A grievance may be defined as any feeling of discontent or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or not and whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company that an employee thinks, believes or even feels is unfair, unjust or inequitable.
Grievance
Procedure
A
grievance may be defined as any feeling of discontent or dissatisfaction,
whether expressed or not and whether valid or not, arising out of anything
connected with the company that an employee thinks, believes or even feels is
unfair, unjust or inequitable. A grievance may be:
1. Unvoiced or stated by the worker,
2. Written or unwritten, and
3. Valid or ridiculous, and may arise out of something connected with the company, e.g., company policy or actions
A good
grievance handling procedure
1. Simple, easy to understand and to operate;
2. Settle grievances at lower level;
3. Systematically handle the grievances ad promptly remedify the conditions complained of;
4. Depending upon the nature of grievance, refer it to appropriate authority;
5. Ask the employee to give his complaint in writing;
6. Permit the worker to appeal against the decision taken at lower level and lastly
7. The grievance procedure should be made, realizing the importance of industrial harmony and good labour relations.
Steps involved in grievance handling procedure
Step 1
The aggrieved employee presents
his grievance in writing to his foreman or supervisor; he puts his grievance to
union representative who also is a full time employee of the company. If the
foreman, aggrieved employee and the union representative fail to work out a
settlement of grievance, the dispute in the written form is sent to a higher
step in the procedure.
Step 2
The grievance is looked into by
the middle management and the union committee man; a union committee man supervises
several union representatives and is specialists in union management
negotiations. If the situations still remain unsettled, as the third step, the
case is forwarded to top management and top-union officials.
Step 3
Top management representatives
and top union official discuss the grievance, which by this time has become an
issue that has political implications. Thus it is very difficult to secure an
integration of interests at this higher level.
Step 4
If top management and union
leaders fail to settle the issue, the fourth step, then, is to submit the same
to an impartial arbitrator for final decision as to the action required. A
failure to settle the issue at the step 4 may result in strike, picketing,
Gherao or lockout. It is the best if the grievance gets settled at the level of
supervisor and union representative. Tags : Human Resources Management - Managing Conflict
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