Valid grievance.

A grievance is said to be valid if it has some relevance or connection with the work or with the relationship between the employee and hisemployer. Imagined grievance. Some grievance are a nuisance in nature and re manifestedonly for the purpose of getting attention. Imagined grievances are sometimesbrought up to test management or to create unrest within the organization. Causes of Grievances Grievances usually arise from failure of the employee to derive satisfactionfrom his job, from a threat to his security on the job, from failure of the supervisor tounderstand him, or from the employees mental or emotional maladjustment. Most of the complaints, especially those concerning the interpretation or implementation of established company policies on wages, hours of work, or working conditions can beeasily and promptly settled. Settlement is best done by encouraging the employeeto discuss his problems calmly with his supervisor or with the personnel department.Most of the grievances when first presented are merely minor complaints butdue to mishandling, neglect or ignorance on the part of line supervisors, thesecomplaints oftentimes become serious labor problems. One of the most commoncauses of grievances is the emotional approach used when discussing day-to-dayproblems and grievances. If emotions are allowed to flare up, each one arguesheatedly about the problem and fails to view the subject objectively.Some of the sources of friction or complaints are company policies, rules, workc o n d i t i o n s a n d m e t h o d s , p e r s o n a l i t y c l a s h e s , a n d t h e i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p a m o n g employees and supervisors.Some grievances arise from real and legitimate causes. These must behandled carefully and speedily. But other grievances are imaginary, trivial, or irrational and are often due to the employees unfamiliarity with the facts. Though thegrievance may be imaginary or trivial, it is nevertheless still a grievance until it isproperly settled. Grievances are produced by the interaction of several behaviouralfactors. 1. Application and interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement .Where a collective bargaining agreement exists, grievances frequently arisefrom the interpretation, application, and administration of its provisions. Somelabor contracts, in fact, limit the scope of grievances to those arising from theinterpretation, application, and administration of their provisions . Manycontracts, however, provide for a broader coverage to include complaints thatmay arise even outside of the collective bargaining agreement, and this oftenbreeds problems when they are carried out or interpreted. No labor contract, no matter how fair, just, and equitable will work if either party attempts to use itas a tool to make things hard for the other. If both parties trust each other inthe interpretation and application of the contract, grievances from this sourcecan be minimized.G r i e v a n c e s a l s o a r i s e d u e t o u n c l e a r l a n g u a g e t h a t l e a d s t o d i f f e r e n t interpretations of the CBA. Parties to the contract are cautioned against theinclusion of vague provisions in the CBA which could lead to interpretationproblems later on. In some companies, when such cases occur, they refer back to the negotiation meetings and examine or re-assess the intentions of the parties with regard to the problematic issue. 2. Absence of a clear-cut company labor policy . The absence of a clear-cutlabor policy may cause some confusion or misunderstanding on the part of thee m p l o y e e s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e r e t h e r e i s n o u n i o n i n t h e c o m p a n y a n d n o effective employer-employee channels of communications exist. 3. Ineffective or inadequate supervision . Grievances generally arise frompoor supervision, poor planning of schedules or assignments, employees lacko f c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e i r s u p e r v i s o r s b e c a u s e o f l a c k o f l e a d e r s h i p a b i l i t y , discrimination or unfair treatment. 4. Inadequate communication . Problems and conflicts between workers andsupervisors or among co-workers are almost invariably traceable to failure incommunication. For instance, if employees lack information about companypolicies

and regulations there will be misunderstanding. A common source of c o n f l i c t i s i n a d e q u a t e o r i n c o n s i s t e n t o r d e r s a n d i n s t r u c t i o n s f r o m t h e supervisor who assumes that he has put his message across to the worker by just issuing a circular. There is no better way than to explain circulars or instructions personally and check whether or not the message is clear to theemployees. 5. Personal problems . Grievances are also caused by personal problems of employees outside the firm, such as family problems, financial difficulties,v i c e s , b a d l i v i n g h a b i t s , a n d p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h p e o p l e . S o m e employees have personal difficulties in adjusting themselves to urban life or tochanging economic conditions. Such difficulties are not directly related to theemployees work, but they are no less important because they seriously affecthis performance. 6. Union inspired grievances . In unionized firms, employees sometimes bringup grievances because of union prodding. One can often tell that a grievanceis union-inspired when the union takes an overly active part in prosecuting it.Although the grievance may be a minor one, the union generally makes a bigissue of it. Among the reasons why a union may take such an attitude are: a.As a test of union strength against management.b.As a morale booster for union support and membership.c . A s a n e l e c t i o n g i m m i c k . d . A s a t e s t o f u n i o n l e a d e r s h i p . 7. Improper selection and placement . Improper selection and placement of employees is a frequent cause of gripes and complaints. An employee islikely to be dissatisfied if he is misplaced in his job, either because his dutiesand responsibilities are too difficult for him or because the job is too low for hisability, training, and experience. Where there is a rigid selection and carefulplacement of workers, there generally are fewer complaints and grievancesresulting from this cause. 8. Lack of orientation or training of new employees . A s p r e v i o u s l y menti oned, orien tation of new employees is the first step in m a k i n g t h e employee understand his relationship with the company, his supervisor, andhis fellow workers. With proper orientation, the employee will understandthings around him in the company. These tend to minimize complaints andgrievances. 9. Favouritism . Discrim ination ag ainst workers res ults in grievance s. As u p e r v i s o r w h o s h o w s a s p e c i a l f a v o u r t o a n e m p l o y e e o r t o s e v e r a l employees in his department because of friendship or close association isliable to arouse resentment among those not similarly favored. Such favorsmay be in the form of undeserved salary increases, assignment to choice jobs,or the grant of special privileges. Whatever the form of the favor, the other employees in the department will feel discriminated against and will gripe. 10. Poor organization structure . A g o o d o r g a n i z a t i o n s t r u c t u r e i s n o t a guarantee that no grievance will ever occur, but a poor organizational structurewill surely be a cause for inefficiency and grievance. Where authority andr e s p o n s i b i l i t y a r e n o t c l e a r l y d e f i n e d a n d r e p o r t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s a r e n o t delineated properly, the employees will surely find cause for gripes because of the resulting confusion, dissatisfaction, and inefficiency. 11. Poor systems and procedures . To enable the employees to work efficiently,the systems and procedures of the company must ensure smooth flow of thework. When system and procedures are not well integrated, congestion,backtracking, bottlenecks and possible relations conflicts will occur and causeemployees gripes.T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y t r u e i n s i t u a t i o n w h e r e r e s u l t s a r e e x p e c t e d u n d e r committed timetables. 12. Lack of appropriate facilities

. If supervisors want their employees to turnout good work, they should provide their employees with the proper facilities or equipment to use. Employees will complain if they are required to come upwith results without the necessary tools, facilities, and equipment they need toproduce the expected results. 13. Improper implementation of policies . Not only must policies be proper anda p p r o p r i a t e , b u t t h e y m u s t a l s o b e a d m i n i s t e r e d i n s u c h a w a y t h a t t h e y produce positive results and not resentment among the employees. Mostpolicies are well-intentioned, in fact well-accepted in the organizations, but if the manner of implementing them is against the values of the people, violatesones sense of decency or is inequitable, the employees affected will surelygripe