Disciplinary Procedures and Grievance Management in the Nigerian Civil Service: An Appraisal

Breach of the terms of employment and organizational policies by employees and the corresponding response of employers through the application of established disciplinary measures sometimes ignite certain adverse outcomes such as reduced productivity decreased employee morale, workplace conflicts, erosion of organizational harmony, legal risks in terms of lawsuits or actions by labour unions or regulatory bodies. It is against this backdrop that this paper sought to appraise disciplinary procedures and grievance management in the Nigerian civil service. The paper adopted the historical descriptive methods. The organizational justice theory was deployed as its major theoretical guide. The findings of the study revealed that the timely utilization of appropriate grievance management mechanisms play a dominant role in lessening the negative effects of disciplinary actions in the Nigerian civil service. It was also found out that many civil servants are largely uninformed of the provisions of the rules governing their employment since they do not even have copies of the Public Service Rules. Accordingly, the paper recommended that the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) should strengthen the existing grievance management channels and undertake periodic sensitization of federal civil servants on the provisions of the Public Service Rules with the view to getting them acquainted with the rules.