industrial relations concepts

1. Industrial Relations And
legislations
BY
PRASANNA H N
ASST PROFESSOR, SVCE

2. MODULE 1
• Introduction – Industrial Relation: Definitions,
Scope, Objectives, Types, Characteristics,
Importance, approaches of Industrial
Relations, Model of Industrial relations,
Recent Trends in Industrial Relations,
Managing IR Changes. The Participants of
Industrial Relation Activities.

3. Industrial Relation Meaning
• The term industrial relations comprises
two words, i.e. ‘industry’ and ‘relations’.
• The term ‘industry’ refers to any
productive activity in the organisation
in which the employees are engaged.
• On the other hand, the term ‘relations’
refers to the relationship, which exists
within the industry between the
management and the employees.
• The relationship between management
and employees within the organisation
within the organizational settings is
defined by industrial relations.
• Industrial relations emerge directly or
indirectly from management-trade
union relationships.

4. Characteristics of Industrial Relation
• Industrial relations are the result of employment
relationships in industrial enterprises.
• Industrial relations introduced the concept and
method of balancing and cooperating.
• Industrial relations formulate rules and
regulations to maintain harmonious relations.
• The intervention of the Government to shape
the industrial relation is made through laws,
agreements, rules, charters, etc.
• Industrial relations incorporate both individual
relations and collective relations.
• Several parties play a role in industrial relations.
The main parties are employees and their
organisation, employers and their association,
and government.

5. Objectives of Industrial Relation
• To establish industrial
peace.
• To safeguard the interests of
both workers and
management.
• To avoid industrial disputes.
• To raise the production
capacity.
• To establish industrial
democracy.
• To minimise the labour
turnover rate and
absenteeism.
• To safeguard the workers
economic and social
interests.
• To contribute to the
economic development of
the country through
productivity.
• To establish a full
employment situation.
• To minimise strikes, lockout,
Heroes, etc., by providing
good working conditions
and fair wages to the
workers.

6. SCOPE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATION
• According to Dale Yoder, “Industrial
relations incorporate policies related to
recruitment, selection, training of
workers, personnel management, and
collective bargaining.”
• According to the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), industrial relations
incorporate the relations between state
and employers and relations between
trade unions and employers associations
• According to Richard A Lester, the scope
of industrial relations is no longer
limited only to trade unions and
industrial management, rather it
includes all aspects of labour such as
wages, productivity, social security,
management, and employee policies.
Trade Union policies also form part of it.
• Management/employer - Union
relationship
• Management/employer-
Employee relationship
• Employee-Union relationship
• Employee- Employee relationship
• Effect of extraneous factors like
state, socio-political- economic
factors on workplace
relationships

7. Types of Industrial Relations
• (i) Labour relations i.e., relations between union-
management (also known as labour management
relations);
• (ii) Group relations i.e., relations between various
groups of workmen i.e., workmen, supervisors,
technical persons, etc.
• (iii) Employer-employee relations i.e., relations
between the management and employees. It
denotes all management employer relations except
the union- management relations;
• (iv) Community or Public relations i.e., relations
between the industry and the society.

8. Approaches to Industrial Relations
Psychological Approach
Sociological Approach
Human Relations Approach
Gandhian Approach
System Approach
Human Resource Management Approach
2/20

9. Approaches to Industrial Relations
(contd.)
The Oxford Approach
The Action Theory Approach
The Unitary Approach
The Pluralist Approach
 The Marxist/RadicalApproach
Weber’s Social Action Approach
Socio-Ethical Approach
3/20

10. Why So Many Approaches...?
• The problems 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 in approach.
• Any problem in industrial relations has to be
approached on a multi-disciplinary basis,
drawing from the contributions of a number
of disciplines.
1/20

11. Psychological Approach
• Problem of industrial relations lie in the
perception and attitude of the participants.
• Study by Mason Haire on the behaviour of
two groups, namely, “Union leaders” and
“Executives”.
4/20

12. Psychological Approach (contd.)
Results of Mason Study:
a) The general impression about a person is radically
different when he is seen as a representative of
management from that of a person as a
representative of labour.
b) The management and labour see each other as less
dependable.
c) The management and labour see each other as
inadequate in thinking regarding emotional
characteristics and inter-personal relations.
5/20

13. Sociological Approach
• This approach includes various sociological factors like
value system, customes, norms, symbols, attitude and
preception of both labour and management.
• As industrialisation gets momentum, a set of new
industrial-cum-social patterns emerges. These influences
shape the industrial relations.
• Now a days industrial relations are determined by power.
6/20

14. Human Relations Approach
• Human are not inanimate or passive.
• Human are very complex to understand i.e. to
manage.
7/20

