Grievance Management in India

In Indian industry, adequate attention has not been paid to the settlement of grievance. Legislative framework deals only indirectly with the redressal of individual grievance. At present, there are three legislation dealing with grievance of employee working in industries.

They are:

The Industrial Employment (standing orders) Act 1946.
The Factories Act 1948.
The Industrial Disputes Act 1947.

The Industrial Employment (standing orders) Act 1946

Requires that every establishment employing 100 or more workers should frame standing orders. These should contain, among other things, a provision for redressal of grievance of workers against unfair treatment and wrongful exactions by employer or his agents.

The Factories Act 1948

The Factories Act 1948 provides for the appointment of a welfare officer in every factory ordinarily employing 500 or more workers. These welfare officers also look after complaints and grievance of workers. However, these provisions are not useful due to the dual role which these officers are called upon to play.

The Industrial Disputes Act 1947

The employer in relation to every industrial establishment in which fifty or more workmen are employed shall provide a grievance settlement authority. When an industrial dispute connected with an individual workman arises in an establishment referred to above, a workman or any trade union of the workman of which such workman is a member may refer such dispute to the grievance settlement authority for settlement. In India, a Model Grievance Procedure was adopted by the Indian Labour Conference in its 16th session held in 1958.

Grievance Redressal Mechanisms

In India, certain central and state specific labour laws require the employer to adopt certain grievance redressal mechanisms at the workplace. Here is a quick list of various mechanisms under various laws which the HR managers should be familiar with and can incorporate as part of their HR policies & practices:

Internal Complaints Committee:

As per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 of India (POSH Act), every workplace having at least 10 employees is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (IC). The IC is required to investigate into complaints of sexual harassment of women at the workplace and give recommendations to the employer.

Grievance Redressal Committee:

As per section 9C of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 of India (IDA), every employer employing at least 20 workmen[ii], is required to set up a Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) for resolution of the disputes arising out of grievances of the workmen.

The draft Industrial Relations Code, 2019 which has been introduced in Lok Sabha, proposes that the industrial establishment should have one or more GRC to resolve disputes arising out of grievances of individual workers relating to non-employment, terms of employment or conditions of service.

Works Committee:

The labour authorities may under section 3 of the IDA, order an establishment having at least 100 workmen, to set up a Works Committee (WC). The WC is required to promote measures for securing and preserving amity and good relations between the employer and its workmen, and to that extent, comment upon matters of common interest or concern.

Committee for Employee’s Health and Safety: Certain Indian states like Maharashtra (covering employers in Mumbai and Pune), require employers employing at least 100 workers, to set up a Health, Safety and Welfare Committee (HSW Committee). The duty of the HSW Committee includes surveying and identifying any accident-prone or hazardous objects or spots in the premises, rectifying such spots, conducting healthcare camps once a year, and conducting social and educational awareness programs.

Whistleblowing in India:

As per the Companies Act, 2013, certain categories of companies are required to have a vigil mechanism (similar to whistleblowing channels). Every listed company and those companies which accept deposits from the public or have borrowed money from banks and public financial institutions in excess of INR 50 crores (approx. USD 7 million), are required to have a vigil mechanism in place.
While the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced by Lok Sabha, it is yet to be enacted as a law. Accordingly, private employers in India (unlisted entities) are yet to be mandated with a whistleblowing policy.
In a bid to discourage employees from going external and to allow employees to complain about an anonymous basis, some of the progressive organizations have effectively and voluntarily adopted policies and implemented mechanisms to proactively address employee grievances across the organization.

Steps in a grievance procedure

The Indian Institute of Personnel Management, Kolkata has listed the following five steps contained in a grievance procedure:

The employee should raise his or her grievance with the immediate supervisor.
If the decision taken by the supervisor is not acceptable to the aggrieved employee, he or she should be made known to whom next in the echelon of management, he or she should refer the grievance.
The grievance should be handled promptly and dispassionately.
Only the grievance raised by the employee having understood the instructions issued to him or her employer will register the protest and set the grievance handling procedure in motion.
If the aggrieved employee still remains dissatisfied, there will be no direct action by the either party which might prejudice the case or raise doubts while the grievance is being investigated.

Case Study

Let us consider a unit level works grievance procedure as followed in the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO). The procedure consists of the following stages:

Stage 1:

The worker fills in a grievance form and submits the same to the shift in charge for information and consideration.

Stage 2:

In case, he is not satisfied with the decision, he goes to the departmental head for the settlement of his grievance.

Stage 3:

If the aggrieved employee is still dissatisfied, he forwards it to the appropriate chairman of the zonal works committee (ZWC). Each zonal works committee consists of five management and five union representatives. Their decision is final and binding on both the parties. The individual grievances considered by the zonal committee pertain to promotion, suspension, discharge and dismissal.

Stage 4:

If the zonal committee either does not reach to a unanimous decision or the decision is not accepted by the employee, the grievance is, then, forwarded to the central works committee. This committee consists of representatives of top management and union officials. Here also, the unanimity of principle operators and the decision taken by the committee is binding on both the parties.

Stage 5:

If this committee also does not reach to a unanimous decision, the matter is referred to the Chairman of the company. His or her decision is final and is binding on both the parties.