Discipline & Grievance

Content

Discipline : Definition ,Disciplinary procedure model

Grievance- :Definition, grievance procedures
Termination of employment
• Retirement
• Resignation and termination of contract
• Layoff
• Exit interviews
• Dealing with the human aspects of terminations
and counseling
DISCIPLINE
• ‘ A process of training a worker so
that to develop “Self control” &
become “More efficient” in his task
or work’.

• ‘ A process which involves the

conditioning or moduling of the
future behavior of employees by the
offer of rewards and penalties.
 DISCIPLINE

• Discipline is the process whereby management

takes steps to help an employee overcome
unacceptable behavior problems in the
workplace.
• Due process is a set of procedures carried out in
accordance with established rules and principles
to ensure all employees are treated fairly.
Due Process Principles.
• Employees have a right to know what is
expected of them and what will happen if they
fail to meet expectations.
• Discipline must be based on facts.
• Employees should also have a right to present
their side of the story.
• Any punishment should be consistent with
the nature of the offense
 OBJECTIVES OF DISCIPLINE

• Willing to accept of Rules, Regulations &

Procedures of an organization.
• To develop a spirit of TOLERANCE &
DESIRE to make adjustments.
• To impart an element of certainty
despite a lots of several indifferences in
informal behavior.
• To give & seek direction & responsibility.
• To increase Workers efficiency.
 TYPES OF
DISCIPLINE

POSTIVE NEGATIVE
DISCIPLINE
DISCIPLINE

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/employees/types-of-employee-
discipline-positive-and-negative-discipline/35416
 Positive discipline

• According William R. Spriegel, “Positive

discipline
to does not replace reason but applies
reason to the achievement of a common
objective. Positive discipline does not restrict the
individual but enables him to have a greater
freedom in that he enjoys a greater degree of self-
expression in striving to achieve the group
objective, which he identifies as his own'”
• Evidences suggest that self-disciplined person
tends to be a better worker than one who is
not. Self- discipline, when developed from
within, leads to building up morale and esprit
de corps that is the desideratum of the time to
run organisations successfully.
 Cont. Positive discipline

• This als calle ‘self-imposed

involves
is o d of
discipline’.
an atmosphere
It in the
creation
organisation through rewards, appreciation
incentive payment promotion, ,
support etc., to motivate employees constructiv
to
work
willingly to accomplish the set goals.e
• In essence, positive discipline emphasises the
concept of self-discipline or self-control. Thus, it
reduces the need for personal supervision to
make employees conform to organisational
rules, regulations, procedures and standards.
Negative Discipline:

• It is also called ‘enforced discipline’. In case of

negative discipline, employees are forced to
obey orders and abide by rules and regulations
that have been laid down, failing which
penalties and punishment would be imposed on
them. Thus, the objective of using punitive or
coercive discipline is to ensure that employees
do not violate rules and regulations formed by
the organisation.
• In other words, the purpose of negative
discipline is to scare other employees and to
ensure that they do not indulge in undesirable
behaviour. It is worth mentioning here that
negative discipline cannot eliminate the
undesirable behaviour of the employees, but
 Cont. Negative Discipline

