post-negotiation1. compliance with the terms agreed: one of the benefits from collective bargaining...

POST-NEGOTIATION

ISHA CHUGH

Assistant Professor

Gargi College

University of Delhi

“Once a collective bargaining agreement is ratified and approved, it signals ofnegotiations. Negotiating the terms of the collective bargaining agreementestablishes a constitution to guide the parties in their joint working To be reallymeaningful, however, the terms need to be interpreted and complied with, and amechanism needs to be put in place by which questions or problems arising in theday-to-day application of the agreement may be jointly and peacefully resolved.

The major activities in the post-negotiation phase are implementation of theagreement and monitoring its operation. This includes grievance redressalmeasures, required in case of misinterpretation or violation of the terms of thecontract. Since it is a continuing relationship between labour and management,both parties also need to resume the task of maintaining cordial relations once thenegotiations are complete.

Steps in Post-Negotiation Stage

Isha Chugh, Department of Commerce, Gargi College

I. ADMINISTRATION OF

THE AGREEMENT


Upon ratification and approval of the collective bargaining

agreement/contract, the next step is its implementation. For

a contract to be successful, labour and management must

translate the contract from language to practice. In the day-

to-day stress of the work environment strict adherence to

the provisions may not always be easy.

Administration of the collective bargaining agreement

is the process where the parties put the new provisions of a

collective agreement into effect. Simply speaking, it refers

to the day-to-day compliance with the terms set out in the

agreement.


Williamson and Harris say: “If anything is more

important to industrial relations than the contract

itself, it is the administration of the contract.

Progress in collective bargaining is not measured

by the mere signing of an agreement. Rather, it is

measured by the fundamental human relationship

agreement. The negotiation of a contract may

have suspense drama of a sort which draws public

attention. The unspectacular and more lasting and

important side is the day in, day out process which

keeps labour and management from the public

disputes stage".


Implementation of the settled contractual terms is of vital

importance. Disputes may arise due to the parties interpreting

the contract provisions differently. Care must be taken to

ensure that final implementation is in consonance with the

outcomes agreed at negotiation. Both parties must understand

the responsibility and problems involved in the administration

of the contract to ensure harmonious labour relations.

In texts on collective bargaining, the stage of administration of

agreement is variously described as implementation, or

application of the collective bargaining agreement. Henceforth,

throughout this chapter, the terms "administration",

"implementation", and "application", would be used

interchangeably.

EFFECTIVE CONTRACT

ADMINISTRATION


Once a collective agreement has been negotiated, the first and primary task is to comply

with it and to follow what has been agreed to. This applies to both the employer and

employees. Certain factors essential for effective contract administration are:

1. Compliance with the terms agreed:

One of the benefits from collective bargaining is that negotiations on terms and

conditions of employment remain "closed" for the period agreed. This means that the

employer, employees and trade union, agree to abide by the agreement and not pursue

any further claims.

Both parties should comply with the collective bargaining agreement. This means

implementing the agreed changes quickly, and ally and in accordance with agreed

implementation dates. For example, if a pay increase of 3% is to start from 1 July, it should

start on 1 July. Neither party should pursue or reopen matters from the negotiation

process


2. Communication of information:

A collective bargaining agreement cannot be applied effectively if workers and managers are

unaware of the rights and duties it confers. Hence, there is a need for extensive and effective

communication in this regard.

With a view to making administration of the agreement smooth and easy, it should be the duties

of both the parties to educate the line managers and the rank and file of workers on the

meaning and interpretation of each cause of the agreement.

House magazines, bulletins, meetings and conferences can be useful tools for interpreting the

agreement. Proper care needs to be exercised, however, to ensure that no conflict arises while

giving interpretations and making commentaries on agreement clauses by the parties concerned.

3. Joint consultation:

Consultation mechanisms involving workers and managers allow the discussion of developments

affecting application of a collective bargaining agreement. Groups in the form of works councils

or other types of joint committee can bring compliance concerns to the attention of an

employer and be handled appropriately.


4. Training for consistent application of terms of the agreement:

Often people who were involved in negotiating the agreement are not the same people

assigned with implementing the agreement Training must be provided to middle managers and

supervisors on applying their collective contract, and also to staff on what the contract

means Such training can remove ambiguity on what the agreement requires and ensure all

management staff are applying the agreement consistently.

5. Periodic audit:

Periodically auditing the extent to which payroll and working arrangements are complying

with the terms agreed, and correcting any errors can ease the application of the agreement.

For example, making sure employees are being paid correctly. This audit process can be very

important where a company has plants or operations away from the head office, particularly

in rural and regional areas.


