GRIEVANCE MACHINERY

CATHERINE N. MAGPANTAY MAED- Educational Management

Present national policy on labor dispute settlement

The present national policy on labor dispute settlement is enunciated in the following instruments:

1987 Constitution
Sec. 3, Article XIII provides: The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.

Present national policy on labor dispute settlement cont

Labor Code, as amended by Republic Act 6715
Article 211 of the Code provides, among others: (a) It is the policy of the Stateto promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations, including voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of settling labor or industrial disputes.
(b) To provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of labor or industrial disputes.

Early policies adopted by the government on settling labor disputes

Philippine labor policy may be said to have evolved over four periods: 1. Commonwealth Period (1936-1953) Commonwealth Act No. 103 established our first labor dispute settlement system by creating the Court of Industrial Relations and vesting it with compulsory arbitration powers over labor disputes involving both workers in the private sector and in government owned or controlled corporations. The enactment of CA 103 was pursuant to a provision in the 1935 Constitution, Section 6, Article XIV, which categorically provided the basis for compulsory arbitration.

Early policies adopted by the government on settling labor disputes cont

2. Industrial Peace Act Period (1953-1972)
In 1953, Republic Act No. 875 was enacted fundamentally changing the framework of labor relations policies from that of compulsory arbitration to collective bargaining. The Act severely restricted the compulsory arbitration powers of the CIR. The latter was divested of the power to set wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, other terms or conditions of employment, or otherwise regulate the relation between employers and employees, as a compulsory arbitration body, except in labor disputes involving industries indispensable to the national interest.

3. Martial Law Period (1972-1986)

It was during the period of martial law that voluntary arbitration became an integral part of the Philippine labor relations policy. This period also marked by the banning of strikes in the so-called vital industries. To cushion the impact of the strike ban, Presidential Decree No. 21 was issued creating the National Labor Relations Commission, which exercised original jurisdiction over practically all labor disputes. Aside from creating the NLRC, Presidential Decree No. 21 had four other very important provisions: It imposed the clearance requirement for dismissals and terminations of employees with at least one year of service; It made grievance procedure a mandatory initial stage in the settlement of labor disputes; It provided that before assuming jurisdiction over any issue, dispute or grievance, the Commission shall give the parties a chance to submit their problem for voluntary arbitration; To ensure the availability of voluntary arbitrators, the Decree provided that all collective bargaining agreements shall contain a provision designating a voluntary arbitrator to decide all disputes and grievances arising out of the implementation of the collective bargaining agreements.

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4. Post-Martial Law Period (1986-present)

By virtue of Executive Order No. 126 which reorganized the Department of Labor and Employment, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) was created to oversee the implementation of the Constitutional policy of promoting the preferential use of the voluntary modes of dispute settlement, including conciliation. Executive Order 251 which amended Executive Order No. 126 likewise created the Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council (TVAAC) to advise the NCMB on the promotion of the voluntary arbitration program. Republic Act 6715 introduced amendments to the Labor Code with farreaching effects on the labor dispute settlement system. One of these is the injunction against the NLRC and the DOLE Regional Directors from entertaining disputes that are under the original and exclusive jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrators.

Grievance
According to Dale S. Bearch, grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with ones employment` situation that is brought to the attention of management. In words of Michael Jucious, a grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or not, whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company that an employee thinks, belives or even feels, is unfair, unjust or inequitable. According to Flippo, grievance is a type discontent which must always be expressed. A grievance is usually more formal in character than complain. It can be valid or ridiculous, and must grow out of something connected with company operations or policy. It must involve an interpretation or application of the provisions of the labour contract.

Features of Grievance
An analysis of the above mentioned definitions reveals the following features. They are:

1. A grievance refers to any form of discontent or dissatisfaction with any aspect of the organization. 2. The dissatisfaction must arise out of employment and not from personal or family problems. 3. The dissatisfaction may be expressed or implied 4. The discontent may be valid, legitimate and rational or untrue and irrational or completely ludicrous. 5. A grievance is traceable to perceived non-fulfillment of ones expectations from the organization. 6. A grievance arises only when an employee feels that injustice has been done to him. 7. Grievances if not redressed in time, tend to lower morale and productivity of employees.

Forms of Grievances
A grievance may take any of the following forms: 1. Factual: When an employee is dissatisfied with his job, for genuine or factual reasons like a breach of terms of employment or any other reasons that are clearly attributed to the management, he is said to have a factual grievance. 2. Imaginary: When an employees grievance or dissatisfaction is not because of any factual or valid reason but because of wrong perception, wrong attitude or wrong information he has. 3. Disguised: An employee may have dissatisfaction for reasons that are unknown to himself. This may be because of pressures and frustrations that an employee is feeling from other sources like his personal life.

