CONCEPT What is Industrial Discipline?

Discipline in simple words means the presence of orderliness in any particular field of activity. It implies the absence of chaos, irregularity, disorder and confusion in human behaviour and action. It simply means working, cooperating and behaving in a normal and orderly way that is expected from an employee This is a force that prompts the employee to observe rules, regulations and procedure to attain objectives of the organisation.

Benefits of Discipline
Willingness to accept rules, regulations and procedures of the organisation Develop a feeling of cooperation and a spirit of tolerance Give and seek direction and responsibility Create an atmosphere of respect for human personality and maintain good industrial relations Promote industrial morale and efficiency among employees

Indiscipline is absence of Discipline

Misconduct is violation of any rules/regulations of the Company, mentioned in Standing Orders

Causes of Indiscipline / Misconduct

Nature of People & Personality Lack of supervision / Control Lack of well defined code of conduct Inter-personal Conflict Inadequate attention to personal issues Victimization & Insulting the employee Lack of Motivation Delay in grievance redressal Mal intention Unwillingness to work Misuse of power and influence

Types of Misconduct under Standing Orders

Minor Misconduct Major Misconduct Annexure Annexure A B

As per Certified Standing Orders of Hindustan Motors Ltd; Pithampur

Annexure A Minor Misconduct: -

1) Not commencing work at the notified time or stopping work before the notified finishing time. 2) Failure to notify the Company any change in address 3) Not taking proper care of tools, gauges, jigs, fixtures or drawings etc. entrusted to him. 4) Committing nuisance on the factory premises except at places specially earmarked for the purpose. 5) Bad time keeping or habitual late attendance. 6) Quarrelling which may have subversive effect on factory discipline. 7) Leaving his place of work without permission during working hours. 8) Absence without permission or adequate reason. 9) Obtaining or attempting to obtain leave of absence by false pretences. 10) Entering another department or shop otherwise than in the course of duty. 11) Entering or leaving factory premises expect through gate or gates specified for the purpose. 12) Failure to keep the cycle or any other conveyance at the specified place. 13) Not keeping his machine and / or work place clean and tidy during working and particularly at the end of shift. 14) Breach of Standing Orders or any rules or regulations or notice issued thereunder 15) Laziness and inefficiency 16) Carelessness or negligent work.

Annexure B

Major Misconduct: 1) Failure/Refusal to observe safety instructions or to wear / use protective devices. 2) Insubordination or insult to superiors or insolent behaviour or disobedience of any lawful/reasonable order of a superior. 3) Participation in or instigation to an illegal strike 4) Engaging in any activity that may bring disrespect to the Companys Officers or bring disrepute to the company. 5) Slowing down in performance of work or inciting others to resort to deliberate go-slow policy. 6) Sleeping on duty. 7) Refusal to accept transfer from one shift to another or from one section or department to another or from one place to another, whether locally or out of station, or from one establishment to any other establishment under the same management. 8) Gaining admission to the Companys premises by impersonation or by production of false identity cards or aiding or abetting others to do so. 9) Refusal to work on another job or on another machine on hour to hour or day to day basis. 10) Failure to carry out work in accordance with general or specific instructions given by the Officers of the Company directly or through delegated authority. 11) Theft within the factory or fraud or dishonesty in connection with the Companys business. 12) Taking out of the works any article or material belonging to the Company without a Gate Pass issued by the Company. 13) Hiding away or attempting to hide away any article or material.

14) Demanding, offering or accepting bribes or any illegal gratification in connection with Companys business or in his own interest. 15) Habitual absence without permission. 16) Unauthorized absence from duty or overstaying the sanctioned leave for more than 10 consecutive days but not exceeding 30 days. 17) Soliciting or collecting contributions for any purpose whatsoever at any time in the factory premises without permission of Manager in writing. 18) Engaging in private work or trade within the factory or engaging in other employment whilst still in the service of the Co0mpany without the permission of the Manger in writing. 19) Riotous or disorderly behaviour, threatening, intimidating, coercing other employee or employees, assault or threat of assault either provoked or otherwise, within the factory premises or outside having subversive effect on factory discipline. 20) Drunkenness, intoxication or indecent behaviour inside the factory premises. 21) Commission of any acts subversive of discipline. 22) Gross neglect of work or gross or habitual negligence, loitering, idling or wasting time during working hours or malingering or remaining on the Companys premises after authorised hours of work without permission. 23) Canvassing for Union or party membership or the collection of Union or party dues, funds or contributions on the Companys premises without permission of the Manager. 24) Organising, holding, attending or taking part in any meeting within the factory premises without the prior sanction of the Manager in writing.

