1. Employee-employer relationship, discipline management and grievance handling
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Abstract
Employee-employer relationship, discipline management and grievance handling are inseparable parts of
Human Resource Management. Day to day, a HR manger has to face thousands of issues in an
organization regardless of its size. Be it a large corporation or a small privately-owned firm, a strong
employee-employer relationship paves the way to profitability and success. This paper focuses on the
issues of Employee and employee relationship, how to achieve it and finding out the impediments in the
way to strong relationship, and also emphasizing on the process of CBA election and discipline
management of an organization. This paper tries to compare different grievance procedures that are being
practiced worldwide and looking for the best between ADR versus Legaldispute settlements. Using
secondary data and observations from the very practical perspective of Bangladesh, this paper will enable
understanding of employee-employer relationship, discipline management and grievance handling.

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Contents

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Employee employer relationship, Discipline Management and Grievance Handling
Introduction
Human Resource managers are prone to challenges that arise in a rapidly changing business environment
when employers are more efficient, conscious of their rights, the competition is rife in the market and
maintaining disputes require highly cognitive, ethical expertise of the HR manager. The activities that
bolster employee-employer relationship are crucial to an organization as they contribute to satisfactory
productivity, motivation, morale and discipline as well as maintaining a positive, productive and cohesive
work environment. In the workplace, through the means of discipline management, is the supervisory
personnel correct behavioral deficiencies and ensure adherence to established company rules emphasizing
the purpose of discipline is correct behavior, not to punish or embarrass an employee for ensuring a better
workplace ethics and highly motivated performance. Considering those issues to handle discrepancies
observed by an employee, according labor union act, formation of Labor Union is granted to the workers
to take part in collective bargaining. Grievance Procedure is designed to provide a fair and equitable
resolution for concerns related to terms or conditions of employment that if not practiced or violated by
management, the aggrieved party can claim for their rights which is prescribed by Labor Act. Prolonged
industrial disputes, strikes, destructive attitude to the organization, can paralyze the industry which
eventually results in a barrier to the development of economy a county to a micro-level. The HR manger
will try to incorporate high level of expertise, cognitive aptitude, knowledge and ethical strength to create
a strong employee and employer relationship and ensure uninterrupted performance in a friendly,
efficient workplace.
Employee and Employer Relationship
When an employer hires a new employee, he is not just bringing a new member of the workforce aboard,
he is also starting a new relationship. Because employers and employees often work in close quarters,
they necessarily develop relationships. Managing these relationships is vital to business success,as strong
relationships can lead to greater employee happiness and even increased productivity.
Generally, employer and employee relationships should be mutually respectful. The degree of closeness
in these relationships will depend on both the employer and the employee. Some employers opt to keep
their employees at a distance and, in doing so, ensure that there is no confusion as to the hierarchy that
exists between them. Others elect to become friendlier with their employees, seeing this as a way to
increase employee happiness.

