6.6 Improving employer-employee relations

Question 1

How can employees be represented in negotiations with employers?

Answer 1

• Trade Unions
• Works councils
• Other types- factory or office committee & staff association.

Question 2

What is a trade union?

Answer 2

An organisation of workers established to protect & improve economic position and working conditions of its members.

Question 3

What are the aims of trade unions?

Answer 3

• Maximising pay.
• Achieving safe & secure working conditions.
• Attaining job security.
• Participating in and influencing decisions in the workplace- through collecive bargaining or through having representatives on works councils and other employer-employee coommittees.

Question 4

Trade Unions achieve their objectives via what functions?

Answer 4

• Protecting members interests over issues such as discrimination, unfair dismissal and health & safety matters.
• They negotiate pay & conditions for their members through collective bargaining.
• They provide members with a range of personal services including legal advice, insurance, education, training & financial advice.

Question 5

How can employers benefit from the existence of trade unions?

Answer 5

• They act as a communications link between management & employees.
• Professional negotiation of behalf of a large number of employees can save time & lessen the likelihood of disputes occuring.

Question 6

Why are unions in a better position to negotiate than individuals?

Answer 6

They have better collective negotiating skills & increased power.

Question 7

What is a works council?

Who is normally elected?

Where is it common for works councils to be used ?

However what happens in businesses where works councils & trade unions co-exist?

Answer 7

• A forum within a business where workers and management meet to discuss issues such as working conditions, pay & training.
• Employee representatives.
• Common to be used in workplaces where no trade unions co-exist.
• The former is normally excluded from discussing pay & working conditions.

Question 8

What do employees like to know about their employers?

What have all UK employers been obliged to do since 2008?

Answer 8

What they are planning!

All UK employers with 50+ staff have been legally obliged to keep employees regularly informed & consulted on issues at work.

Question 9

Under the European Union’s Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) regulations, what are companies required to establish?

Answer 9

• Required to establish formal works councils on demand.
• Even if employers to not have an agreement in place, the business must still consult if they are planning:

- 20 or more redundancies.

- To sell their business or buy a new one.

- Certain changed to an occupational or personal pension scheme.

Question 10

What other forms can employee representation take place in?

Answer 10

• Other forms- although these are similar in structure and operation to a works council.
• However, these type of employee representation differ from trade unions in that they are not backed by regional and national organisations & do not have professional employees.
• Instead- they are solely organised for the individual business & its particular curcumstances.

Question 11

Where may factory or office committes which may be established elect members from?

What matters do they discuss?

What should happen for this to be effective?

Answer 11

• Elect members of the work force, alongside the employer’s representatives.
• Discuss matters such as working conditions, employment and production changes, safety and welfare matters.
• Committees should meet regularly.

Question 12

Staff associations

Why may they be formed?

What do they usually operate on behalf of?

They are also used as a means of representation for who?

Answer 12

• Formed to provide employee representation.
• Operate on behalf of a single company.
• Used as a means of representation for police officers & civil servants.

Question 13

Staff associations

What are they often independent from?

Answer 13

External influences & this can be a reason for them to be popular with both employees & employers, though they are frequently established at the request of employers to avoid trade unions gaining recognition for negotiations.

Question 14

What influences on the extent and methods of employee representation in decision making?

Answer 14

1. The leader and management style in the business.
2. The overall/ corporate objectives of the business.
3. The history and ownership of the business.
4. The nature of the work and the employees hired.
5. Employment legislation.

Question 15

What influences on the extent and methods of employee representation in decision making

Leadership and management style used in the business?

Answer 15

Some management- operate to deliberately aim to reduce/ eliminate any employee representation within their business.

• Leadership style- autocratic.
• Wish to retain control over decision making & seek any employee rep.
• Operate with a ‘Hard’ style of managing HR- treating employees like resources.

CONTRAST- other businesses may be more democratically led.

• Use a ‘soft’ approach to managing HR.
• Can result in extensive involvement of employees in decision making.

Question 16

What influences on the extent and methods of employee representation in decision making

The overall or corporate objectives of the business?

