Grievance Handling: Definition, Features Causes, and Effects

Introduction and Definition of Grievance:

A grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice having connection with one’s employment situ­ation which is brought to the attention of management. Speaking broadly, a grievance is any dissatisfac­tion that adversely affects organizational relations and productivity. To understand what a grievance is, it is necessary to distinguish between dissatisfaction, complaint, and grievance.

1. Dissatisfaction is anything that disturbs an employee, whether or not the unrest is expressed in words.
2. Complaint is a spoken or written dissatisfaction brought to the attention of the supervisor or the shop steward.

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3. Grievance is a complaint that has been formally presented to a management representative or to a union official.

According to Michael Jucious, ‘grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction whether expressed or not, whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company which an employee thinks, believes or even feels to be unfair, unjust or inequitable’.
In short, grievance is a state of dissatisfaction, expressed or unexpressed, written or unwritten, justified or unjustified, having connection with employment situation.