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Impact of proper employee-employer relationship: Employer wants productivity from employee to ensure
profit maximization. On the contrary, employee wants benefits in exchange of his dedication. When there
is ample opportunity for job engagement and scope for self-realization and recognition, there will be a
good relation between management and employee. According to International Labour Organization(ILO),
it is through the employment relationship, however defined, that reciprocal rights and obligations are
created between the employee and the employer. It has been, and continues to be, the main vehicle
through which workers gain access to the rights and benefits associated with employment in the areas of
labour law and social security. The existence of an employment relationship is the condition that
determines the application of the labour and social security law provisions addressed to employees. Apart
from legal issues, a strong relationship between employee and employer make them motivated and create
a positive vibe which help employees in the following sectors:
1. Job Satisfaction- A good relation ensures job satisfaction and help employee to feel at home in
organization with a spirit to work willingly resulting in better performance and being liable for
one’s responsibilities and duties. An employee rightly motivated by a supervisor should perform
better in his specific job role, provided the supervisor understands the role and provides clear
coaching.
2. Performance- As the environment is satisfactory, performance will exponentially grow up. As
there will be less turbulence, strike, disputes, employees perform better. When a salesperson is
given reward for his achievement, it keeps him motivated. But in a threatening situation,
employees are afraid to open up. So creativity drops and so does performance.
3. Turnover- Strong relationship creates a bond with organization which help to reduce turnover in
organization. An emotional attachment will stop employees resigning at the bad days of
company. Staff turnover is expensive and time-consuming, especially for a small business.
4. Productivity
Strong employment relations create a pleasant atmosphere within the work environment; it
increases the employee motivation and can also be increased through improved employee morale.
Companies that have invested into employee relations programs have experienced increases in the
productivity, and therefore the increased productivity leads to increases in profits for the business.
5. Employee Loyalty
Creating the productive and pleasant work environment has a drastic effect on an employee’s
loyalty to the business, it encourages a loyal workforce. Having such a workforce improves
employee retention, in doing so the cost of recruitment, hiring and training is cut drastically. For
most businesses the high cost of employee turnover outweighs the cost of the employee relations
program that they have in place. Another benefit is that when the employee turnover is low it
ensures that the employer has a trained and skilled set of employees.
6. Conflict Reduction
When a work environment is efficient and friendly the extent of conflict within the workplace is
reduced. Less conflict results in the employees being able to concentrate on the tasks at hand and
they are therefore more productive. All the research and statistics lead to one conclusion, ‘A
happy workforce is a productive workforce’. Creating a sound and efficient work environment
with good management and a strong employer- employee relation can be the vital key to any
businesses success or failure.

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Conditions for good employee/employer Relations
 Democratic norms and values
 Participative decision making
 Recognize employees’ rights
 Ensure fair wages and facilities
 Decent environment at workplace
 Profit sharing plan
 TU activities free from party politics
 Provide training to all employees
 Impartial and unbiased state machinery
 Mutual trust honor, respect with each other
To achieve this employer must ensure those within the practice of this activities:
Delegate:
Delegation of work/tasks throughout any business is important. Through delegation you are taking an
opportunity to teach and empower your employees. This also allows you and the employees to
acknowledge and understand their strengths and weaknesses. These are a few points to consider when
delegating tasks;
1. Assigning tasks that challenge employees
2. Assuming responsibility for employees’ mistakes
3. Not taking credit for employees’ achievements
4. Accepting employer’s own personal mistakes
Communicating Effectively
When creating a work environment with an effective communication network there is one key factor that
is vital. It is to ‘Keep your door open’ attitude. So, one should regularly remind and reinforce that his door
is always open to any inquiries or concerns,and that s/he as a manager or business owner are willing and
ready to listen. Maintaining an open channel of communication will make employer aware of problems
quickly, which is beneficial for quick resolution.
Embracing Equality
Most employers aren’t into equality as they would like to believe they are. In some cases favoritism can
be subconscious. But by embracing equality for all employees will create a fair and equal workplace
environment for all. If every employee feels equal and important they are more likely to work harder and
be more productive.
Interest of employees and employers are not same. Employees right is to form employee union which is
exhibited in all developed countries and developing countries and underdeveloped countries also
emphasizing on this issue. In Bangladesh there are different trade unions in many organization and
employers have their own representative bodies like- BGMEA, Bangladesh Employer Association,
Chamber of Commerce, etc.

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Trade union or trades union, also called a labour union (Canada) or labor union (US), is an organization
of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade,
improving safety standards,achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement,
increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working
conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union
members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers.
The most common purpose of these associations or unions is "maintaining or improving the conditions of
their employment". This may include the negotiation of wages,work rules, complaint procedures, rules
governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. They are
constituted to ensure- protect, protest, promote labour rights.
Steps of Registration of the Trade Union (TU)
1. Application to directorate of labor, Ministry of labor and employment.
2. Requirements for the application of Trade Union:
 Workers list approved by the TU.
 Constitution of the TU.
 Objectives of TU.
 Sources of fund.
 Conveying committee approved by general secretary.
 Address of TU.
3. Necessary documents for registration to verify.
4. Giving Registration Certificate.
All these 4 steps of procedure will have to occur within 2 months. If the registration is completed
or denied by the authority within 2 months then TU can file a case to Labor Courte (LC).
Case Filing At Labor Court
Hearing and Examining by Labor Court
Decision given by labor court

