has a duty to examine all theattending circumstances before arriving any decisionupon such a document.

Shree Paul Kaushik vs. Presiding Officer, Labour Court-cum-Industrial Tribunal-1, Gurgaon and Anr. 2014 LLR

178 (P&H H.C.)

Retiral DuesIf an employee does not vacate the

accommodation provided by the employer on thetermination of his services either by the employeror due to superannuation or for some otherreasons, he would not be entitled to demand theretiral dues from the employer.

Non-vacating of accommodation provided by thecompany as per terms of employment, after leaving theservices of the employer is commission of a grossviolation of service rules by the employee making himliable to pay market rate of rent for becoming entitled toreceive retiral benefits.

B.M. Bhatnagar vs. M/s. Hindustan Vegetable OilsCorporation Ltd. & Ors. 2014 LLR 15 (Delhi H.C.)

RetrenchmentNot offering for re-engagement of daily wager

after retrenchment would be violation of section25H of I.D. Act.

Non-providing of an opportunity to the alreadyretrenched employee (s) to offer himself/themselves forre-employment before engaging other persons isviolation of section 25H of the Industrial Disputes Act,1947, resulting in re-engagement of the retrenchedworkmen in addition to other relief as to be granted bythe Labour Court in favour of the Workmen.

Baba Balak Nath Temple Trust, Deothsidh vs.Presiding Officer, Labour Court-cum-Industrial

Tribunal, Dharamshala, and Others. 2014 LLR 46 (H.P.H.C.)




Standing OrdersIf the Certified Standing Orders or Model

Standing Orders do not provide for any subject orservice condition whereas that service condition(s)is/are stipulated in the employment contractbetween the parties, the employment contractwould prevail.

M/s. Delhi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd. vs. LabourCourt-X and Anr. 2014 LLR 126 (Delhi H.C.)

SuspensionSettled principle of law is that suspension

during enquiry is not a punishment.

Relationship of employer-employee does not ceaseduring suspension period.

Charge-sheet or show cause notice cannot bechallenged by filing writ petition under Article 226 ofthe Constitution of India as it does not infringe theright of anyone except in rare and exceptional caseswhere the High Court finds it to be wholly withoutjurisdiction or illegal.

Enquiry proceedings are not quashable only on theground that the Enquiry officer must be bias until thesame is proved on the basis of sufficient documentaryevidence which can only be decided at the enquiry.

Suspension of delinquent employee duringpendency of enquiry by the employer is notvictimisation of the employee by the employer.

Order of suspension, no doubt, cannot be lightlypassed unless major penalty is likely to be imposed atthe conclusion of the proceedings but it is equally awell-settled principle of law that suspension should notbe lightly interfered with by the Court.

Chunilal Mukherjee vs. Gluconate Health Limited andOthers. 2014 LLR 96 (Cal. H.C.)

When charges against employee were not provedin enquiry, he will be entitled full wages ofsuspension period.

When the Enquiry Officer categorically found thatthe chareges as levied against the delinquent employeedid not prove, he would be automatically entitled forregular salary i.e. full back-wages even duringsuspension period.

A.P. State Road Transport Corporation, rep. by itsManaging Director and Others vs. Mohd. Fasiuddin

and Others. 2014 LLR 168 (A.P. H.C.)

TerminationFor unauthorised absence, termination of

service without enquiry will be illegal.

Termination of services of an employee on theground of misconduct committed by him withoutconducting enquiry in compliance of the principles ofnatural justice is not justified.

Awarding relief of reinstatement with back-wagesby the Industrial Adjudicator is not automatic, even iftermination is illegal as in some cases, monetarycompensation in lieu of reinstatement with back-wages

is appropriate, considering the facts and circumstancesinvolved in the case.

Awarding lumpsum reasonable compensation, inlieu of reinstatement, with back-wages is anappropriate relief.

Scooters India Ltd. vs. Govt. of N.C.T. of Delhi & Anr.2014 LLR 12 (Delhi H. C.)

Trade UnionThird party/outsider in negotiations between

employer and workers is not good.

Even after retirement, if a person is allowed tocontinue as leader, it will only be arrogating the powersto Trade Union. It is better to amend sections 3 and 22 ofAct and Industrial Disputes Act so as to preventoutsiders being representative or office bearers of theunion. Participation of third parties/outsiders innegotiation between the employer/Management andworkers employees is not good given in the present dayscenario.

Participation of third parties/outsiders in thenegotiation between the employer/Management andWorkers/employees is not good given the present dayscenario. The engagement of outsiders asrepresentatives of the workers was during the periodwhen the workers were not much educated or aware oftheir rights, whereas in the modern world, theworkers/employees are well educated and wellinformed. They are very much aware of their rights andprivileges and they can take care of themselves andtherefore it will be appropriate to restrict themembership of Trade Union only to those who areworking the said establishment and not to outsiders.There have been many instances in the past, wherepressure was put on trade Unions to participate inpolitically sponsored strikes/bandhs as their leadersbelong to politically oriented groups or representativesof political parties. Therefore, it is better to amendsections 3 and 22 of the Trade Unions Act and theIndustrial Disputes Act so as to prevent outsiders beingrepresentatives or office-bearers of the Union.

In the interest of workers and management, to keepamicable relationship between them, to create peacefulatmosphere and to improve harmonious andconstructive relation between theemployer/management and employees/staffs in theestablishments the following suggestions are madegiven to the appropriate Governments :

To enforce section 3 of the I.D. Act by the appropriateGovernments by constituting Works Committeeconsisting of representatives of employers andworkmen engaged in the establishment.