15. What Influences Human To Work
• Style of leadership
Autocratic style
Democratic style
• Motivation (satisfy the dissatisfied needs)
Physiological needs (food, water, clothing, shelter)
Safety needs (physical, finance and job security)
Social needs (belonging, affection)
Egoistic needs (self-esteem and esteem from others)
8/20

16. Gandhian Approach
• Truth, Non-violence, Non-possession, Non co-
operation (Satyagarah), trusteeship...
• Workers’ right to strike.
• Concept of equality
9/20

17. Gandhian Approach (contd.)
 There is no room for conflict of interests
between the capitilist and the labourers.
But what IF conflicts occur...?
o Should they go for strikes/lockouts...!
10/20

18. Gandhian Approach (contd.)
 Two things that Gandhiji expect from workers
i. Awakening
o Nurturing faith in their moral strength
o Awareness of its existence
ii. Unity
11/20

19. Gandhian Approach (contd.)
Gandhiji advocates
– Demands should be reasonable and through collective
action.
– Avoide strikes as far as possible.
– Avoide formation of unions in philanthropic
organisations.
– Strikes should be the last resort only.
– In case of organising a strike, workers should remain
peaceful and non-violent.
12/20

20. System Approach (by John Dunlop)
Focuses on
– Participants in the process
– Environmental forces
– Output
And their inter-relationship.
13/20

21. System Approach (contd.)
(Set of Ideas and Beliefs)
14/20

22. System Approach (contd.)
(i) Market or Budgetary
Restraints
(ii)Technology
(iii)Distribution of Power
in Society
Union –
Management
Government
Rules of the
Workplace
Environmental Forces Participants Outputs
15/20

23. System Approach:Participants
The main participants are
 Workers and their organisations
 Management and their representatives
 Government agencies
16/20

24. System Approach:Environment
Three types of environments
 Technological characteristics of workplace
(Technological sub-system)
 The market or economic constraints
(Economic sub-system)
 The ‘locus’ and ‘balance of power’ existing in
society
(Political sub-system)
17/20

25. System Approach: Output
Output is the result of interaction of the
parties/actors of the system which is
manifested in the network of rules, country’s
labour policy and labour agreements etc. that
facilitate a fair deal to workers.
18/20

26. Human Resource Management
Approach
The term, human resource management
(HRM) has become increasingly used in the
literature of personnel/industrial relations.
The term has been applied to a diverse range
of management strategies and, indeed,
sometimes used simply as a more modern,
and therefore more acceptable, term for
personnel or industrial relations management.
19/20

27. HRM Approach (Contd.)
Some of the components of HRM are
(i) human resource organisation
(ii) human resource planning
(iii) human resource systems
(iv) human resource development
(v) human resource relationships
(vi) human resource utilisation
(vii) human resource accounting
(viii) human resource audit.
This approach emphasises individualism and the direct relationship
between management and its employees. Quite clearly, therefore,
it questions the collective regulation basis of traditional industrial
relations. 20/20

28. IR in IT sector
 In the past IT professionals in India have been putting in efforts for
trade union formation in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad and
Kolkata.
 Union for Information Technology & Enabled Services (UNITES)
head quartered in Bangalore. It is a part of global union UNI, which
is a global union for skills and services
 The IT Professional's Forum' - better working conditions and
studying impact of social change and technology.
 West Bengal Information Technology Services Association- welfare of
all employees in the IT & ITES service sector.

29. Continued…
 67% of the employees who participated in the survey were in strong
favour of organized trade unions
 Most of the employees irrespective of gender welcome the suggestion
of trade unions in the industry.
 To address concerns related to their job and work environment along
with economic concerns such as
Long Working Hours: Companies ignoring weekly working hours norm
set by ILO. Employees – forced to work for extra hours-managers
pressurize – in the name of shrinking deadline of projects.
Work Load: Employees - pressurized for more output so that the
company can maximize profits.

30. Continued…
Compensation Related Issues: Parameters - not clearly defined for
performance based pay. Some companies are even paying lesser
compensation to their employees going for overseas assignments
in comparison to what they are entitled for.
Appraisal & Promotion Issues: Inspite of the methods like 360 degree
and MBO for performance appraisal, most of the companies lack
maturity in HR processes to adopt such type of robust appraisal
approach. It is observed that many deserving employees are overlooked
during the promotion process.
Job Insecurity: Companies are at liberty to fire employees on flimsy
grounds without giving due notice. Employees fret about being given
pink slip but feel totally helpless in such cases.

