Industrial Labour Interview Questions And Answers

From employer's perspective, unitary approach means:

☛ The staffing policies should be exercised to unify the efforts. They should motivate the employees.
☛ The objectives of the organization should be discussed with the employees.
☛ A reward system should exist to secure loyalty and commitment from the employees
☛ Line managers should take the responsibility of their team.
☛ Staff-management conflicts arise form lack of information and inadequate presentation of management policies.
☛ Personal objectives of the employees should be integrated with the overall objectives of the organization.

The major steps of collective bargaining are:

☛ Preparatory - In this stage the negotiation team is formed which comprises of the members of both the teams. Both the sides need to take a stock of their situation to find the matters which they need to take up discussion, their stand on it.

☛ Discussion - In this stage the ground rules governing the negotiation process are set with the agreement of both the parties.

☛ Proposal - The issue for which the meeting is called is defined and the possible solutions are put forth.

☛ Bargaining - This is the phase where actual bargaining takes place and its nitty gritties are decided.

☛ Settlement - After a consensus is reached, this stage consists of effective joint implementation of the agreement.

These activities include strike, lock outs, gherao etc which means putting up a fight with the management. Hence, they are called militant functions. They are carried out for following purposes:

a.) Rise in wages
b.) Rise in the status of workers
c.) Protection against injustice

Lock out is a management's tool in which an employer prevents the workers from working. This is a pressure tactic used by the management.

Conciliators and mediation officers attempt to resolve differences between parties by offering the input of a neutral third party into the matters in dispute. They then file a report with the Minister.

A strike is a cessation of work, a refusal to work or to continue work by employees in combination or in concert with a common understanding, or a slow-down or other concerted activity on the part of employees designed to restrict or limit production for the purpose of compelling an employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment.

Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting information relating to operations and responsibilities of a specific job.

Job analysis is a systematic exploration of activities within a job. It is a basic technical procedure that is used to define duties and responsibilities and accountabilities of the job.

Each job has certain ability requirements associated with it. Job analysis is a process used to identify these requirements.

Industrial relations are the relations between employees, employers, government and trade unions within the organizational structure.

The industrial relations system is a system of relationship between all the parties involved. A sound IR system will create an environment conducive for organizational growth and labour welfare.

The unitary approach believes that the employees and employers share the same objectives, interests and purposes. They work hand-in-hand for the betterment of the organizations. However, this system expects loyalty from the employees.

Importance of collective bargaining to employees:

☛ It increases the strength of employees as a group.
☛ It helps in boosting their self respect and level of motivation
☛ It increases their sense of responsibility
☛ It helps in reaching a quick and fair settlement for employee's issues.

Following are the main causes of industrial dispute:

i.) Wages/ Allowance/ Bonus/ Work Load
ii.) Leave/ Working hours/ Work conditions
iii.) Retrenchment/ Lay offs
iv.) Indiscipline/ Violence

Personnel Management is widely used few years back. The main task of PM was to maintain personal records of the employees of the organization. It was just a job to maintain the records (Database), sometime PM use to take care of the recruitment and joining formalities but never expected beyond that.

Human Resource Management takes care of all the aspect, right from

☛ Strategic planning
☛ Recruitment
☛ Joining formalities
☛ Induction
☛ Training
☛ Employee relationship
☛ Handling Employee Grievances
☛ Attrition
☛ Retention
☛ Exit Formalities

The main parties involved in the IR system are:

i.) Employers - They are the ones who possess the rights to hire the employees and remove them. They also possess the rights to relocate, close or merge the business. They can opt for technological changes as and when they see it in the interest of business.

ii.) Employees - They are actually the ones who keep the business moving. They possess the rights to voice their opinions and feelings while striving for betterment. They usually form the unions to negotiate with the employers.

iii.) Government - Government is the one who influences the IR system with laws, rules, agreements, awards of court etc. They also include third parties & labour and tribunal courts to manage the IR system.

This kind of bargaining aims at achieving the consensus within the trade union and management group.

A collective agreement is an agreement in writing between an employer and the trade union representing employees of the employer which contains provisions respecting conditions of employment, rates of pay, hours of work, and the rights and obligations of the parties to the agreement. Ordinarily the agreement is for a definite period such as one, two or three years, but not less than twelve months. Under some conditions, amendments are made to agreements by mutual consent during the term of the agreement in order to deal with special circumstances.

Job is a collection of task to be performed everyday.

It is important to have an IR system in place

☛ To ensure that the workers are not over powered and used by the employer.
☛ To ensure that the workers do not blackmail the employers with unnecessary demand leading to a loss of production
☛ To ensure that the economy keeps growing
☛ To ensure that even if a problem arises, it is solved amicably.

Where the work of the same kind is carried out by two or more of sets of workers working during different periods of the day each of such sets is called RELAY and each of such periods is called SHIFT.

The unitary approach from employee's point of view means that:

☛ The purpose of a union is to act as a means of better communication between all the parties.
☛ All the parties should focus on good relationships and good working terms and conditions
☛ There should be flexibility in working practices.
☛ Employees should have a participation in workplace decisions. This promotes teamwork, creativity, problem solving abilities.
☛ Employees should have a feeling that the skills of their managers support them in their work.

CBA - Collective Bargaining Agreement is the result of collective bargaining procedure.

These agreements can be in one of the two forms:

☛ Procedural agreement
☛ Substantive agreement

Procedural agreements - They usually deal with the relationship between employees and employers to resolve individual and group issues. These are usually filed in the company's rule book.

Substantive agreements - This kind of an agreement deals with specific issues like basic pay, leave policy, bonus payment etc.

These functions are carried out by the trade unions for the welfare of their employees which includes:

a.) Measures to boost up the workers' morale
b.) Foster self confidence
c.) Develop sincerity and discipline
d.) Protection to women workers against discrimination

If one party does not respond to a notice to bargain, or appears not to be bargaining in good faith, the other party may file a complaint with the Minister. The Minister may then refer the complaint to the Labour and Employment Board.
The Board shall inquire into the complaint and determine whether to dismiss the complaint or order compliance with the requirement to bargain in good faith. One of the parties or both may also apply to the Minister for the appointment of a conciliation officer.

An arbitrator or an arbitration board shall proceed with and complete the arbitration as expeditiously as possible, having regard to the interests of the parties, and shall render an award within 3 months after the date of appointment of an arbitrator or arbitration board. The time for making the award may be extended by the parties. Whether the time for making the award has expired will not invalidate an award.

No, just because a majority votes in favour of a strike or lock-out, the bargaining agent or employers' organization is not obligated to declare a strike or lock-out.

The three factors that Dunlop's theory advices to consider while analysing management-labour relationship are:

✿ Environmental factors - Socio-political, technological, legal.
✿ Characteristic and interaction of key parties - employee, employer, government
✿ Rules obtained from the interactions that govern the employment relationship