To amend the provisions of section 6 and 22 of theTrade Unions Act curtailing outsiders being elected asmembers as well as office bearers of association/union.

S. Valaiyapathy vs. Indian Overeas Bank and Others.2014(140) FLR 373 (Mad. H.C.)

TransferSchool employee governed by Delhi School

Education Act, 1973 cannot be transferred to other



state.

Transfer of a school employee, whose serviceconditions are regulated by the Delhi School EducationAct and Rules, 1973, from Delhi State to Ludhiana(Punjab) is illegal and liable to be quashed.

The petitioner being a school employee in Delhi isnot bound to comply with the transfer order directinghim to report for duty at Ludhiana (Punjab).

Jitender Singh Tyagi vs. Lt. Governor of Delhi & Ors.2014 LLR 5 (Delhi H.C.)

Unauthorised AbsenceWhen the workman is guilty of misconduct of

repeated habitual unauthorised absence withoutproper reasons or explanation, punishment ofdismissal from service is justified as such amisconduct on the part of that workman is aserious one.

Management of M/s. Vikrant Tyres Ltd., rep. by its Dy.Gen. Manager, Mysore vs. T. Venkatesh s/o T.

Thimmaiah. 2014 LLR 187 (Kar. H.C.)

Reinstatement as fresh appointment ofemployee dismissed for the misconduct ofunauthorised absence would be proper.

Dismissal from service for the charges of absencefrom duty without sanctioned leave or proper medicalcertificate is unjustified being shockinglydisproportionate.

All employee, not performing administrative ormanagerial functions in any establishment, areworkmen to be covered under section 2(s) of theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947.

If the punishment of dismissal is shockinglydisproportionate to the gravity of misconduct,awarding reinstatement is just and proper.

The Superintending Engineer, Irrigation & CADDepartment, Irrigation Circle, Chittoor District &

Another vs. S. Keshava Murthy & Another. 2014 LLR 211(A.P. H.C.)

For unauthorised absence, dismissal fromservice is too harsh.

For unauthorised absence, dismissal from service istoo harsh, unless it is proved that the absence was wilfuland habitual. Hence, compulsory retirement wasproper.

It is a well settled principle of law as laid down by theHon'ble Supreme Court and the decisions of this Court,and it is abundantly clear that for charge ofunauthorised absence, dismissal is too harsh, unless it isclearly proved that the absence was wilful and he washabitually absenting unauthorisedly with intention todislocate the work of the employer/management.

Management T.N. State Transport Corporation, Salemvs. Presiding Officer, Labour Court, Salem and Another.

2014(140) FLR 268 (Mad. H.C.)

WorkmanE.S.I. doctor will not be workman under I.D. Act.

Medical profession is a noble profession dedicated tothe service of Society and, therefore, doctors cannot beclassified as entitled to invoke the provisions ofIndustrial Disputes Act hence the Award/Order of theCGIT has been rightly set aside.

Medical profession is not a mere occupation thatearns wages since it requires extensive study, trainingand mastery for the subject like law or teaching and, assuch, like a teacher, the doctor is also not a workmanunder the Industrial Disputes Act.

E.S.I.C. Medical Officers' Association vs. E.S.I.C. & Anr.2014 LLR 53 (S.C.)

Personal driver of the bank executive will not beworkman of the bank.

Length of service is no criterian for regularisation ofa personal driver, engaged by an Executive of the Bankto drive a car provided by the Bank.

Reimbursement of amount of wages paid to thepersonal driver to the Executive by the Bank would notcreate relationship of employer-employee between thebank and the concerned employee.

Demand of regularisation in regular service of theBank by the driver/petitioner is not justified when theBank did not have power to absorb petitioner in itsregular rolls on the basis of recruitment policy, asapplicable.

Onus of proof for existence of relationship ofemployer-employee lies on person setting plea on itsexistence.

There is no relationship of employer-employeebetween the employer and employee if the latter wasengaged by an Executive of the employer in hispersonal capacity as a personal driver to drive the carprovided by the employer.

In the absence of employer-employee relationship,the demand of regularisation raised by the employee isnot justified.

High Court cannot exercise its writ jurisdictionunder Article 226 of the Constitution of India to decidequestion of facts in dispute.

A person cannot invoke the extraordinaryjurisdiction of the High Court for regularisation of hisservices in an establishment when there exists analternate remedy under the Industrial Disputes Act.

Whether an employee is a workman under section2(s) of the Act or not, it ought to be decided at thethreshold.

Personal driver engaged by an Executive of Bankwould not be employee of the Bank since he was notrecruited/appointed by the Bank as per applicable rulesof recruitment.

N. Veerappan vs. Chairman and Managing Director,Punjab & Sind Bank, New Delhi and Others. 2014 LLR

151 (Mad. H.C.)

Courtsey - Labour Law Reporter, FLR, CLR, LLJ & APS Labour Digest

On 7th of February 2014, the SupremeCourt of India delivered a judgment onthe recommendations of the MajithiaWage Boards, which was constituted bythe Government of India for revising the

wages of the newspaper employees. The wages werehiked arbitrarily by the two Wage Boards headed bythe common chairman Justice G R Majithia. 14 topnewspapers of the country including the publishersof the Times of India, The Tribune, The AnandBazar Patrika, The Hindu, Dainik Jagaran,Rajasthan Patrika and Eenadu etc. had challengedthe recommendations of the wage boards whichwere later notified by the central government. It wasexpected that the Supreme Court will settle theconcept of wage revision once for always but it hasadopted the rather easier course by simplyupholding the validity of the recommendations. Thedecision has sent shock waves not only among thenewspapers but it will also have the widerrepercussions on other industries.

