Fair Process and Structured Dialogue With Your Employee Groups
When grievances pile up, a staff group starts to organise, or a raise is seen as unfair, managers react case by case. We set up the committees, the consultation rhythm and the fair-process standards that let you hear employees early and decide with a clear record.
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Share your requirementsWhat is employee relations and works committees?
Employee relations is the management system for how a company listens to its people and treats them fairly: the committees and representatives that exist, the standards for discipline and grievances, and the rhythm of consultation before change. GullyHR designs and documents this for Indian startups and small and medium businesses. We map the groups you have, set meeting calendars, write fair-process standards and prepare managers. Which bodies are mandatory is confirmed by your own legal adviser.
The starting point
When businesses ask us for this
- Employees raise concerns with the founder in the corridor, and nothing is written down or followed up.
- Two managers handled similar misconduct differently, and the person treated more harshly now says it was unfair.
- A staff group has formed on a messaging app, and management only hears about its demands second-hand.
- A committee exists on paper, but it has not met in a year and nobody can say who the members are.
- Increments were announced and three good people resigned within a month, saying the process felt arbitrary.
- A request for shift change or remote work will set a precedent, and managers are negotiating it alone.
- Grievances sit in an inbox with no dates, so you cannot say how long any of them took to close.
- Managers think HR is there to say no, and bypass it until a dispute has already escalated.
What the work covers
We begin with a map of the collective bodies and channels in your company: any union or staff association, works or grievance committee, internal complaints panel and informal groups. Each is given an owner, a purpose, a membership list and a meeting rhythm. We then write the fair-process standards: a discipline procedure built on a seven-test checklist, an investigation record, and a grievance log with received and closed dates. Managers are trained to use them. A consultation rule says which people decisions are discussed with representatives before they are announced. For negotiations that will set a precedent, we give the negotiator a preparation sheet and a precedent register. After each increment, promotion or appraisal round, a short fairness survey and process checklist show where people felt treated unfairly. A quarterly review closes the loop. Your legal adviser confirms which bodies are required.
Every body that represents or hears employees is mapped.
Unions, associations, works committees, grievance panels, internal complaints committees and informal staff groups are listed with purpose, members, owner and last meeting date.
Meetings follow a calendar with minutes and actions.
We set the frequency, agenda, quorum and minute format for each forum, and track actions to closure so a meeting leads to a decision rather than a complaint list.
Discipline rests on a seven-test just cause checklist.
Before any warning, suspension or dismissal the manager records the reason, the rule, the evidence, the hearing and the proportion of penalty, and the owner reviews every case.
Grievances are logged and timed from receipt to close.
A grievance log records who raised what, to whom, on what date and how it ended, so average closing time and repeat themes can be reported each quarter.
Precedent-setting negotiations are prepared, not improvised.
A prep sheet covers each side's audience, face-saving options and a backstage channel, with a participant check and a precedent register so the next request gets a consistent answer.
Fairness is tested after every increment or appraisal cycle.
Staff rate pay outcomes, process, explanation and treatment anonymously. HR completes a process checklist, and the weakest area is fixed before the next cycle.
The process
How it runs
Map the collective bodies
We interview the owner, HR and representatives, then list every formal and informal group, its purpose, members, owner and last meeting, and mark where a body is missing or dormant.
Design forums and calendar
For each forum we set the agenda, quorum, frequency, minute format and escalation route, and put the dates into a year calendar the owner and representatives both accept.
Write fair-process standards
We draft the discipline procedure with the seven-test checklist, the investigation record and the grievance log, and agree who reviews each case before action is taken.
Train managers and representatives
A working session takes managers through the checklist using realistic cases. Representatives get a separate briefing on their role, how to raise matters and how records are kept.
Run the first cycle together
We attend the first consultation meetings, help prepare the negotiation sheets, and check that the grievance log and discipline checklists are filled in as designed.
Review each quarter
We compare grievance closing times, discipline consistency and both-sides relationship ratings, then agree improvements for the next quarter with the owner.
What you receive
- Map of collective bodies and channels, with owner and membership for each
- Consultation calendar with agenda and minute templates
- Written discipline procedure with seven-test case checklist
- Investigation record and hearing note templates for managers
- Grievance log with received and closed dates and a quarterly summary view
- Negotiation preparation sheet and precedent register
- Fairness survey and process checklist for increment and appraisal cycles
- Trained managers and a briefed set of employee representatives
Who it is for
- Owners with a union, association or committee already in place who want a calmer, more regular relationship.
- Founders whose staff have begun to organise or share demands informally.
- HR heads whose managers discipline people inconsistently or skip the hearing stage.
- Companies crossing a headcount where more formal committees may apply.
- Businesses that lost good people after an increment round and want to know why.
