Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 1

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS IN EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

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 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 2

Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations

Question #1
The indeterminate nature of employment relations
The employee relations have replaced industrial relations as the concept for defining the
relationship between employees and employers. The characteristic of employment relationship
comprises of indeterminacy. The indeterminate nature of employment relations is mainly
founded on labour contracts between the employer and employee in the workplace.
Indeterminacy entails labour contract that does not state the capacity of effort to be contributed
by the employees with the exchange of rewards. Therefore, workers are expected to finish the
assignment or job efficiently regardless of how much work is allocated. The fundamentals of the
employment relationships comprise double indeterminacy: from the side of the employer, there is
the emphasis to control (that, manage, regulate, discipline) employees; however, also to use
employees’ creative capabilities positively; employees wish to resists or to negotiate the terms of
this type of control from employers whilst also wishing to work effectively (Morris, Willey &
Sachdev, 2002).
According to Bohlander and Snell (2004), today, employee relations is seen as emphasizing
on both individual, as well as collective relationships in the workplace, with a growing stress on
assisting line managers establish trust-based relationships with the employees. The grounds for
working effectively comprise instrumental ones, remarkably on an interest in the sustained
survival of the company; however, also ones to do with individual satisfaction and pride in the
work (Bohlander & Snell, 2004, pp. 29).
The Unitarist and pluralist approaches to employment relations
The unitary perspective embraces a unitarist view of the employment relationship. Cradden
(2011) assert that employees and management have a unity of interests, and any kind of conflict
in practice happens because of ineffective practices. This frame of reference is the principal one
of the contemporary practice. Therefore, this perspective too underscores the contemporary
human resource management (HRM) that concentrates on fashioning policies, which
simultaneously benefit employers and workers attempting to reconcile both parties. The
perspective has a paternalistic approach in which it demands on all workers loyalty, being mainly
managerial, it its application plus emphasis (Cradden, 2011, pp. 7). In this perspective, conflict
as the expression of worker dissatisfaction and differences with the management is seen as an
irrational act and the conflict must be suppressed. Also, the trade unions based on this
perspective are taken as needless because the loyalty between the company and the employee is
considered as mutually exclusive. For instance, in the 2000s, companies like Marks & Spencer
treat their workers well and it was described as neo-paternalist (Ackers, 2014, pp. 2608).
On the other hand, the primary assumption of pluralist perspective is that the individual
organizations entail groups that have their interests, aims, along with leadership. These interests,
plus aims often conflict and compete with those of other groups and lead to tensions that should
be managed. The pluralist organization has several sources of loyalty plus authority in trade
unions, groups, as well as other sectional interests. Pluralist organizations normally consider
conflicts of interest and differences between employees and managers over the distribution of
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 3

profits as normal and unavoidable. The plularist perspective is different from the unitarist view
since it deems trade unions are the legitimate representatives of workers. In addition, conflict is
handled through collective bargaining and is seen as a good thing and if managed well could lead
to positive change. The pluralist perspective is widespread in the United Kingdom (UK)
employment relations (Adigun, 2014, pp. 1).
Factors which impact on employment relations
Economy is one of the external factors that impacts employee relations that may be in
terms of wages and benefits. In times of a growing economy, an employee may demand more
wages from the employer if not satisfied and can easily quit the job if there is no response from
the employer. Wages and benefits are possible the most apparent economic factor that impact
industrial relations. Whilst wages and benefits do not make industrial relations operate smoothly
all by themselves, they may assist workers feel more appreciated. Keeping wages along with
benefits in line with the industry standards assist to keep a lid on employee dissatisfied.
The organization structure is a primary factor that impacts employee relations in that
specific organization. The actual structure of an organization may influence the success of the
activity taking place. In addition, culture within an organization impact employment
relationships, whereby a mix of beliefs, values, mission, and understanding and is often
communicated to workers in the format of a mission statement. This describes the operation of
the organization and the particular issues that are of significance to the organization (Pell, 2019,
pp. 1).
Communication functions as a primary factor in industrial relations. Two-way
communication between labour and capital permits employees to remain completely informed of
workplace expectations and changes that may affect them. The management becomes aware of
the challenges that they arise other than learning about these challenges after they have reached
the point of crisis. Therefore, they may address these concerns in a timely manner and keep
innuendo along with misinformation to a minimum.
Unions have been cited as a factor that impact industrial relations in many multifaceted
ways. When a union comes to a workplace, individuals will no longer bargain on their own.
Rather, these individual employees are represented collectively by a third-party. This may make
workers feel like they have more voice and offers a means to collectively arbitrate labour
disputes. Also, unions may complicate issues through bring the concerns to a third-party, that is,
union into negotiation process (Pell, 2019, pp. 1).
Question # 2
The essential features of the contract of employment
Employment of contracts through definition, are legally binding agreements. In the
United Kingdom (UK), contacts comprises express written or verbal terms in the employment
contract, as well as implied terms that are normally not expressly stated; however, they are
included in some other way. Though the employment contracts are governed by contract law,
there are several statutory laws that impact employment contracts as well. Employment contracts
are hugely governed by similar core principles of any contract. There should be an intention
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 4

