Welfare
includes anything that is done for the comfort and improvement of employees and
is provided over and above the wages. Welfare helps in keeping the morale and
motivation of the employees high so as to retain the employees for longer
duration. The welfare measures need not be in monetary terms only but
in any kind/forms. Employee welfare includes monitoring of working conditions,
creation of industrial harmony through infrastructure for health, industrial
relations and insurance against disease, accident and unemployment for the
workers and their families.
Labour
welfare entails all those activities of employer which are directed
towards providing the employees with certain facilities and services in
addition to wages or salaries.
Labour
welfare has the following objectives:
1. To provide better life and health to the workers
2. To make the workers happy and satisfied
3. To relieve workers from industrial fatigue and to improve
intellectual, cultural and material conditions of living of the workers.
The basic
features of labour welfare measures are as follows:
1. Labour welfare includes various facilities, services and
amenities provided to workers for improving their health, efficiency, economic
betterment and social status.
2. Welfare measures are in addition to regular wages and other
economic benefits available to workers due to legal provisions and collective
bargaining
3. Labour welfare schemes are flexible and ever-changing. New welfare
measures are added to the existing ones from time to time.
4. Welfare measures may be introduced by the employers, government,
employees or by any social or charitable agency.
5. The purpose of labour welfare is to bring about the
development of the whole personality of the workers to make a better
workforce.
The very
logic behind providing welfare schemes is to create efficient,
healthy, loyal and satisfied labour force for the organization. The purpose of
providing such facilities is to make their work life better and also to raise
their standard of living. The important benefits of welfare measures can
be summarized as follows:
·
They provide better
physical and mental health to workers and thus promote a healthy work
environment
·
Facilities like housing
schemes, medical benefits, and education and recreation facilities for workers’
families help in raising their standards of living. This makes workers to pay
more attention towards work and thus increases their productivity.
·
Employers get stable labour
force by providing welfare facilities. Workers take active interest in their
jobs and work with a feeling of involvement and participation.
·
Employee welfare
measures increase the productivity of organization and promote healthy
industrial relations thereby maintaining industrial peace.
·
The social evils prevalent
among the labours such as substance abuse, etc are reduced to a greater extent
by the welfare policies.
·
The role of TISCO, in
Jamshedpur in initiative in welfare measures for the betterment of
their workers
Throughout
its hundred-year existence, Tata Steel has never lost sight of the welfare of
its employees. Over the years, the company has taken progressive steps towards
bettering their professional as well as personal lives, fostering a culture of
knowledge management, providing equal opportunities for women and encouraging
innovation.
Right
from the time he launched Tata Steel, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata gave paramount
importance to workers’ welfare. His son Sir Dorab Tata later wrote, “The
welfare of the labouring class must be one of the first cares of the employer.”
A pioneer in employee welfare, Tata Steel, even in its nascent years, brought
in social scientists like Sidney and Beatrice Webb to work on welfare
schemes. In fact, some of the initiatives introduced by the company were not
only the first of its kind in India, but also in many Western countries at that
time.
Apart
from building housing blocks for its employees, offering civic amenities and
infrastructure, as early as 1912, the company introduced eight-hour working
days; free medical aid was introduced in 1915; initiatives like leave with pay,
Workers’ Provident Fund Scheme, and Workmen’s Accident Compensation Scheme were
introduced in 1920; maternity benefits were introduced in 1928;
profit sharing bonus was granted for first time in the country by the company
in 1934, and a scheme of retiring gratuity in 1937. This tradition continues
till date. In 2002, the company launched Shabash – a weekly scheme offering
instant rewards and recognition to employees for exemplary behaviour.
In 2003,
TISCO launched Tejaswini, a women’s empowerment programme – the first of its
kind in the country – that trains women to take up unconventional jobs in the
steel works. The same year, the company celebrated 75 years of industrial
harmony and mutual cooperation, coordination and understanding between the
management and the union. It has twice been voted Asia’s Most Admired Knowledge
Enterprise.