The main contention of the newspaperemployers was that constitution of the Wage Boardsby the third party i.e. the government is against theconstitutional provisions. And precisely for thesame reasons the wage boards have been abolishedin all industries except the newspaper industry.Moreover the second Labour Commission headed bythe former labour minister of India, Shri RabindraVerma had also suggested in its comprehensivereport that wage boards must be scrapped. Thereport of the second labour commission wasprepared after a great deal of studies of industrialand labour situations prevailing across the world. Acursory look at the majithia wage boards will makeit clear as to how impractical it is- the driver's salarywill jump from Rs.36,000 to 62,000, a peon's from Rs33,000 to 58,000 and a machine man's from Rs.40,000to 76,000.The moot question is why the governmentbe allowed to have say in the wage fixation, it ismerely a matter between the employer and theemployee.



The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India should have laid down the principles as to what extent the interference of the government is justified and whether theconstitution of wage boards has become redundant or not.

Newspapers Wage Board

Will it not upset the wagefixation principles?

The concept of wage board is outdated and impractical. Precisely because of thisreason even in India the last wage board was for the sugar industry wasabolished in 1989. However, the wage boards for newspaper employeescontinued to remain in existence owing to the statutory Working Journalist Act.This was enacted in 1955 when there was no electronic medium, except thegovernment controlled All India Radio. Now the things have changed beyondrecognition and there is explosion of electronic media. In these circumstances ifthe wage board for newspaper employees is continuing, it is sheer anachronism.

H. L. Kumar, Advocate, Supreme Court, New Delhi

In fact, basic principle of the wage fixation is allaspects like the production cost, profits, businessinvestment, competitiveness are to be taken intoconsideration while deciding the wages in anysector.

The following principles have always been thebasis of the wage determination process. All areeconomically valid. At different stages they havecollectively, and singularly, been used to determinewage increases.

1. Preserving real income: This is theargument used by employees and Unions viewingwages as an income. Following this principleusually results in wages being indexed to inflation.In periods of rising inflation, indexation becomes aproblem of an institutionalised wage-price spiral.Underlying aspects that have also impacted on realwage preservation arguments have been a "basic"minimum wage, and comparative wage justice.

2. Labour productivity: A valid economictheory connects wages to labour productivity.Conflict arises over the measurement ofproductivity. Rewardinglabour with a wageincrease whentechnology,and/or

capital investment, increases labour efficiency, maynot be justified.

3. The capacity of business to afford wageincreases: This emphasises wages as a cost ofproduction, and the threat of wage increases tosqueeze profits. This "capacity" argument is thatfollowed by business owners.

4. The capacity of the Economy to absorbwage increases: This "capacity" argument viewsthe macro impact of wage increases on inflation,competitiveness, and other aspects of internal andexternal balance; as well as the affect on businessprofits and investment. This is the main argumentof the Federal Government recognising the macropolicy potential of Incomes Policy to addressexternal and internal balance goals to supplementdemand management policies, and the effects onincome distribution.

The Supreme Court in Kamani Metals & AlloysLtd. vs. Their Workmen, AIR 1967 SC 1175 observedthus:

"Fixation of a wage-structure is always adelicate task because a balance has to

be struck between the demandsof social justice which requires

that the workmen shouldreceive their proper share of

the national income whichthey help to produce with a

view to improving theirstandard of living, and

the depletion whichevery increase in

wages makes in theprofits as this

tends to divertcapital from

industry intoother channelsthought to bem o r e

profitable. Thetask is not

rendered any theeasier because conditions vary

from region to region, industry to industry andestablishment to establishment. To cope with thesedifferences certain principles on which wages arefixed have been stated from time to time by thiscourt. Broadly speaking the first principle is thatthere is a minimum wage which, in any event, must


Newspapers Wage Board - Will it not upset the wage fixation principles?

The driver's salary will jump from Rs.36,000 to 62,000, a peon's from Rs 33,000 to58,000 and a machine man's from Rs.40,000 to 76,000.The moot question is why the

government be allowed to have say in the wage fixation, it is merely a matter betweenthe employer and the employee.

be paid, irrespective of the extent of profits, thefinancial condition of the establishment or theavailability or workmen on lower wages. Thisminimum wages independent of the kind ofindustry and applies to all alike big or small. It setsthe lowest limit below which wages cannot beallowed to sink in all humanity. The secondprinciple is that wages must be fair, that is to say,sufficiently high to provide a standard family withfood, shelter, clothing, medical care and education ofchildren appropriate to the workman but not at arate exceeding his wage earning capacity in theclass of establishment to which he belongs. A fairwage is thus related to the earning capacity and theworkload. It must, however, he realised that 'fairwage' is not 'living wage' by which is meant a wageis sufficient to provide not only the essential above-mentioned but a fair measure of frugal comfort withan ability to provide for old age and evil days. Fairwage lies between the minimum wage, which musthe paid in any event, and living wage, which is thegoal".