• Punishment is not pleasant. It causes resentment

and hostility on the part of employees. That is
why this kind of discipline results in only the
minimum standards of performance on the part
of employees. This is precisely the reason why it
is rarely used in the organisations.
• Because punitive discipline leads to resentment,
it needs to be exercised in a progressive,
sequential and chronological manner. A
progressive system of discipline generally
contains five steps, viz., an oral reprimand, a
written reprimand, a second written warning,
temporary suspension and dismissal or
discharge.
"Hot-Stove Rule"
Douglas McGregor
• When you touch the hot stove, you burn your hand.
The burn was immediate. Will you blame the hot stove
for burning your hand? Immediately, you understand
the cause and effect of the offense. The discipline was
directed against the act not against anybody else. You
get angry with yourself, but you know it was your
fault. You get angry with the hot stove too, but not
for long as you know it was not its fault. You learn
your lesson quickly.
• You had warning as you knew the stove was red hot
and you knew what would happen to you if you
touched it. You knew the rules and regulations
previously issued to you by the company prescribing
the penalty for violation of any particular rule so you
cannot claim you were not given a previous warning.
• The discipline was consistent. Every time you touch
the hot stove you get burned. Consistency in the
administration of disciplinary action is essential.
Excessive leniency as well as too much harshness
creates not only dissatisfaction but also resentment.
• The discipline was impersonal. Whoever touches the
hot stove gets burned, no matter who he is.
Furthermore, he gets burned not because of who he
is, but because he touched the hot stove. The
discipline is directed against the act, not against the
person. After disciplinary action has been applied, the
supervisor should take the normal attitude toward the
Always remember the Hot Stove Rule
discipline is concerned:-
where
You had a warning – you knew what would
happen if you touched the stove
• The penalty was consistent – everyone gets
the same treatment
• The penalty is impersonal – a person is burned
not because of who he or she is, but because
the stove was touched
• The penalty is not delayed.
So check out the facts first, follow due process
and, if appropriate, apply the discipline as soon
after the event as investigations will allow. If you
fail to be consistent, you may end up getting
your own fingers burnt!
GRIEVANCES &
GRIEVANCE
HANDLING
Grievances

• A grievance is a formal dispute between an employee & management on

the conditions of employment.
• Grievances are complaints that have been formally registered in
accordance with the grievance procedure.
• A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with
one’s employment situation that is brought to the attention of the
management.
 Grievance must fall under the following category

•Compensation • Medical benefits

Amenities • Nature of job
•Conditions of work • Payments
•Continuity of service • Promotions
•Disciplinary action • Safety environment
•Fines • Transfers
•Leave • Victimization
•Superannuation
 W’s of Grievance Handling

•WHO is involved
•WHEN did it happen
•WHERE did it happen
•WHAT happened (EXACTLY)
•WHY is it grieve-able
•WHEN must the grievance be filed
•WHAT are the deadline dates
•WHAT must be done
 Grievance - Source

Managerial Working Personal

Conditions Conditions Factors
• Pay Scale • Unrealistic
or Wage • Non availability of • Narrow attitude
rates proper tool,
• Overtime machines and • Over ambition
• Benefits – equipment for
Promotions, doing the job. • Egoistic Personality
Incentives, • Tight
Seniority and production • Non-cooperative.
Discharges. standards
• Lack of role clarity • Bad working conditions • Personal Problems
• Autocratic • Poor relationship outside factory
Leadership style of with the supervisor.
supervisors. • Negative approach 1
• Lack regards to discipline. 8

for collective
agreement.
 Grievance - Reasons
•Economic – Wage fixation, wage computation, overtime, bonus
– Employees feel they are getting less than what they ought to
get
•Working Environment – Poor working conditions, defective
equipment and machinery, tools, materials.
•Supervision – Disposition of the boss towards the employee
perceived notions of favoritism, nepotism, bias etc.
•Work Group – Strained relations or incompatibility with peers.
Feeling of neglect, obstruction and victimization.
•Work Organization – Rigid and unfair rules, too much less work
responsibility, lack of recognition
 Grievance - Effects

• On Production
– Low quality of production, Low productivity, Increase in
wastage, Increase in cost of production.
• On Employees –
Increased absenteeism, Reduction in level of commitment,
Increase in accidents, Reduced level of employee moral.
• On Managers –
Strained superior- subordinate relations, Need for increased
supervision/control and follow up, Increase in unrest.
 Benefits of Grievance Handling
•It encourages employees to raise concerns without fear of
reprisal.
• It provides a fair & speedy means of dealing of grievances.
•It prevents minor disagreements developing into more serious
disputes.
•It saves employer’s time & money as solutions are found for
workplace problems. • It helps build in organisational climate
based on openness and trust.
Grievance Identification Technique

Observations Open Door Policy

Exit
Gripe Interviews
Boxes

2
2
 Methods of Identifying Grievances
1.Directive observation:
Knowledge of human behaviour is requisite quality of every good manager.
From the changed behaviour of employees, he should be able to snuff the
causes of grievances. This he can do without its knowledge to the
employee. This method will give general pattern of grievances. In addition
to normal routine, periodic interviews with the employees, group meetings
and collective bargaining are the specific occasions where direct
observation can help in unfolding the grievances.

