Industrial Relations & HRM

• Concept of IR. Impact of adverse

IR on business.
• Emerging changes from IR to ER.
• The concept of Industrial disputes
and the settlement machineries.
Worklife balance issues, safety , health etc.
 Aims of Collective Bargaining

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial

Organizations (AFLCIO) is a voluntary federation of about 57 national
and international labor unions in the United States. For many people
in the United States, the AFL-CIO is still synonymous with the word
union
 The Difference
Employee relations 
is  relationship between Employee and
Employer. The focus is on how to effectively
manage and strengthen this relationship. 

Industrial Relations on the other hand, is

 relationship between
the organisation, the union and the
workforce that the union represent.
 Employee Relations 
Is the study of the relationship between employees and also between
employers and employees.
(Some industries specially MNC are less likely to have a union and focus more on
understanding motivation and employees)

BENEFITS : A business which focuses on the importance of strong

Employee Relations often results in higher employee engagement,
higher motivation and ultimately improved productivity and profitability.
HOW ? : Employee Relations is about providing information to
employees on the goals of the organisation. Employees should
understand the ultimate goals of the business and what their role is in
achieving these goals. Some more tested methods are suggested in the
next slide.
 How Managers can Improve Employee Engagement?
From Dessler book : Employee Engagement Guide for managers…appears many times
upto Chapter 17 .. Some of these are

1.Promotion from Within Many employers encourage internal recruiting, on the reasonable assumption that doing so improves
employee engagement. Eg . IBM , Fedex (P-174, Dessler). FedEx calls its job posting system JCATS (Job Change Applicant Tracking
System). Announcements of new job openings via this online system usually take place each Friday.
2.Building Engagement: A Total Selection Program: Many employers create a total selection program aimed at selecting
candidates whose totality of attributes best fits the employer’s total requirements. The program Toyota Motor uses to select
employees for auto assembly team jobs illustrates this. (P-253, Dessler)
3.Onboarding (Oreintation) at Toyota : In many firms today, orientation goes well beyond providing basic information about things
like work hours. Onboarding at Toyota Motor Manufacturing USA illustrates this. While it does cover routine topics such as
company benefits, its main aim is to engage Toyota’s new employees in the firm’s ideology of quality, teamwork, personal
development, open communication, and mutual respect. The initial program takes about 4 days
(P-274, Dessler) ; Total Orientation schedule of Toyota .

4.Use the Appraisal Interview to Build Engagement: Managers can use the appraisal interview to improve their employees’
engagement. Here are relevant findings and implications. (ways suggested in P- 131)
5. Total Rewards and Employee Engagement: When it comes to employee engagement, both material and non-material rewards—
total rewards—seem essential. For example, one study found that base pay and benefits alone were weakly related to
engagement. However, intangible rewards (such as the nature of the job/quality of work and career development opportunities)
had high or very high impacts on engagement and performance, when combined with base salary and short-term incentives or
bonuses (P-412, Dessler )
 Who can be good at it ?
People considering a career in Employee Relations
should be able to bring the following Skills, Knowledge
and Attributes :

• A thorough understanding of HR policy and processes

• In depth understanding of employment law
• Ability to provide expert judgement and advice to line managers,
employees and HR colleagues
• Strong credibility, and ability to influence at a senior level with
strong management skills 
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Coaching skills
• A strong customer service focus mind-set
 INDIAN LABOUR LAWS
• Employers are under obligation to provide their employees
safe,healthy and comfortable living, employment and working
conditions.

• Legislative intervention by the Government is to protect the

workers from being exploited.

• Together, the Central and State Government have enacted more

than 100 labour laws. They are not only restrictive but also
protective and beneficial.

• Obligations & Rights of Employers as well as Employees are

outlined.
 Labour Acts covered
•The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970
•The Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act 1952
•The Employees State Insurance Act 1948
•The Factories Act 1948
•The Industrial Disputes Act 1947
•The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946
•The Maternity Benefit Act 1961
•The Minimum Wages Act 1948
•The Payment of Wages Act 1936
•The Payment of Gratuity Act 1972
•The Trade Unions Act 1926
•The Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
 The INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947
The Industrial Disputes Act , 1947 is a principle central legislation which provides for
settlement of industrial Disputes.
 