between the parties involved to enter into legal relations. Thus, an offer should be made and
should be accepted, and there should consideration.
Under the Employment Rights Order 1966, employers are needed to present an employee
with a written statement of certain terms and conditions. These may include the employee’s job
title with a brief description of the role, contracted hours, benefits and welfare, notice of
termination, remuneration, and pension arrangements among others. The written statement
should be presented within two months of the worker starting their employment with the
employer. The terms like these could typically be found as express terms in a contract of
employment. Nonetheless, contractual terms do not essentially need to be written down in an
employment contract to be legally binding (McGrane, Wilson & Cammock, 2005, pp. 263).
The main sources of UK and EU employment relations law-making
The majority of employment law in the UK is civil law. The primary source of
employment in UK is statutes-Acts of Parliament and a number of regulations issued by the
government ministers under Acts. Many European Union (EU) law is too introduced into UK
law through statutes. Amongst the most notable examples in employment along with
discrimination law are the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010. The
employment law in the UK is derived from several sources that include Acts of Parliament, as
well as decisions on points of law created in courts. The European law became an additional
source of employment law after 1973 when the UK joined the European Economic Community
that subsequently evolved into the European Union (EU). The effect of the UK’s membership of
the EU in employment regulation expanded considerable after 1997 when the Social Chapter of
the Maastricht Treaty begun to apply. However, a considerable body of the employment law in
the UK derives from the EU, and in the last decades, this has impacted employees’ rights across
the economy. For individual rights, the primary areas comprise working time besides yearly
holidays, rights for women (for example, equal pay), family friendly policies (for example
pregnant employees, and parental leave) anti-discrimination (equal treatment), as well as atypical
employees). For collective rights, the primary legislative areas relate to collective redundancies
and TUPE, European Works Councils, and consultation, as well as information. Classically,
European law is initiated in Brussels through directives, and once agreed, transposed into
national legislation procedure across all EU member states. EU-derived law has been integrated
into EU law employing diverse legal approaches comprising secondary legislation under the
European Communities Act 1972 (for example, TUPE) and via acts of Parliament (for example,
the Equality Act (Taylor & Emir, 2015, pp. 41).
Main developments in individual employment law
Since mid-1970s, the EU has played a leading role in safeguarding working individuals
from exploitation, as well as stopping discrimination. The EU rights have offered a vital counter-
balance against pressure for the UK to embrace a US-style hire-and-fire tradition in which there
is a lack of statutory employment rights amongst individuals. The Treaty of the European Union
(TEU), adopted in 2008, acknowledged the role of social and employment policy within the EU.
The treaty will help to combat social exclusion plus discrimination of the individual employees.
The EU has adopted many treaty provisions and directives that offer vital employment
protections, safeguard safety and health and promote equality in the workplace for individual
employees. In the end of 2014, there were several rulings regarding calculating holiday pay for
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 5

