ch14

Question 1

part time

Answer 1

no more than 30 hours a week

Question 2

ad of part

Answer 2

more flexible can ask to work in peak hours

Question 3

Zero hour contracts

Answer 3

Zero-hour contracts do not grantee any particular number of hours of work.
great for businesses, but no security for the worker
are on call when needed
not obligated to give them work

in some countries its illegal

Question 4

flexible hours and home working

Answer 4

allows to choose what time they begin to work, where to work, and when they will stop work.
their are different ways this can work –> shifts over 24 hours, longer days for a shorter Friday, have a 35 hour week and complete whenever you want, sabbaticals, buying extra holidays
Positives –> it can mean you are open longer
Zero hour contracts –> great for businesses, but no security for the worker
home workers –> farmer, shop owners, musicians, could be full-time, could be self employed. Good to keep costs low and suits lifestyle needs, but can cause communication problems with multiple staff and difficult to monitor productivity

Question 5

what is Outsourcing

Answer 5

getting other people or businesses to undertake work that was originally done in-house done by the people employed by the business.

Question 6

ad of out

Answer 6

1-keeps costs lower and
2- Let you do more/capacity increase
3-more effective work as it is done by a specialist
4-less likely to make mistakes

Question 7

dis of out

Answer 7

1-is loss of control,
2- could hold up a production process and employees may not like it as they feel their jobs are being threatened

Question 8

How to achieve greater flexibility within the workforce

Answer 8

multi skilling, workers given variety of tasks
part time and temporary
flexible hours and home working
outsourcing

Question 9

What is a trade union and collective bargaining

Answer 9

collective:a method of determining conditions of work and terms of employment through negotions between employers and employee representatives.
trde organizations of workers that exist to promote the intrests of their members
organization that employees pay to join in order to gain greater power and security at work
union bargains with employers on behalf of all workers

Question 10

what is dismissal?

Answer 10

could be misconduct or employee incapable of doing their job
they are given a period of notice before they leave which length differs depending on how long the employee has worked for the business
(they did smth wrong like didn’t follow the employee contract)

Question 11

what is redundancy?

Answer 11

they did nth wrong but they are no longer needed there is no work for the person to do or they are closing
you are entitled to redundancy or severance pay by law(compensation)

Question 12

when can conflicts occur between employer and employee?

Answer 12

rate of pay
Introduction of technology - may fear job losses or may not be confident with it
flexible working –> zero hours are not popular
work conditions –> employees want better conditions

Question 13

What are the three ways employees can deal with conflicts with their management?

Answer 13

Individual approach
collective bargaining
Industrial action

Question 14

What is individual bargaining

Answer 14

where employee bargains with employer on their own

Question 15

what is collective bargaining?

Answer 15

a method of determining conditions of work and terms of employment through negotiation between employers and employee representatives

trade union represent the workers and negotiate conditions
For collective bargaining to take place, employees must be free to join representative e.g. trade unions
employers must recognize and agree to work with them they should negotiate on good faith and everyone should respect the outcome

Question 16

What is industrial action?

Answer 16

strike
disruptive measures taken by workers to apply pressure on employers when disagreements cannot be resolved

Question 17

What are the advantages of collective bargaining?

Answer 17

agreements are transparent and binding
may be more cost effective to have just one set of negotiations
rules and terms are more likely to be respected by both parties
more equitable because power between both sides is equalized
favoritism and victimization might be reduced at work
employee representatives are democratically elected

Question 18

dis of colec

Answer 18

negotiatioin can result in more bureaucracy and take longer
the views of individuals are not always reflected by unions
negotiation costs can be high are usually met by businesses
A failure to agree can have serious consequences e.g. strike action
Owners may feel their freedom to manage is compromised

Question 19

What are the advantages of flexible workforce?

Answer 19

business can expand and contract quickly in response to changes in demand for its product –> a workforce made up of permanent staff is difficult to slim down due to costs and legal requirements
specialized jobs need to be done but its a waste of time for a permanent worker –> better to outsource
cheaper to employee –> if temporary staff are treated as self-employed or subcontractors –> business saves on NIC
temporary staff can be laid off immediately with little cost
business may be able to pass on training costs to subcontractors of the temporary workers
job sharing and flexible hours –> work more efficiently (open 24/7) work longer certain days of the week e.g. Friday night

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of flexible workforce?

Answer 20

peripheral workers may have less loyalty –> only motivated by financial gains
outsourcing may lead to poor quality and damaging their reputation with customers –> peripheral workers move on and dont take responsibility for poor work
Communication –> workers not available when the business needs to communicate with them - although technology has made this better
can be a costly process to hire -> lower cost but lose out on efficiency compared to permanent workers – may lead to higher costs in the long run
some workers can be excellent and highly motivated, others can be simple workers who cant hold down a job –> no guarantee that they perform their jobs as well as normal workers
too many peripheral workers employed alongside core workers can cause demotivation to the core workers, constant changing of temp. staff can cause disorientation

Question 21

what is a flexible workforce?

Answer 21

a workforce that can respond in quantity and type to changes in market demand
OR
Flexible working relates to a variety of working arrangements in terms of working hours, location and job variety

Question 22

what is Multi-skilling?

Answer 22

the process of improving the skills of the employees

Question 23

how is having staff that are multi-skilled useful/not useful?

Answer 23

can lead to quicker response to issues, customer queries and free up other to focus on tasks
its goods as it can motivate, however it can add more pressure and cause mistakes if workers are not properly trained