Chapter 6

Integration
and
Maintenance

Dr. Essayas Taye

 Employee Discipline

 The organizational rules and regulations are

intended to direct and control the effective
functions of employees.

 The state of employee self-control and

orderly conduct and indicates the extent of
genuine teamwork within an organization.

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Employee Discipline
Employee discipline may be considered as
a force that promotes individuals or groups
to observe the rules, regulations and
procedures.

Discipline is a form of training that

enforces organizational rules.

The goal of preventive discipline is to

heighten employee awareness of
organizational policies and rules.
 Handling Disciplinary Cases
 Preventive Discipline is an action taken to
encourage employees to follow standards
and rules so that infractions are prevented.
Its basic objective is to encourage self-
discipline.
 Corrective Discipline is an action that follows
a rule infraction/violation.
It seeks discourage further infractions and
ensure future compliance with standards
and rules.
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 Steps used to Discipline Employees

 Informal talk or counseling is used for minor

first-time infractions.
 Oral reprimand or warning is used for second
offenses or more severe first-time rule
violations.
 Written reprimand or warning is a letter
written to the employee listing prior
accidents, specifies on what behavior is
expected, what will happen if the behavior is
not corrected, and period of time for
correcting the behavior 5
 Steps….Cont’d
 Suspension or disciplinary layoff occurs if the
behavior is not corrected. The employee is
suspended or laid off for one to thirty day(s).
This is the final step that attempts to correct
behavior before discharge.
 Discharge is the most drastic form of
disciplinary action as it separates the employee
from the job.
It is reserved for the most severe offenses and is
taken after other corrective efforts have failed.
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Typical Division of HR Responsibilities: Discipline
 What is Employee Relations?

 Employee relation is the interactions

between the employer (represented by
management) and the work-force
(represented by trade unions)
 Interactions imply that management
must support and address issues of
employee job satisfaction and
employees must show commitment
towards the success of the
organization.   8
 An Employee Relation is Concerned with:

 Managing and maintaining formal and

informal relationships with trade
unions and their members.
 Sharing information with employees
and involving them in decision making
on matters of mutual interest
 Creating and transmitting information
of interest to employees
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 Employee Relations Objectives

 Provide a conducive work environment

in which employees can do their jobs
better
 Help management to mutually solve
employees problems which otherwise
might affect performance
 Helps employee to control over
important aspects of work life.
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What is Industrial Relations (IR)?
The term ‘industrial relations’ refers to
relationships between management and
labor or among employees and their
organizations that characterize or grow
out of employment.

Industrial relations is an art, the art of

living together for purposes of
production. The parties while working
together learn this art by acquiring the
skills of adjustment
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 According to the ILO, “industrial
relations deal with either the
relationships between the state
and the employers and the
workers’ organization or the
relation between the
occupational organizations
themselves”.
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The scope of industrial relations:
•Promotion and development of healthy
labor- management relations;
•Maintenance of industrial peace and
avoidance of industrial strife and
•Development of industrial democracy.
Typical Division of HR Responsibilities:
Labor Relations
Features of Industrial Relations.

Industrial relations are born out of

employment relationship in an industrial
setting

Industrial relations are characterized by

both conflict and co-operation. So the
focus of industrial relations is on the study
of the attitudes, relationships, practices
and procedures developed by the
contending parties to resolve or at least
minimize conflicts.
As the labor and management do not
operate in isolation but are a part of the
large system, so the study of industrial
relations also includes:

vital environmental issues like technology

of the workplace, country's socio-economic
and political environment, nation's labor
policy, attitude of trade unions, workers and
employers.
Industrial relations also
involve the study of conditions
conducive to the labor-
management co-operation as
well as the practices and
procedures required to elicit the
desired co-operation from both
the parties.
Industrial relations also study the laws,
rules, regulations, agreements, awards of
court, customs and traditions, as well as
policy framework laid down by the
government for eliciting co-operation
between labor and management.

Besides this, it makes an in-depth analysis

of the intervening patterns of the executive
and judiciary in the regulation of labour-
management relations.
 Importance of IR
1. Reduction in Industrial Disputes
2. Reduced Wastage
3. Discourages Unfair Practices
4. High Morale
5. Mental Revolution
6. Uninterrupted Production
7. Economic Growth and
Development
8. Enactment of Statutory Provisions
Parties to Industrial
Relations
Factors influencing Industrial relations

Industrial relations are influenced by

various factors, viz.
Institutional factors,
Economic factors and
Technological factors .
A. Institutional factors: These factors
include government policy, labor
legislation. Collective agreements,
employee courts, employers’ federations,
social institutions like community, caste,
joint family, creed, system of beliefs,
attitudes of works, system of power,
status, etc.
B. Economic factors: These factors
include economic organizations like
capitalist, communist, mixed, etc, the
structure of labor force, demand for and
supply of labor force.

