To what extent do organizations need to involve employees in decision-making processes? Base your answer on a country of your choice.
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148hrm_-_employment_relations.pptx
Module 148HRM
Employment Relations
Learning objectives
Understand concept of employee/employment relations and how it relates to HRM.
Understand concepts of direct and indirect participation and their relative merits.
Understand what trade unions are, what they do and why.
Be aware of different approaches to ER e.g. unitarism and pluralism
Be aware of contemporary developments in the legislative framework for employment relations
What is Employment/employee Relations?
Used to be known as ‘Industrial Relations’ - focus was on:
Trade unions and collective bargaining
Conflicts/disputes between management and workers
Switch to ‘Employment Relations’ reflects changes such as decline in manufacturing industries and extent of unionisation
- But still focus on dealing with conflicts in the relationship between management and workers – particularly collective rather than individual conflicts
Two approaches to ER: Unitarism and Pluralism
| UNITARISM | PLURALISM |
| Believes conflict is a sign of a dysfunctional organisation – not normal but a ‘sickness’ | Believes management and employees sometimes have conflicts of interest – this is a normal aspect of the employment relationship |
| The best way to deal with conflict is either: Make sure employees are happy (soft HRM) or Ensure employees are unable to express their dissatisfaction | The best way to deal with conflicts of interest is to negotiate compromises |
| Management does not share authority - makes decisions alone | Management shares authority by negotiating decisions with employee representatives |
| Unions are avoided | Unions are tolerated or recognised as a useful |
What is a trade union?
Indirect representation of employees
Independent of government and employers (not always the case in other countries!)
And what do they do?
Only unions legally allowed to organise strikes
Negotiate collective agreements with employers (through collective bargaining)
Provide individual services for members e.g. advice and representation in employment tribunals
Police employment law
In some countries – tripartite policy making with government and employer associations
Why might employers find unions useful?
Not always practical to negotiate terms and conditions with each employee separately
Unions represent a useful channel to hear voice of employees
Unions can help employers gain acceptance employees for necessary changes if result of negotiation
‘Social partnership’ = cooperative relations between unions and management – ‘win-win’ solutions (German and Scandinavian model)
Many UK employers still anti-Union
Trade union membership
Membership 1979 = 56% of all employees, 2013 = 25.6%
Public sector in 2014 = 54% union members
Private sector in 2014 = 14% union members
Decline due to:
decline of manufacturing
government policies
employer tactics
Women, ethnic minorities, disabled workers, older workers, highly qualified workers now most likely to unionise
Union-busting in the US
A majority (53%) of non-union workers in 2005 would vote for union representation if they could.
53% of workers believe that “employers generally oppose the union and try to convince employees to vote no”,
22% thought that employers used specific anti-union tactics (ranging from requiring employees to attend anti-union presentations on company time to firing union supporters) “all the time or fairly often”
(Freeman, 2007 http:// www.gpn.org/bp182.html)
9
Role of Government
Very strong restrictions on union activity compared with rest of EU:
General strikes & political strikes are illegal
Picketing (a peaceful protest against an employer) is legal against your own employer, ‘secondary’ picketing or strike action is illegal
Must be a postal ballot for a strike to be legal
Employers can get injunctions from courts to delay strikes on very weak grounds
Employers can sue unions for damages
Employers allowed to sack workers for striking in some cases
ILO says UK laws negate human right of freedom of association
Role of Government
Recent trade union bill:
Strengthens restrictions on picketing – widely held to be waste of police time
Minimum 50% turnout for strike ballots and min 40% must vote yes (politicians elected with less on both counts and can pass laws)
Government refuses to allow online, text or supervised workplace voting
Allows employers to substitute striking workers with agency workers
Makes it easier for employers to win injunctions and damages
Strikes already at all-time low and much lower than other countries
So what is this bill for?
Employment rights
Employment rights
Many areas of employment that were previously causes of conflict now covered by legislation:
paid time off, redundancy pay, equality, maternity and paternity rights, minimum wage, part-time, fixed term and agency workers’ rights, etc., etc.
Health and Safety standards have improved greatly since the 1974 HASAW Act, though much remains to be done
Information & Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations
Why?
To fill void left by decline of unions
EU Directive:
Contrast with Continental Europe and Nordic countries
European ideas of workplace democracy
Minimalist implementation of Directive in UK
(ICE) Regulations 2004, came into effect on 6 April 2005
ICE Regs
Applies to orgs with at least 50 employees
Must consult on decisions on substantial changes to work org. or contractual arrangements
E.g. Woolworths failed to consult on store closures when they went bankrupt, and those affected had to be compensated
But quality of consultation varies widely
Summary
Employers now forced in some circumstances to consult employees, e.g. on impending redundancies
But there are still few restrictions on their decisions affecting employees
Wise employers are more open and actively seek to involve their workforce, and to discuss change issues as widely as possible – many still don’t…
References
Stats on union membership from:
https:// www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/431564/Trade_Union_Membership_Statistics_2014.pdf
See Channel4 news and BBC for the recent trade union bill e.g.
http://www.channel4.com/news/government-crackdown-on-strikes-with-trade-union-bill
Williams, S. (2014) (or previous editions) Introducing Employment Relations. OUP