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What is collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees
aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects
of workers' compensation and rights. The interests of the employees are commonly presented by
representatives of a trade union to which the employees belong and this representative is called
Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA).
As CBA means a few number people who has been selected for representing a large number of
people, it must have been determined through election.
The steps to organize CBA election :
 Receiving the nomination paper: First duty of an election is receiving the nomination
paper by applicants.
 Submitting the nomination paper: After receiving the paper applicants have to fulfill it
with all stipulated information and submit it to the responsible authority.
 Screening the nomination paper: After submitting the paper the authority will publish
the eligible list by screening out ineligible competitor.
 Withdraw the nomination paper: If anyone wants him out of the election then they
may withdraw their paper.
 Distributing symbol: After completing all four mentioned formalities it is time to
distribute the symbol which must be unique.
 Date of election with time and place: The authority will announce the place and time of
the election.
 Casting of vote in front of agent: After a long day of voting it is time to cast the vote in
front of the agent because of the credibility of the election.
 Closing and counting vote in presence of contestant.
 Declaration of the winner for Two (2) years: After counting the vote election authority
will announce the winner who will serve the union for next two year.
After the election the union gets new Representatives who are called Collective Bargaining
Agent (CBA). After the selection, bargaining occurs between CBA and Organization authority
through following steps:

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Step 1: Preparation for both sides- Both CBA and employers will be prepared for bargaining.
In this part they will find out what are their objectives. It means what are their need from their
respective side.
Step 2: Strategies for both sides- After finding the objectives now both party will be setting up
the strategies in which way they will approach to each other and implement their own intention
from their respective side.
Step 3: Bargaining for both sides- In this step bargaining will start if the parties are not happy
with their objectives. Suppose CBA is asking for incentives (10% of their salary) but employer
just deprecate it. Then CBA may threat the employers for strike. In this case, employers will go
on bargaining to reduce the rate otherwise goodwill and profit both will decrease.
Step 4: Tactics apply during the bargaining- There is no other way of benefitting if parties are
not going in a diplomatic way.
Step 5: Negotiable Agreement- After the bargaining there will be an agreement in which all
necessary information regarding bargaining will be available.
Contents of a Negotiable Agreement
 Title of the Agreement
 Participant name who are present from both side.
 History of Dispute.
 Terms and condition of Negotiable Agreement. This part includes what are the demands
and what are the decisions.
 Signatures of people who are present in the meetings.
After this agreement, copies of this agreement should be delivered to the concerned parties.
Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Alternative dispute resolution includes dispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for
disagreeing parties to come to an agreement short of litigation. It is a collective term for the ways that
parties can settle disputes, with (or without) the help of a third party.
The rising popularity of ADR can be explained by the increasing caseload of traditional courts, the
perception that ADR imposes fewer costs than litigation, a preference for confidentiality, and the desire of
some parties to have greater control over the selection of the individual or individuals who will decide

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their dispute. Some of the senior judiciary in certain jurisdictions (of which England and Wales is one) are
strongly in favor of this (ADR) use of mediation to settle disputes.
 Ensure Win-win situation.
 Establish mutual trust and respect.
 Develop team management cultures.
 Save the time and cost.
 Stop post trial procedure complexities.
 Increase productivity without interruption.
 Develop negotiation skills.
 Decent environment at work place
Procedure ofLegal settlement ofindustrial disputes
 Demand for meeting
 Collective bargaining
 Memorandum of Agreement
 Conciliation
 Memorandum of settlement
 Adjudication by Labour Court
 Appeal to Labour Appellate Tribunal
In industries, the legal way of dispute settlement is sometimes complicated and results in a win-lose
situation. Moreover, it is time consuming. The process is shown below.
Dispute Settlement Process
Conciliation
A period of 30 days is provided for conciliation. Conciliation
session may, however, be continued further on the basis of
the agreement of the parties concerned.
Demand for meeting
A written demand from any party (representatives of employers
or CBA) is to be served to the other for a meeting.
Collective Bargaining
Formal collective bargaining session starts within 10 days after receiving
written demand from either party for a meeting. The total time limit is not
stipulated.
Memorandum ofAgreement
A memorandum of agreement is by both the parties
and a copy by both the parties and a copy
thereof is forwarded to the relevant office
Request for Conciliation
Either Party concerned may request for
conciliation