overtime. The result was that both guaranteed and normal non-guaranteed overtime must count
towards accruing annual leave for individual employees. There was also increased in statutory
maternity pay, ordinary paternity leave, as well as adoption pay plus standard rate of statutory
sick pay (Sappey, Sappey & Burgess, 2017, pp. 8).
Question #3
The purpose and scope of statutory union recognition
The current legislation emphasizes on statutory recognition for trade unions in the United
Kingdom (UK). A trade union is recognized when it is independent and recognized by an
employers or tow or more linked employers for the purpose of collective bargaining. A trade
union that seeks a statutory recognition claim is seeking a legally biding ruling, which need the
employer to recognize the trade union. A trade union is “recognized” by an employer when it
negotiates agreements with employers on pay, as well as other terms and conditions of
employment on behalf of a team of employees, defined as the “bargaining unit. This process is
called the “collective bargaining. In 2000, a new statutory process was developed in the UK,
where the trade unions may seek recognition from the employers for collective bargaining
purposes. The statutory trade union recognition of the Employment Relations Act 1999
(UK993189F) were brought into effect by the government in 2000. Trade union recognition may
be either by voluntary agreement between the concerned parties, or an application may be made
for statutory recognition. Enforced statutory recognition happens where an independent trade
union or more trade unions makes a request for recognition (Brown et al., 2000, pp. 612).
Thus, the new legislation stipulates that where a union claim for recognition for collective
bargaining purposes, it will not be resolved with the concerned employer, but the union will have
to refer the collective bargaining issue to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for
determination. The primary role of CAC is to determine the scope of the bargaining unit and
declare whether the union must be recognized founded on the majority of the employees
concerned as members of the union. CAC will grant recognition when the trade union
demonstrate, either via ballot, or via the levels of membership that it that the support of the
majority of the employees in the collective bargaining unit. Where the CAC makes a declaration
that the trade union must be recognized for collective bargaining purposes, the parties involved
should then agree on bargaining procedure. When a trade union makes a statutory claim for trade
union recognition, Acas is ready to conciliate, provided both parties agree. In a situation where
the employer proposes to involve Acas, and the union declines or fails to respond in 10 working
days, the union cannot apply to CAC. Thus, the role of Acas is to separate from the statutory
decision-making role of the CAC and is totally confidential (McGrane, Wilson & Cammock,
2005, pp. 265).
Question #4
Employee involvement and participation
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), employee
involvement is a range of processes that are tailored to engage the support, understanding, and
maximum contribution of all workers in an organization along with their commitment to its goals
and objectives. Thus, employee involvement is the manner in which the employees are included
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 6

