What’s the Difference Between Employment, Industrial, and Human Relations in the Workplace?

Understanding Employment Relations

The term "employment relation" refers to the relationship between an employer and an employee within an organization. It encompasses various aspects such as terms of employment, working conditions, rights, and responsibilities of both parties. The main concept of employment relation is to establish a mutually beneficial relationship that fosters productivity, job satisfaction, and organizational success.

Comparing Employment, Industrial, and Human Relations

In comparison, industrial relation focuses more on the relationship between employers, employees, and trade unions within a specific industry or sector. It deals with collective bargaining, dispute resolution, and labor management issues on a broader scale.

On the other hand, human relation emphasizes the interpersonal relationships and communication between individuals in the workplace. It highlights the importance of understanding human behavior, motivation, and teamwork to create a positive work environment.

Overall, while employment relation, industrial relation, and human relation share common elements related to work relationships, each concept has its unique focus and scope within the broader context of organizational dynamics.

There is no such term as "employment relation" in use in industrial employment. However, there is an expression known as the "employer-employee relationship" used in industrial employment. This expression has legal connotations, indicating certain features of the relationship whereby one person can be treated as an employee and the other as their employer. The features of such a relationship are that one person should hire another for some reward or remuneration (salary or wages) to do the work of the former under their supervision and control. You can also call it a master-servant relationship. From such a relationship will flow the terms of employment and conditions of service of the employees. Thus, this relationship is the foundation for determining the rights and obligations between the employer and the employee. It has no other purpose beyond this.

Understanding Industrial Relations

Industrial relation is a much wider term and is used to refer to the relations between the employer and the employees collectively, with reference not only to the terms of employment and conditions of service of employees but also to any issue that affects their terms of employment and conditions of service. These relations are governed and guided by negotiations or collective bargaining, culminating in settlements on such matters. For example, negotiations on terms of employment like working hours or leave, and conditions of service like bonuses or even issues like closure, etc., can fall under the ambit of industrial relations. Thus, the employer-employee relationship is more of an individual relationship between an employer and an employee, while industrial relations are more of a collective relationship between the employer on one side and the employees collectively on the other side. Thus, industrial relations indicate the working climate in an industry.

Exploring Human Relations

Human relations is an infinitely wider term that covers the whole gamut of the conduct of a human being in their relation with others and is characterized by qualities like empathy, sympathy, kindness, patience, listening to others, and rational thinking, etc. It can influence all other relations like employer-employee, industrial relations, social relations, or even relations between one nation and another.

Hope this helps to clarify the difference in scope and meaning of these expressions.

Regards,
B. Saikumar