Q.1 TechPro is a company dealing with the manufacturing of UPS.

It has more than 25

employees. The company was established 4 years ago. The company owner wants to keep in
place all the legal implications. Will the organization be covered in the Factories Act? What all
provisions need to be taken care of to abide by the regulations?
Answer-
Q.2 Discuss any five important elements of good organizational culture.

Answer- Good Organizational Culture

a) Vision, Mission and Values

The vision, mission and core values of the organization must not only be clearly written
down, displayed prominently but also be integrated as key statements of purpose and
philosophy into the recruitment and orientation programs, internal company
communications, training and development schemes, methods of appraisal, recognition
and reward. It must be ensured that each and every employee of the organization is aware
of the vision, mission and values of the organization and is able to relate to it from his
own sphere of activities.

b) New Staff Recruitment

All new recruitments must be done keeping the organization’s values and mission central.
Aspiring employees must be given adequate time to get to know these aspects before they
come and join as members of the team. All prospective employees must be screened with
tools like profiling available in the market today.

c) New Staff Orientation

The new employees joining the organization must be actively helped in settling down and
given confidence of a long and productive career. Studies show that employees who get
thorough and thoughtful orientations will stay longer and contribute more throughout
their careers.

d) Training & Development Programs

Investing in training and staff development programs is good. But many companies
engage a wide assortment of trainers and programs, making little effort to ensure a
smooth and beneficial integration. It must be ensured that all the trainers, be it outside or
in-house, are clearly aware of the organization’s vision, mission and values. They must
be able to describe the issues and major challenges facing their company today.

e) Annual Appraisals

Annual appraisals must be a stamp of quality. If talent has to be retained, then the
assessment must be on the range, depth and volume of the employees’ ideas. If the
organization encourages open culture, the appraisals must also be on an open format. If,
however, a cross-functional and non-hierarchical communication is desired, a 360-degree
appraisal process must be employed. No amount of broadcasting company values will
matter if people are measured by other standards.
Q.3 Elaborate on the framework of Employee Relations

Answer- The Framework of Employee Relations

Any organization, in order to attain its goals successfully, must always endeavour to
develop and maintain healthy employee relations. The framework for such relations must
be based on the following:

a)Integration: The needs of individuals, groups and the organization must be

seamlessly integrated. Such cross-matching of interests will invariably result in a
healthy organizational climate and promote creativity and productivity. It is a
management responsibility to initiate measures to create an atmosphere of mutual
trust and understanding so that the employees appreciate both organizational and
environmental constraints and support the company at all times.

b)Employee Participation: Supportive climate and mutual trust and confidence can
be created by involving workers and their groups in the decision-making process.
Management should be open to ideas and accept or reject an idea or suggestion based
on its merits and not on the source of the idea or suggestion. The management must
appreciate the problem of the employees and strive to resolve these at the earliest.
Communication channels must be kept open and the employee must be given an
opportunity to be heard. Such involvement not only improves the quality of decisions
but also leads to the satisfaction of ego needs of employees. They feel recognized and
their attitude is always positive. Joint management councils or committees consisting
of equal representative of workers and management may be constituted. Frank and
fair discussions/meetings help to secure and preserve unity among workers and
managers. Effective use of group dynamics is a must.

c)Congenial Work Environment: Management must create a work environment

wherein workers can perform their jobs with a sense of security and camaraderie.
They must value the task they are performing. Simultaneously, the management must
ensure job security, a meaningful and challenging job, scope for opportunity and
advancement and satisfying interpersonal relationships for the employees.

d)Communication: Most of the employee relations problems arise due to lack of

communication or inadequate or a distorted communication. The desire to have
knowledge about the current situation, future prospects, company policies and
contemplated changes is one of the basic needs of an employee. Lack of
communication leads to fear, misunderstanding and distrust. Therefore, management
should maintain open channels of communication, particularly upward
communication. Employee handbooks, grievance procedures, suggestion schemes,
etc. enable management to understand the feelings, fears and aspirations of
employees. Informal communication or grapevine is generally used to supplement
and support the formal channels of communications. However, strict vigil on rumours
must be kept with all efforts to arrest them at the earliest.
e)Adaptive Leadership: Leadership style must be determined by the situation and
must be flexible. An effective leader is one who fully understands his employees and
adapts his approach to the requirements of the situation. In order to develop healthy
relations, managers should listen carefully, talk less and give decision in the
opportune time. Decision delayed is harmful to the organization as it leads to
mistrust. Managers must uphold the dignity of the individual employees and must
have a positive attitude. Orders must be clear and unambiguous.

f)Resolving Conflicts: Continuous efforts must be made to reduce and minimize

inter-personal and inter-group conflicts. The genesis of the conflict must be identified
and the solution must be such that it satisfies the interest of both parties albeit not
fully. Healthy employee relations can be developed through an integrative and
problem-solving approach in which both the parties gain satisfaction of their needs in
a co-operative manner and not at the expense of one another. Such a situation requires
impartial, continuous and positive communication with the parties concerned.