6. Mechanism for managing grievances:

The handling of grievances is a part of agreement administration. The administration of the

agreement enjoins upon the parties that the grievances are handled promptly and

satisfactorily so that these are not allowed to accumulate and later emerge in the shape of a

major dispute. If the grievances defy satisfactory solution or settlement the deficiency lies in

the agreement administration rather than in the agreement itself.

In sum, the key priority in administration of the collective bargaining agreement is to ensure

that the agreement contributes to productive, stable, and sustainable commercial

operations (the purpose for participating in bargaining in the first place).


II.GRIEVANCE

MANAGEMENT

“WHAT IS A GRIEVANCE?


A grievance is often defined as any perceived violation of a

contract provision. This definition could be broadened to include

any complaint by an employee against an employer and vice versa.

The International Labour Organization defines a grievance as

“a complaint of one or more workers in respect of wages,

allowances, conditions of and interpretation of service

stipulations, covering such areas as overtime leave,

transfer, promotion, seniority, job assignment and

termination of service."

There is a distinction between dissatisfaction, complaint and grievance:

• Dissatisfaction: Whenever something disturbs an employee, whether

or not the unrest is expressed in words.

• Complaint: When the dissatisfaction is, either orally or in written,

brought to the attention of the supervisor.

• Grievance: Grievance is a complaint that has been formally presented

to a management representative or to a union official.

Thus a grievance is a formal step, compared to dissatisfaction and

complaint.


1. A grievance refers to any form of discontent or dissatisfaction with any aspect of the

organization.

2.The dissatisfaction must arise out of employment and not due to personal or family problems.

3. The discontent can arise out of real or imaginary reasons. When employees feel that injustice

has been done to them, they have a grievance. The reason for such a feeling may be valid or

invalid, legitimate or irrational, justifiable or ridiculous.

4. The discontent may be voiced or unvoiced, but it must find expression in some form.

However, discontent per se is not a grievance. Initially, the employee may complain orally or in

writing. If this is not looked into promptly, the employee feels a sense of lack of justice. Now, the

discontent grows and takes the shape of a grievance.

5. Broadly speaking, thus, a grievance is traceable to be perceived as non-fulfillment of one’s

expectations from the organization.

FEATURES OF GRIEVANCE


ECONOMIC

WORK ENVIRONMENT

SUPERVISION

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

MISCELLANEOUS


1. Economic:

Employees may demand for individual wage adjustments. They may feel that

they are paid less when compared to others. For example, late bonus,

payments, adjustments to overtime pay, perceived inequalities in treatment,

claims for equal pay, and appeals against performance- related pay awards.

2. Work environment:

It may be undesirable or unsatisfactory conditions of work. For example, light,

space, heat, or poor physical conditions of workplace, defective tools and

equipment, poor quality of material, unfair rules, and lack of recognition.

3. Organizational change:

Any change in the organizational policies can result in grievances. For example,

the implementation of revised company policies or new working practices.


4. Supervision:

It may be objections to the general methods of supervision related to the attitudes

of the supervisor towards the employee such as perceived notions of bias,

favouritism, nepotism, caste affiliations and regional feelings.

5. Employee relations:

Employees are unable to adjust with their colleagues, suffer from feelings of

neglect and victimization and become an object of ridicule and humiliation, or

other inter- employee disputes.

6. Miscellaneous:

These may be issues relating to certain violations in respect of promotions, safety

methods, transfer, disciplinary rules, fines, granting leaves, medical facilities, etc.


FORMS OF GRIEVANCES

IMAGINARY

FACTUAL

DISGUISED


1.) Factual: When an employee is dissatisfied with his job, for genuine or factual reasons like a breach of terms of employment or any other reasons that

are clearly attributed to the management, he is said to have a factual grievance. Thus, factual grievances arise when the legitimate needs are

unfulfilled. The problem that he has is real and not virtual

2.) Imaginary: When an employee’s grievance or dissatisfaction is not because of any factual or valid reason but because of wrong perception, wrong attitude

or wrong information he has. Such a grievance is called an imaginary grievance. Though it is not the fault of management, the responsibility of

dealing with it still rests with the management. So the problem is not real. It is in the mind or just a feeling towards someone or something.

So be careful your grievances could be very much imaginary!

3.) Disguised: An employee may have dissatisfaction for reasons that are unknown to himself. This may be because of pressures and frustrations that an employee is feeling from other sources like his personal life. I am sure you will

agree that if you have fought at home and come to the institute, you cannot concentrate in the class. Similarly if you have had a bad day in the institute, that will reflect in the mood at home. We are all humans and are sensitive to

the environment that we operate in!