Causes or Sources of Grievances

1. Concerning working conditions:
Unsafe and unpleasant working conditions. Inadequate toilet facilities, dirty toilets, etc. Non availability of necessary raw materials, tools and machines. Misfit between workers ability and job. Fines, punishment and penalties. 3. Concerning violation of rules

and regulations:
Organization rules and regulations Civic laws Past practices

2. Concerning management Policy and job:

Wage rate and its payment Incentive Seniority Promotion Transfer

4. Concerning personality Trait: Fault-finding attitude Over ambitious Mental tension Negative approach to life Excessive ego felling

Effects of Grievances
Frustration Alienation Demotivation Slackness Low Productivity Increase in Wastage & Costs Absenteeism Indiscipline Labour unrest

How to identify grievances

It is described that good management redresses grievances as they arise; excellent management anticipates and prevents them from arising. A manager can know about the problems even before they turn into actual grievances through several means such as: 1. Exit interview: Employees usually quit organizations due to dissatisfaction or better prospects elsewhere. Exit interviews, if conducted carefully, can provide important information about employees grievances. Gripe Boxes: These are boxes in which the employees can drop their anonymous complaints. Opinion Survey: The management can be proactive by conducting group meetings, periodical interviews with employees, collective bargaining sessions etc. through which one can get information about employees dissatisfaction before it turns into a grievance. Open-door Policy. Some organization extends a general invitation to their employees to informally drop in the managers room any time and talk over their grievances.

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Who can file a grievance

1. an individual employee or group of employees 2. unions 3. employer

Preparations needed in order that the grievance can effectively be presented by the grievant
1. 2. 3.
a. b. c. d. e.

Determine first if there is a genuine grievance and if there is, whether the same is justified or not. Study the CBA and company personnel policies. Get all facts of the case. Be sure to investigate the five Ws the WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and WHAT.
WHO, refers to that part of the form that clearly identifies the worker with the grievance. WHEN, refers to the time element. WHERE, refers to the exact place where the grievance took place-the department aisle, or miracle. WHY, refers to the reasons why the complaint is considered a grievance. WHAT, refers to what should be done about the grievance the settlement desired.

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Discuss the grievance with the Union or other stewards

Characteristics of Effective Grievance Machinery

1. The successive steps in the procedure, the method of presenting grievances or disputes, and the method of taking an appeal from one step to another should be so clearly stated in the agreement as to be readily understood by all employees, union officials and management representatives. 2. The procedure should be adaptable to the handling of various types of grievances and disputes, which come under the terms of the agreement. 3. The procedure should be designed to facilitate the settlement of grievances and disputes as soon as possible after they arise.

Reasons for Establishing Grievance Machinery

1. Provides for peaceful resolution of disputes; 2. Provides a systematic way to resolve problems through fact finding 3. Provides a method of interpreting the contract 4. Protects the integrity of the contractual agreement 5. Improves the efficiency of the organization 6. Can improve labor-management relations 7. Identifies problems in plant operations or the contract itself 8. Keeps the lines of communication between the parties open during the life of the contract 9. It gives employees an opportunity to voice their concerns 10. Provides the individual union member with the ability to appeal a decision and ultimately allows the member to resolve the problem through exhausting his/her rights under the grievance procedure, or possibly by overturning the decision of management through arbitration

ESSENTIALS OF A GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Conformity with existing legislation Acceptability Simplicity Promptness Training Follow-up

Grievance Procedure in Unionized Firms

Union Representative Company Representative Step 4 ARBITRATION Top Union Top Company Official Step 3 Top officials attempt Official To settle dispute Union Steward Step 2 Employee elevate Grievance to next Higher level Employee submits grievance Dept. Head

Employee Step 1

Supervisor

Scope of Voluntary Arbitration

Voluntary Arbitration represents the final stage in the dispute resolution process. Arbitration is a quasi-judicial process in which the parties agree to submit an unresolved dispute to a neutral third party for binding settlement.
Under Article 261 of the Labor code, as amended, the following disputes are subject to the original and exclusive jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators: Unresolved grievances arising from CBA interpretation or implementation. Unresolved grievances arising from personnel policy enforcement and interpretation including disciplinary cases. Under article 262 of the same code, all other labor disputes including unfair labor practices and bargaining deadlocks may also be submitted to voluntary arbitration upon agreement of the parties. All unresolved wage distortion cases as result of the application of wage orders issued by any Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in establishments where there is collective bargaining agreement or recognized labor union. All unresolved disputes, grievance, or other matters arising from the interpretation and implementation of a productivity incentives program which remains unresolved within 20 calendar days from the time of the submission to labor management committees.

Authority of an Arbitrator
A voluntary arbitrator is defined as any person accredited by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), or anyone named or designated in the CBA by the parties, to as their voluntary arbitrator. Articles 261-262 of the Labor Code provide pertinent information about the jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrators, procedures to be followed, and costs of arbitration. The decisions or rendered by voluntary arbitrators is final executable. As a general rule, the authority of an arbitrator embraces of covers the following: General authority to investigate and hear the case upon notice of the parties and to render an award (decision) based on the contract and record of the case; Incidental authority to perform all acts necessary to an adequate discharge from his duties and responsibilities like setting and conduct of hearing, attendance of witnesses and proof documents and other evidences, fact finding and other modes of discovery, reopening of hearing, etc.; and Special power in aid of his general contractual authority like the authority to determine the arbitration of any particular dispute and to modify any provision of existing agreement upon which a propose change is submitted for arbitration.

Conclusion
The impact of employee grievances may have a significant and long-lasting negative impact on the organization. The impact may be even more severe if it is a collective grievance i.e., several employees share the same concern. To avoid any such problem, the manager must handle all cases of grievances with speed and sensitivity. He should not underestimate the situation until it has been resolved to the complete satisfaction of employee(s) and management.