Definition of Grievance
Grievance” is an English word which stems from the French word “grevance”. In english its meaning is the real or fancied basis of grievance or complaint. The verb of the word grievance is grieve which also stems 3 words e.g., French word grever , Roman word grever and latin word gravare.
On the basis of these sources we can say Grievance is complaint whatever may be its type and from whatever sources it comes. It may explained in different ways. E,g.,
The dissatisfaction, objection ,conflict, painstaking, srrow and so on.
Grievance may be defined by different authors as follows
1. M . J. Jucious: “ A Grievance is a complaint expressed in writing or orally on a company related matter ”.
2. Mondy noel: “ A Grievance can be broadly defined as an employee’s dissatisfaction or feeling of personal injustice relating to his / her employment relationship ”.
3. Cherrington: “ A Grievance is a work related complaint or formal dispute that is brought to the attention of management ”.
Grievance handling
Hammering out (কঠোর পরিশ্রম করে তৈরি করা)a labor agreement is not last step in collective bargaining . No labor contract can cover all contingencies(অনিশ্চিত ঘটনা) and answer all question.
For example , suppose the contract says you can only discharge an employee for “ just cause” you subsequently discharge some one for speaking back to you in harsh terms.
Was it with in your rights to discharge this person?
Was speaking back to you harshly “just cause”?
The labor contract’s grievance procedure usually handles problems like these , this procedures provides an orderly system whereby both employer and union determine whether some action violated the contract on a day to day basis.
The grievance process allows both parties to interpret and give meaning to various clauses that this day to day collective bargaining involves interpretation only; it usually does not involve negotiating new terms or altering existing ones.
Guideline for Grievance handling (Do’s) :
For Handling Grievance human resource manager should do the following:
1. Investigate and handle each case as though it may eventually result in arbitration .
2. Talk with the employee about his her grievance; give the person a full hearing.
3. Require the union to identify specific contractual provisions allegedly violated.
4. Comply with the contractual time limits for handling the grievance .
5. Visit the work area of the grievance .
6. Determine whether there was any witness.
7. Examine the grievances personal record.
8. Fully examine prior grievance record.
9. Treat the union representatives equally.
10. Hold your grievance discussion privately.
11. Fully inform your own supervisor of grievance matters.
Guidilines for Grievance handling (Don’t)
For Handling Grievance human resources manager should not do the following:
1. Discuss the case with the union steward alone the grievance should be there .
2. Make arrangements with individual employees that are inconsistent with the labor agreement.
3. Holds back the remedy if the company is wrong
4. Admit to the building effect of past practice .
5. Relinquish to the union your rights as a manager.
6. Settle grievances based on what is “ fair ” instead, stick to the labor agreement .
7. Bargaining over items not covered by the contract.
8. Treat as subjects to arbitration claims demanding the discipline or discharge of managers.
9. Give long written answers.
10. Trade a grievances settlement for a grievance withdrawal.
11. Deny grievances because “ your hands have been tied by management ”
12. Agree to informal amendments in the contract
Sources Grievance
— From a practical point of view, it is probably easier to list those items that don’t precipitate grievance than to list the ones that do, employees may use just about any factor involving wages, honors or conditions of employment as the basis of grievance.
— However , certain grievances are more serious, since they’re usually more difficult to settle. Discipline cases and seniority problems including promotions, transfers , and layoffs would top this list.
— Others would include grievance growing out of job evaluation and work assignments, over time , vacations, incentive, incentive plans and holidays. Here are four examples of grievance:
1. Absenteeism.
2. Insubordination.
3. Over time.
4. Union activism.
— Here are four examples of grievance :
1. Absenteeism: An employer fired an employee for excessive absence . The employee field a grievance stating that there had been no previous warnings or discipline related to excessive absence.
2. Insubordination : An employee on two occasions refused to obey a supervisor’s order to meet with him, unless a union representative was present at the meeting . As a result, the employee was discharged and subsequently field a grievance protesting the discharge.
