Handling Employee Grievances and Discipline

Grievance may be any genuine or imaginary feeling of dissatisfaction or injustice, which an employee experiences about his job and its nature, management policies and procedures, and their related matters. Such feelings must be expressed by the employee and brought to the notice of the management and the organisation in accordance with acceptable procedures.

At the same time, and just as important, is the need to correct employees who have broken any established or implied rules and expectations. This helps to establish and ensure a stable sense of integrity and culture in the organisation.

After the workshop, you will be able to:

• understand the nature of employee grievance
• follow the appropriate approaches to handle employee grievance
• understand the nature of employee discipline
• follow the appropriate approaches to handle employee disciplinary matters

Outline

• Effective handling of employee relations
• Employment laws reference
• Grievance handling
  – Objectives
  – Definition and scope
  – Circumstances
  – Types of grievances
• Grievance: procedure and objectives
  – Consequences of mishandling employee grievances
  – Principles of grievance handling
  – Roles of stakeholders
  – Examples
• How to prevent employee grievances
  – Principle of employee engagement and employee experience
• Grievance vs Discipline
  – Definition and scope of discipline
  – Formal disciplinary procedure
  – Principle of natural justice
  – Discipline and employment relationship
  – Example of disciplinary procedure and best practice
• Discipline and punishment
  – Purpose
  – Enforcement of discipline
  – Administering discipline
  – Conduct of inquiry
  – Termination of service
  – Dismissal of an employee
  – Proper handling of dismissal
  – Right of appeal
  – Related laws