in the interest of the human resource management. It entails the direct interaction with the
workers and the management, which encourages the employees to take ownership of the
outcome of a project within the organization. Employee involvement may include practices that
promote opportunities for the employees to seek new training, and specific motivational
techniques to boost productivity.
On the other side, employee participation can be defined as a process of employee
involvement tailored to offer workers with the prospect to influence, and where necessary, take
part in decision-making on issues that affect them. In terms of HRM, employee participation is a
collective process that attempts to join others in every activity that matters in the organization.
The employees work together to attain a common goal of the organization. For example, a
computer security firm can create a team of workers that participate in fashioning doomsday
security scenarios. Every worker is expected to take part in generating ideas founded on real-life
situations, which would compromise security (Sappey, Sappey & Burgess, 2017, pp. 15).
Union and non-union forms of employee representation
The employee has the right to join a union or be part of the union and accompanied by a
union official at disciplinary, as well as grievance hearings. The main difference between union
and non-union of employees’ representation is the joint consultation between the workers and
management. Non-unionism form of employee representation assist the management to
comprehend the challenges faced by workers and selects a proper solution to these challenges.
This assists in different decision-making, as well as exercise of power; in contrast to unionism. It
further gives equal opportunity to workers to join the agreement of the employers as it is done in
unionism. Therefore, it is more of management preference rather than the worker or union
representatives because they are one encouraging workers, invest finances on these activities in
the organization. The non-union representative makes workers’ perspectives known to
management, assist reinforce both management’s and workers’ understanding of workplace
issues (Saundry & Wibberley, 2014, pp. 11).
Union and non-union representatives both work towards the welfare of the workers in the
organization, their primary goal is to give security to workers and to promote their work
performance in the organization. Thus, these organizations too assist the employers to understand
the need and area of betterment for the workers. However, it is clear that in many instances, these
unions become a threat to the employers and take undue advantage of power where non-union
representation lack an autonomy and as a result, their position is much weaker than that of the
union. Finally, both the union and non-union work for the betterment of the worker and enhance
worker’s performance.
The employee voice and organization performance
Over several decades, there has been greater concern in the idea of employee voice both
in regard to greater degree of performance and also improved employee representation. For an
organization to perform better and be successful, it is important that there is freedom for all
employees to speak and participate in all decisions made in the organization. Employee voice
may be defined as any kind of mechanism, structure or practice that offers a worker with a
chance to express an opinion or take part in decision-making within the organization. Collective
voices humanise and civilises the organization, where collective representation is the basis of a
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 7

partnership relationship that brings positive gains for the organization in terms of performance.
The voices of the employees will impact the performance of the organization directly. The
performance takes two forms: the company performance and employee performance that are
interrelated. The different mechanisms of employee voices give the employees the chance to
voice their requirements that will have a grater impact on the performance of the organization
and the workers themselves (Bohlander & Snell, 2004, pp. 62).
Studies have shown that there is a high relationship between employee voice and the
HRM that has direct impact on the performance of the employee and individual employees.
Unions provides employees with the voices and when the organization fails to negotiate with the
employees through the unions, then the organizational performance decreases as the employees
will not be satisfied. Thus, in the absence of collective voice via the agency of employee
representation, workers lack motivation to pursue the goals of the organizations because it will
affect the well-being of the workers resulting in low productivity. This implies that when the
worker influence is high, there is a superior degree of group cohesion (Ackers, 2014, pp. 2611).
Question #5
Conflict and misbehaviour and between official and unofficial industrial action
Misbehaviour is any form of intentional act by members of the organization, which
breach core organizational and/or societal norms. These misbehaviours include sabotaging
processes, harassing others, stealing, misappropriating or damaging firm property, cheating the
government, as well as misleading clients. The primary thread of definition of misbehaviour is
the intent that underscores the misbehaviour that leads to categorization of misbehaviour as
either type S-whose intent is the benefit of self-like stealing, type O, that is intended to benefit
organization like cheating the state, or eventually type D, which is designed to impose damage
like damaging property of a company. Unlike misbehaviour, which is individual-cantered,
conflict is a natural phenomenon, which is bound to happen either in place of work, associations
or groups, provided people from diverse backgrounds congregate (Kelly, 2015, pp. 721). Conflict
increases in frequency, particularly where there are expectations that need to be satisfied , or
where parties entailed are meant to remain together for long time in pursuit of either corporate or
individual goals.
An industrial action is “official” if it is formally supported by the trade union, with
members of the union participating in it. Because industrial actions imply a violation of
employment contracts, the right legal process should be followed to make sure that the action is
“protected” against unlawful employment actions like dismissal. In some instances, certain
workers can call an industrial action, like a go-slow without support of their trade unions. These
actions are deemed “unofficial” industrial action, and are frequently not “protected” and thus,
workers risk dismissal (Volosevici, 2015, pp. 118).
Trends in the types of conflict and industrial sanctions
The modern times has changed in terms of conflicts and industrial sanctions. Trade
unions are found to be in cordial relations with the management unlike ancient times. Similarly,
in employment relations focus has changed from basically paying salary on time and painful
performance appraisals to developing workers. Formal industrial conflict is reserved for
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 8