25) Deliberately making false, vicious or malicious statements in public or otherwise against the Company or any other officer or employee of the factory. 26) a) Irresponsible action resulting in damage to any goods or property on the Companys premises. b) Willful damage or damages due to negligence or carelessness to work in process or to any other property of Company. 27) Not taking reasonable precautions to safeguard the Companys property and to prevent accident or damage to it. 28) Any communication, statement written or oral containing abusive, insulting, disrespectful, scandalous, malicious or slanderous language and addressed or meant for any of the superior or higher officer or the Company itself 29) Disclosing to any person, information in regard to processes of the Company without its authority. 30) Gambling within the Companys premises. 31) Smoking within the Companys premises in places where it is prohibited. 32) Conduct within the factory, which is likely to endanger the life or safety of any person. 33) Failure to report at once to his Supervisor or Manager any defect, which a workman may notice in any equipment, connected with his work. 34) Not immediately reporting any defect or occurrence which a worker may notice and which might endanger himself or any other person or might result in damage to the Companys or any persons property. 35) Refusal to accept a charge sheet, order or other communication served either in accordance with the Standing Order(s) or in the interest of discipline.

36) Giving false information regarding his name, age, fathers name, qualification or previous service at the time of employment or thereafter. 37) Interfering with the record of attendance or means of recording attendance of himself or any other workman or willful falsification, defacement or destruction of any records of the Company. 38) Making or giving false statement before a superior or forging the signature of a supervisor. 39) Conviction by court of law for an offence involving moral turpitude. 40) Distributing or exhibiting within the factory premises any hand-bills, newspapers, pamphlets, posters or causing to be displayed by means of signs or writing or other visible representation on any matter, without the previous sanction of the Manager in writing. 41) Possession of any lethal weapon on the Companys premises without the permission of the Manger in writing. 42) Unauthorised use or forcible occupation of the Companys quarters. 43) Money lending or borrowing amongst factory workers. 44) The commission of a minor misdemeanor after three previous warnings, fines or suspension or the habitual breach of any law or rule applicable to the Factory. 45) Instigation, incitement, abatement or furtherance of any of acts of misconduct.

Punishment for Misconduct

(a) A workman shall be liable to be dismissed if he has been guilty of a major misdemeanor. A workman dismissed for major misdemeanor shall bot be entitled to any notice or pay in lieu of notice and therefore shall bot be entailed to any

benefits or privileges under these Standing Orders or any other benefits or privileges provided by the Company. (b) The Company may at its sole discretion give a workman the following punishment in lieu of dismissal:i) ii) iii) Censure or warning or Suspend him (without pay) for a period not exceeding 10 days in the case of weekly paid workman and not exceeding 30 days in the case of monthly paid workman or Withhold his increment , reduce his pay or demote him

c) Apart from any other course of action the Company may choose to take against any workman for any misconduct under clauses 26 (a), 26 (b) and 27 above, the Company shall have the right to recover the entire cost and expenses from such workman in respect of any loss or damage caused to the property or premises of the Company due to such misconduct, subject to the provisions of the Payment of Wages Act. 1936.

Alternatives to Disciplinary Action

Look at the person not the problem Help him to come out of the problem
Personal Counseling Advice Observation & Monitoring

 Guidance & Mentoring Educating

What is Disciplinary Action?

It is the formal action initiated on the event of breach of any discipline. It is a structured process to investigate the charge (s). It aims at investigating the charges(s) and find out the facts and punish the accused if the charge(s) against him is / are proved.

Disciplinary Action & Hot-Stove Rule

Founded by Douglas Mc.Gregor by an analogy between touch a hot stove and undergoing an indiscipline. When a person touches a hot stove; The burn is immediate He knows what will happen if he touches it. The effect is consistent. Anyone, who touches a red-hot stove, would get burnt. The effect is impersonal and equal to all. The effect is commensurate with the gravity of misconduct

Framing Complaint & Charge Sheet Complaint: -

State the date, time and place of the misconduct Explain in brief the happening Name the person involved in the incidents Mention the name(s) of witness (s) Quote the language used by the employee Highlight the behaviour and reaction of the employee Streamline the adverse effect of the incident on production, discipline of the shop, colleagues, superiors or financial aspect whatever is applicable Attach corroborative document or statement of witness The complaint should be duly signed by the complainant with date and send it to Factory Manager through HOD/Plant Leader without little delay

Charge Sheet: -

To be prepared only after satisfactory findings of charge and preliminary investigation Mention the Name , Designation and EMP. No of the delinquent employee State the charge with date , time and its effect on concrete and clear words

 Give reference of violation of section / sub-section of Standing Orders State clearly the time within which the employee should reply. It should be signed by Factory Manager or the person authorised by him in this behalf. It should be server by HOD or HRM Dept personally in front of any witness. An acknowledgement from the employee must be taken compulsorily. Give copy of complaint if necessary Give reference of past conduct & records whenever required.

