Factors affecting Industrial Relations

Interactive and Consultative in Nature:

Industrial relations in­cludes individual relations and joint consultation between labour, management, unions, the state etc. It pinpoints the importance of compromise and accommodation in place of conflict and contro­versy in resolving disputes between labour and management.

Government’s Role:

The government influences and shapes indus­trial relations with the help of laws, rules, agreements, awards of courts and emphasis on usages, customs, traditions, as well as the implementation of its policies and interference through executive and judicial machinery.

Employer-Employee Interactions:

Industrial relations arise out of em­ployer-employee interactions. These relations cannot exist without the basic building blocks, i.e., the employer on one side and the employees on the other side.

Dynamic and Changing:

Industrial relations change with the times, generally keeping pace with the expectations of employees, trade unions, employers’ associations, and other economic and social institutions in a society. Apart from the legal framework, these societal forces generally influence the direction of industrial re­lations within a country.

Economic Factors:

These factors include economic organisations, like capitalist, communist, mixed, etc., the structure of labour force, demand for and supply of labour force, etc.

Institutional Factors:

These factors include government policy, la­bour legislation, voluntary courts, collective agreements, employee courts, employers’ federations, social institutions like community, caste, joint family, creed, system of beliefs, attitudes of workers, system of power, status, etc.

Web of Rules:

Industrial relations are a ‘web of rules’ formed by the interaction of the government, the industry and the labour. They include the relations between employer and employees and between employers’ associations, trade unions as well as the State.

Technological Factors:

These factors include mechanisation, automation, rationalisation, computerisation etc.

Spirit of Compromise and Accommodation:

The industrial relations system is characterized by forces of conflict and compromise on either side. In the larger interests of society, both the employer and the employees must put out fires amicably and get along with each other in a spirit of compromise and accommodation. The individual differences and disagreements must be dissolved through persuasion and even pressure. The factors responsible for conflictful situations need to be resolved through constructive mechanism.

Wide Coverage:

The scope of industrial relations is wide enough to cover a vast territory comprising of grievances, disciplinary measures, ethics, standing orders, collective bargaining, partici­patory schemes, dispute settlement mechanisms etc.