01. WHAT IS AN EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE?

 

In my view, an employee grievance is a complaint or concern that an employee has concerning the place of work, the scope of work, policies, colleagues, and the Manager.

Dale S Bearch defines it as, “A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with one’s employment situation that is brought to the attention of management“.

In view of Mohamed (1992), there are three terms associated with “grievance”.

“Complaint is dissatisfaction which the employee brings to the attention of his immediate superior. The grievance is a formal complaint by the employee concerned which be brought to the attention of his immediate superior or in accordance with the grievance procedure as outlined in the collective agreement between the company and the union. A dispute is an unresolved grievance which involves the company and the union and is referred to the Ministry of Human Resources for conciliation or arbitration.”

In the words of Edward Flippo, “It is a type of discontent which must always be expressed. A grievance is usually more formal in character than a complaint. 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”.

 

According to Michael J Judicious, “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 believes or even feels, is unfair, unjust or inequitable“.

·      It is a dissatisfaction that an employee has with the company.

·      It may be expressed or unexpressed.

·      An employee may feel disturbed because of the unfair treatment that he or she received at work. 

·      A minor discontent or dissatisfaction isn’t a grievance.

·      When a complaint remains unattended and the employee concerned feels a sense of lack of justice and fair play the dissatisfaction grows and assumes the status of grievance. 

 

1.2. Types of Employee Grievance in the Telecommunication industry

Ø Grievance arises from management policies and practices, particularly when they lack consistency, fair play, and the desired level of flexibility.

Ø The absence of a proper two-way flow of communication can indeed be a fertile ground for breeding grievance. 

Ø These can be some probable types of grievances are,

1.3 Categories Of employee Grievance in Telecommunication Industry

No	Category	Explanation
01	Individual	One person feels he or she has been mistreated
02	Group	When several employees feel they have been mistreated in the same way.
03	Union / Policy	A grievance is filed by the union on behalf of a group of individuals or the whole bargaining unit or on behalf of an individual who refuses to file it.

1.4 Why should grievances be redressed in the telecommunication industry?

 Grievances are inevitable in the telecommunication industry and other industries. And important too. They are a part and parcel of any industry's administrative machinery. Employees can have grievances with each other, with their managers, or even with clients. A grievance redress mechanism is important for tracking the number and frequency of grievances which signify the efficiency of the telecommunication industry. The better it is run, the lesser will be that number. Redressing a grievance effectively and swiftly ensures a high level of trust in the industry and that employees feel heard.

 

A virtual help desk that is managed by the HR department is a great way to redress employee grievances.

References 

 Geektonight.com. 2022. What Is Grievance? Procedure, Causes, Handling, Step, Effects, Benefits. [online] Available at: <https://www.geektonight.com/grievance-handling/> [Accessed 6 May 2022].

 Economics Discussion. 2022. Grievance: Meaning, [online] Available at: <https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/human-resource-management/grievance/grievance/32442> [Accessed 6 May 2022].

 Answers.microsoft.com. 2022. "C:\Users\<username>\Documents\<File Folder name>". [online] Available at: <https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/cusersusernamedocumentsfile-folder-name/3c43589c-b582-433b-99ea-cfe3e1b2a270> [Accessed 6 May 2022].