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In an overall scenario, not only industry suffer when industrial disputes occur. Country suffers and
economy gets parlayed. Strike, demonstrations, road block are not welcoming at a booming economy.
Despite being costly, legal settlement requires time whereas the sooner industrial disputes get mitigated,
the better. Therefore, ADR is the best way to us to solve industrial disputes and maintaining a strong
employee-employer relationship.
Certificate offailure
A certificate of failure is issued.
Memorandum ofSettlement
A memorandum of settlement Is
prepared and signed by both the
parties and a copy is sent to the Govt
Adjudication by Labour Court
Either of the disputant parties may approach the labour court for adjudication. The total time
limit is 60 days. (NB: if failure of conciliation result in strike or lock-out continuing for more
than 30 days the Government may prohibit the strike lock-out and the case may be referred to
the labour court for adjudication.)
Appeal to Labour Appellate Tribunal
An appeal against the verdict of Labour court,
except for a complaint case or legal right case,can
be made to labour appellate tribunal within 30
Days of the verdict. The total time limit is 60
days.
Writ Petition High Court
Two types of cases complaint cases or
legal right cases are non-Appealable at
Labour Appellate Tribunal, but they come
under the Jurisdiction of writ petition to
the High Court for a review of the
judgment of labour court. No time limit is
stipulated

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Discipline management
Discipline refers to a condition in the organization where employees conduct themselves in
accordance with the organization’s rules and standards of acceptable. Employee Discipline
Management (EDM) can be introduced as a very important HRM function. Discipline is essential
not only for the success of general life of a person but also for the success and progress of
success of an organization. Generally, organization can face different issues regarding discipline
they are mentioned below:
Types of Discipline Problems
An organization faces various types of discipline problems:
 Improper Attendance
 Inappropriateness On-the-Job Behaviour
 Dishonesty
 Unacceptable Outside Activities
 Insubordination
 Violating organization rules
Causes of Indiscipline
There are many factors which cause employees to break organizational discipline. These are
 Absence of effective leadership
 Unfair management practices.
 Ineffective communication.
 Non- uniform disciplinary action.
 Divide and rule policy.
 Inadequate attention to personnel problems.
 Victimization.
Approaches to Disciplinary Actions
When a problem occurs, the manager/supervisor will have to determine the seriousness of the
situation and the appropriate response. In making this decision the manager/supervisor needs to

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be fair towards the employee. Being thirty minutes tardy for work the fourth time in two weeks
has to be handled differently from being thirty minutes tardy for the first time in two years. An
employee should be disciplined because of what he did not who he is and never because of the
race, color, gender or anything. There are four approaches to disciplinary action. Those are:
1. Corrective rather than punitive: The objective is to correct an employee’s
undesirable behavior through oral warning.
2. Progressive approach: Typically, progressive disciplinary action begins with a
verbal warning and proceeds through a written warning. Punishment in this approach
are transfer,demotion.
3. The pay cut-off: In this approach as a punishment management cuts off a portion
of amount from the employee’s salary.
4. The hot strove approach: This is a major type of punishment. The impact of this
approach is quite serious which can harm an organization badly. Before taking
this approach, management needs to consider various factors. The hot stove rule
holds that disciplinary action should be taken immediately, after being properly warned,
consistently and applied impersonally. Penalties should be connected with a given
violation, not with the personality of the violator. That is, discipline should be
directed at what employees have done, not the employees themselves. This is the
best approach to impose discipline to any employee because it is not biased. The
major punishment in this approach includes:
 Discharged from the duty
Reasons are:
 Physically unfit for the job
 Mentally unsound
 Any source of disease
 Retrenchment
Reason are:
 Overstaff
 Shortage of raw materials
 Machinery overhauling
 Natural disaster

