EMPLOYEE WELFARE AND SAFETY MEASURES

Employee welfare means the efforts to make life worth living for workmen. According to Todd employee welfare means anything done for the comfort and improvement, intellectual or social, of the employees over and above the wages paid which is not a necessity of the industry. Welfare is helping people deal with personal and social problems and supporting them to be become active and contributing members of their community. Organization provides welfare facilities to their employees to keep their motivation levels high. Welfare includes anything that is done for the comfort and improvement of employees. Welfare helps in keeping the morale and motivation of the employees high so as to retain the employees for longer duration. Employee welfare includes monitoring of working conditions, creation of industrial harmony through infrastructure for health, industrial relations and insurance against disease, accident and unemployment for the workers and their families. Employee welfare entails all those activities of employer which are directed towards providing the employees with certain facilities and services in addition to wages or salaries. "Employee welfare is a comprehensive term including various services, benefits and facilities offered to employees by the employers. Through such generous fringe benefits the employer makes life worth living for employees. Oxford dictionary defines labor welfare as efforts to make life worth living for workers". We have to keep the employee attached to the organization and towards this keep them happy to the extent possible. The medicine is welfare measures. Welfare measures are over and above the wages paid to employees. These include improved working conditions, health care facilities, insurance for self and family, recreation facilities, improved industrial relations and so on. These measures may not be in the form of monetarybenefits. All these measures are aimed at: Keeping the workers happy and satisfied, to provide better employment life and health to workers, reduce stress situations, improve intellectual, cultural and materials conditions, Welfare measures are as follows: Welfare measures are provided mainly by the employers. However government schemes, social set up and charitable agencies may also extent their help all aimed at improving employee health, economic betterment and social status. There are reasonable welfare measures available to employees through statutory provisions. In most cases collective bargaining helps to improve the degree of welfare facilities. The welfare measures are not rigid. It will be changing all the time. It reflects the personality of the Welfare Officer on his vision, creativity and understanding the spirit of his work ethics. The welfare measures may also help develop the personality of employees to certain extent. Motive behind providing welfare schemes is to create efficient, healthy, loyal and satisfied labor force for the organization. The important welfare measures can be detained as follows: Housing schemes, medical benefits, education and recreation facilities for workers families help in raising their standards of living. Because the welfare of their families is taken care of workers pay more attention towards work increasing their productivity. Employees become loyal to the employer. They will stick on. They start taking active interest in their jobs and work with a feeling of involvement and participation

WELFARE The term welfare suggests many ideas, meanings and connotations, such as the state of well-being, health, happiness, prosperity and the development of human resources. As a total concept of welfare, it is a desirable state of existence involving physical, mental, moral and emotional well-being. The social concept of welfare implies the welfare of man, his family, and his community. Welfare is called a relative concept, for it is related to time and space. Changes in it have an impact on the system of welfare as well. Welfare is also a positive concept. In order to establish a minimum level of welfare, it demands certain minimum acceptable conditions of existence, biologically and socially. LABOUR WELFARE It means the adoption of measures to promote the physical, social, psychological and general wellbeing of the working population. A significant definition describes labor welfare work as the voluntary efforts of the employer to improve the living and working conditions of his employees; the underlying assumption, of course, being that the first essentials to the welfare of the employees are steady work, a fair wage and reasonable hours of labor. Labor welfare is also understood to mean such services, facilities and amenities, which may be established in, or in the vicinity of, undertakings to enable persons employed therein to perform their work in healthy and congenial surroundings and to provide them with amenities conducive to good health and good morals. Labor welfare has the following objectives: 1. 2. 3. To provide better life and health to the workers To make the workers happy and satisfied To relieve workers from industrial fatigue and to improve intellectual, cultural and material conditions of living of the workers. The basic features of labor welfare measures are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Labor welfare includes various facilities, services and amenities provided to workers for improving their health, efficiency, economic betterment and social status. Welfare measures are in addition to regular wages and other economic benefits available to workers due to legal provisions and collective bargaining Labor welfare schemes are flexible and ever-changing. New welfare measures are added to the existing ones from time to time. Welfare measures may be introduced by the employers, government, employees or by any social or charitable agency. The purpose of labor welfare is to bring about the development of the whole personality of the workers to make a better workforce.

