Grievance Management

Grievance Management

Grievance:
Any 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.

There are many sources of grievance

We need mechanisms of grievance resolution

We need a Grievance Redressal Procedure
 Indian scenario (as it was till 1982)

A grievance resolution system has been suggested

in ID Act 1947 Chapter – II B, section 9-C (1982
amendment)
Main feature of the section
Applicability: 50 workmen or more employed
Employer shall provide a grievance settlement
Authourity for industrial dispute of an individual
workman
No reference (to anywhere) (under Chapter – III)
of any dispute unless such dispute has been
referred to the Grievance Settlement Authourity
but date of notification was not given.
 Indian scenario (2010 amendment)
After section 9B of the ID Act, for Chapter IIB, the following
Chapter shall be substituted, namely:
“CHAPTER IIB
Grievance Redressal Machinery
Setting up of Grievance Redressal Machinery
9C. (1) Every industrial establishment employing
twenty or more workmen shall have one or more
Grievance Redressal Committee for the resolution
of disputes arising out of individual grievances.
(2) The Grievance Redressal Committee shall
consist of equal number of members from the
employer and the workmen.
 Indian scenario (2010 amendment)
Grievance Redressal Machinery

9C. (3) The Chairperson of the Grievance Redressal

Committee shall be selected from the employer and from
among the workmen alternatively on rotation basis every
year.
(4) The total number of members of the Grievance
Redressal Committee shall not exceed more than six.
Provided that there shall be, as far as practicable one
woman member if the Grievance Redressal Committee
has two members and in case the number of members are
more than two, the number of women members may be
increased proportionately.
 Indian scenario (2010 amendment)
Grievance Redressal Machinery
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the
setting up of Grievance Redressal Committee shall not
affect the right of the workman to raise industrial dispute on
the same matter under the provisions of this Act.
(6) The Grievance Redressal Committee may complete its
proceedings within thirty days on receipt of a written
application by or on behalf of the aggrieved party.
(7) The workman who is aggrieved of the decision of the
Grievance Redressal Committee may prefer an appeal to
the employer against the decision of Grievance Redressal
Committee and the employer shall, within one month from
the date of receipt of such appeal, dispose off the same
and send a copy of his decision to the workman concerned.
 Indian scenario (2010 amendment)

Grievance Redressal Machinery

(8) Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the

workmen for whom there is an established Grievance

Redressal Mechanism in the establishment concerned.”

 Grievance Redressal Committees (IR Code secn 4)
(1) Every industrial establishment employing twenty or more workers shall
have one or more Grievance Redressal Committees for resolution of
disputes arising out of individual grievances.
(2) The Grievance Redressal Committee shall consist of equal number of
members representing the employer and the workers to be chosen in such
manner as may be prescribed.
(3) The chairperson of the Grievance Redressal Committee shall be
selected from among persons representing the employer and the workers
alternatively on rotational basis every year.
(4) The total number of members of the Grievance Redressal Committee
shall not exceed ten:
Provided that there shall be adequate representation of women workers in
the Grievance Redressal Committee and such representation shall not be
less than the proportion of women workers to the total workers employed in
the industrial establishment.
(5) An application in respect of any dispute referred to in sub-section (1)
may be filed before the Grievance Redressal Committee by any aggrieved
worker in such manner as may be prescribed within one year from the date
on which the cause of action of such dispute arises.
 Grievance Redressal Committees

(6) The Grievance Redressal Committee may complete its proceedings

within thirty days of receipt of the application under sub-section (5).
(7) The decision of the Grievance Redressal Committee on any application
filed under sub-section (5) shall be made on the basis of majority view of
the Committee, provided more than half of the members representing the
workers have agreed to such decision, otherwise it shall be deemed that no
decision could be arrived at by the Committee.
(8) The worker who is aggrieved by the decision of the Grievance
Redressal Committee or whose grievance is not resolved in the said
Committee within the period specified in sub-section (6), may, within a
period of sixty days from the date of the decision of the Grievance
Redressal Committee or from the date on which the period specified in sub-
section (6) expires, as the case may be, file an application for the
conciliation of such grievance to the conciliation officer through the Trade
Union, of which he is a member, in such manner as may be prescribed.
Resolving Grievances
 Grievance Redressal Procedure

Formal system of several steps through

which a grievance can be taken to higher
levels of management for redressal within
some specified time limits

Usual features :
Time limit
Various steps
 Grievance redressal mechanism is a process of
providing justice in organizations

System which provides employees with VOICE

Characteristics
• Simple procedures,
• Accessibility Easy to avail & use,
• Non-punitive, non-retributive , maintains
anonymity,
• Responsive, gives answer & timely,
• Correctable outcome, administered well,
includes follow up.
So an effective Grievance Redressal system should
have these features
Resolving grievances
- Some suggestions
 Common errors

1.   Stopping too soon in the search of facts

2. Expressing an opinion before all relevant
facts have been discovered
3. Resorting to “bossism” instead of discussion
4. Settling the wrong grievance
 Steps in handling grievance

Grievance constitutes a managerial problem.

In the solution of a problem, the greater
burden rests on management.

Its our duty as a manager to try and solve

the grievances.
We should remember that
any unresolved grievance contains the
seeds of future industrial disputes
 Steps in handling grievance

Receive and define the nature of the

dissatisfaction 
The supervisor should assume that the
employee is fair in presenting the grievance
He should not be too busy to listen and
should not give an impression of
condescension
He must listen carefully and with empathy.
 Steps in handling grievance (contd.)
Get the facts
Facts must be separated from opinions and
impressions
Analyze and decide
Try & understand the various factors that
contributed to this grievance
While deciding do not forget the implications
One must be aware that the decision may
constitute a precedent within the department
and the company.
 Steps in handling grievance (contd.)

Always give an answer 

Some answer is better than none.
The privilege and responsibility of
communicating favourable decision to the
employee should be delegated to the
immediate supervisor
 Follow up
  To determine whether grievance has been
handled satisfactorily
 Grievance Audit

What is it?
Why do we do it?
• How effective is the grievance procedure
• Organizational health 
How do we do it?
Gather data on Grievances & Analyze