g)Conditioning Behaviour: Conditioning the behaviour of people is one of the

effective ways of building healthy employee relations at work. This involves the use
of positive and negative reinforcements. Rewards must be used to reinforce desirable
behaviour while punishment must be used to discourage undesirable behaviour. The
most important aspect being that the managers must themselves have exemplary
conduct.

h)Personnel Counseling: An ideal manager must have big ears to listen to all the
problems, a pair of big eyes to observe things, a big head to analyze and arrive at an
effective solution, a big tummy to keep things confidential and a small mouth to
speak less. Thus a manager must listen patiently and help expeditiously resolve the
problems faced by workers both inside and outside the organization. Counseling
reduces the build up of tension and improves their self-confidence. The employee
feels at home in the four walls of the factory or office.
 Q.1 Discuss the process of collective bargaining, along with the illustration for
bargaining process.
Answer-

Fig.The Bargaining Process

The Meaning of Collective Bargaining

Bargaining is an activity comprising debating, discussing and even threatening with the
intent of arriving at an amicable agreement for all interested parties. Collective
bargaining is thus a process facilitating the regulation of the terms and conditions of
workers by agreements between their bargaining agents and employers. The primary aim
of collective bargaining is to arrive at an agreement on wages and other conditions of
employment. Both the employer and the employees may begin the process with divergent
views but ultimately try to reach a compromise, by a ‘give some and take some’ type of
sacrifice. The moment a compromise is reached, the terms of agreement are put into
operation.

The basic aim of collective bargaining is that the employer and employee relations are
not decided unilaterally or with the intervention of any third party. With the growth of
union movement all over the globe and the emergence of employers’ associations, the
collective bargaining process has undergone significant changes. Both parties, more or
less, have realized the importance of peaceful co-existence for their mutual benefit and
continued progress.
Q.3 Explain the disciplinary procedure in detail.

Answer- Disciplinary Procedure

The disciplinary procedure involves the following steps:

a)Preliminary Investigation: First of all, a preliminary inquiry should be held to

find out whether a prima facie
case of misconduct exists.

b)Issue of a Charge-sheet: Once the prima facie

case of misconduct is established, charge sheet is issued to the employee. Charge
sheet is merely a notice of the charge and provides the employee an
opportunity to explain his conduct. Therefore, charge sheet is generally known as a
show cause notice.
In the charge sheet, each charge should be clearly specified. There should be a
separate charge for each allegation and charge should not relate to any matter which
has already been decided upon. The charges so framed should be communicated to
the individual along with the statement of allegations on which the charges are
based.

c)Suspension Pending Enquiry: Depending on the gravity of charges, an

employee may be suspended along with serving him the charge sheet. The various
circumstances which may warrant suspension of an individual are:

i) When disciplinary proceeding is pending or contemplated.

ii) When engaged in the activities prejudicial to the interest or security of the
state.

iii) Where a case in respect of any criminal offence is under investigation,

inquiry or trial.

iv) Where continuance in office will prejudice investigation/ inquiry/trial.

v) When the presence of the employee in office is likely to affect discipline.

vi) When his continuous presence in office is against the wider public interest.

vii) Where a prima face case has been established as a result of criminal or
departmental proceedings leading to the conviction, revival, dismissal, etc.

viii) In case of the following acts of misconduct:

• Moral Turpitude
• Corruption, embezzlement
 • Serious negligence in duty resulting in loss
• Desertion of duty
• Refusal or failure to carry out written orders

According to the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, the suspended
worker is to be paid subsistence allowance equal to one-half of his wages for the first
ninety days of suspension and three-fourths of the wages for the remaining period of
suspensions, if the delay in the completion of disciplinary proceedings is not due to the
worker’s own conduct.

a) Notice of Enquiry: In case the worker admits the charge, in his reply to the
charge sheet, without any qualification, the employer can go ahead in awarding
punishment without further inquiry. But if the worker does not admit the charge and
the charge merits major penalty, the employer must hold an enquiry to investigate
into the charges. Proper and sufficient advance notice should be given to the
employee indicating the date, time and venue of the enquiry so that the worker may
prepare his case.

b) Conduct of Enquiry: The enquiry should be conducted by an impartial and

responsible officer. He should proceed in a proper manner and examine witnesses.
Fair opportunity should be given to the worker to cross-examine the management
witnesses.

c) Recording the Findings: On the conclusion of the enquiry, the enquiry officer
must record his findings and the reasons thereof. As far as possible, he should
refrain from recommending punishment and leave it to the decision of the
appropriate authority.

d) Awarding Punishment: The management should decide the punishment purely

on the basis of findings of the enquiry, past record of the worker and gravity of the
misconduct.

e) Communicating Punishment: The punishment awarded to the worker should be

communicated to him in written and the earliest available opportunity. The letter of
communication should contain reference
to the charge sheet, the enquiry and the findings. The date from which the
punishment is to be effective should also be mentioned.