Policy Options for Dispute Resolution - Essay Example

HR – Case study Current Scenario The equal pay and Single Status issues have arisen because of the fact that the employees are dissatisfied with theoutcomes of the job evaluation done to implement the re-grading of the jobs. The major concerns of employees leading to this mayhem are – cuts in salaries of about 15% of the employees and no change in wages of many who expected a rise. Even where there were salary increases, the employees were not satisfied with the extent of up gradation, especially the women employees who feel that they have got a sour deal. This has led to much litigation both in the councils as well as the courts. Another problem which is aggravating the situation is the arrangement of finances for the back-pays and the future wage increases by the councils. Policy options for dispute resolution The dispute resolution process can be divided into three phases based on the types of grievances. All the three phases will be at work simultaneously with three separate HR teams working on the assignment. The first phase will address the issues of the employees who have been subjected to salary cuts. It is apparent that no employee will accede to their salary cut on the pretext of social justice. However, the financial prudence of implementing the equal pay policy requires that some financing of hike in wages be done through some salary cuts. So, the first thing that can be done is to re-evaluate the grades of those employees who have been subjected to salary cuts. This will be a time consuming exercise, however it will help in avoiding any further litigation. Some time can be saved by looking at data from previous litigations by such employees. It has been observed that some particular jobs had been upgraded after going into litigation. This data can be helpful in re-grading. A target time can be set for this phase and during this time the salaries and other employment terms remain unchanged. For those whose grades are upgraded after the re-evaluation exercise, arrears can be paid at a later agreed-upon time. With this step the problems of the most aggrieved section of employees can be addressed. The time period for this re-evaluation of grades should not be more than 9 months. For those whose salaries will be upgraded after the re-grading exercise, there will be appropriate salary raise. For others whose grades still need to be revised towards the lower side, there will be no reduction in salary but only grade change. There other benefits will be downgraded but not the salary. They will be given a signing bonus in the form of 2.5% of their salary increment. These employees will sign fresh employment agreements accepting all terms and conditions. There will understandably be resistance against downgrading of other benefits, but this can be countered by presenting the advantages they have in this present package as compared to the previous one where their in hand salaries were being reduced. Thus, on the whole all those who were earlier on the brink of getting a salary reduction will actually be getting a hike. The second phase will be to address the issues of those who have not received any hike in wages. This would first require re-evaluation of the grades. So, it is assumed that majority of the issues will be resolved at this stage itself. For the rest of the cases a standard 2.5% increment can be provided as a sign-off increment. For these employees, other benefits will remain as per their grades. This would mean that the employees will have to start afresh as new employees with all previous terms standing null and void. They will have to accept the new terms of re-grading. These employees will also be at an advantage over previous situation though some of them might lose out on some benefits. Finally those employees who feel that their up gradation has not been up to the mark, again grade revaluation will be the first step. This revaluation should be done after taking into account all the grievances of the employees. The revaluation should be aimed at addressing majority of the issues avoiding only the unreasonable demands. At the end of above mentioned exercise, majority of the employees’ issues would have been addressed within a period of 6 to 9 months of starting the entire activity. However, a pre requisite to implementation of this policy should be to completely do away with the back pay policy. This implies that the policy will be effective from the date of signing of the new terms and not back dated to 1997. Since the major impact of this policy implementation will be on the financial aspect of the problem, it can be addressed by saving on the huge back payment amounts. Another option with respect to the back payment can be to pay only those employees who are very old in the system, for example those who have completed at least 15 years of service. The idea behind this policy is to compensate those who have devoted their entire life-time to service and have been performing their duties under unequal working conditions. This compensation will give them adequate justice towards the end of their career and will not be opposed much by other employees who will understand the underlying cause. In both the options, there will be reduced financial implications. Hence, the council will have to immediately arrange only for the partial back payments (if the second option is implemented) besides the increments. The councils can fund their salary increments by the government funding and self funding. Self funding options can be to increase the frontline service rates which mean tax increases. However, this will impact the general public. But, they will not be the only ones to bear the increment cost. The employees who are also the citizens will also be impacted by these taxes and will be partially funding the increments. However, if we look at the overall impact of the increased salaries, the increment in services rates will be negated. This is because increased salaries will drive consumer demand and hence boost the local economy. Read More