Although it is desirable that the workplace become a haven
of peace and tranquility it so happens that issues and complaints arise. Shelly
Frost of Demand Media noted that issues and complaints arise even in
organizations with strong management and competent workforce. In this article
the author will focus on the internal workplace employee grievance handling
procedures.
“A real or imagined cause for complaint, especially unfair
treatment” is a web definition of a grievance. The National Employment council
for the Welfare and Educational Institutions of Zimbabwe (2005:8) defines a
grievance as a complaint or dissatisfaction by an employee or employees about a
particular condition or about general conditions of employment including any
particular behavior on the part of management or fellow employees.
Kay Miranda of Demand Media list issues which may trigger a
grievance as follows; things you are being asked to do as part of your job, the
terms and conditions of your employment contract, for example your pay, the way
you are treated at work, discrimination at work, promotion issues, unfair
transfers, demotions, underpayments, you might think that your colleagues are
bullying you because of your race, age disability or gender.
It is therefore, necessary for every employee to know the
correct channels to follow in case of any complaint or grievances arising in
order get a redress to any problems faced at work. Grievance handling procedures
are normally detailed in a document called the Code of Conduct sometimes termed
the code of ethics which sets the standard to legal, moral and superior work
environment. Carter McNamara as quoted by Kay Miranda says, “Ethics is learning
the difference between right and wrong, and then doing the right thing”. That
is the aim of a written down code of conduct, to stipulate the right and wrong
behaviors at a workplace and try by all means to encourage both the employer
and the employee to choose right practices and behaviors.
The Labour Act Chapter 28:01 Section 101 disqualifies most
of the Codes of Conducts used by some of the Zimbabwean organizations. A code
of conduct is a negotiated document between the employer and employees
represented by the Workers Union. There is no room for any employer to impose
any code of conduct on workers without any consultation with the Workers Union
in the Works Council. The negotiated and agreed code of conduct must then be
registered with the Ministry of Labor through the Ministry’s Registrar in terms
of Section 101 (1).It is the prerogative of the Registrar to register the Code
of Conduct or refer the code to the Works Council for corrections or
improvement.
The Labor Act goes on to say where there is a National
Employment registered Code of Conduct all organizations falling within the
industry covered by that particular National Employment Council are bound to
use that NEC’s Code of Conduct save for organization which may need to apply
for exceptions by applying direct to the NEC covering its industry to register
its own code of conduct.
There is a number of unregistered codes of conduct out there,
such codes have no legal basis and that employees must verify if Codes of
Conduct used at their workplace are registered by the Ministry of Labour or not.
If a Code of Conduct is not registered, it cannot be used in either grievance
handling or disciplinary issues.
Usually most Codes of Conduct encourages that grievances be
settled informally where an aggrieved employee just talks with his/her
immediate supervisor and then the supervisor solves the dispute. However, this
is not always the case because sometimes the immediate supervisor will be the
cause of grievance or dispute. In such cases an employee can write a formal
complaint as a MEMO or he/she fills grievance forms specifically designed for
that. The grievance forms are usually kept by the Human Resources Department.
The employee then forwards the letter or form to the immediate supervisor.
The NEC Code of Conduct for the Welfare and Educational
Institutions in Zimbabwe (2005:9) states that “A grievance must be redressed as
expeditiously as possible. In redressing the grievance the employee
must be afforded an opportunity to state his grievance and all principles of
natural justice must be observed.”[Emphasis mine]
Usually the Code of Conduct must state the number of days
the immediate supervisor or any internal appeal authority must respond to the grievance.
If the employee is dissatisfied with the response or he/she receives no response
at all with the stipulated time of response he/she can appeal to the next
internal authority as laid down in the code of conduct.
Workers are encouraged to exhaust local remedies as they
pursue their grievance to be addressed
before attempting to seek for redress with Labor Officers or the NEC designated
agents. Failure to exhaust local remedies may turn a sat back especially when
cases are appealed in court where judges may rule in favor of the employer by
referring cases back to internal grievance handling committees all because the
employee did not exhaust local remedies.
At one point the employer must sat a Grievance Handling
Committee to investigate and hear the employee’s concern and make a ruling for
or against the employee depending on the facts gathered by the committee. If
the employee is still not satisfied by the ruling of the internal Grievances
Handling Committee, having been satisfied that local remedies have been
exhausted as detailed in the Code of Conduct, the employee may escalate the
grievance or dispute to the Labour Officers of the Ministry of Labour or the
National Employment Council Designated Agents for redress. The author will
write another article on conciliation and arbitration.
Employers are encouraged to solve employees’ grievances
internally with empathy and avoid unnecessary grand standing. Allowing
sometimes petty grievance to escalate outside to Labour Officers, NEC
Designated agents and courts may impact negatively on the company’s image and
may result in unnecessary costs such as legal fees and attachment of property
by the Sherriff or the messenger ofcourt.
Etiwel
Mutero holds a B.Sc. Honors Degree in Records and Archives Management. You can
contact him on +263773614293 or email him on etiwelm02@gmail.com or on facebook.com/emutero