The problem of wage-structure with whichindustrial adjudication is concerned in moderndemocratic state involves, in the ultimate analysis,ethical and social considerations. The concept of awelfare state is based on notions of progressivesocial philosophy under which the old doctrine ofLaissez Faire has now been rendered obsolete,with the result that the rule of supply and demandon which the employer was at liberty to hirelabour on his own terms, no longer holds good. Asthe welfare policy of the state takes a moredynamic form, as the national economyprogresses, and as collective bargaining enters thefield, wage-structure ceases to be a purelyarithmetic problem, and the requirements of theworkmen come to be recognised as a humanproblem in which the state is vitally interested. It is

in that sense that the social philosophy of the age supplies the back-ground for the decision of disputes as to wage-structures. (StandardVacuum Refining Co. of India Ltd., vs. WorkmenAIR 1961 SC 895).

It is because of this socio- economic aspect of thewage-structure that industrial adjudicationpostulates that no employer can engage industriallabour unless he pays that can be regarded as theminimum basic wage, and that he has no right tocarry on his industry, if he cannot pay such a wage.Thus, the employment of sweated labour which iseasily available in an under developed country isruled out on the ground that the principle of supplyand demand has lost its validity in the matter ofemployment of labour and it is recognised that it isthe duty of the state to assure to every industrialworkman the payment of what in the context of thetimes is the basic minimum wage. As observed inCrown Aluminium Works vs. Their Workmen, 1958 JLLJ (SC), if an industry cannot maintain itselfwithout paying to its employees even the baresubsistence or minimum wage, it has no right toexist.

Thus in all fairness the Hon'ble Supreme Court ofIndia should have laid down the principles as towhat extent the interference of the government isjustified and whether the constitution of wageboards has become redundant or not in the era ofglobalisation and liberalisation instead ofupholding the validity of the recommendations of awage board which is the by product of the muchdespised licence-quota permit raj era. The SupremeCourt judgment on the Majithia wage boards fornewspaper employees is, therefore, certainly a joltand a cause for the despair for all those, who aspireto bring about a whiff of fresh air in the industrialrelations.



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Newspapers Wage Board - Will it not upset the wage fixation principles?

The problem of wage-structure with which industrial adjudication is concerned inmodern democratic state involves, in the ultimate analysis, ethical and social

considerations.The concept of a welfare state is based on notions of progressive socialphilosophy under which the old doctrine of Laissez Faire has now been rendered

obsolete, with the result that the rule of supply and demand on which the employerwas at liberty to hire labour on his own terms, no longer holds good.

BM

Today talk of "International Worker" (inshort the "IW") is on the main focus, beingdebated among the legal-experts/legalconsultants in respect of legalcompliance of IWs. The special provision

i.e. paragraph 83 of the Employees' Provident FundScheme,1952 ( in short the 'Scheme,1952') as well asparagraph 43A of the Employees' PensionScheme,1995 ( in short the 'Pension Scheme,1995')have been given effect from 1st October'2008 forcompliance of IWs. Subsequently, certainamendments have been carried out vide notificationdated 3rd September'2010. As many as five yearshave lapsed to the insertion of the riders in respectof IWs in the Scheme, 1952 and the Pension Scheme,1995.

The latest circular no. IWU/7(17)2009/2816 dated25.05.2012 issued by the Additional CentralProvident Fund Commissioner ( IWs) , Delhi, whohas clarified various compliance issues, involved inimplementation of the Scheme,1952 as well as thePension Scheme,1995 in respect of IWs. Everycommuniqué, either verbally or through circular,pleads for Provident Fund deduction on the full-salary (i.e. without any wage ceiling) whereas theword 'full-salary' has not been defined under the Act,1952 or under the paragraphs of the Scheme, 1952. Infact, only the word 'basic wages' has been definedunder Section 2(b) of the Act, 1952 which was

further elaborately clarified by the Apex Court inthe matter of Bridge and Roofs Co. Ltd Vs. Union ofIndia, AIR 1963 SC 1474 and further followed by theApex court in the matter of Manipal Academy ofHigher Education Vs. Provident Fund Commissioner,2008 LLR 443 SC.

COVERAGE: Who is IW?

An International Worker (IW) may be an Indianworker or a foreign national as defined underparagraph 2(ff) of the Scheme, 1952.

International Worker (IW) means: -

Any Indian employee having worked or going towork in a foreign country with which India hasentered into a social security agreement ( SSA) andbeing eligible to avail the benefits under socialsecurity programme of that country, by virtue ofthe eligibility gained or going to gain, under the saidagreement;

- An employee other than an Indian employee,holding other than an Indian Passport, working foran establishment in India to which the Act, applies;

'Excluded employee' in reference of IWs:

'Excluded employee' means an InternationalWorker, who has been contributing to a socialsecurity programme of his country of origin, eitheras a citizen or resident , with whom India hasentered into a social security agreement ( SSA) on


International Workerscompliance under EPF

S.K. Gupta,Advocate, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi

'Excluded employee' means an International Worker, who has been contributing to asocial security programme of his country of origin, either as a citizen or resident,with whom India has entered into a social security agreement ( SSA) on reciprocalmanner and has been enjoying the status of detached-employee for the period andterms, as specified in the SSA.

reciprocal manner and has been enjoying the statusof detached-employee for the period and terms, asspecified in the SSA.

'Detachment' means:

A detached IW , who has been contributing to thesocial security programme of the home-country andthat home-country has issued a detachmentCertificate for a specified period in terms of thebilateral SSA signed between host-country andIndia or an International Worker, who has beencontributing to a social security programme of hiscountry of origin, either as a citizen or resident,with whom India has entered into a bilateral

comprehensive economic agreement, containinga clause on social security prior to 1st

October,2008, which specifically exemptsnatural persons of either country to

contribute to the social security fundof the host-country.