TYPES OF GRIEVANCES

1) Rights Dispute: A rights dispute is often called a grievance. This is a dispute between the parties

about the application of a specific provision in the collective agreement to an employee or a group

of employees. It may pertain to an individual employee or group of employees or to a policy of the

employer that affects rights of all employees in the bargaining unit. In other words, rights dispute or

grievance can be divided further into three types:

(a) Individual or personal Grievance: One person grieves that management action has violated their

rights under the collective agreement. Examples include discipline, demotion, harassment, denial of

earned overtime etc.

(b) Group Grievance: A group grievance complains that management action has but a group of

individuals in the same way.

(c)Policy or Union Grievance: With a policy or union grievance, union complains that a management

action violates the agreement. It usually deals with contract interpretation, not an individual complaint.


II) Interest Dispute: Interest dispute is a dispute between the bargaining parties

about the proposed' terms and conditions in a collective agreement. It is not based on

an existing right, but on a new demand by employees or a new offer by employer.

Broadly speaking a complaint affecting one or more workers constitutes a grievance.

The complaint may relate to the quantum of wages, the made of payment, payment for

overtime work, leave, interpretation of service agreements, working conditions,

promotions, seniority, transfers, work assignments, quality of the plant and machinery

or the parts used in it, or the food available in the canteen.

Grievances, if not dealt with in accordance with a procedure that is expected by the

parties, often result in bitterness in the working relationship and a climate of industrial

strife.


ON

PR

OD

UC

TIO

N

(a) Low quality of production.

(b) Low quality of productivity.

(c) Increase in the wastage of material, spoilage/ leakage of machinery.

(d) Increase in the cost of production per unit.

ON

TH

E E

MP

LO

YE

ES

(a) Increases the rate of absenteeism and turnover.

(b) Reduces the level of commitment, sincerity and punctuality.

(c) Increase the incidence of accidents.

(d) Reduces the level of employee morale.

ON

TH

E M

AN

AG

ER

S

(a) Strains the superior - subordinate relations.

(b) Increases the degree of supervision, control and follow up.

(c) Increases in indiscipline cases.

(d) Increase in unrest and thereby machinery to maintain industrial peace.

EFFECTS OF GRIEVANCES


WHAT IS A GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE?

Grievance procedure is a formal communication between an employee and the

management designed for the settlement of a grievance.

The administrative process through which the day-to-day disputes of rights of workers and

management, arising out of the meaning or application of collective bargaining contracts are

resolved, is referred to as a grievance procedure.

Almost all collective bargaining agreements contain formal procedures to be used in

resolving grievances over the interpretation and application of the agreement. Hence, the

grievances, if any, need to be resolved accordingly.


LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

In India, there are three legislations dealing with grievances of employees working in industries:

o 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 grievances of workers against unfair treatment and wrongful actions by the

employer or his agents.

o 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 grievances of

workers. They will look after proper implementation of the existing labour legislation.

o The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, amended in 1965, addresses individual disputes relating to

discharge, dismissal and retrenchment.


TYPES OF

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE


Grievance procedures differ from organization to organization, and can be of two types:

❑ Informal Grievance Procedure (Open door policy):The aggrieved employee meets the top executives of the organization informally and gets

his grievances redressed. Though it has the advantage of reducing the time and expense for

grievance resolution, it is workable only in small organization where managers are familiar

with their employees and working environments

❑ Formal Grievance Procedure (Step-ladder policy):The formal grievance procedure is a method of solving the grievance from the level of

origin to the highest level in a step wise way. In India, a Model Grievance Procedure was

formulated, in pursuance of the voluntary "Code of Discipline" at the 16th session of the

Indian Labour Conference held in 1958. The Model Grievance Procedure helps in creation

of a grievance machinery, in the nature of the step-ladder policy that provides for five

successive time-bound steps.These five steps are:


Verbal Complaint to Departmental Representative

Written Communication to the Head of the Department

Grievance forwarded to Grievance Committee

Appeal for Revision

Voluntary Arbitration

Model Grievance Procedure


(a) Verbal Complaint to Departmental Representative: An aggrieved employee discusses his

grievance verbally with the supervisor or Departmental Representative who must then give a

decision within forty-eight hours.

The extent to which grievances are resolved at the first level itself is an important indicator

of effective grievance handling and a measure of peaceful labor relations. The Departmental

Representative must be able to recognize grievances with some merit and drop the trivial

ones. The employee must be helped in pursuing a legitimate grievance, and in some cases the

Departmental Representative must convince the employee that a grievance contains no

merit.

(b) A Written communication to the Head of the Department: If the employee is

not satisfied with the decision of the Departmental Representative, or if they both agree that

the grievance should be pursued further, then the grievance is submitted, in writing, to the

Head of the Department.