The
employees in turn have reciprocated these measures with their unflinching
loyalty. Generation after generation of employees have identified themselves
with the cause of the company. In fact, today, the 17,000-strong workforce
pools in talent and trust to empower the company to seize the opportunities of
tomorrow.
TISCO’s
commitment to improving the quality of life is not restricted to its workers
but also to the community around its plants. As early as 1916, a social welfare
scheme was formulated by TISCO to assist people in the region in
education, vocational training, self-employment and family welfare. A night
school was started at Golmuri, in Jamshedpur, in 1936 to impart literacy to
those who had to labour during the day. The company has also hosted the Lifeline
Express – the world’s first hospital on a train – which provides medical
treatment to the poor in rural areas around Jamshedpur.
In 1958,
Tata Steel established its first community development centre. Today there are
nine such centres through which the destitute, widows, the unemployed and the
youth are not only trained in various crafts but are also provided social
assistance and recreational facilities. Women who are in financial distress are
taught sewing, embroidery, doll-making, and midwifery; unemployed youth are
taught typing, plumbing, motor mechanics, carpentry and skills to repair
refrigerators and air conditioners.
In 1908,
the Tata Main Hospital began to function from an 80-square-foot tent, divided
into two small sections – the dispensary and the chief medical officer’s room.
The workers who helped the company run the hospital were mostly tribal people.
Today, with 900 beds, 14 specialised departments and 168 doctors, it is
considered one of the finest hospitals in the country. Treatment is free for
all Tata employees and their direct dependents
TISCO has
taken an active interest in promoting excellence in schools in Jamshedpur. It
has instituted the J.J. Irani Education Excellence Award with a hefty cash
prize, to encourage all schools in the region to aspire to improve the quality
of education. The company also donated a building on a 71-acre campus to the
Xavier Institute for Tribal Education (XITE). In fact, the company assists
tribal students at various stages of their academic careers.
It runs
balwadis (creches) and offers scholarships and sponsorships to reduce the
dropout rate of tribal students. Moreover, with a view to helping the tribal
population preserve its rich heritage, the company has set up the Tribal
Culture Centre, which showcases the legacy of four major and five minor tribes
of Jharkhand and Orissa. A Santhali language labouratory has been set up at the
centre. TISCO also assists the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), a
premier management institute, in Jamshedpur.
The
company has made full use of its knowledge and resources to help tribal people
discover their potential in sports. Every year, Tata Steel identifies at least
12 potential athletes from the tribal communities and provides them training
with financial assistance and accommodation. These athletes are encouraged to
participate in State, regional and national-level events.
The Tata
Archery Academy trains tribal people in the sport for which they have a flair.
The Tata Football Academy and the Tata Athletic Academy also nurtures and
trains participants from the States of Jharkhand and Orissa.
Significant welfare
measures
The term
'Welfare' expresses many ideas, meanings and connotations, such as the state of
well being, health, happiness, prosperity and the development of human
resources. It includes both the social and economic aspects of welfare. The
social concept of welfare implies the welfare of man, his family and his
community. All these three aspects are inter-related and work together. The
economic aspect of welfare covers promotion of economic development by
increasing production and productivity.
The
concept of labour welfare activities, however, is flexible, elastic
and differs from time to time, region to region, industry to industry country
to country and state to state depending upon the value system, level of
education, social customs, degree of industrialisations and the general
standard of the socio-economic development of a people.
It is
also related to the political situation in a State. Further it depends upon the
kinds of problems with which society is confronted as well as on the structure
of the industry. It is molded according to the age group, sex, socio-cultural
background, marital status, economic status and educational level of the
employees in various industries.
The basic
features of labour welfare measures are as follows:
- Labour welfare includes
various facilities, services and amenities provided to workers for
improving their health, efficiency, economic betterment and social
status.
- Welfare measures are in addition
to regular wages and other economic benefits available to workers due to
legal provisions and collective bargaining
- Labour welfare schemes are
flexible and ever-changing. New welfare measures are added to
the existing ones from time to time.
- Welfare measures may be
introduced by the employers, government, employees or by any social or
charitable agency.
- The purpose of labour welfare is to bring about the development of the whole personality of the workers to make a better workforce.