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 Dismissal
Reasons are:
 Taking and giving bribe
 Insubordination
 Destroy the official document
 Falsify official document
 Tampering official document
 Patronize go slow
Factors to be considered in taking disciplinary action
Before proceeding into disciplinary action there are some important factors which needs to be
analyzed carefully. Those factors are:
 Evidence against the crime
 Seriousness/intensity of the problem
 Frequency and nature of the problem-
 Employee’s work history
 Extenuating factors
 Degree of socialization
 History of the organization’s discipline practice
 Implication of other employees
 Management backing
 Consideration
Disciplinary Procedure
Step -1 Framing a charge and issuing a letter
Step-2 Letter of explanation (Show-case notice to the accused party)
Step-3 Consideration of clarification by the concern authority (If the accused party did not
response then terminate him and end of disciplinary action but if response and ask for proper
enquiry then starts step 4

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Step-4 Forming the domestic enquiry committee (Enquiry party must senior to accused
party in position, must be neutral, must not be involve in earlier three stage)
Step-5 Conducting enquiry properly
Step-6 Preparation of enquiry committee report based on facts and findings with
recommendation
Step-7 Submit the enquiry committee report to the concern authority
Step-8 Taking course of action based on report. If an employee is found innocent then
retain him but if found guilty then terminate the employee and circulate the termination in the
company notice board and also in the newspaper.
 Oral Warning
 Written Warning
 Suspension
 Demotion
 Pay cut
 Dismissal
Grievance Procedure
A grievance is generally defined as a claim by an employee that he or she is adversely affected by the
misinterpretation or misapplication of a written company policy or collectively bargained agreement. To
address grievances, employers typically implement a grievance procedure. The grievance procedure may
also be part of a collective bargaining agreement.
Nature of Grievances
Any factor involving wages,hours, or conditions of employment that is used as a complaint
against the employer-is called grievance.
Sources of Grievances
 Absenteeism
The practice of regularly staying away from workplace causes this problem severe.
 Insubordination:
Personalfactors are related to the personality traits of individuals. Sometimes, these personality
traits also cause the emergence of grievances at work. Some important personality traits that
result into grievance are:
- Over ambition
- Narrow attitudes
- Excessive self esteem
- Gambling and fault finding attitude

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- Mental tension
 Overtime:
The policies and procedures adopted by management give rise to grievance. The autocratic or
bureaucratic style of management, for instance, is hardly liked by educated masses. But they
favor rather a participative style of management. Overtime is one the main reason of grievance.
 Plant Rules:
Grievances resulting from management policies are:
- Wages rates or scale of pay, leave
- Transfer improper matching of the worker with the job
- Seniority, promotion and discharge
- Lack of career planning and employee development
- Lack of regard for collective agreement
- Hostility towards a labor union
- Autocratic leadership style of supervisors.
Thus, effect of grievance can be of two types:
1. Submissive
2. Defensive
Two-step Procedure to Grievance handling
Here the grievant, union representative, and company representative meet to discuss the grievance. If
they don’t find a satisfactory solution, the grievance is brought before an independent third-person
arbitrator, who hears the case,write it up, and makes a decision.
The grievance procedure may contain the following steps.
1. Acknowledge Dissatisfaction.
2. Define the problem.
3. Find out the facts.
4. Analyze and decide.
5. Follow up.
Conclusion:
Human resource management creates a blend of management science and arts in providing an
unparalleled success for organization through a disciplined culture where employers find their own way to
resolve issues created by demotivated employees and employees find proper way to protect, protest and

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promote their rights. Formation of a labour union to collecting bargaining agent, HR knowledges
encompasses the procedures to take proper initiative to mitigate disciplinary problems and seek legal
solutions for unsettled disputes. Disputes should be solved immediately that looms large instead of
waiting for time. Through dispute settlement and ductile employee-employer relationship, organization
will reach the utmost level of productivity, and economy will be benefitted, employees will find a second
home in their workplace.