Learning Outcomes

• To explain in own words the concept of employee relations

• Able to discuss some key influencing factor related to employee relations

• Suggest how these influencing factors can be controlled

• State key employment facts relating to the UK Employee Relations Act

Gallup research shows that only 13% of employees around the world are actively engaged at work, and more than twice that number are so disengaged they are likely to spread negativity to others.

What is Employees RelationsTask – students create own definition

Generally, employee relations is a term used to describe a company's efforts to prevent and resolve problems arising from situations at work (here).

Is the legal link between employers and employees. It exists when a person performs work or services under certain conditions in return for remuneration (here).

Is a process that companies use to effectively manage all interactions with employees, ultimately to achieve the goals of the organization (here).

Pay-Work Bargain

Employees Relations Policies - Approach

1) Adversarial • Employer tells employee what to do• Follow the rules or leave

2) Traditional• Employees follows the directive of their managers who maintain a

good day-to-day working relationship• Employee has some negotiating power

Employees Relations Policies - Approach

3) Partnership• Employees are apart of the policy making process but the

employer retains the right to manage

4) Power Sharing • Employees are involve in all aspect of decision making and day-to-day

operations of the company.

Task - Think about week one and the three videos which we watched:

• Which approach do each of the companies take?• Which approach does the university take?

Developing Employee Relationships 1) During recruitment

2) During the induction process

3) Encouraging maximum contact and communication between employee and employers

4) Adopting a general policy of transparency.

Building Trust

Maintaining Employee RelationshipsTask – • How would you define trust?• Firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or

something • A relationship built on mutual trust and respect

• How would you build trust in your company?• Tell the truth • Admit mistakes • Share information openly• Support transparency • Listen to all views and information sources (not just your own)• Be interested in the person (not their job and performance)

Employee ParticipationEmployee Participation• Employees have responsibilities at the workplace and are involved in the decision-

making process.

• participation increase the levels of motivation and job satisfaction amongst the staff

• Trade unions often try to increase the amount of worker participation in the workplace to increase bargaining power.

• For main approaches:

Employee ParticipationEmployee Shareholders

• These are a common form of payment in many PLCs and are often termed 'share options'.

• Involves each employee receiving a part of each month's salary in the form of shares (usually at a discounted price).

• This forms a profitable savings-plan for the employee, which can be sold them after a given period of time.

• This should motivate the employees to work harder and increase their efforts, since the share price will rise as the company becomes more profitable, therefore increasing the capital gain on their shares.

Employee ParticipationEmpowerment

This involves a manager giving his subordinates a degree of power over their work (i.e. it enables the subordinates to be fairly autonomous and to decide for themselves the best way to approach a problem).

KaizenThis is a Japanese word meaning 'continuous improvement'. It is widely held that any aspect of the business can be improved, not just the production processes.

Quality circlesThis is a group of workers that meets at regular intervals to: • Identify any problems with quality within production• Consider alternative solutions to these problems• and then recommend to management the solution

Employee ParticipationTeam-workingTeam-working involves a number of employees combining to produce a product, with each employee specialising in a few tasks and the whole team taking the responsibility for production.

Works councilThis is a type of worker participation and it consists of regular discussions between managers and representatives of the workforce to table about issues, like how the business can improve its processes and procedures.

Worker-directorsThese are workforce representatives who participate in the meetings held by the board of directors. Worker-directors are not very common in the UK, since employers often believe that they can slow down the decision-making process, as well as 'leaking' confidential information to employees.

Mini Plenary • How can we define employee relations?• Company's efforts to prevent and resolve problems• Effective management of all interactions with employees

• What are the four policy approaches to employee relation?• Adversarial• Traditional• Partnership• Power Sharing

Mini Plenary • What is Adversarial • Employer tells employee what to do• Follow the rules or leave

• What is Traditional• Employees follows the directive of their managers who maintain a

good day-to-day working relationship• Employee has some negotiating power

Mini Plenary • What is Partnership• Employees are apart of the policy making process but the

employer retains the right to manage

• What is Power Sharing • Employees are involve in all aspect of decision making and day-to-day

operations of the company.

• How can you build trust?• Tell the truth • Admit mistakes • Share information openly• Support transparency • Listen to all views and information sources (not just your own)• Be interested in the person (not their job and performance)

Mini Plenary • Name the different way in which employees can get involve with

business decisions and processes?• Employee shareholders, • Empowerment, Kaizen, • Quality circles, • Team-working, • Works council, • Worker-directors

Trade UnionsA trade union is a group of workers who join together in order to protect their own interests and to be more powerful when negotiating with their employers.

