Page 182 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK

Managing Human Element at Work

Notes In these circumstances countries in transition to a market economy are addressing a range of
problems such as: the role of employers’ and workers’ organizations; national policy formulation
through a tripartite process; a labour law system relevant to the new economic environment;
methods and criteria in wage determination; dispute prevention and settlement procedures
and mechanisms; and managing public sector enterprises in a competitive environment.

Example:
Industrial Relations Machinery in Maharashtra

There is statutory conciliation machinery in the state to settle actual and/or apprehended
industrial disputes both under the Industrial Disputes Act and the Bombay Industrial Relations
Act. In addition, there is a special service called Personnel Management Advisory Service
Scheme (PMAS), which has been in existence for a long time. The PMAS is ‘informal’
mediation machinery and deals with disputes as well as strikes and lockouts, “which cannot
normally be processed by the statutory conciliation Machinery” (sic). The officers under the
Scheme seek to “bring awareness among the contesting parties regarding their rights and
obligations under the various labour laws, agreements, settlements, awards, etc. and make
suitable recommendations to them for resolving their disputes”. The advice offered is purely
informal in nature. We evaluate the performance of both the machineries here.

Trends in Disposal by Conciliation Machinery in Maharashtra, 2006-2011
30

25

20

15

10

5

0
2000-012001-022002-032003-042004-05 2005-062006-07 2007-082008-09 2009-102010-11

The ‘disposal rate’ of disputes by the conciliation machinery (i.e. disputes resulting in
settlement as a proportion of number of disputes handled in a year) fluctuated for a few
years and started its downward slide from 2003-2004. While the number of disputes handled
has remained constant in the region of 6,000-7,000 in a year, the number of settled cases
declined considerably over the years.

Settlement Record of PMAS, 2001-11

Period Number of Cases Settled Disposal Rate (%)
Handled

2000-01 to 2004-05 36733 9385 25.5
2005-06 to 2008-09 72434 3988 5.5

2009-10 to 2010-11 17248 2883 16.7

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