Answer 16

They shape relationships between employers & employees.

• Businesses persuing growth in which demand is strongly price elastic may opt to minimise the extent of employee rep- for fear of wages being forced up as a result.
• Businesses persuing social obj may place lower emphasis on generating profits/ increasing market share and may welcome employee rep in decision making.

Question 17

What influences on the extent and methods of employee representation in decision making

The history and ownership of the business?

Answer 17

• Some businesses have a history/ culture for employee rep. Might reflect origins of the business/ the views of influential managers or leaders of the past.
• Another influence- the extent to which the business is owned by its employees. Is natural for businesses owned by its employees to give them a say in decisions.

Question 18

What influences on the extent and methods of employee representation in decision making

The nature of work and employees hired?

Answer 18

• May be more likely that businesses that employ highly skilled employees will offer them opportunities to become involved in decision making through a system of employee representation.
• Will give them a sense of value and increase employee engagement, which may offer further benefits to the business.

IN CONTRAST

• Businesses relying heavily on temporary & seasonal employees- less incentive to establish systems for employee representation- as have limited knowledge & experience to offer- don’t value the employees in the same way.

Question 19

What influences on the extent and methods of employee representation in decision making

Employment legislation?

Answer 19

Information & Consultation of Employees (ICE) regulation. This regulation obliges all UK employers with 50 or more staff to keep employees regularly informed & consulted on issues at work.

Question 20

What does the process of communication look like and what happens at each stage??

Answer 20

1) The Sender: The company who commences the process of communication.
2) The Message: The information that the business wishes to send to its audience.
3) The Medium: The way in which the message is communicated e.g. email.
4) Reciever/audience: The audience is the target group at whom the communication is aimed- this might be a business’s employees/ customers.
5) Feedback: The response to the communication, which can confirm it has been received or raise a query or comment about its content.

Question 21

What types of communication does a business use?

Answer 21

Electronic mail.

Social media.

Intranets.

Video conferencing.

Question 22

What are intranets?

Answer 22

• Electronic, computer-based communication networks, similar in nature to the internet but used internally by individual businesses.
• They are ideally suited to large companies, especially those with a number of locations. They provide an email service as well as access to information of interest to large numbers of employees.

Question 23

The effective management of communication with employees is not simply about choosing the right medium with which to exchange information.

What other factors make up an effective employer-employee communication package?

Answer 23

• Appreciating the nature of effective communication.
• Using the appropriate style of management.
• Adapting the organisational structure to encourage effective communication.

Question 24

What could cause difficulties in communication?

Answer 24

Mergers & takeovers.

Scale (size) of a business.

Locations.

Delayering.

Communcation mechanisms.

Question 25

Managing employer- employee relations.

An important part of managing employer- employee relations is to have what in place & what does this do?

Answer 25

• To have systems in place to deal with any disputes before they can become too serious and possibly result in industrial action.
• Effective communication is one means of preventing and resolving disputes quickly and many employers have agreed procedures in place to avoid disputes escalating into industrial action.

Question 26

We can divide managing employer-employee relations into what two sections?

Answer 26

Avoiding industrial disputes.

Resolving industrial disputes.

Question 27

How do you avoid industrial disputes?

Answer 27

• No strike and single union agreements- a ‘no stike deal’ is an agreement between employers and unions whereby in return for a pay and conditions package, a union agrees to refrain from strike action for an agreed period.
• ACAS (Advisory, Concilation and Arbitration Service)- is an independent and impartial organisation established to prevent and resolve disputes & to build harmonious relationships at work.

Question 28

Resolving industrial disputes?

Answer 28

Arbitration- procedure for the settlement of disputes. 3 Types- Non-binding arbitration, Binding arbitration, Pendulum arbitration.

Conciliation- A method of resolving individual or collective disputes in which a neutral third party encourages the continuation of negotiations and the postponement (at least) of any form of industrial action.

Employment tribunals- Informal courts where legal disputes over unfair dismissal or discrimination can be settled.

Question 29

What is arbitration?

