IR & HRM:

The dominant position towards which HRM is moving points to a "change in power relations and highlights the supremacy of management. The management prerogative is rediscovered but in place of command and control the emphasis is on commitment and control as quality, flexibility and competence replaces quantity, task and dumb obedience.

IR is essentially pluralistic in outlook, in that it covers not only the relations between employer and employee (the individual relations) but also the relations between employers and unions and between them and the State (collective relations). IR theory, practice and institutions traditionally focus more on the collective aspect of relations. This is evident from the central place occupied by labour law, freedom of association, collective bargaining, the right to strike, employee involvement practices which involve unions, trade unionism and so on.

HRM deals with the management of human resources, rather than with the management of collective relations. There is of course a certain measure of overlap. Individual grievance handling falls within the ambit of both disciplines, but dispute settlement of collective issues more properly falls within the scope of IR. Policies and practices relating to recruitment,

selection, appraisal, training and motivation form a part of HRM. Team-building, communication and cooperation, though primarily HRM initiatives, have a collectivist aspect. A discernible trend in management is a greater individualisation of the employer-employee relationship, implying less emphasis on collective, and more emphasis on individual relations.

Some of the tensions between IR and HRM arise from the unitarist outlook of HRM (which sees a commonality of interests between managements and employees) and the pluralist outlook of IR (which assumes the potential for conflict in the employment relationship flowing from different interests). "It is often said that HRM is the visual embodiment of the unitarist frame of reference both in the sense of the legitimation of managerial authority and in the imagery of the firm as a team with committed employees working with managers for the benefit of the firm.

The HRM believes in direct interaction with the employee and does away with employee representative. HRM policies and practices, would appear to be essentially unitarist and individualistic in contrast to the more pluralist and collective values of traditional industrial relations.

HRM "seeks to eliminate the mediation role and adopts a generally unitarist perspective. It emphasizes strategy and planning rather than problem-solving and mediation, so that

employee cooperation is delivered by programmes of corporate culture, remuneration packaging, team building and management development for core employees, while peripheral employees are kept at arms length.

The principal purpose of IR is maintenance of peace and to avoid industrial unrest, whereas the principal purpose of HRM is pursuit of competitive advantage, productivity, motivation, leadership and over all development of all the stake holders.

IR deals with rules through the control of the state through law, legislations, court orders etc., while HRM deals less with rules and more with policies and procedures.

IR deals with group issues while HRM is more individualistic, while Collective bargaining, trade union, strikes etc are the important attributes of IR, while, individualization of employee relationship is the hall mark of HRM.
Recognition of Trade Union:

A recognised trade union has the right to negotiate with the employers in respect of matters connected with the employment or non-

employment, terms of employment and the conditions of work of all or any of its members.

However, the Act is conspicuously silent about the Recognition of the Trade Union, and hence rcognition of the Trade Union is not mandatory in India, except in the State of Maharashtra. Who can form Trade Unions? Not only the employees but even the employers can form a Trade Union or it can be a combination of employers and employees, as per Section 2 (h) of the Act.

3.

Registrar of Trade Unions.

The Registrar of Trade Unions is an authority appointed by the appropriate Government and is competent and empowered to register a trade union, and besides this he is a competent authority regarding amalgamation of Trade Unions, to accept annual returns, dissolution of Trade Union, cancellation of Registration etc.

4.

Procedure

for Registration of a Trade Union.

Any 7 or more members of a trade union by subscribing their names to the rules of the trade union may apply for the registration of the trade union in the prescribed application along with the requisite fees, which shall be accompanied by the Rules of the Trade Union.

The particulars that need to be elucidated in the said application form (Form A) along with the Rules are as follows: a) Name of the trade union and address of the Head office. b) The names, occupations and addresses of members making the application. c) The titles, names, age, address and occupations of the office bearers. d) If the union is in existence for more than one year before th date of application, the applicants must enclose a statement of liabilities and assets of the trade union. Effects of registration of Trade Union:

has can can can

perpetual succession and a common seal. acquire and hold movable as well as immovable properties. contract through agents. sue and can be sued.

6.

Cancellation of Trade Union:

The Registrar can cancel/revoke the registration under the following conditions: a. b. c. If the registration is obtained by mistake or by fraud. If the Trade Union ceases to be in existence. If the Trade Union has willfully contravened any provisions of law.

d.

If the Trade Union has incorporated any rules which is/are inconsistent with the law of the land.

However, the Registrar cannot cancel registration without giving a 2 month notice and without complying the principles of natural justice.

7.

Is the registration of a Trade Union compulsory?

No, the registration of a Trade Union is not compulsory in India and the same is purely optional. However, if it is not registered it does not qualify to enjoy the status of a legal persona and consequently is denied certain privileges that the registered Trade Union would enjoy. Only a registered Trade Union is treated as a Body Corporate.

8.

