A lot of companies are not complying with hygiene factors: Surinder Kapur

Surinder Kapur is the Founder-Chairman of Sona Group and an auto component industry veteran. He took time out to speak to Goutam Das on labour strife and what needs to change for the industry to better manage them. Edited excerpts:

Q. Why is industry not able to get a handle on labour strife?

A. Industrial relations is always a company-specific situation. I don't think one can make a generalization unless there is an outside union trying to rope in a lot of companies in the same region. What normally happens is that there are outsiders who instigate. My experience with negotiations is that you need to prepare for them. It is not something you can do at the last minute. It is not just money that is being negotiated but there are a host of things - it could be transportation, loans employees get from companies, medical facilities. These things happen because people feel they can bargain more with companies.

Q. Is there a case for treating the contract labourer better?

A. We have contract labour and we give them all facilities. In the case of canteen, we don't charge them at all. Regular employees are subsidized but contract labour is 100 per cent subsidized. Whether it is uniform, transportation, working conditions, they have to be equivalent to what the other employees in the company are getting. The only difference is that their wages need to be pegged at some market rates. I know a lot of companies are not complying with what I call hygiene factors. In CII [Confederation of Indian Industry], we have been telling our members to look at these good practices.

Q. What are the hygiene factors?
A. Safety, uniform, canteen subsidy, transportation, training in the company, medical insurance.

Q. Are there instances of contractors not channeling the benefits to employees?

A. There may be instances of contractors not depositing ESI [employee state insurance] or provident fund. In our company, we do rigorous audits of these.

Q. In terms of regulation, what labour reforms do we require?

A. I think the recognition of the union needs to be standardized. They differ from state to state. Misconduct has to be dealt with. An employer is looking for eight hours and discipline in the workforce. Total employee engagement is important for productivity improvement. The foundation of that is discipline. What has happened in Japan, Germany or Korea, which are today excellent manufacturing geographies, is because there is discipline in the workforce.

People in India are not achieving what they should because they are not 100 per cent compliant on discipline. Also, an exit policy should be permitted. Today if you have to set new norms in the manufacturing process, it takes months to be accepted by the workers and unions. Those kinds of things become stumbling blocks.