Answer 29

Procedure for the settlement of disputes. 3 Types- Non-binding arbitration, Binding arbitration, Pendulum arbitration.

Question 30

What is conciliation?

Answer 30

A method of resolving individual or collective disputes in which a neutral third party encourages the continuation of negotiations and the postponement (at least) of any form of industrial action.

Question 31

What are employment tribunals?

Answer 31

Informal courts where legal disputes over unfair dismissal or discrimination can be settled.

Question 32

What are the costs to employers for good employer-employee relations that may arise from any sort of dispute?

Answer 32

• Business may lose revenue from products if dispute results in strike action.
• Business may loose future sales if its customers believe that it is an unreliable supplier.
• Business’s relationship with employees may be damaged long term with negative implications for engagement and productivity.
• May be regarded as a more risky investment and encounter more difficulty in raising finance- or be expected to pay higher interest rates.
• Businesses image may be damaged if involved in a dispute with its employees- may alienate some of its customers.

Question 33

What are the costs to employees for good employer-employee relations that may arise from any sort of dispute?

Answer 33

• Employees may lose pay if the industrial dispute takes the form of a strike.
• The dispute may weaken the employer’s finances putting employees’ job security at risk.
• A financially weakened employer may not be able or willing to pay for training for employees, denying them the chance to improve and update skills and knowledge.
• Employer may respond to the threat of, or actual, industrial action by replacing people with technology in the production process or by moving overseas.

Question 34

What are the benefits of good employer-employee relations to employers?

Answer 34

Helping to develop a strong employer brand.

Promoting employee engagement.

Improving the businesses corporate image.

Strengthening competitiveness.

Question 35

The benefits of good employer-employee relations to employers.

How will it help to develop a strong employer brand?

Answer 35

• Employers who avoid disputes with employees & have effective mechanisms to resolve any disputes quickly will be viewed as more favourably by potential employees.
• This will assist it in attracting more able and productive employees.

Question 36

The benefits of good employer-employee relations to employers.

What are the benefits of promoting employee engagement?

Answer 36

• Having an engaged workforce is a valuable asset for any business.
• Poor employer relations are likely to lead to employees believing they are not valued and will reduce their sense of well being. Such factors can damage employee engagement severely.

Question 37

The benefits of good employer-employee relations to employers.

How is improving the business’s corporate image beneficial to employers?

Answer 37

• Avoiding disputes/ settling them quickly helps a business to develop or maintain a reputation as a fair and reasonable employer.
• This can have positive effects on a range of stakeholders including customers & investors.

Question 38

The benefits of good employer-employee relations to employers.

How can it strengthen competitiveness?

Answer 38

• Good relations can be a powerful competitive weapon.
• Can reduce costs by eliminating lost production, add to a business’s reliability as a supplier as its production is not interrupted & can enhance labour productivity (thereby lowering units labour costs) - as workers are motivated by what they regard as fair pay & working conditions.

Question 39

What are the benefits to employees of having good relations with employers?

Answer 39

Financial benefits- Avoid loss of pay during periods of industrial disputes if good relations are maintained. As employer may be financially stronger as a result of avoiding wasteful disputes- there is a greater possibility of future imporvements in pay & conditions.

Job security- Employer is less likely to consider replacing employees with technology or moving overseas to locations where industrial action rarely/ never occurs.

The possibility of greater participation in decision making- way to help maintain good relations & relationships.

Question 40

Methods of resolving industrial disputes

What are the three types of Arbitration?

Answer 40

Non-binding arbitration.

Binding arbitration.

Pendulum arbitration.

Question 41

Methods of resolving industrial disputes

What is Non-binding arbitration?

Answer 41

Involves a neutral third party making an award to settle a dispute that the parties concerned can accept or not.

Question 42

What is binding arbitration?

Answer 42

Means that the parties of the dispute have to take the award of the arbitrator.

Question 43

What is pendulum arbitration ?

Answer 43

A binding form of arbitration in which the arbitrator has to decide entirely for one side or the other. It is not an option to reach a compromise or to reach a middle ground. This system avoids excessive claims by unions or miserly offers by employers.