organized expressions of conflict articulated via a trade union or other employee representative.
Its characteristic form is organized strike that entails a withdrawal of labour such as to constitute
a temporary breach of contract employing the collective strength of the employees to avoid
sanctions and attain changes to pay or workplace conditions. Strikes can be strengthened by
other types of formal sanction, like the go-slow and work to rule. Strikes are deemed to be
official if they have been called at the behest of the trade union leadership and in line with the
law plus with procedural collective bargaining agreements. The informal industrial conflict is not
founded on any systematic organizations that results directly from a sense of grievance, as well
as allegedly is entirely expressive in nature. Several types of industrial sabotage that appear
irrational could constitute industrial conflict in this sense, as will basically individualized and
even conscious forms of protest, which include absenteeism, frequent job-changing, negligence,
and accidents at workplace (CIPD, 2007, PP. 13). Thus, walk-outs and strikes are examples of
informal industrial conflict and the consistent opposition to management expressed in the
workgroup norms regulating output, restrictive practices, and secrecy.
Question #6
What is required to advice, coach, and guide line managers in the skills for effective
grievance-and dispute-handling procedures?
Line managers are under pressure and do not know how to handle workplace challenges,
so they will end up in a conflict. Line managers face many challenges when trying tom handle
grievances and disputes in the workplace that demand that they should be well equipped to
coach, and advice employees. These line managers should have exceptional mediation skills.
Line managers should be trained to have better-quality conversations with the different teams
and be prepared to deal with issues. The mediation skills will allow the managers to mediate
workplace issues that affect the employees and provide the needed guide and coaching to the
affected employees. These managers must have informal mediation skills to permit them to step
in and try to resolve disputes before they escalate (Saundry & Wibberley, 2014, pp. 16). In
addition, line managers should develop effective communication skills that will allow them to
handle grievances and disputes in the workplace. The communication skills will enable the line
managers to communicate to the employees affected to understand formal disciplinary and
grievance procedures that are in place in the workplace. The communication skills will allow line
managers to discuss any problems with the employees. Once the line managers has
communication skills, they can have a clear understanding of the problem and individuals’
diverse perspectives on the dispute, where they may bring the disputing parties together and act
as an objective broker to assist find a common ground.
Third-party conciliation, mediation and arbitration
Alternate dispute resolution (ADR) is a type of dispute resolution, which used non-
adversarial (out of court) methods to adjudicate legal controversies that include arbitration,
conciliation, and mediation. The main difference between arbitration, mediation, and conciliation
is founded on the duty played by the third-party who is chosen by the parties involved in a
dispute. Mediation is a dispute resolution technique in which a neutral, as well as impartial third-
party, the mediator, facilitates dialogue in a structured multi-stage process to assist parties
involved reach a conclusive and mutually satisfactory compromise. Mediation method of dispute
resolution is voluntary and non-binding process. The method is a “peaceful” dispute resolution
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 9

instrument, which is complementary to the existing court system plus a practice of arbitration.
Arbitration and mediation both facilitate similar ideals, like access to justice, a prompt hearing,
fair outcomes, and decreased congestion in courts. Arbitration as a method of dispute resolution
entails a process where an impartial third-party is chosen to investigate the dispute and hear both
the parties to arrive at a decision binding on both the parties. The parties in conflict can choose
neutral arbitrators to decide, as well as settle a dispute between them provided the dispute has not
been designated to be dealt in the court system. The arbitrator has the authority to enforce his/her
decision (Adigun, 2014, pp. 3).
On the other hand conciliation is dispute resolution process that entails building a
positive rapport between the parties in dispute; nonetheless, it is fundamentally different from
mediation and arbitration in many aspects where it is used in civil law nations, such as Italy and
is more common concept in these countries than is mediation. The “conciliator” is an impartial
individual that helps the parties by facilitating their negotiations and guiding them towards an
agreeable concurrence. However, the conciliator does not have the power to enforce his/her
decision in the dispute.
 Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations 10

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