How Should HR Handle Worker Misconduct When Politics and Influence Are Involved?

Hi, we have some issues with the workers, and management wants to terminate or force resignation based on the following points. As an HR professional, can I take action abruptly or by giving one month's notice?

Issues with Workers

1. Shouting in the factory and fighting with each other.
2. Not obeying the supervisor's instructions.
3. Low performance.
4. Sleeping during the night and being caught on camera.
5. Speaking negatively about the company, such as mentioning low bank balances, etc.
6. Wasting raw materials and fuel consumption, etc.
7. Preventing others from doing overtime.
8. Consuming alcohol and entering the factory on religious days and festivals.

These workers are local and have political influence, so previous HR professionals have not taken action against them. I need your advice on how to proceed.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Stephen

Legal Considerations for Issuing a Charge Sheet

Legally, you can issue a charge sheet and conduct a proper inquiry. You have evidence, so your position is strong. However, practically, if legal action is taken, they may retaliate. As you have mentioned, they have political support as well, so it will be difficult for you to cope with the situation because life-threatening situations may be created. Think wisely before taking action.

Regards.

Based on the issue, you can take actions like suspension, issuing a memo warning, and also termination, which seems to be a very strong measure. Therefore, you don't have to wait; you can act immediately and remove the negative elements from the organization before the issue spreads further. If you, as a professional, do not fear political support or personal threats, and if it is ethically wrong or against company policy, you should act accordingly.

Handling Misconduct and Termination Procedures

The acts you listed for which your management wants you to terminate must have been enumerated as misconduct in your standing orders. You cannot abruptly and unilaterally terminate the services of a workman without hearing them as per the principles of natural justice. For this, you need to take the following steps:

1. Serve a chargesheet on the workman concerned who has committed the misconduct, specifying the allegations, and calling for an explanation from them in respect of the allegations.

2. If the explanation is not satisfactory, conduct a domestic enquiry, appointing an enquiry officer who is unbiased.

3. If he is found guilty, pass appropriate punishment, including dismissal if the misconduct deserves it.

The procedure is necessary to make management action fool-proof; failing which, it will not be sustainable in the courts of law, and the workman may come back, this time much more emboldened.

However, you need to be tactful in handling it and devise a strategy as you have said that they have political clout. You need to appraise the management of the possible ill consequences of faulty action. The management probably wants to avoid the disciplinary action route to avoid any unpleasant situation, but they need to be bold. But you cannot take on all union members at a time. Strategize your approach.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

Mumbai

I fully agree with the advice from "Anonymous." Think 100 times before taking any action. Just take a lesson from the incident that occurred at the Maruti Plant. It was none other than the HR Manager who was targeted. Handling these issues is like playing with fire; be cautious. Utmost diplomacy is required in tackling these issues. Very few HR managers have a pleasant experience in handling these kinds of issues. Good luck.

Regards,

You need to conduct disciplinary proceedings within the company and for the Labour department in a planned manner acceptable under the law. However, you should be cautious while awarding punishment; management actions should not cause hurdles to the business.

With regard to political and local body influence, you need to build or establish contacts and help them understand the business disciplines within the working area, which are very important for production and the safety of employees. Unless the business runs well and sustains itself, it poses a threat to the industry.

While the disciplinary proceedings are in progress, you need to conduct counseling sessions with other employees to emphasize how important they are to the company. You also need to convince management to boost morale among workers, provide human relations and behavioral training programs in your company, and build teams to strengthen relationships.

Apart from the above, I would like to add some points. First, if your company has any certified standing orders, kindly go through them. If not, study the model standing orders prevailing in your state. For the above-mentioned misconducts, you can issue charge sheets to the miscreant employees, and a domestic enquiry has to be conducted against those employees. Kindly contact a labor lawyer who has expertise in conducting domestic enquiries. Collect evidence against the employees.

Apart from that, you have to convince the local political parties by explaining the situation. While taking all the actions, you should help other employees understand, and some of them should join you. Make them satisfied that the management is with them only to take care of and support them. Finally, you have to take utmost care of yourself because it will be projected that you initiated disciplinary action against him.

With Regards,
S. Magesh

Whatever you may want to do, don't compromise on initiating a domestic inquiry. For any action on disciplinary grounds, direct termination or dismissal should be the last resort. Before that, you have to explore other avenues like issuing warnings, implementing suspensions, demotions, or withholding increments.

By the way, do you have any other branches where these individuals could be transferred?

Regards,
Kumar.s.