The main objective of the Act is to secure industrial peace by preventing and settling
industrial disputes through :
internal machinery : WORKS COMMITTEES
external machinery of
CONCILIATION (consisting of Conciliation Officers, Boards of Conciliation and Courts of
inquiry) , or
ADJUDICATION (consisting of Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals and National Tribunals) .
SCHEDULES :
Industries declared as Public Utility Service (PUS) : Schedule- I

Matters for Labour Court, Industrial tribunal and national tribunal : Schedule – II, III

This Act also protects the service conditions of employees during pendency of Industrial
disputes proceedings. (Schedule-IV)

It also prohibits employers and workmen from indulging in any unfair trade practices.
( Schedule-V) by workmen, union, employes
 Main Provisions

• Definition of
– Industry, Industrial Dispute, Lay off,lock out,Public Utility
Service,Retrenchment,Strike, Workmen.

• Machinery for Investigating And Settlement of

Disputes
– Works Committee,Conciliation Officers,Boards of
conciliation, court’s of enquiry, Labour Courts & Tribunals,
Voluntary Arbitration
 Main Provisions IDA

• Reference Of Disputes of Adjudication

• Awards of Labour courts and Tribunals
• Notice of change in Employment conditions
• Protection of workmen during proceedings
• Strike And lockouts : The prohibitions for PUS and others
• Lay-Off, Retrenchment Compensation
• Procedure for retrenchment
• Closure & reopening of closed undertaking
• Unfair labour practice
 Protected Workmen
• As per Section 33 (4) of the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947, the number
of workmen to be recognised
as protected workmen shall be one per
cent of the total number
of workmen employed therein subject to a
minimum number of five protected
workmen and a maximum number of one
hundred protected workmen.
Factories Act 1948
MANAGING INDISCIPLINE
Principles of Natural Justice
The natural justice mainly focuses on the following:
 1. Nemo judex in causa sua
one cannot be made a judge in his own cause (rule
against bias) .
 2. Audi alteram partem
(hear the other party) a judge should always listen to
the other party or a fair hearing must should be done
before any order.
 Kinds of punishment
PREVENTIVE : preventing the repetition of crime by disabling
the offender through methods such as imprisonment, forfeiture,
death punishment and suspension of the license etc.
RETRIBUTIVE : Includes deterrence, incapacitation, and
rehabilitation, but it also ensures that the guilty will be
punished, the innocent protected, and societal balance
restored after being disrupted by crime.
Retribution is thus the only appropriate moral justification
for punishment.
DETERRENT : A strong message to others ,

CORRECTIVE : be corrected to prevent repetition, mitigate

escalation
 FAIRPLAY IN PUNISHMENT
• Punishment should be just, fair and in proportion to the act
of misconduct proved

• Punishment should not be arbitrary, vindictive, mala fide,

less or excessive

• Punishment should be awarded by taking all factors into

consideration

• Punishment should be awarded by the disciplinary

authority after applying his judicious mind

• A delinquent can not be held guilty simply on

presumptions
 WHAT IS A CHARGESHEET ?
• A memo of accusations
• With reference to the Violation of service
conditions / rules / regulations etc by the
employee
• As laid down in standing order (workmen) or
other Discipline rules as per employee level
(Supervisors and executives) .
 WHY ISSUE A CHARGESHEET ?
• No action can be taken against any workman
for an act of misconduct unless he has been
issued a charge sheet.

• To afford a fair and proper opportunity to the

delinquent as per principles of natural justice
to put forward his defense against the charges
levelled against him
 ESSENTIALS OF A VALID CHARGESHEET
• SPECIFIC

• ACCURATE

• DETAILED

• CLEAR

• UNAMBIGUOUS
 Processes of Domestic Enquiry
• Report / findings of enquiry officer

• Receipt of enquiry report by the competent authority

• Supplying copy of enquiry report to delinquent for his comments

on it

• Evaluation and application of mind on the enquiry report and on

comments of the delinquent if any by the competent authority

• Show cause notice to workman about proposed punishment

• Punishment
 Processes of domestic enquiry
• First information about the act of misconduct

• Show cause notice / Chargesheet

• Explanation of workman

• Explanation satisfactory – matter closed

• Explanation not satisfactory – domestic enquiry

• Appointment of enquiry officer

• Recording of enquiry proceedings