Steps of Disciplinary Action

(Correcting At Your Level/ Counselling) (Bringing upto the Departmental Heads Notice) Written Complaint Preliminary Inquiry (Counselling) Charge Sheet Written Explanation from the Accused Employee

 Within 24 hours in case of Minor Misconduct Within 72 hours in case of Major Misconduct (Case May Be Dropped in Explanation is found Satisfactory by giving Warning/ Advice) Notice of Enquiry if explanation is not found satisfactory Appointment of Enquiry Officer Conducting Domestic Enquiry Receipt of Findings Report from the Enquiry Officer Decision by Factory Manager Communication of Decision to accused employee in writing

HOW TO CONDUCT A DOMESTIC ENQUIRY

STEP 1 Record the names of the persons present at the enquiry Explain the procedure to be followed in the enquiry to the employee in his own language or through an interpreter acceptable to both sides. Explain the charge as per the charge sheet to the employee.

Repeat to the employee that he has full opportunity to answer to the charges made against him and to call his own witnesses and cross-examine witnesses on whose evidence the charges stand.

STEP 2: Examine the complainant and his witnesses, and record their statements. Give opportunity (not during the recording of the complainants or witnesses statements but after he has been completed) to the employee to cross-examine the complainant and his witnesses. The cross-examination in the form of question and answer should be recorded faithfully. If the employee declines to cross-examine the complainant or his witnesses this should be recorded.

STEP 3: Examine the witnesses of the complainant separately. Ensure that only one witness is present during examination or crossexamination. The examination of the witnesses must be done in the presence of the employee charge-sheeted and his friend if any may help him in his defence. His friend can cross-examine.

SETP 4:

 Ask the employee charge-sheeted to state his case and record the same. Ask the employee charge-sheeted to produce his witnesses one at a time and record their full statements separately. After the charge-sheeted employees and his witnesses statements have been recorded, give opportunity to complainant to cross-examine them.

General Guidelines in Conducting of an Enquiry

Record must be made of each statement The Enquiry Officer has the discretion to refuse to record anything, which, in his opinion, is irrelevant for the purpose of the enquiry. The relevancy or otherwise should be carefully examined before refusing to record the same. Each page of the enquiry proceedings should be signed by the charge-sheeted employee, and suitable attestation made that the contends were explained to the employee and he understands the same. Each signature should be dated. The Enquiry Officer should sing each page of the enquiry proceedings.

All witnesses must sign at the bottom of their respective statement.

Adjournment: A request by the employee for an adjournment on reasonable grounds may be accepted by the Enquiry Officer and the enquiry is adjourned based on the genuineness of the request. After such adjournment, if the employee does not attend the enquiry, the Enquiry Officer should record this and hold his enquiry ex-party and give his findings. Even if the employee charge-sheeted admits his quilt during the enquiry, and makes a statement to this effect or gives a written statement, the enquiry should still continue and the Enquiry Officer should give his findings. The employee must be furnished with a copy of the proceedings by the Enquiry Officer.

Ex-party Enquiry: If the employee who has been charge-sheeted does not present himself at the appointed time and there is also no request from him asking for an adjournment of the enquiry proceedings or the reasons given for adjournment are not considered satisfactory and justified by the Enquiry Officer and it is found that the

employee is indulging in dilatory tactics, the Enquiry Officer may hold the Enquiry ex-party according to the notice given and give his findings accordingly.

Findings & Report of the Enquiry Officer: The Enquiry Officer is required to give his conclusions in a brief report indicating the reasons for arriving at his conclusion. The Enquiry Officer must avoid bringing extraneous matters, which are totally unconnected with the charges, and he should only rely on the material on record. The Enquiry Officer, while making his recommendations, may take into account the previous record of the employee, but should bot base his decision on such record.

Procedure to be followed on the submission of findings: -

The Enquiry Officers findings should be submitted, in duplicate, to the Factory Manager who will examine them in consultation with the HOD. It will be his responsibility to ensure that all factors are carefully weighed and reactions properly assessed before his final decision.

Elements of a Good Domestic Enquiry

Keep an unbiased approach Listen both the parties very carefully Record each statement word to word. Allow only one party to speak at one time. Observe the Principle of Natural Justice An unbaised person to hear the case Giving opportunity to defend Right to cross-examine Right to produce witness and representative Evidence against the employee should be Produced in his presence

Guiding the proceedings whenever required Objecting to questions which is not relevant Each document / record should be signed and to be obtained in original Signatures of all concerned to be obtained on each page of proceeding. Enquiry to be carried on in view of present charge sheet only Re-examination of witness can be done if required.