2.Grip boxes:
The boxes (like suggestion boxes) are placed at easily accessible spots to
most employees in the organisation. The employees can file anonymous
complaints about their dissatisfaction in these boxes. Due to anonymity, the
fear of managerial action is avoided. Moreover management’s interest is
also limited to the free and fair views of employees.
 Methods of Identifying Grievances
3.Open door policy:
Most democratic by nature, the policy is preached most but practiced very
rarely in Indian organizations. But this method will be more useful in
absence of an effective grievance procedure, otherwise the organisation will
do well to have a grievance procedure. Open door policy demands that the
employees, even at the lowest rank, should have easy access to the chief
executive to get his grievances redressed.

4.Exit interview:
Higher employee turnover is a problem of every organisation. Employees
leave the organisation either due to dissatisfaction or for better prospects.
Exit interviews may be conducted to know the reasons for leaving the job.
Properly conducted exit interviews can provide significant information about
the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and can pave way for
further improving the management policies for its labour force.
 Grievance Redressal/ procedure
Machinery
•A grievance procedure is a formal process which is preliminary to an
arbitration, which enables the parties involved to attempt to resolve their
differences in a peaceful, orderly and expeditious manner,
•It enables the company and the trade union to investigate and discuss the
problem at issue without in any way interrupting the peaceful and orderly
conduct of business.
•When the grievance redressal machinery works effectively, it satisfactorily
resolves most of the disputes between labour and management.
 Grievance procedure

Open Step ladder

procedure
Under this procedure , Under this procedure ,
any employee can take the employee has to
his Grievance to the proceed step by step
door
boss and talk over the unless he/ she is able
issue to redress his/ her
procedure Grievance
Grievance Procedure

2
7
 Grievance Procedure Steps in Unionised
Organizations
In a unionized organisation, the operation of
the grievance may contain the following
steps:
Step 1: The aggrieved employee verbally explains his grievance to his
immediate supervisor or in a conference or a discussion specifically
arranged for the purpose. The employee seeks satisfaction from his
supervisor. The grievance can be settled if the supervisor has been
properly trained for the purpose, and if he adheres strictly to a basic
problem-solving method.

2
8
Step 2: The second step begins when the grievance is not settled by the
supervisor.
In this case, it is sent to a higher level manager with a note in which are
mentioned the time, place and nature of the action to which the employee
objects. The higher level manager goes into the grievance and gives his
decision on the matter.

Step 3: This means that the grievance is to be submitted to the Grievance

Committee since the decisions of the supervisor and of the higher level
manager have not solved the problem. This committee, which is composed
of some fellow-employees, the shop steward or a combination of union and
management representatives, considers the record and may suggest a
possible solution. It may call upon the grievant to accept the employer's
proposed settlement.

2
9
Step 4: If the decision or suggestion of the Grievance Committee
is not accepted by the grievant, he may approach the
management or the corporate executive.

Step 5: The final step is taken when the grievance is referred to an

arbitrator who is acceptable to the employee as well as the
management.

They may agree beforehand that the arbitrator's award will be final and
binding on both the parties.

3
0
Separation of employment
“Separation of employment” refers
broadly to the process of managing the
termination of employment, whether
involuntary (such as discharge, layoff,
plant closure, disability or death) or
voluntary (such as resignation, job
abandonment or retirement)
 Reasons for Separation
• Voluntary Separation
• Professional reasons
• Personal reasons
• Involuntary Separation
• Health problems
• Organizational problems
 Quits or Resignations
Voluntary Separations
Voluntary Retirements
System [VRS]
Types of Employee
Separations Dismissal

Retrenchments

Involuntary
Layoff
Separations

Right sizing

Retirement
 • Voluntary separation – A separation that occurs when an
employee decides, for personal or professional reasons, to end
the relationship with the employer.
–Quits
–Retirements
Employees who Leave an Organization on their own