C. Technological factors: These

factors include mechanization,
automation, rationalization,
computerization, etc.
 Other factors affecting IR
Communication
Unions (Trade Unions, labor
union…)
Wages and benefits
Ideology
Social factors
Psychological factors
Public policy & legislations
Political environment
INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

Industrial dispute can be defined as a conflict or

difference of opinion between management and workers

on the terms of employment.

It is a disagreement between an employer and

employees' representative; usually a trade union, over

pay and other working conditions and can result in

industrial actions.
What causes industrial disputes?
1. Management Policy-Major changes to business
structure or policy.
2. Wage Disputes-It is basic source of conflict b/c
workers want more money, and businesses want
fewer expenses.
3. Hours of Work-Needs of the business vs Employee
flexibility. And Changes to normal hours
4. Physical Working Conditions-Employees may feel
their conditions are substandard or to uncomrfotable.
5. Poor industrial relations
6. Unfair dismissals, promotion and transfer

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Types of Industrial Action

 Industrial action is when disputes

cannot be resolved through
negotiations at work place
 Generally we can break industrial action
into overt and covert action.

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Overt Actions by Employees
I. Strikes

Types of Strikes
A. Economic Strikes
 Strikes over economic issues (e.g.,

wages)
B. Unfair labor practice strikes
 Strikes over illegal employer actions

C. Wildcat strikes
 Strikes not approved by the union

D. Sympathy strikes
 Expressions of support for other unions

E. Jurisdictional strikes
2. Pickets
 Involves walking up and down outside the
work place indicating a strike is in process
 It may disrupt workers and suppliers from
entering or exiting the building.

3. Work To Rule-Refusal to do duties not

specifically outlined in the employment
contract. E.g. overtime or other duties.

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Covert Action by Employees
Damage and
Accidents
Less commitment
Absenteeism
Turnover Rates

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 Overt Actions by Employers
Lockouts
-Employers actually lock the workers out
leaving workers with no income.
Transfer and Dismissal-
Moving workers to other departments or
locations. Reducing the power of
employees.
Dismissing workers who do not comply with31
 Covert Action by
Employers

 Exclusion of workers from decision making

 Reduction of entitlements and bonus

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 Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining

Trade Unions
 Trade union is an organization of workers
whose purpose is to protect and maintain
the interests of union members.
 As workers representative, trade unions
“provide workers with a 'collective voice' to
make their wishes known to management

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 Why Trade Unions ?
 To secure and, if possible, improve the living
standards and economic status of its
members.
 To guarantee individual security against
threats and contingencies that might result
from market fluctuations, technological
change, or management decisions.
 To create mechanisms to guard against the
use of arbitrary and unreliable policies and
practices in the workplace
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 Collective Bargaining

 A joint process of job regulation undertaken

by management and trade unions that
negotiate to establish pay and conditions of
employment.
 The contractual agreement is hoped to give
workers and management an identification
of purpose and provide an atmosphere in
which both focus their attentions towards
the achievement of orgl objectives.
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The objective of collective
bargaining is to agree on an acceptable
contract- acceptable to management,
union representatives and the union
membership.

Four issues appear consistently

throughout all labor contracts: Wages;
Hours; Terms and conditions of
employment and Grievance procedures
 Conditions Bargaining
 Employees must be prepared to act
collectively and recognize their
common interests.
 Management must recognize trade
unions as legitimate bargaining agents
for labor,
 trade unions must be free to organize
employee without pressure from state
or employer control. 37
 Outcomes of Labor-Management Agreement

Substantive Agreements- they set out agreed

terms and conditions of employment
covering pay and working hours and other
aspects such as holidays, overtime
regulations, flexibility arrangements and
allowance
Procedural Agreements - This set out an
agreed course of action for various
eventualities such as equal opportunities,
recruitment, redundancy, discipline etc.
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•Bargaining Impasse
Regardless of the structure of the
bargaining process, labor and
management do not always reach
agreement on the issues.

If impasse occurs, then the disputes can

be taken to conciliation, mediation or
arbitration.
 Approaches to Negotiation

 Distributive Bargaining. One party will seek

to achieve gains at the expense of the other.
The important factor in this approach is the
power each side has to damage their
opponent if they do not comply with their
demands. For example, is strike and lock-out.
 Integrative Bargaining. This approach seeks
mutual gains in areas of common interest
with a problem solving approach from the
parties involved.
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 Methods of Resolving Disputes
 Conciliation - a means where by a neutral third
party acts as a go-between to settle the
disputes.
 Mediation - a means where by a third party
propose recommendations which enable the
two parties to resolve the disagreement.
 Arbitration - the submission of a dispute to a
neutral third party. Both sides of the issue are
heard by an arbitrator who acts as judge and
jury. After weighing the facts, the arbitrator
renders a decision.
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 THANK YOU

for your active participation

….