Examples of 'detachedEmployee' #

(1) A person, who iscovered under the

legislation of

home-country(i.e. Hungary) and

employed in the home-country (i.e. Hungary), is

sent by the employer, to workon behalf of that employer in

the other country (e.g. India) will begoverned by the regulation of the

home-country (i.e. Hungary) irrespectiveof whether he is sent from Hungary or a third

country. For this purpose, a "Certificate ofCoverage" (in short 'COC') or detachment certificateis to be obtained from the home-country, whichserves as a proof of exemption from social securitycontributions in the host country i.e. India.

# meaning of 'detached employee' also dependsupon the terms and conditions of Social SecurityAgreement (SSA).

(2) If any employee, who avails exemption fromcontributing in the other country by obtaining acertificate of coverage (COC) from India andcontributes to the social security system in India,will not fall under the category of IW and therefore ,shall be treated as 'detached-employee'.

"Full-salary" or "Basic wages" forcalculating PF contributions under the Act,1952:

The Provident Fund Contribution shall be paid

by the employer to the fund as per Section 6 of theAct, 1952 read along with paragraph 36 of theScheme, 1952. In fact, the paragraph 36 of theScheme, 1952 in respect of IWs was inserted, castingduty to the 'employer' to send consolidated return,indicating distinctly the nationality of each andevery IWs, required or entitled to become membersof the fund showing the basic wages, retainingallowance, (if any) and dearness allowance includingthe cash value of any food concession paid to each ofsuch international worker. The PF contribution shallbe calculated/ deducted as per definition of basicwages as defined under Section 2(b) read along withsection 6 of the Act, 1952 and paragraph 36 of theScheme, 1952 in respect of IWs. In fact, the definitionof basic wages will remain the same for IWs asdefined under Section 2(b) of the Act, 1952 readalong with Section 6 of the Act, 1952 as well as theparagraph 36 of the Scheme, 1952. Therefore, thecomponents of basic wages in respect of IW to beincluded for the purpose of deduction of PFcontribution, are the same as in the case of Indianemployee's basic wages as defined under Section 2(b)of the Act, 1952. In fact, the word "Full-Salary" hasnot been defined under the Act, 1952 or under theScheme, 1952 so the deduction of PF contributionshall be done as per Section 6 of the Act, 1952 on thecomponent of basic wages, paid to the IW, not on"full-salary".

Clarification-I: In the Scheme, 1952, for Indianemployee, there is statutory limit of basic-wages i.e.Rs.6500.00 but for an IW, there is no limit of basicwage i.e. total basic wages shall be counted fordeduction of PF Contribution for IWs. Prior toissuance of the notification dated 11.09.2010, therewas diversion of 8.33 from employer's share of PFcontribution to the Employees' Pension, 1995 i.e.Account No.10, was restricted to basic wages up toRs.6500/ only i.e. upto Rs.541.00. However,consequent upon notification dated 11.09.2010, thepension fund @ of 8.33 shall be calculated on totalbasis wages, not restricted to ceiling of Rs.6500.00per month and shall be remitted in account no.10through ECR.

Clarification-II: It is further clarified that wherebasic wages are paid in a currency other than in theIndian rupee, the rate of conversion of thatcurrency shall be the telegraphic transfer buyingrate offered by the State Bank of India for buyingsuch currency on the last working of the month forwhich the basic wage are due in respect of IWs. Thisis the additional provision what this set ofprovisions mean for international workers.

Social Security Agreements (SSA):

A Social Security Agreement (SSA) is a bilateralinstrument to protect the social security interests ofIWs posted in another country. Being a reciprocalarrangement, it generally provides for avoidance ofdouble coverage. In fact, SSA is a legal document forIWs for all purpose provided it should not becontrary to the Indian laws. Generally a SocialSecurity Agreement (SSA) covers three provisions.

a) Detachment: Applies to employees sent on posting



Allf o r e i g nn a t i o n a l s ,employed in anestablishment, areto be enrolled as IWs,with the exception ofthose who fall under thecategory of 'excluded employee'on the basis of a 'certificate ofcoverage' ( COC) issued by a competentauthority under SSA with India. Theparagraph 36 of the Scheme,1952 in respectof IWs was inserted , casting duty upon the'employer' to send consolidated return in Form 05(For un-exempted establishment) or Form 4 PS ( Forexempted establishment ) along with with Form 02,furnishing details of such qualifying IWs, indicatingdistinctly the nationality of each and every IWs,required or entitled to become members ofthe fund showing the basic wages,retaining allowance,(if any) anddearness allowance including thecash value of any foodconcession, paid to each ofsuch IW.

International Workers compliance under EPF

in another country, provided they are complyingunder the social security system of the homecountry as well as the terms and conditions ofSSA of the host country.

b) Exportability of Pension: Provision forpayment of pension benefits directly without anyreduction to the beneficiary choosing to reside inthe territory of the home country as also to abeneficiary choosing to reside in the territory ofa third country.

c) Tantalization of Benefits: The period ofservice rendered by an employee in a foreigncountry is counted for determining the"eligibility" for benefits, but the quantum ofpayment is restricted to the length of service, onpro-rata basis.

As on December'2013 :

Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark ,Luxembourg, France, Hungary, Netherlands andSouth Korea have entered in to such agreementswith India.

