What is Industrial Relation?

There is no unanimity as to the meaning and

scope of Industrial Relations, since different
terms such as labour management Relations,
Employer & Employee Relations, Union &
Management Relations, personnel Relations,
Human Relation etc are in use or used. In its
strictest sense, the term “Industrial Relation”
Means the relationship between Management
& Workmen in an unit or an Establishment or
an Industry. In wider sense, it means the
relationship between the workers &
Management union & workers and Union and
management in an Industry.
The four main parties who are actively
associated with any industrial relations
system are the Managements Workmen,the
Organisation of managements,workmen,
workmen and the state. Fundamentally ,the
term industrial relation Refers to an
organised relationship between two
organised parties representing employers
and employees regarding matters of
collective interest.
 Objectives and Aims
Apart from the primary objective of bringing
about sound and healthy relations between
employers and employees, Industrial
relation aims
1. To facilitate production and productivity
2. To safe guard the rights and interests of
both labour and management by enlisting
their co- operation.
3. To achieve a sound, harmonious and
mutual beneficial Labour - Management
relations.
4.To avoid unhealthy atmosphere in the
industry especially work Stoppage , go
slows, gheraos, Strikes, lockouts etc

5.To establish and maintain industrial

democracy.

The problem posed in the field of Industrial

Relations cannot be solved within the limits
of a single discipline and hence it is bound
to be inter-disciplinary approach.
 Grievance Function in
Industrial Relations
• There is hardly a company where the
employees do not have grievance of one
kind or other. A grievance produces
unhappiness, discontent, indifference, low
morale, frustration etc. Ultimately it affects
employees’ concentration, efficiency and
productivity. A large number of work
stoppage, shop floor incidents and strike
could be attributed to the faulty handling of
grievances. Prompt and effective handling
of grievances is the key to industrial peace.
• Grievance is a rust on human relations.
Grievance can be conceived in several
stages. Dissatisfaction may or may not
articulated. When it takes some shape
and brought to the notice of some
authority then it is seen as complaint. A
Compliant is a formal representation of a
grievance. An individual grievance if not
settled under the Grievance process it
assumes the form of an Industrial
disputes and attracts disputes
settlement provisions. Basically
grievance is a complaint of one or more
workers covering such areas of wages,
allowances, conditions of work, over
time, leave, transfer, promotion, etc
• Informal and formal presentation of grievance
have their advantages and disadvantages.
Informal less important, less attention etc.
Formal gets more serious attention.
• Grievance must be settled as early as possible to
the point of origin and on merit only. Hasty
actions without properly ascertaining facts helps
to aggregate the situation hence it is better only
to have a systematic grievance redressal
procedure which would (i) be simple, fair and
easy to understand (ii) encourage employees to
put forth their grievance (iii) function promptly
and expediously (iv) gain employees confidence
and (v) promote healthy relations between
employees and the company.
 Discipline function in
Industrial Relations
• In any industry, discipline is an
useful tool for developing,
Improving and stabilizing the
personality of workers.
Industrial discipline is essential
for smooth running of an
organization, for increasing
production and productivity for
maintenance of Industrial peace.
 Dictionary meaning of
Discipline
1.First it is the training that corrects,
moulds, strengthens or perfects individual
behaviour.
2.It is control gained by enforcing obedience.
3.It is punishment.
Discipline is the force that prompts an individual
or a group to observe/adhere rules, regulations and

procedures which are deemed to be necessary to

the attainment of an objective.
 Aims and Objectives of
discipline
The main Aims and Objectives of discipline are
1.To obtain willing acceptance of rules,
regulations and procedures of an
organization so that organizational
objectives can be attained.

2.To develop among employees a spirit of

tolerance and a desire to make adjustments.