Interesting Article (Click on following Link) :

http://www.whatishumanresource.com/voluntary-separations
• Resignation: when the employee himself initiates the
separation then it is termed as separation. There are some
resignation which are avoidable and others which are
unavoidable. It is the responsibility of the management to
look out the real reason of the resignation. In such a cases the
exit interview is better to conduct to find out the reason of
resignation.
• Voluntary Retirements System [VRS] : Voluntary
retirement programs can also provide employees with an option
to retire before the minimum age of a government pension
scheme. It is an offered to certain employees as an incentive to
retire.
Involuntary separation – A separation that occurs when an
employer decides to terminate its relationship with an employee
due to (1) economic necessity or (2) a poor fit between the
employee and the organization.

• Dismissal
• Retrenchments
• Layoff
• Right sizing
• Retirement
• Lay off: lay off is generally done to reduce the financial
burden of the organization by temporary removing the
surplus employees. This is done due to inability of the
employee to recruit them due to shortage of sufficient
resources. Lay off results in a great loss to the organization
as they had to suffer all the expenses of selection,
placement and training.
• Dismissal: dismissal or discharge means separating the
employee from the payroll due to unsatisfactory
performance where the employee fails to perform his
duties well and he is not properly skilled to perform his job
or due to violation of organizational rules it means
indiscipline, dishonesty. What ever is the cause of dismissal
but it should be done at the last stage.
• Retrenchment: Retrenchment means a permanent termination of the
services of an employee for economic reasons in a going concern. An
employee to be retrenched is required to be given three months notice
before his retrenchment or in lieu of the notice he must be paid his
remuneration for the period of the notice. The retrenched employee is
entitled to get gratuity payment from his employer. For retrenchment of
the employee, notice is required to be given to the appropriate
government authority and permission for retrenchment must be obtained
from the authority. The principle of 'last come, first go* is followed for
deciding which employee should be retrenched.
• Retirement: number of separation in the organization happen due to
retirement.
There must be clear rules of retirement there may be compulsory
retirement where an employee has to retire after attaining a particular age.
Forced retirement means when a person is found guilty in the court of law or
breaks any service agreement then has to retire forcibly irrespective of his
age. Premature retirement means that the employee becomes disable to
perform the job in that case he may be given the option to take retirement
before his retirement age
Interesting Article (Click on following Link) :
http://www.whatishumanresource.com/involuntary-separations
Layoff also called redundancy in the UK, is the temporary suspension or
permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of
employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no
longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs.

Layoffs focus on positions, not individuals

Layoffs are not to be used for resolving employee performance
problems These are not technically classified as firings
 Permanen
Layoff Redundancy t
layoff

Laying off
one /few
individual
Regular
s

Laying Off
an entire
department
Comple
/ unit
x
 C a u s e so f J o b L ay o f f.
..
□ Worker Characteristics □ Job Characteristics
■ Performance ■ Contingent vs. Permanent
■ Tenure ■ Part-time vs. Full-time
■ Education ■ Union vs. Non-Union

□ Organizational Change □ Organizational Technology

Characteristics ■ Changing Technology
■ Upcoming Merger ■ Proximity of Job to Core
■ Organizational Technology
Restructuring
Lack of
Funds:
▪ The U.S. Postal Service
recently announced it was on
the brink of insolvency. The
Postmaster General wants to
save $2.1 billion a year, which
means 28,000 jobs will be
cut

Lack OfWork:
▪ under tremendous pressure from
shareholders to cut large losses,
new Bank of America laid off
30,000 people by cutting
redundant jobs and exiting some
of its unprofitable businesses
Organizational change:
▪ H.P’s largest cut came after he
bought IT consulting firm EDS.
HP spent $13.9 billion to
diversify. Once he closed the
transaction, he fired 24,600
employees whom he felt would
be redundant once the two
companies were combined.
Economical:
▪ Boeing (NYSE: BA) was another
victim of the 2001 economic
slowdown. The recession, and
later the 9/11 attacks, hurt air
travel. The commercial aircraft
division
of
Boeing, therefore, suffered all the
cuts, with the defense segment
untouched.
Implementing a Layoff

▪Notify employees
▪Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
Act (WARN)—60 days notice or pay in lieu of notice

▪ Develop Layoff Criteria

▪Seniority vs. Pay vs. Performance [hybrid?]
▪ Communicate to laid-off employees
▪Face-to-face [but don’t argue]
▪S/b scripted by HR and/or legal counsel
▪Middle of the week [?!]