- Management teams about to change shifts, pay structure or work location.
Why GullyHR.
Employee relations goes wrong when it is left to individual managers reacting to individual cases. We give you the structure, the records and the habits that make fairness repeatable, in language your managers will use. We work with Indian startups and small and medium businesses, where one person often holds several hats, so the forms stay short and the calendar stays realistic. Legal questions stay with your own adviser.
Design the process
Map how the work runs today, then write the procedure, the forms and the approval route it should follow.
Strengthen management
Settle the structure, the roles and the decisions each level can take without the owner.
Develop people
Train the managers who have to run it — the review, the difficult conversation, the handover.
Automate HR
Configure the agreed process in software, so the document and what people actually do stay the same thing.
The difference
What changes
- A clear map of who represents or hears employees, with a named owner for each body.
- A meeting calendar with minutes and a tracker of actions agreed.
- Discipline cases that carry a checked reason, a hearing and a record.
- A grievance log showing dates received and closed, reviewed every quarter.
- A register of negotiated precedents, so similar requests are answered consistently.
- A fairness score after each pay or appraisal cycle that points to the weakest step.
How we are measured
Before work starts, we record where you stand. Every later report compares against that baseline.
We choose the measures with you at the start, from the list on this page, and only the ones your data can support. We do not promise a result. We promise a baseline, and a report that shows the change against it, whichever way it went.
The measures we choose from
Time-to-hire
Days from approved vacancy to accepted offer.
90-day attrition
New joiners who leave in their first three months.
Annual attrition
Leavers over the year, by team and by manager.
Payroll and statutory errors per month
Corrections after the run, and returns filed late.
Open compliance gaps
Obligations without an owner or a due date.
Employees with written goals
Share of the team that knows what it is measured on.
Review completion rate
Reviews finished on time, not just started.
Manager training coverage
Managers who have been taught the part of the job they were promoted into.
Working together
Who does what
| Activity | GullyHR | Your team |
|---|---|---|
| Mapping groups and setting forums | We interview, draft the map and propose forum rules | Owner confirms membership and commits to the meeting dates |
| Handling discipline cases | We provide the checklist and train managers to use it | Managers record each case and the owner reviews it before action |
| Logging and closing grievances | We set up the log and report themes each quarter | HR logs every grievance and closes each with a recorded reply |
| Negotiating with representatives | We prepare the negotiator and the precedent register | The owner or manager leads talks and decides the outcome |
| Which bodies and procedures are mandatory | We design the structure and do not give legal advice | Your own qualified legal adviser confirms what applies to you |
Where the software fits
Maps, calendars, checklists and logs are kept as editable documents and spreadsheets in a shared drive you own, with restricted access for discipline and grievance records. Surveys can be run through any simple form tool that allows anonymous replies. If you use an HR system, the logs can be held there instead. The GullyHR software is available for case tracking but is optional.
Ways to engage us
- Employee relations set-up
- A full programme: body map, forum design, fair-process standards, manager training and a first quarter of support. Suited to a company where dialogue has been informal.
- Discipline and grievance standards only
- A focused piece covering the seven-test checklist, investigation record, grievance log and a manager workshop, without redesigning the committee structure.
- Review of what exists
- We read your current committee records, discipline files and grievance history, rate them against the standards and give a short report with priority fixes.
- Alongside wider HR work
- Added to policy development, a pay review or outsourced HR management, so the dialogue structure matches the rules and pay system you are building.
Good to know
Questions we are asked
That depends on the number of workers, the type of establishment and the state. We cannot tell you what is mandatory. Your own legal adviser confirms it, and we design the committee and its meeting routine once that is settled.
We can help management set up a respectful consultation routine and prepare for talks. We do not advise on legal rights or strategy, and we do not act against any employee group. Your legal adviser should guide you on the legal position.
It is a short case form the manager completes before acting. It records the reason, the rule, the warning given, the evidence, the hearing, the fairness of treatment compared with others and whether the penalty fits. The owner reviews it.
We do not decide cases. We provide the procedure, the investigation record format and training, and can suggest how to set up an impartial investigator. The decision stays with your management and, where needed, your legal adviser.
We track grievance closing times, how many discipline cases carry a complete checklist, and a short rating of the relationship taken from management and from representatives each quarter. Trends matter more than any single reading.
The work is scoped and quoted in writing after a short call. The scope depends on headcount, the number of sites, how many forums exist and whether you want manager training and quarterly review included.
We do not give legal advice, represent the company in disputes or tribunals, run statutory audits, file returns, supply contract staff or verify backgrounds. We design the dialogue structure, draft the documents and train your people to use them.
Prefer to talk first? +91 80958 58589 · hello@gullyhr.com