3.To give and seek directions and

responsibilities.
4.To create an atmosphere of respect of
human personality and human relations.
5.To increase the working efficiency and
morale of employees.
6. To impart an element of certainty despite
several differences in informal behaviours
patterns and other related changes in an
organization.
Disciplinary actions have serious repercussions
on the employees and on the industry and
therefore must be based on certain principles in
order to be fair, just, and acceptable to the
employees and their Union.
Indiscipline often arises from frustration and
absence of a service of responsibility. The
cause of indiscipline among workers are
several and varied and can often be traced to
their ignorance and illiteracy, non-adherence
to the industrial culture, no-redressal of
grievance, lack of commitment of worker,
absence of occupational status, low wages,
unfair labour practice, bad working conditions
and lack of effective management practice
etc.
Discipline is a two way traffic and reach of
discipline as the part of either party in
industry will cause unrest. The concept of
positive discipline promotion aims at the
generation of a sense of self discipline and
disciplined behaviour in all human beings
in a dynamic organizational setting instead
of discipline improved by force or
punishment. In brief, the approach to the
disciplinary action in most cases should be
corrective rather than punitive.
1. Conciliation :
The conciliation Officer is appointed by
Government. He is charged with duty of
mediating in and promoting settlement of
industrial disputes.Sometimes Government
may also constitute a Board of Conciliation
for promoting the settlement of Industrial
disputes. It consists of independent
Chairman and two or four other members
representing the parties to disputes.While
conciliation is compulsory in all public
utility service and optional in non-public
utility service. In conciliation, the ultimate
decision rests with the parties themselves
but the conciliation may offer a solution to
the dispute acceptable to both the parties
and serve as a channel of communication.
The parties may accept his recommendation
for settlement of any dispute or reject
altogether. If conciliation fails, the next
stage may be compulsory adjudication or
the parties may be left to other own choice.
They have no power to decide the disputes
or ass a final or binding order on parties.
In case where a settlement is arrived at,
they can record the settlement and
incase of failure of a conciliation
negotiations, they can only send a failure
report to appropriate government. The
concerned authority after scrutinizing the
failure report and
the confidential note submitted by the
conciliation officer may refer or refuse
to refer the dispute to the Industrial
Tribunal or Labour Court as the case
may be for adjudication. If the Parties
at the time of Conciliation proceeding
so desires the Industrial dispute is
referred for voluntary arbitration to
the persons unanimously agreed by
them.
2. Adjudication :
The Govt. generally refer an Industrial dispute
for adjudication on failure of conciliation
proceedings. Adjudication means a mandatory
settlement of industrial disputes by Labour
Courts or Industrial Tribunals or National
Tribunals under the Industrial Disputes Act. By
and large, the ultimate legal remedy for the
settlement of an unsolved dispute is its
reference to adjudication by the appropriate
Govt. This reference of dispute for adjudication
is also at the discretion of the Govt.
3. Voluntary Arbitration

Voluntary arbitration is one of the

recognized and democratic ways
for settling Industrial disputes. It
is to be borne in mind that good
industrial relations are a mixture
of idealism and realism.
 Trade Union and Industrial
Relations Functions
1.To secure for workers fair wages.

2.To safeguard security of tenure and

Improve conditions of service

3.To enlarge opportunities for promotion

and training.

4.To improve working condition and timing

condition.
5.To provide for educational, cultural
and recreational facilities.

6.To promote identity of interests of the

workers within their industry.

7.To offer responsive co-operation in

improving levels of production and
productivity discipline.

8.To promote individual and collective

welfare.
 Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining is the process of joint
decision making and basically represents a
democratic way of life in an Industry. It
establishes a culture of bipartition and joint
consultation in industry and a flexible
method of adjustment to economic and
technical charges. In an industry. It helps
in establishing industrial peace without
disrupting either the existing arrangements
or the production activities.
 Legal frame works – Labour
constitution
Constitution of India – Rights
Directive principles - Though not enforceable
in Court, it shall be
duty of State to
protect the interest of
the Citizen.
Labour – Concurrent List – Centre & State
Centre rules would prevail upon State rules
In I.D. Act there is no provision for
providing any review, revision or appeals
against actions, orders or awards of
authority. Section 17(2) of the I.D. Act
makes the award of the adjudication
authorities as final. The only remedy is
that aggravated party can resort to
constitution remedies, namely, writ
under Articles 32, 226 & 227 and appeals
under Articles 133 and 134 of the
Constitutional of India.
 Disciplinary Proceedings in
Industry
An enquiry held by the Management against
its employees for certain acts of alleged
misconduct is called a “Domestic Enquiry “ or
“Departmental Enquiry”
1. Framing and issuing of charge sheet.
2. Service of charge sheet.
3. Enquiry Proceedings.
4. Findings.
5. Decisions
a). Warning
b). Fine
c). Withholding or stoppage of
increments.
d). Demotion or reduction in rank.
e). Suspension
f). Discharge
g). Dismissal
6. Service of order.