31. Continued..
High Stress Levels: mental exhaustion and over-worked
employees are unable to strike appropriate work-life balance.
However in other industries, people are able to achieve work-
life balance because they are not over worked and employers
have a fear from trade unions.
Lack of Transparency & Equity: Lack of transparency and
equity as equal opportunities are not provided to all the
employees. Some of the employees are even harassed
at times and hapless employee are forced to quit.

32. Recent trends in
employee welfare
measure in IT
Family Planning Service
Maternity Aid
Employee education library
Personal health care
Ambulance service
Flexi-time
Work from home
Employee assistance program

33. Conclusion
• There is a growing need to draw a fine balance between the growth of the industry and the
rights of the workmen to safeguard the integrity of the employees.
• It is required to closely monitor policies of the companies related to work environment, social
security provisions and other work related issues. Turning a blind eye to the reality of
employee problems will not help in the long run.
• Organized trade unions would help in rationalising the work hours, compensation and other
issues in a much better manner especially for freshers working in the industry who are the
most exploited ones.
• Unions can provide activated Grievance redressal machinery for the employees by opening
way to two way dialogues for solving the pending issues and prove to be an institution for
redefining the role of collective bargaining and eventually working along with employers not
against employers.

34. Participants in Industrial Relations:
• The main participants in
industrial relations are:
• (i) Employers.
• (ii) Employees/workers.
• (iii) Government.
• Employers have their
associations to deal with
labour problems and their
unions in a collective way.
• Workers are represented by
their trade unions.
• Government tries to regulate
the relations between the
two i.e., employees and
employers by implementing
labour laws.
• These three variables
interact with each other
within environment which
prevails in industrial sector
at any time.
• Good industrial relations
are the result of:
• (i) Healthy labour and
management relations.
• (ii) Industrial peace and
settlement of all disputes in
such a way that there are
no labour problems like
strikes or lockouts.
• (iii) By labour participation
in management.

35. Employees:
• Among the participants to IR, employees are
considered as the most affected one by the IR
system prevalent in an organisation. Employees
with their various characteristics such as their
commitment to the work and the organisation,
their educational and social background, their
attitudes towards the management and so on
affect and are affected by the system of IR.
• Generally, employees perceive IR as a means to
improve their conditions of employment, voice
against any grievances, exchange views and ideas
with management and participate in
organisational decision making processes.
• Employees participate in the IR system through
their associations, or say, trade unions. Past
evidences indicate that trade unions play a crucial
role in making an IR system as effective or
otherwise. Trade unions with their strong political
and emotional overtones are looked upon as a
tool to wrest concessions from employers.

36. Cont..
• With regard to their role in relation to IR, they work
to achieve the following objectives:
• 1. To redress the bargaining advantage on one-on-
one basis, i.e., individual worker vis-a-vis individual
employer by way of joint or collective actions.
• 2. To secure better terms and conditions of
employment for their members.
• 3. To obtain improved status for the worker in
his/her work.
• 4. To increase democratic mode of decision making
at various levels
• However, various factors such as union membership,
its attitude towards management, inter-union rivalry
and the strengths at the national or local level
determine the role of trade unions in influencing the
system of IR in an organisation.

37. 2. Employer:
• Employer is the second party to IR. In the corporate organisation,
employer is represented by the management. Hence, management
becomes responsible to various stakeholders in an organisation including
employees.
• According to Cole, management has to see IR in terms of the following
employee-employer relationship:
• 1. Creating and sustaining employee motivation.
• 2. Ensuring commitment from employees.
• 3. Achieving higher levels of efficiency.
• 4. Negotiating terms and conditions of employment with the
representatives of employees.
• 5. Sharing decision making with employees.
• Like employees’ associations, employers also form their associations at
the local, industry and national levels. Examples of employers’
associations at all India level are Associated Chambers of Commerce’s
and Industry (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), etc.

38. The major objectives of the employers’
associations in relation to IR are to:
• Represent employers in collective bargaining
at the national or industry level.
• Develop machinery for avoiding disputes.
• Provide feedback on employee relations.
• Advise member organisations on the issues
relating to IR.

39. 3. Government:
• The role of government in the matter of industrial relations has been
changing along with changes in industrial environment and management
perspective.
• For example, till century, the governments everywhere in the world
adopted a policy of laissez faire.
• The IR matters were left to be settled by the employees and employers.
But, towards the end of the 19 century, the attitude of the government in
the changed conditions of conflicts between employees and employers,
changed to some kind of intervention in the matter of IR.
• In due course of realization, government intervention became a reality.
As of day, government intervention has become widespread in HR
matters. In India, government tries to regulate the relationship of
employees and employers, and also keeps an eye on both groups to keep
each in line. This relationship is enforced and maintained through labour
courts, industrial tribunals, wage boards, investigating and enquiry
committees, etc.