Advantages of Registration:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Body Corporate (Legal Personality). Perpetual Succession. Common Seal. Acquisition of properties. Enter into contracts. Capacity to sue. Collective Bargaining. Right to strike.

9.

Immunity from being prosecuted in civil or criminal proceedings only in contemplation or in furtherance of the objects of a trade union or of a trade dispute. Right to represent authorisation. any individual member on his due

10.

Mediation and Conciliation The primary difference between Mediation and Conciliation is when agreement cannot be reached. In Conciliation the Conciliator decides the dispute and the parties agree to be bound, at least temporarily, by the decision. In mediation, if no agreement can be reached the process fails, the Mediator makes no decision on the outcome of the dispute. The result in a conciliation therefore will be in accordance with the parties legal rights and remedies unless the conciliator has been expressly granted permission to depart from these. Due to the more binding nature of conciliation the process tends to be more formal than mediation
Mediation is certainly being used much more widely in construction disputes today. It is flexible and can be tailored to virtually any dispute. It is undoubtedly a process that in the future is going to feature to a much greater extent in the resolution of construction disputes and early research suggests it is a process that works.

Conciliation is a process similar to mediation used in the construction industry whereby a conciliator seeks to facilitate a settlement between the parties. The conciliator (who under the contract can often either be agreed between the parties or appointed by the Federation of Master Builders in the absence of agreement) does not decide any issues of law or fact but conducts a process whereby each party states its position and then attempts to work towards a compromise. Any settlement achieved is then set down in writing in document binding upon the parties as a new contract. The costs of conciliation are the time of the conciliator and the venue for the conciliation. Parties do not have to be represented. Conciliation can only take place if both parties so agree, whether in the contract or after a dispute arises. Conciliation can be an effective way of reaching agreement over eliminating some of the parties' more unreasonable requests. Adjudication is a more formal mechanism for dispute resolution that is designed to be quicker and a cheaper than arbitration or litigation. A third party adjudicator, usually a technical expert in the relevant field, decides the (generally factual) issues between the parties. Adjudication has a statutory basis under s.108 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. The adjudicators decision is binding upon the parties and may be the subject of appeal or enforcement in the courts. Finally, arbitration is the most formal of the three alternative procedures. It works very much like litigation (it is normal for parties to be legally represented). It is not

necessarily quicker or cheaper than litigation and involves much of the same procedure (the production of statements of case, written witness evidence etc.). The main differences are that it is conducted in private, that the parties are free to agree procedural rules between themselves, and that the tribunal consists of arbitrators chosen (and employed) by the parties themselves. Arbitration has a statutory basis under the Arbitration Act 1996, which makes the decisions of tribunals (known as awards) enforceable in the courts. They are subject to very limited rights of appeal (generally only if the tribunal has made a mistake as to the law or there has been a serious procedural irregularity). Arbitration is often provided for in contracts as a binding alternative to litigation. It is otherwise available only if the parties agree. In many cases, there is no obvious advantage for a claimant in opting for arbitration over a fast track trial

"available surplus Bonus payable under the Act is linked with profits. The employer has to calculate "gross profits" of his establishment in the manner specified in section 4. Then from "gross profits" so calculated he has to deduct the sums referred to in section 6 as prior charges. The balance is called "available surplus". A percentage of the available surplus calculated in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4) of section 2 is called "allocable surplus". Where, in respect of any year the allocable surplus exceeds the amount of minimum bonus payable to the employees, the employer must pay to every employee in respect of that year bonus in proportion to the salary or wage earned by the employee during the year subject to a maximum of twenty percent of such salary or wage. {Subsection 2(4), 4 , 5, 6 & 11}
Set on and set off of allocable surplus. (1) Where for any accounting year, the allocable surplus exceeds the amount of maximum bonus payable to the employees in the establishment under section 11, then, the excess shall, subject to a limit of twenty per cent. of the total salary or wage of the employees employed in the establishment in that accounting year, be carried forward for being set on in the succeeding accounting year and so on up to and inclusive of the fourth accounting year to be utilized for the purpose of payment of bonus in the manner illustrated in the Fourth Schedule. (2) Where for any accounting year, there is no available surplus or the allocable surplus in respect of that year falls short of the amount of minimum bonus payable to the employees in the establishment under section 10, and there is no amount of sufficient amount carried forward and set on under sub-section (1) which could be utilized for the purpose of payment of the minimum bonus, then, such minimum amount or the deficiency, as the case may be, shall be carried forward for being set off in the succeeding accounting year and so on up to and inclusive of the fourth accounting year in the manner illustrated in the Fourth Schedule.

(3) The principle of set on and set off as illustrated in the Fourth Schedule shall apply to all other cases not covered by sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) for the purpose of payment of bonus under this Act.
(4) Where in any accounting year any amount has been carried forward and set on or set off under this section, then, in calculating bonus for the succeeding accounting year, the amount of set on or set off carried forward from the earliest accounting year shall first be taken into account.