COMPLIANCE OF IWs BY THEESTABLISHMENT:

All foreign nationals, employed in anestablishment, are to be enrolled as IWs ,with theexception of those who fall under the category of'excluded employee' on the basis of a 'certificate ofcoverage' ( COC) issued by a competent authorityunder SSA with India. The paragraph 36 of theScheme,1952 in respect of IWs was inserted , castingduty upon the 'employer'to send consolidatedreturn in Form 05 (Foru n - e x e m p t e destablishment) or Form 4PS ( For exemptedestablishment ) along withwith Form 02, furnishingdetails of such qualifying IWs,indicating distinctly thenationality of each andevery IWs, requiredor entitled tobecome members ofthe fund showing thebasic wages, retainingallowance,(if any) anddearness allowance includingthe cash value of any foodconcession, paid to each of suchIW. The prescribed form for IW-1 i.e.“Statement IW-1” must besubmitted every month by theestablishment, mentioningthe details of IWs asdefined underparagraph 2(ff) (a) & 2(ff)(b) of the Scheme, 2008. If thereis no IW, qualifying to become a memberof the fund for the first time or in case, if there is no

IW, the employer shall send a 'NIL' return to the localoffice of the EPFO.

CERTIFICATE OF COVERAGE(COC):

A 'certificate of coverage' (COC) is issued inrespect an employee, who is posted for a short termassignment by his/her Indian employer to a countrywith whom India has a SSA. For this purpose, theemployee is required to submit an application in theprescribed format through his employer to the localRegional Provident Fund Commissioner who , intrun, after due verification of records, forwards it tothe IWs unit at Employees' Provident FundOrganization, Delhi for issuing COC.

SETTLEMENT OF PF CLAIM IN RESPECTOF IWs(*).:

IWs may withdraw in accordance withparagraph 83 of the Scheme, 1952, full amountstanding to his credit in the fund in followingcircumstances only:

(i) On retirement after attaining theage of 58 years.

(ii) On retirement on permanentdisability due to bodily or mental infirmity (include TB , leprosy and cancer)

(iii)On the ground as specified in the SSA,entered into between the Government of India

and any other country.

(iv) Withdrawal benefitsunder the Employees'

Pension Scheme, 1995is available to only

those IWs whoare covered

under theprovisions of the SSA

with India and not toother foreign IWs.

(*) All withdrawalbenefits /pension benefitsshall be calculated subject tothe SSA's terms andconditions of the host-

country.

PF CONTRIBUTIONUNDER EMPLPOYEES'

DEPOSITED-LINKED

INSURANCESCHEME, 1976 IN

RESPECT OF IW:

The contribution (@ 0.5%of the insurance fund and its

administrative charges @ 0.01%) underthe EDLI Scheme, 1976 shall be remitted by theemployer together with administrative chargesupto the basic wages Rs. 6,500 .00 , not on full basicwages of IW.


BM

International Workers compliance under EPF


M/s. Sukumar Engineering Works,on the outskirts of Kolkata, with over800 employees was making a goodamount of profit due to their highlydedicated employees. The level of jobsatisfaction of the employees was veryhigh. HR practices and the relationshipwith the recognized union were alsosatisfactory. The management wasproud of their employees and the union.

The company had one electric arcfurnace and a re-rolling mill. The raw-material was steel scrap. The mill wasworking in three-shift, seven dayoperation as the process wascontinuous. The furnace was producingpencil steel ingots which were sent to re-rolling mills for further operations.

It was 29th August 1989. On theevening of that day, before leaving theworks, the HR manager, PrabirChatterjee, as usual went to the office ofthe General Manager, Alok Bannerjee.He found the GM in a state of tension.Prabir asked him the cause of his worry.The GM asked him to sit down andreveal slowly that due to non-availability of manila rope in the stores,the electric furnace had to be closeddown on that night shift and the nextmorning. Because of this, there wouldbe a loss of ingots and the nextmorning. Because of this, there wouldbe a loss of ingots production and thetarget for month could not be met. Onlytwo days were left. Before the beginningof the month, the MD had particularlyemphasized the need to meet the targetdue to pressing orders. The GM hadassured him that he would definitelyproduce the required tonnage andwould rather try to produce more. Now,almost at the end of the month, he hadnever expected that he would face aproblem like this. Three employees whorequested for urgent leave were alsorefused due to the commitment of theproduction. There was absolutely no

problem of any raw-material. But asmall item like manila rope's non-availability created an acute problem.The GM admitted that the mistake wasdue to the stores staff, who could haveprocured material on time. On enquiry,it was revealed that the production staffhad already drawn its monthlyrequirements from the stores. Theconsumption of this material thismonth was little more due to poorquality of manila rope. There might besome other unknown reasons too. Atthat time, the GM, instead of diggingout further reasons. Wanted animmediate solution first.

Prabir knew the general process ofthis factory. When he joined thiscompany three years ago, during hisorientation programme, he studied andlearnt thoroughly the manufacturingprocess. He also read a book on 'Makingand Shaping of Steel' as suggested bythe GM. He obtained sufficientknowledge to know the process. Prabirwas not a technical person andtherefore did not go deep into thesubject. For some doubts, he gotclarifications from technical staff whowere quite cooperative. A briefnarration on the function of electric arcfurnace was - as a first step, the steel

scrap would be loaded in the scrapcharging bucket which had petalsunderneath. The petals were tied with amanila rope. When the overhead cranetook the loaded scrap charging bucketjust over the open arc furnace, themanila rope would be burnt due to theheat of the furnace. The petals wouldopen out to drop the steel scrap into thefurnace. The electric furnace producedpencil ingots to be rolled in the re-rolling mills for the final finishedproducts, such as rounds, angles, etc., tobe used for reinforcement jobs. Thus,the role played by manila rope duringthe process was very important.