Donts for the Enquiry Officer

Acting as prosecutor Helping either side to strengthen its case Cross examining any witness Not recording the proceedings properly Loosing composure and patience Taking short cut

Uphold the Spirit of Justice

CASE STUDY ON DOMESTIC ENQUIRY

Domestic Enquiry A Case Study

A company had engaged a contractor for running their captive power generator set. The contractor employed workers to operate the generator. The contractors workers went on strike for some reasons. In order, not to make the company suffer loss of production, for want of power the contractor promised to the management to run the generators himself and requested the management to render helping hand. The management assured to render help. Accordingly on the next morning the contractor initiated action to start the generator, for which diesel was required to be poured into the generator first. For pouring operations, the contractor needed company help. The DGM Production along with two Supervisors reached the spot and started helping the contractor in pouring diesel into the generator. As the pouring work was in progress, a mob of company workers, led by the General Secretary of the company workers union, rushed to the generator room and started manhandling and abusing the management personnel and the contractor. They snatched and damaged the pipe, keep etc used for the pouring purpose. They also threatened to set the generator room on fire, with the management personnel inside. Some body

also tried to bolt the door from outside but before he could do that, the two supervisors managed to come out and started shouting for help and thus foiled the attempt of the workmen to bolt the door. Ultimately the DGM and the contractor also came out. In the mean time the security officer, the Personnel Manager, the Production Manager and a few more management personnel reached the spot upon receiving the message. By seeing them the workers also dispersed. A report of the incident was made by the DGM and submitted to the General Manager. Based on the report, three workers identified and named in the report, were charge-sheeted after the preliminary investigation. The charges leveled against the workers included leaving the work place without permission, manhandling, abusing and threatening the management personnel and interfering in company work. The union threatened to resort to strike if the charge sheets were not withdrawn, since they claimed that the charges were false and fabricated. However they did not do that. Not satisfied with the explanations of the accused workers, domestic enquiry was ordered. A retired District Judge was appointed Enquiry Officer. Personnel Manager was made the management representative. Charges being similar, only one enquiry was ordered for all the three accused. The standing Orders applicable to the establishment had provision for assistance to the accused workers by the Union Office bearers. On the first sitting of the enquiry, the accused workers raised a dispute asking assistance of the Union Leaders from their Federation based at Kolkata, which their union was affiliated to. At the objection taken by the management representative, the enquiry officer denied assistance of the federation representative from Kolkata and advised them to bring office bearers from the plant level union of which the accused were direct members. The workers remained adamant on three/four sittings and they came to terms only when

the enquiry officer warned to proceed ex-parte enquiry. The next dispute raised by the workers that each of the accused wanted a separate assistant, although one single enquiry was going on. In order not to cause more delay, the management representative agreed for each accused taking assistance of separate union office bearer. As usual the workers denied the charges and therefore the enquiry proceeded. Management had to prove the following charges : 1. Leaving the place of work without permission. 2. Manhandling the management personnel 3. Interfering in companys normal work. The process of recording evidence of the management witnesses started. The accused workers played delaying tactics by one of them remaining absent on each occasion and the remaining two taking adjournment. Management then had to request for separate enquiry for the three. The request was accepted by the Enquiry officer. The management in its evidence got recorded the following 1. The union Secretary and other workers reaching the spot without permission. 2. Manhandling, abusing and threatening the DGM and other supervisors. 3. Interfering in the company work without any bonafides (the contractors workers were not their members). The management witnesses were cross examined by the accused workers and their aids. The accused workers evidence was recorded in which they denied the charges and tried to allege the DGM and the two Supervisors and the contractor for illegally running the generator. They also tried to say that the management personnel abused and threatened them.

In the cross examination, the accused workers faltered in admitting their having gone to the generator room and tried to justify stating that they had gone there to protect the contractors workers. They could not produce any evidence to substantiate the management personnel threatening or abusing them. On the contrary the contractors workers who appeared as witnesses had stated that the company workers scuffled with management personnel in order to rescue them from the DGM and others.

Findings :
The enquiry officer in his findings found the three accused workers guilty of the charges of - 1) Leaving the work place without permission, 2) Manhandling the DGM, abusing and threatening him, the two supervisors and the contractor, 3) interfering in the company work. The enquiry officer had come to the conclusions based on the following evidence :1. Accused workers own admission of having gone to the generator room which was unauthorized; 2. Evidence of the DGM and other management witnesses; 3. Statement of the contractors workers which confirmed manhandling, abusing and threatening by the accused; 4. Circumstantial evidence of broken pipe, keep and other tools used for pouring diesel into the generator; 5. Union not resorting to strike which they had threatened claiming that the charges framed against the workmen were false and if not withdrawn, they would resort to strike, which ultimately did not do.