3. Over time :The employer discontinued Sunday over time work after a department was split. Employees affected field a grievance protesting loss of the overtime work plant rules. The plant had a posted rule barring employees from eating or drinking during unscheduled breaks. The employees filed a grievance claiming the rule was arbitrary. A grievance is often a symptom of an underlying problem. Sometimes, bad relationship between supervisors and subordinates are to blame: this is often the cause of grievances over “fair treatment” for instance.
4. Union activism: The Union may solicit grievances from workers to underscore ineffective supervision. Problem employees are yet another underlying cause of grievance. These are individuals, who, by their nature, are negative, dissatisfied , and prone to complaints. Discipline and dismissal, both are also major sources of grievances.
Causes of grievance:
Some causes can create grievance among the employee’s, this causes sometimes can be avoided or sometimes not. These causes may be created by the management or by the employees’ side. These are as follows:
i. Unfair management practices.
ii. Low morale & frustration.
iii. Unclear contractual language.
iv. A violation of low.
v. A violation of the intent of the parties.
vi. A violation of moral work procedures.
vii. Unfair treatment by the supervisors.
viii. Unfair management practices: If management does not deal with the employees fault s regarding posting , promotion , transfer , training and so on , grievance among human resources may take place. This grievance can lead to other problems affecting productivity and profitability of the organization.
ix. Low morale & frustration: Low morale & frustration of employees may create grievance among themselves of course there are many causes of low moral & frustration etc.
x. Unclear contractual language: there must be clear and final contract management and employees. If management a volts these contract unilaterally employees may show grievance, this type of difference may create severe dissatisfaction among the employees.
xi. A violation of low: There are some provisions of laws for maintaining good labor management relations. Sometimes these provisions may not be followed which can create grievance among the employees. In this regard management negligence creates problems.
Principles of handling Grievance:
For Handling grievances some principle should be followed. these principles are briefly discussed below:
1. Principles of inter viewing.
2. Principles of management attitude towards employees.
01. Principles of inter viewing: the employees who are they agreed may be invited to appear before the interview board and asked to clarify there resume for grievances. If they are given proper assurance of taking necessary measures to remove grievance by the following ways,
a) Discussion with the employees.
b) Gathering information about the grievance and
Supplying different types of information
Principles of management attitude towards employees: Under this principles management should cherish favorable attitude towards employees. This can create a congenial environment for handling grievances. Following this principle a few measure can be adopted.
a) Showing interest to agreed employees.
b) Showing no disinterest to the subordinates.
c) Assuming that employees are lodging there grievance honesty.
d) Giving reasonable suggestion to solve the problem.
Steps of Handling Grievance :
1 Identification (statement/defining the nature of grievance)
2 Investigation (gathering facts)
3 Documentation (establishing tentative/primary solution)
4 Preparation (checkingtentative/primary solutionestablishing tentative/primary solution)
5 Presentation
Identification:
Armed with this basic information, you should next answer the
following questions:
■ Did management violate any of the following?
— The contract
— A work rule or regulation
— A policy or procedure
— Any federal, state, county or municipal law
— Any health and safety regulation
— Past practice
■ Did management’s action constitute unfair or disparate (unequal)
treatment of an employee or group of employees?
■ Did management engage in discrimination or harassment?
Investigation
Investigation of a problem or complaint begins with talking to people, often several people. They include:
■ The affected employee (that is, the potential grievant).
■ Any witnesses who might have seen or heard anything related to the event. Interview witnesses separately — this helps gather information and sort out inconsistencies. Don’t settle for hearsay information. If someone says to you,
“Harry told me ...,” go talk to Harry.
Documentation
Documentation — the “physical evidence” you collect — will be used to verify the information you learned from each of the people you talked to in the investigation step.
Collecting Evidence
■ Research the contract, work rules, policies, procedures, etc., to determine which of these — and what sections or rules — management has violated.
■ Be sure and check the employee’s official personnel file, which contains a wealth of information — e.g., date of hire, evaluations, promotions, transfers, leave use, past disciplinary actions, letters of commendation, etc.
Preparation:
Preparation is the key to success in most things we do. Grievance handling is no exception. The outcome of a grievance very often depends on how well the union representative prepares ahead of time.
Sources
ü Human resources management prof. Mohammad mohiuddin
ü Human resources management DR. M. Ataur rahman
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