Human Resources and Industrial Relations: Experts discuss justice, fairness at work

Justice, proper conduct, fair treatment and equality for workers in factories and junior employees within organisations were some of the key issues raised at the CII's 5th Human Resources and Industrial Relations here on Thursday.

Industry leaders and experts from various fields agreed that, it is the minimum that employers need to practise in order to have a healthy work environment within the organisation.

In an environment where there have been several instances of HR executives losing lives in the line of duty including Awanish Kumar Dev of Maruti Suzuki in July this year, experts agreed that there is no justification to such violent acts but in the meantime the companies will have to take into account that their practices are just and equitable.

"Injustice is the liable cause for dissent and grief and irrespective of the wage or salary this is what needs to be cured. You cure it by ensuring that your conduct as an employer is on the platform of equitable, justice and fairmindedness," said Justice BN Srikrishna. "... it is employers with narrow thinking who give rise to a sense of discontent... and when they have no platform to raise their voices it leads them to take law into their hands."

Speaking at the occasion KV Kamath, chairman, ICICI Bank and Infosys took up the issue of evolution of employee-employer relationship in a dynamic world and touched upon the role of cable TV and social media that has provided information access to all and there exists no asymmetry.

Addressing the gathering Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief, The Indian Express, said that we may not have distributed wealth as well as we should have but have distributed aspirations much better.

"It is the aspirations that the employers and managers have to deal today. As a society we have to now learn to respect other people who are paid much less than us. They will continue to get paid much less but through our behaviour and the way we relate to them we have to try and bridge that gap," he said.

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