Employee Relations

It consist of all those areas of human resource management that involve relationships with employees-
directly or through collective agreements where trade unions are recognised

Relationship will be concerned with the agreement of terms and conditions of employment and with
issues arising from employment.
Employee relations practices include formal processes, procedures and channels of communication

Industrial Relation is that part of management which is concerned with the manpower of the
enterprise – whether machine operator, skilled worker or manager.

ii. Industrial Relation is a relation between employer and employees, employees and employees and
employees and trade unions. - Industrial dispute Act 1947

Employee Relation is a much broad concept. It is one of the most important function of the
management that is taken care by HR department. ER department takes care of employee grievances,
employee recognition, and boosting the morale of employees to make the working environment more
healthy, live and at the same time fulfills the management’s expectations and maintain the work
culture and ethics.

Factors Influencing ER
o Institutional factor
o Economic factors
o Technological factors
o Psychological factors
o Political and legal factors
 Global factors
Institutional Factors
 HR policies and practices
 Organizational climate and culture and value systems
 Adaptability to change
 Codes of conduct
 Collective bargaining agreements
 Labour unions
 Employers’ organizations/ federations

Economic Factors
 Type of ownership: public or private limited, Whether domestic or MNC, Govt. or private sector
 Nature and composition of the workforce
 The source of labour
 Labour market status
 Disparity of wages between groups
 Level of unemployment

Technological Factors
 Work methods
 Type of technology
 Rate of technology change
 Ability of organizations and people to cope with change

Psychological Factors
 Owners’ attitude
 Perception of the workforce
 Workers’ attitude towards work
 Their motivation, interest, dissatisfaction and boredom leading from man-machine interface.

Prevalent Political philosophy

 Attitude of government
 The ruling party/ ies ideology
 Labour laws and The legal framework for IR
 Changes in the above framework
 Role of political factions in Trade Unions

Global Factors
 Role of ILO
 International relations
 Newer formats of business
Determining Factors of ER
 Economic satisfaction of workers
 Social and psychological satisfaction
 Off-the-job conditions
 Enlightened trade unions
 Negotiating skills and attitude of management and workers
 Education levels of employees and labor
 Nature of industry
 Monetary benefits
 Safety & security
 Grievance handling
 Recognition & appreciation
 Scope for advancement
 Style of management
 Participation in decision making