Copyright ©2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Implementing a Layoff

▪ Coordinate media relations

▪ Maintain security
▪ Reassure survivors of the layoffs
▪Listen to survivors’ concerns
▪Show you appreciate their work [consider
retention bonuses to key staff]
▪Reassign to new projects ASAP

6-47
Severance

Recal

Preferential Rehire

OutplacementTransition Services
 Alternatives to layoffs

• Freeze hiring
• Restrict overtime
• Re-train/Re-deploy
• Switch to job sharing
• Use unpaid vacations
• Use a shorter workweek
• Use pay reductions
• Use sabbaticals
• Implement early retirement
programs
 Ernst &Young
China
Alternative: "Leave
WithoutPay"
 Luxury Retreats
Montreal
Alternative: Employee Shuffling
The villa rental agency has shuffled eight of its 75employees from
departments like product development to revenue-generating positions
like sales
 Best Buy
Minneapolis
Alternative: EnhancedSeverance

Best Buy (BBY) in December offered nearly all 4,000 employees at its corporate
headquarters a sweetened severance package if they agreed to leave voluntarily.
Five hundred employees took the company up on the offer, which for the average
employee included 7.5 months of pay, one year of employer-paid health and life
insurance, and outplacement services
 Twisted Limb Paperworks
Alternative: Four-DayWorkweek

The company took a day off the workweek back in August as a

temporary move, but is still on the same schedule seven
months later.
 Nokia
Alternative: Mass voluntaryresignations

On Feb. 24 the cell-phone maker said it will seek up to 1,000

voluntary resignations and also appealed to employees to accept
holiday time as payments, instead of cash, for overtime work
S id e - e f f e c t s o f L a y o f f t o t
he employee

When the employee losses his job, he

not only losses his paycheck but he
with his family experiences many
other losses such as –
•Loss of wages and benefits
•Loss of dignity and self esteem

•Loss of trust
•Loss of control over life
•Loss of the pattern of daily life
•Loss of the work family
•Loss of collective strength
Exit Interviews
 Introduction
• An Exit Interview is a powerful tool that allows
organizations to gain an understanding as to why
people leave .
• Exit Interviews capture ideas for improvement while
promoting positive interaction with departing
employees. Analysis of results and related statistical
reports created from exit interviews provide
opportunities for the organization to develop actions
that can encourage reduction in turnover rates,
improve employee morale, and encourage a possible
future return.
 Goals
• Discover the employees reason for leaving
• Give positive attention to the departing
employees in order to alleviate possible
frustrations and/or negative attitude toward the
organization
• Allow departing employees to have a voice about
what their work experience was like
• Receive valuable feedback from departing
employees about compensation, working
conditions, management, and the culture of the
organization
• Explore areas of the departing employee’s most
serious concerns, and record details of what they
enjoyed most
• Departing employees have an opportunity to
transfer knowledge and experience to a successor
or replacement; may also brief a team on current
projects, issues and contacts
• Chance for departing employees to give
constructive feedback, and to leave on a positive
note, with good relations and mutual respect
 Confidentiality
• It should be made clear to the departing
employee that the information provided
through the exit interview will be confidential.
Such information will be used in summary
format and shared with supervisors and other
need-to-know individuals in order to address
retention issues, employee morale, and
alleged allegations of illegal practices.
 Types of Exit Interview
• Face-to-face, over the
• Telephone
• Using a written questionnaire
• Via the Internet
• In a knowledge-focused exit interview, a face-
to-face interview is needed.
 Exit Interview Participants
• Employees with a temporary contract,
terminated employees, and employees who are
retiring will also be afforded this opportunity.
• The exit interview is voluntary.
• Preference is for the interview to be conducted
by the HR Manager or designee. The departing
employee should feel that the information they
are sharing will be received in an unbiased
fashion, and be fairly represented.
 Procedure

