Grievance Management

By: Nivedita kothiyal

What is a Grievance?
Any discontent or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or not, whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company which an employee thinks, believes or even feels to be unfair, unjust or inequitable.

Overt Expression Degree of Effect on Status quo Matter of Interest Formality & level of Presentation

Dispute

Latent Dissatisfaction
Matter of Right

Grievance

Complaint Individual Group All Employees

Extent of employees likely to be affected

Grievance System
Grievance systems are formal organizational procedures designed to address employee complaints. These employee complaints, hereafter referred to as grievances, can range from general disputes about organizational policies (e.g., disputes about interpreting the vacation policy), to specific disputes about how the employee was treated (e.g., conflict with coworkers), to disputes that have legal implications (e.g., discrimination).

Formal Grievance Procedure

It sifts and establishes facts by raising probing questions such as Who? Why? When? Where? And What? Gives reassurance to an individual

 Grievance systems vary by organization. However, grievance systems typically have several (four to five) hierarchical steps that are used to address conflicts in the organization. Often the lowest level or step of a grievance system in a nonunionized organization is a written complaint or informal discussion with the employee's immediate supervisor. The first step in a unionized organization usually requires employees to talk or file a complaint with the union steward (representative). Higher steps of a grievance system usually consist of the employee presenting his or her complaint to higher levels of management. In a unionized context, the employee would receive union assistance or representation in presenting the complaint to the higher levels. The final step of grievance systems may consist of presenting the complaint to the highest level of administration (e.g., the CEO), a peer review panel (similar to a jury of peers), or an arbitrator (a neutral person who makes a final decision, similar to a judge).

 Another common characteristic of grievance systems is that they are appeal procedures. This means that employees make the initial grievance at the lowest level and an initial decision is made. If the employee is not satisfied with the decision, he or she can appeal the decision to increasingly higher levels until satisfied with the decision or until all the steps have been exhausted. Because of these characteristics, grievance systems are also referred to as multilevel appeal systems.

Model Grievance Procedure

GRIEVANT
Stage I
Grievant conveys verbally

MANAGEMENT
Officer designated by management to deal with grievance at this initial stage. To reply within 48 hrs

Not satisfied go to

Stage II
Grievant + Departmental Representattives

Head of Department (meet at preallocated time daily for grievance handling). Reply in 3 days Decision Unsatisfactory

Stage III
Grievant + Departmental Representattives

Decision nit in time or Unsatisfactory

Grievance committee to decide in 7 days and report to the manager. If the decision is unanimous, then it should be implemented by the management. Time limit for management to accept and communicate its decision is 3 days

Stage IV
Grievant + Departmental Representattives

Appeal to management for revision. A week for appeal to be considered No Agreement

Stage V
Grievant + management may refer to union Voluntary arbitration within a week after decision from STAGE-IV

WHY DO ORGANIZATIONS HAVE GRIEVANCE SYSTEMS?

The earliest grievance systems were created because of unionization. Unions promoted grievance systems as a voice mechanism or as a way to address employee concerns

 Today, organizations voluntarily implement grievance systems in nonunion and union organizations for a variety of reasons. First, some research indicates that grievance systems may serve to reduce costs. For example, they may help identify and resolve organizational problems that could, if not properly addressed, lead to costly outcomes such as employee turnover. Second, organizations may implement grievance systems to enhance the likelihood of increasing the positive outcomes (such as higher employee commitment to the organization) associated with employees feeling fairly treated and conflict being handled effectively. Finally, there is considerable evidence that organizations voluntarily implement grievance systems to reduce the likelihood of successful unionization of their employees.

THEORETICAL ROOTS OF GRIEVANCE SYSTEM The first approach, the exit-voice model, was introduced by a labor economist, Albert Hirschman, to explain consumer behavior but was later applied to the employment context. According to the model, an organization learns about workplace problems via two major methods: exit or voice. The exit method is when employees leave the organization, and the voice method is when employees complain about the problem directly to the organization (e.g., grievance filing). The voice method is considered better for the organization, because organizations can learn about the problem directly and more quickly.

THEORETICAL ROOTS OF GRIEVANCE SYSTEM

The second theoretical approach draws from the due process and procedural justice literature. In the grievance system context, this theoretical approach focuses on elements of the grievance system as they relate to the perceived fairness of the system.

Grievance Policy
Management accepts the right of employees, individually or collectively through a recognized union, to present complaints to management Any difference which may arise between management and employees should wherever possible be resolved quickly and without recourse to the use of industrial action Management is concerned to ensure that in responding to any grievance or dispute it does not create an unacceptable precedent which may subsequently be claimed to apply through out the organization.