After knowing the problem of non-availability of this material in thestores, Prabir immediately volunteeredto procure the rope. He filled up apurchase requisition and got it signedby GM. He then went to the purchasedepartment. Since it was already 6:30p.m., all staff members had left theoffice, except one purchase officer, whowas busy in clearing out some of hispending jobs. Prabir requested him tohelp him on this matter. The officerasked him to wait for the next day asmanila rope was not a material to beprocured so urgently. Prabir explainedall the steps in the manufacture ofpencil steel ingots and the importanceof this rope during the process. He alsosaid that the production would bestopped in the night shift and in the nextmorning. The said that the productionwould be stopped in the night shift andin the next morning. The purchaseofficer, an engineer, was very happy toknow the technical details narrated by apersonnel man. He also understoodPrabir's anxiety and contacted on phonetwo or three hardware merchants. Hewrote down a formal purchase orderand directed Prabir to go to the city tocollect the material. Prabir took the jeepand quickly drove to the shop before it

Experts are invited to send solutions.Best will be published.

Prof. Ravi DharmaraoProfessor & Head-HR Emeritus

ICBM-School of Business Excellence

The Other Side of HR FunctionHR executive's understanding level will definitely be high if he studies the elementary principles of the production

process. Further, the line managers will be glad to share with HR executives if they show their interest to know on the areaof production.While dealing with employees, these HR executives grasp the problems much better and perform better.

Questions for Discussion 1. Is it correct for an HR manager toenter into an area not his own?

2. Do you advocate a change ofpolicy for recruitment of HRmanagers with technicalqualification?

3. Do you find every aspect of HRfunctions working well in M/s.Sukumar Engineering Works?

4. Can the HR manager take all creditfor himself where excellent industrialrelations exist?

was closed. He collected four bundles ofmanila rope and went straight to thefactory. When the GM saw the materialin the jeep, he thanked Prabir profuselyfor taking such an initiative to procurethe material. That month, the target wasexceeded.

The reason for taking up such a non-routine job by Prabir was his prudence.If the target of production was not met,the bad consequences would have beenmany, including HR problems. Theemployees would receive less incentivebonus, the cordial relationship with therecognized union would have been

damaged, the morale of the GM and theproduction staff might haveplummeted, etc. Prabir Chatterjee, ahighly committed and dedicated officer,was always looking out for somechallenging and non-routine jobs of thisnature. Once, the company received anotice from the state government,which could not be dealt with by anyexecutive in the company. It was Prabirwho took the letter and got a solutionafter personally contacting somegovernment officials.

On the foundation day of thecompany, the general manager and the

personnel manager received specialmementoes from MD, who made a specialmention of Prabir in his speech andthanked him for his involvement. Prabir,in his reply, said that all personnelofficers need not have technicalqualification but surely they could, bytheir involvement, know the process ofproduction. They should be thoroughlyfamiliar with all materials required forproduction right from the raw-materialsstage to the finished products. Thisknowledge would definitely help them tograsp and understand the problemsmuch better.



Prof. Ravi DharmaraoProfessor & Head-HR Emeritus

ICBM-School of Business Excellence

This Case Analysis refers to Case Study ‘Grievance or blackmail.....?’ published in Feb. 14 Issue

1. What is most important issue inthis case study?

The most important issue is thedemand by workers to transfer orremove the chief personnel manager.The demand is very unjust andunreasonable. In other words,interfering with the administration todecide who should be on top positions inthe industry. It was none of thebusiness of the workers or the Union.The management could not be guided bythe workers in this matter. This washighly deplorable. Whatever would bethe consequences, the Managementshould never succumb to the demand ofworkers where they had no right at all.The main point of removal or transfer ofchief personnel manager wasunwarranted. Once this request wasaccepted, similar requests would begalore. Then, why was this demand byworkers? Yes, there was a mild lathicharge and certain workers were injuredon that day. The workers in thesecircumstances would naturally showtheir solidarity with the injured and alsoshow their strength. It was also true thatthe security guards became smart andtheir action by lathi charge was equallyunwarranted. The plea put forward bychief personnel manager that he neverordered security guards to control theworkers by lathi charge could beaccepted. The chief personnel managerprobably had no intention to punish the

workers in that fashion. As a responsibleexecutive the chief personnel managerwould never give such orders. He onlyinstructed the security to use theirlathies to push the workers or scare themby waving the larthies in the air.However, some security guards werewaiting for some opportunity to takevengeance against some workers andmight have overacted like the incident asmentioned in the case study. Now theworkers were all united and stoppedtheir work. The peaceful atmospherebecame violent. In the meeting withgeneral manager, all top executesunanimously said that workers or unioncould not dictate the management andshould not be given upper hand in theselection of executives. But the situationwas volatile. A quick decision wasneeded as the production was stopped.In the circumstances, the chiefpersonnel manager should issue astatement under his signatureexpressing his apologies to all workers.

2. If you are the CEO, how wouldyou solve the problem?

Discipline of the organizationshould be the prime objective for anyindustry. Surrendering to the demandsof workers or union when theyinterfered on the matter of posting ortransfer of a chief personnel manager,one of the top officials of the company,would lead to weaken the morale of theexecutives and the management men.