• HR receives notice of an employment termination

through the personnel ticket system, submitted
by the supervisor. Supervisor should ask
employee to choose a method in which they
would like to complete the Exit Interview (online
(preferred), paper copy, phone, face to face or
decline exit interview). Within the first week of
receiving this notice, and before the employee’s
last day, HR will contact the employee to arrange
for the survey to be completed.
•
•
Name:
Exit Interview Questionnaire
Gender:
• Nationality:
• Position:
• Level:
• Type of contract:
• Start and Finish Date:
• What are you going to do?
• If employment, who will be your new employer?
• If employment, what sort of job and at what
level?
• If employment, what attracted you to your
new job?
• If employment, how will your new job differ from your current one?
• Do you feel the description of your job in the engagement process was accurate?
• Were the purpose and expected results of your position clear throughout your work
in the unit?
• Could your qualifications, experience, and skills have been used to better advantage?
• Do you feel you received appropriate support to enable you to do your job?
• Was the training you received in the unit adequate to enable you to accomplish your
job?
• Are there further training opportunities you think the unit should be offering?
• What did you see as your promotion and career prospects in the unit?
• How might those prospects have been improved?
• How was your working environment generally?
• Can you list the three most important things that should be done to make the unit
more effective in terms of influencing decisions in the organization?
Signed: Date:
Dealing with the human aspects
of terminations
 How to Deal With Job Termination
Being terminated from a job can be frightening and disheartening, especially if the termination
is unexpected. It is quite common to go through the stages of grief after being terminated
including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, acceptance. Once you have accepted
that you have been terminated, no matter what the reason, it is time to move on.
1.Give yourself time to grieve. Whether you've been downsized or fired because of a
personality conflict or even your inability to do your job, give yourself time to be angry or
depressed about it. Indulge yourself for a day or two, if you feel the need. According to Barry
Honig, the president of Riskon, an executive search and consulting firm, "Take a week off.
Don't panic. Step back. Review your resume and your personal and professional profile."
Taking the time you need to get over hurt feelings will enable you to move on more quickly to
something else.
2.Forget about being embarrassed. Terminations happen for all sorts of reasons, and there's
no need to be embarrassed about it. Sometimes a person is just not right for a job. Make a list
of the qualities you feel would make you attractive to an employer, and pin it up near your
computer or desk. Take a look at it now and then, both as a reaffirmation of your good
qualities and as a way to have them fresh in your mind when you apply for new jobs.
3.Try to relax. Being out of work can increase your anxiety and stress levels and lead to
other problems, such as health issues, family stresses and financial woes. Take time to
look at your budget, and try to lower your expenses. Consider diversifying your income by
doing free-lance work, consulting or performing odd jobs. You can also take some time to
expand on your current skills by going to school or taking continuing education classes.
Being positive and taking steps to make your life better will help you approach your
current situation with less overall stress.

4.Reinvent yourself, and find a position that is meant for you. According to Rob Stearns,
author of "Winning Smart After Losing Big," being fired "can sometimes be liberating. It is
a time to reassess if you are truly doing what you want to do." Perhaps the job you were
in was really not for you. Perhaps the career you were in was really not for you. If you have
had a dream of doing something completely different, this may be the perfect time to
explore other options. If, for example, you were in accounting, but always wanted to be
website designer, take classes to improve your design skills and become an intern at a
designer's office to gain experience. You may find that the termination was actually
diverting you to an occupation for which you have a passion.

5.Be honest with any potential employers. If you were let go, then say so, if asked. You
don't have to offer the information, but don't hide it, either. You also do not want to say
anything bad about your former employer. Be respectful, and explain the things you did
that were well-received at your last position. Having a negative attitude about your
former workplace will not help you in get a new job.