At this point, the grievance is said to have moved from the informal to the formal stage. The

process of writing out the complaint involves setting forth the facts, contract provisions, and

contingencies.The Head of the Department must give a decision within three days.


(c)Grievance forwarded to Grievance Committee: If the decision is still unsatisfactory, the

employee may request that his grievance be forwarded to the Grievance Committee (a

bipartite committee).

▪ The Grievance Committee conducts hearings in which both sides are able to express their

opinion. It must decide the issue and make its recommendation within seven days in the

form of a report.

▪ The Management communicates its final decision on the report of Grievance Committee,

in writing, to the aggrieved employee within three days of the receipt of report.

(d) Appeal for revision: If the worker is still not satisfied, he may appeal to the Management

for revision of its decision.The Management must communicate its decision within seven days.

(e) Voluntary arbitration: If no agreement is possible, the union and the Management may

jointly refer the grievance to Voluntary Arbitration. If the matter is arbitrated, the decision of

the arbitrator is final and binding on the parties and is generally enforceable through the civil

courts.


ADVANTAGES OF FORMAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE


Though there are phases in the step-ladder policy that lead to a lot of time

elapsing before successful grievance redressal, formalizing the grievance procedure

has several advantages:

o Acts as a 'safety valve' for the controlled release of negative emotions and

grudges that employees may have.

o Acts as a check on arbitrary decision-making by management.

o Gives employees the satisfaction that their grievances have been heard.

o Ensures parity of individuals and objectivity as far as treatment from

management is concerned, because facts rather than perceptions speak for

themselves.

At present, Indian industries are adopting either the Model Grievance Procedure

or procedures formulated by themselves with modifications in the Model

Grievance Procedure.

In other words, the grievance procedures are mostly voluntary and customized in

nature.


Example: Tata Steel has an informal, online grievance resolution called 'Samadhan', and

a three-tier formal grievance resolution mechanism. Unresolved grievances are referred

to the Central Works Committee.

Example: The grievances in plants/units of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) are dealt

with in 3 stages and employees are given an opportunity at every stage to raise

grievances relating to wage irregularities, working conditions, transfers, leave, work

assignments and welfare amenities etc. However, majority of grievances are redressed

informally in view of the participative nature of environment existing in the steel plants.

Example: At MSTC Ltd. (formerly Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited) employee

grievances are addressed by the HODs and Region/Branch Managers. The Human

Resources Department attends to various formal/informal grievances received from

employees, in consultation with the HODs & Staff Unions, wherever necessary.


Example: In MECON (formerly Metallurgical & Engineering Consultants

India Limited) there is a three-tier grievance procedure for redressal of

employees grievance. A Grievance Advisory Committee consisting of

representatives of Executive and Non-Executive employees is operative

to examine grievances of employees and submit recommendation for

redressal. Further, there is a separate cell for redressal of grievances of

SC/ST/OBC employees. Generally employees prefer to take up their

issues/ grievances through their elected representatives of MECON

Employees Union (MEU) in respect of non-executive employees and

MECON Executives Association (MEA) in respect of executive

employees both of which are recognized by the Company.


IMPORTANCE OFGRIEVANCE PROCEDURE


An important aspect of grievance procedure is the reassurance given to individual

employee by the simple fact that there is a mechanism available to him which will

consider his grievance in a dispassionate and detached manner and that his point of view

will be heard and given due consideration.

Grievance procedure is essential in an organization due to the following reasons:

❖ Ensures right to justice for employees

The grievance procedure provides for review of any action taken by management that has

impact on the employees covered by the negotiated agreement. Without a grievance

procedure employees would have no internal process available for ensuring their right to

justice on the job.

❖ Effective means for addressing problems

The grievance procedure provides a more effective means of redressing employee

problems, as the alternative - group action or court of law - is often costly, time

consuming and insensitive to unique problems within an industry.


❖ Avoids strikes/lock-outs

Grievance procedure provides a mechanism to avoid strikes and lock-outs, and plays an

important role in developing a positive labour-management climate.

❖ Fosters cooperation

A well-written grievance procedure allows grievances to be processed expeditiously, and

fosters cooperation between the employer and the union.

One of the fundamental principles of managing grievances effectively and fostering good

relationships is that both parties should commit to resolving those grievances and disputes in

a proactive, collaborative way that embraces the principles of fairness, respect, and dignity. As

much as possible, disputes should be resolved between a worker and his or her supervisor, at

the first instance. An environment of respectful front-line resolution should prevail. Third

party intervention should only be used as a last resort when the parties are at an impasse and

cannot see their way to a voluntary resolution.


THANK YOU

post-negotiation1. compliance with the terms agreed: one of the benefits from collective bargaining...

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