What Are the Concepts in Industrial

Relations?
By Quentin Coleman, eHow Contributor
updated: April 15, 2010

Industrial relations describes the complex relationship between employers, such as management,
and employees, such as a union or other organization. To understand the fundamentals of industrial
relations, you must first be familiar with the responsibilities and right of all sides of
the business equation.

Employer
1. Employers are individuals or businesses that compensate an employee for services provided via
wages or a fixed payment. Employers invest money in hiring employees with the intention of
generating profit from ensuing transactions.
Employee
2. Employees seek an employer in their respective labor market to exchange services for
compensation. This term only applies to transactions between a business and individual or between
two individuals. It does not apply to a business-to-business transaction, even if there is an exchange
of services and compensation.
Industry
3. The term "industry" refers to the collaborative effort and results of the employer and employees. An
industry often specializes in a particular product or service.
Labor Market
4. Employers and employees seek one another in a labor market, which is created by the collective
needs of job providers and job seekers. This market is in constant fluctuation depending on the
industry and physical location (labor markets are often restricted to a particular geographical area,
such as New York City).
Relations
5. "Relations" describes the interactions and communications between two representative bodies,
which could include employers as management and employees as unions. The relationship between
these two groups is sometimes strained, and poor relations can eventually destroy the profitability or
success of an industry.

Nature of industrial relations ;-

1.Industrial relations are the relations, which are the outcome of the“employment
relationship” in an industrial enterprise. Without theexistence of two parties, the
employer and the workmen suchrelationship cannot exist.
2. This relationship emphasises on the process of accommodationswhereby the parties
involved develop skills and methods of adjustingto and cooperating with each other.
3. The government/State evolves, influences and shapes industrialrelations with the help of
laws, rules, agreements, awards of the courts,and emphasis on usages, customs,
traditions, implementations of itspolicies and interference through executive and judicial
machinery.

4.Every industrial relations system creates a complex of rules andregulations to govern the
work place, and work community with themain purpose of maintaining harmonious
relations between labourand management by solving their problems through
collectivebargaining.

Objectives of industrial relations

The primary objective of industrial relations is to maintain congenial relations between
employees and employer. The other objectives are:
1.To promote and develop congenial labor management relations.
2.To enhance the economic status of the worker by improving wages, benefits and by
helping the worker in evolving sound budget.
3.To regulate the production by minimizing industrial conflicts through state control.
4.To socialize industries by making the government as an employer.
5.To provide an opportunity to the workers to have a say in the management and
decision-making.
6.To improve workers’ strength with a view to solve their problems through mutual
negotiations and consultation with the management.
7.To encourage and develop trade unions in order to improve the workers’ strength,
8.To avoid industrial conflict and their consequences and
9.To extend and maintain industrial democracy.