The union should never be given upperhand with regard to the subject underdiscussion. The solution to the problemwould be to convince the union andworkmen that their interference inthese matters would not benefit any one.Further, they could be told that a seniorofficer would be appointed as achairman with two or three members toenquire into the details of the incident.They could thus be requested topostpone their agitation and join theirduties. However, it would not be as easyas it would appear to be.

3. Sudarshan Panda filled up agrievance form complaining againstthe chief personnel manager forcausing injuries to him. What shouldbe the reply from the management?

Before putting in writing as a replyto his complaint, a responsible andintelligent officer should be deputed tothe hospital to talk to Sudarshan Pandato explain the facts. If necessary, heshould also discuss with his familymembers. In the meanwhile, a replycould be sent to him informing thatmanagement was taking steps to resolvehis complaint. The union should also bekept informed on the developments.Panda should be convinced that thismatter would not come under thepurview of the grievance procedure asthe complaint was against a topmanagement official and a policy ofmanagement.

Discipline has to be prime objective

BM

BM


HC quashed Sec. 9Aexemption order of AirIndiaA day after Bombay High Court squashed a half-century-old exemption enjoyed by Air India from a legalrequirement that allowed it to bring about a change inits employees' service condition without priornotifications after eight of its employee unions appealedagainst the exemption, the carrier is set to appealagainst the court order while its employee unions, too,are set to follow suit. Commenting on the applicabilityof Section 9A, the official said that Air India had gotexemption from 16 state governments on theapplicability of Section 9A of the Industrial DisputesAct decades ago. "However, this was recently amendedand required the nod of the Centre to get the sameexemption. We didn't ask the central government forexemption because the presumption was that we havehad this exemption and there had been previous courtcases where the courts have upheld this exemption forboth Air India and erstwhile Indian Airline," a seniorAir India official said. It will, however, now have to servea minimum of 21 days of prior notice period to itsemployees before rendering any changes in their serviceconditions.

The central board of trustees (CBT) of the Employees'Provident Fund Organisation on 5th Feb. endorsed acomprehensive amendment to the EPF Act to hike thewage ceiling for mandatory PF coverage to Rs. 15,000per month from Rs. 6,500 and guarantee a minimumpension of Rs, 1,000 per month.

"These decisions will be effective from this April onwards.However, a decision on the proposal to raise the retirement agefor getting pension to 60 years from 58 has been deferred.

The move to raise the mandatory wage ceiling to Rs. 15,000 permonth will help EPFO rope in more subscribers (estimated tobe an additional 50 lakh employees), increase its corpus andhelp reduce the deficit in its pension scheme.

Workers of Bajaj Auto's Akurdi plant got a Rs. 10,000 hikein their wages after their union, the Vishwakalyan KamgarSanghatana (VKS), signed a wage agreement with thecompany. But the same offer of 10k hike was offered toChakan plant workers, unfortunately union of Chakanplant rejected the management’s offer.

The management displayed the notice. The wage hikewas to come into immediate effect after a writtenacknowledgement from the workers. Notice proposed wagehike in three slabs- a rise of Rs. 10,000 for workers with fiveand above yeas of working experience, Rs. 9,500/- forworkers with three to five years of experience and Rs. 9,000for workers with up to three years of experience.

At present, there is no production on at the Akurdi plantand workers are used for non-production work at the BajajAuto R&D centre and the tool room located here.

The Akurdi plant has only 130 workers and the largerchunk of workers are at the Chakan plant. Union isadament on wage hike of between 13.5k-16k on the basis ofthe JCB settlement which is considered to be the best byworkers. Negotiations are on at the Chakan plant afterworkers ended their 50-day strike and resumed work inAugust 2013. The wage review was due on April 13 butunion terminated the settlement March 13 and submittedfresh charter of demand.

The Chakan plant has about 2,000 workers who are partof the VKS union apart from about 1000, who are eitherunder contract, trainee or apprentices.

Bajaj Akurdi plant workers get10k hike in wages but Chakanworkers reject the offer

PF wage ceiling increase to Rs. 15k and pension to 1k fromApril 2014

IBM expected to reduceheadcount by up to 800IBM India, estimated of having a head count of over 1lakh employees spread across multiple locations in thecountry, is downsizing its workforce in India as part ofits global 'rebalancing' announced by its chieffinancial officer Martin Schroeter.

The rebalancing will see layoffs in the first quarter, thecompany had said earlier. The number of Indian employeesbeing retrenched is estimated between 700-800, though thereis no confirmation on the number yet.

IBM India follows a two tier model of employment whichincludes contractual or temporary workforce and permanentstaff. Most of the employees who have been asked to leave arecontractual/temp. The temporary workforce are sourcedfrom various agencies and paid higher than the permanentstaff but do not receive any long term benefits like insurance,provident fund or severance package.

Bank profits not just for raising wages: FMFinance minister P. Chidambaram said profit earned bybanks cannot be used for just "enhancing wages" of theiremployees. The minister's remark came as over a millionemployees of state-run banks across the country resortedto a two day strike on 10-11 Feb. 2014 to press for revisionin wages.

"It cannot be that all profit is used to declare dividend and toprovide enhanced wages and allowance to bank employees," theminister said at an event organised by Indian Overseas Bank.

Chidambaram said a significant part of the retained earningsmust be used for infusing additional capital in banks otherwiselenders will not have the required capital over the next 10-20years. "The capital is to take care of a number of things. Firstly,banks are obliged to declare a dividend both to majority ownerof the bank and the other shareholders," he said.

Documents

March-14