You are the head of the Human Resources department of an organisation. One day one of the workers died on duty. His family was demanding compensation. However, the company denied compensation because it was revealed in investigation that he was drunk at the time of the accident. The workers of the company went on to strike demanding compensation for the family of the deceased. The Chairman of the management board has asked for your recommendation.
What recommendation would you provide to the management ? Discuss the merits and demerits of each of the recommendations.
Approach · directive: “what recommendation / discuss merits and demerits”
What it asks · Recommend how management should treat the family's claim and the strike, and weigh the merits and demerits of each option.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Recommend to the management how to deal with the family's compensation claim and the workers' strike
- Discuss the merits and demerits of each recommendation or option
Open with · The case sets the company's alcohol and safety rules against a bereaved family's need and the workers' collective anger.
Cover
- Stakeholders: the family of the deceased, striking workers, management and shareholders, and labour and safety authorities.
- Law: the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 exempts the employer for drink-related accidents only when injury does not result in death; a death on duty stays compensable.
- Option 1: deny compensation. Merit: upholds the alcohol rule and deters drinking. Demerit: may be unlawful, harsh on the family, prolongs the strike and hurts morale.
- Option 2: pay the dues the law requires to the dependants and act separately on the alcohol lapse. Merit: lawful, humane, ends strike. Demerit: may seem to excuse misconduct.
- Option 3: negotiated ex gratia or partial payment. Merit: quick settlement. Demerit: uncertain legality if dues are higher, and it sets a precedent.
- Recommendation: pay lawful dues and support the family, for example a job for a dependant; end the strike through talks; enforce the alcohol policy with checks and counselling.
- Prevention: ask how a drunk worker was allowed on duty, improve supervision and safety training, and set up a joint safety committee with worker representatives.
Close with · Law and compassion point the same way: settle the family's dues, fix the safety gaps and enforce the alcohol rule fairly.
Add value (verified)
- Employee's Compensation Act, 1923, Section 3(1): the employer's exemption for accidents attributable to drink or drugs applies only to an injury not resulting in death or permanent total disablement. Section 3 in The Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 (Indian Kanoon) ↗“not resulting in death or permanent total disablement caused by an accident which is directly attributable to (i) the employee having been at the time thereof under the influence of drink or drugs”
- Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1 (Portia): earthly power is likest God's when mercy seasons justice. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice — Project Gutenberg ↗“But mercy is above this sceptred sway, It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice.”
- The four Labour Codes (Code on Wages 2019; Industrial Relations Code 2020; Code on Social Security 2020; Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020) were brought into force nationally on 21 November 2025, replacing 29 central statutes. India Introduces New Labour Codes: Faithful Implementation Needed — ISAS Insights, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore (December 2025) ↗“The government’s November 2025 notifications put the four codes into force nationally on 21 November 2025, with staggered applicability for different provisions and responsibilities for central and state governments to notify rules”
- ISAS on the Labour Codes: the Code on Social Security, 2020 is one of four codes that rationalise and replace 29 central statutes on wages, industrial relations, social security and workplace safety. India Introduces New Labour Codes: Faithful Implementation Needed — ISAS Insights, National University of Singapore (December 2025) ↗“the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 – rationalise and replace a web of 29 central statutes that governed wages, industrial relations, social security, and workplace safety.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 368 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
The case pits the company's alcohol rule against a bereaved family's need and the workforce's anger. The HR head must find a course that is lawful, humane and sustainable.
Stakeholders
- The dependants; striking workers and their union; management, board and shareholders; supervisors on duty that day; labour and safety authorities; customers hit by the stoppage.
Ethical issues and facts to establish
- Compassion against consistency: fairness to an innocent family versus even-handed enforcement of the alcohol rule.
- Shared responsibility: a drunk worker was allowed on duty, so supervision failed too.
- The law: the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923, then in force, exempted the employer for drink-related accidents only where the injury did not result in death or permanent total disablement; a death on duty remained compensable.
Options, with merits and demerits
| Option | Merit | Demerit |
|---|---|---|
| Deny compensation | Upholds the rule | Likely unlawful; prolongs strike |
| Pay statutory dues; act on the lapse | Lawful, humane, ends strike | May look like condoning drink |
| Ex gratia payment only | Quick, cheaper | Turns a right into charity |
My recommendation to the management
- Pay promptly: settle the statutory compensation and add humane support: a job for a dependant, help with the children's education and insurance claims.
- Talk, not confront: share the investigation with workers' representatives and end the strike on the strength of this settlement, not under pressure.
- Enforce the rule for the living: breath checks at the gate, counselling and de-addiction support, graded penalties, and accountability of the supervisors who let him work.
- Why: it obeys the law, honours the family's dignity and restores trust, while still protecting safety; a rule is upheld by prevention, not by punishing a widow.
Systemic fix
- Prevention by design: a joint safety committee with worker members, regular safety training, a written fitness-for-duty protocol and a standing welfare fund.
- New law: since 21 November 2025, four Labour Codes, including the Code on Social Security, 2020, have replaced 29 older central labour statutes; HR policy must be realigned to them.
Portia's plea that earthly power shows "likest God's When mercy seasons justice" fits this case: here law and compassion point the same way, so settle the dues, close the safety gaps and enforce the alcohol rule before the shift, not after the funeral.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.