The very logic behind providing welfare schemes is to create efficient, healthy, loyal and satisfied labor force for the organization. The purpose of providing such facilities is to make their work life better and also to raise their standard of living. The important benefits of welfare measures can be summarized as follows: environment Facilities like housing schemes, medical benefits, and education and recreation facilities for workers families help in raising their standards of living. This makes workers to pay more attention towards work and thus increases their productivity. Employers get stable labor force by providing welfare facilities. Workers take active interest Employee welfare measures increase the productivity of organization and promote healthy The social evils prevalent among the labors such as substance abuse, etc are reduced to a in their jobs and work with a feeling of involvement and participation. industrial relations thereby maintaining industrial peace. greater extent by the welfare policies. WELFARE ACTIVITIES Organizations provide welfare facilities to their employees to keep their motivation levels high. The employee welfare schemes can be classified into two categories viz. statutory and non-statutory welfare schemes. The statutory schemes are those schemes that are compulsory to provide by an organization as compliance to the laws governing employee health and safety. These include provisions provided in industrial acts like Factories Act 1948, Dock Workers Act (safety, health and welfare) 1986, Mines Act 1962. The non statutory schemes differ from organization to organization and from industry to industry. It is a comprehensive term including various services, benefits and facilities offered to employees by the employer. Through such generous fringe benefits, the employer makes life worth living for employees. The welfare amenities are extended by in addition to normal wages and other economic rewards available to the employees as per legal provisions. The significance of welfare measures were accepted as early as 1931 when the Royal Commission on Labor stated, the benefits are of great importance to the worker which he is unable to secure by himself. The schemes of labor welfare may be regarded as a wise investment because these would bring a profitable return in form of greater efficiency. The working environment in a factory adversely affects the health of the employees. This has to be contained through preventive steps aimed at improving the lot of workers. An important reason in favor of welfare work is called the "social invasion of the factory. Workers face lots of adjustment problems when they take up factory work. These changes call for extra inducements in the workplace in addition to normal wages, so that the worker begins to enjoy a fuller and richer life. They provide better physical and mental health to workers and thus promote a healthy work

The Labor Investigation Committee reads thus: "The provision of canteens improves the physique ; entertainment reduces the incidence of vices; medical aid, maternity and child welfare services improves the health of the workers and bring down the rates of general , maternal and infantile mortality; and educational facilities increase their mental efficiency and economic productivity." TYPES OF WELFARE FACILITIES INTRAMURAL (Within the establishment) Drinking water Toilets Crches Washing & Bathing facilities Uniforms and Protective clothing Recreation facilities Subsidized food at canteens Medical Aid Rest shelters STATUTORY WELFARE SCHEMES The statutory welfare schemes include the following provisions: EXTRAMURAL (Outside the establishment) Housing Education facilities Maternity Benefits Transportation Sports facilities Leave travel Holiday homes Cooperative stores Social-Insurance, Vocational training

1. Drinking Water: At all the working places safe hygienic drinking water should be provided. 2. Facilities for sitting: In every organization, especially factories, suitable seating arrangements are to be
provided.

3. First aid appliances: First aid appliances are to be provided and should be readily assessable so that in
case of any minor accident initial medication can be provided to the needed employee.

4. Latrines and Urinals: A sufficient number of latrines and urinals are to be provided in the office and
factory premises and are also to be maintained in a neat and clean condition.

5. Canteen facilities: Cafeteria or canteens are to be provided by the employer so as to provide hygienic
and nutritious food to the employees.

6. Spittoons: In every work place, such as ware houses, store places, in the dock area and office premises
spittoons are to be provided in convenient places and same are to be maintained in a hygienic condition.

7. Lighting: Proper and sufficient lights are to be provided for employees so that they can work safely
during the night shifts.

8. Washing places: Adequate washing places such as bathrooms, wash basins with tap and tap on the
stand pipe are provided in the port area in the vicinity of the work places.

9. Changing rooms: Adequate changing rooms are to be provided for workers to change their cloth in the
factory area and office premises. Adequate lockers are also provided to the workers to keep their clothes and belongings.

10. Rest rooms: Adequate numbers of restrooms are provided to the workers with provisions of water
supply, wash basins, toilets, bathrooms, etc. NON STATUTORY SCHEMES Many non statutory welfare schemes may include the following schemes:

1. Personal Health Care (Regular medical check-ups): Some of the companies provide the facility for
extensive health check-up

2. Flexi-time: The main objective of the flextime policy is to provide opportunity to employees to work
with flexible working schedules. Flexible work schedules are initiated by employees and approved by management to meet business commitments while supporting employee personal life needs

3. Employee Assistance Programs: Various assistant programs are arranged like external counseling
service so that employees or members of their immediate family can get counseling on various matters.

4. Harassment Policy: To protect an employee from harassments of any kind, guidelines are provided for
proper action and also for protecting the aggrieved employee.

5. Maternity & Adoption Leave Employees can avail maternity or adoption leaves. Paternity leave
policies have also been introduced by various companies. Medi-claim Insurance Scheme: This insurance scheme provides adequate insurance coverage of employees for expenses related to hospitalization due to illness, disease or injur