Each employee who wishes to join a trade union must pay an annual fee, which contributes towards the costs and expenses that the trade union incurs when it provides services to its members, and supports industrial action by the workers.

Developed during the Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1830 )

Trade UnionsTrade unions have a number of aims:(video)• To improve the pay of its members.• To improve the working conditions and the working practices of its

members.• To support the training and the professional development of its

members.• To ensure that their members' interests are considered by the

employers when any decision is made which will affect the workforce.

•Watch these videos and identify common themes • (Interview, Fast Food Workers, Coal Mine, (C4, C4))• Think about Maslow theory • Think about the aims of trade unions

Trade Unions – By Types (UK)1.General Unions.

These are for skilled and unskilled workers performing different jobs in different industries (e.g. cleaners, clerical staff, transport workers).

2.Industrial unions. These are for different workers in the same industry (e.g. the National Union of Miners (N.U.M), covering workers at all levels in the hierarchy).

3.Craft Unions. These are fairly small unions for skilled workers, performing the same or similar work in different industries (e.g. musicians).

4.White-collar Unions. These are for 'white-collar' (or professional) workers who perform the same or similar tasks in different industries (e.g. teachers, scientists).

Trade Unions1. Find a trade unions for teachers (here)

2. Find a trade union for bus drivers

3. Find a trade union for hospital workers

4. Find a trade union for fireman

5. Find a trade union for bankers

6. Find a trade union for musicians

Trade Unions – Statistics1. Public sector

Is the part of the economy that is controlled by the state

2. Private sector The part of the national economy that is not under direct state control.

3. Look at the graphs (do not read it) in this report and in your groups write a paragraph describing what you have discovered.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/313768/bis-14-p77-trade-union-membership-statistical-bulletin-2013.pdf

Trade Unions – Pay BargainingNegotiation with the employers of a business on behalf of their members over the issue of pay. This is known as the 'pay-bargaining process', and it is an example of collective bargaining.

Stage One: Objectives and Outcomes

• Both sides create own objectives and outcomes (pay raise)• Both sides decide on how to deliver the outcomes (pay raise) to the employees

• Equally = Blanket pay raise (increase by %)• Differentiated = different people get different amounts

• How will the outcome be implemented • Immediately (lump sum or instant monthly wage)• Instalments (spread lump sum over period or incremental wage increase)

Trade Unions – Pay BargainingStage Two: present their case (pay-talk)

Trade union will put in a 'pay claim’• An increase in the cost of living (i.e. inflation)• An increase in labour productivity rates will mean more sales revenue and profits for

the business, profit shared with the workers pay raise• A pay rise is required in order to recruit and retain the 'best' workers that the

business can find.• If workers are using new machinery and working practices, then they need to be

compensated for this extra work by being given a pay rise.

Trade Unions – Pay BargainingThe employer will put forward a 'pay offer‘• Which they believe will reflect the current trends in the labour market (i.e. the rates

of pay which are being offered by rival businesses), as well as maintaining the competitiveness of the business (i.e. not increasing their costs by a large percentage).

Stage Three: negotiation process• Negotiation process between the trade union and the employer. In order for this to

be a success, both sides will be required to compromise and be prepared to accept less than their original objectives.

Trade Unions – Mediation (ACAS)Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (A.C.A.S.)

• Was set up by the government in 1975 as an independent body• To help settle industrial disputes and claims of unfair dismissal by employees• Does three things:

Advisory: Are invited into a business by the two feuding parties (employers and trade unions) in order to offer their advice to both parties

Conciliation is an attempt to get the two sides in an industrial dispute to resolve their differences.

• A conciliator listens to the arguments of both sides• then tries to encourage the trade union and the employer to negotiate and

compromise • so that they can reach a solution that is acceptable to both parties.

Trade Unions – Mediation (ACAS)Arbitration is the process of resolving an industrial dispute by using an independent person to decide the appropriate outcome.

• The arbitrator will look at the arguments put forward by both parties, and then he will arrive at a decision. • The decision can be legally binding on both parties if this was agreed prior to the

arbitrator's decision.

Pendulum Arbitration is a type of arbitration in which the arbitrator will decide completely in favour of one party or the other, with NO compromise or negotiation being allowed.

It is likely, therefore, that both parties (the employers and the trade union) will make their demands more conservative and realistic than if the arbitrator was allowed to choose an outcome which was somewhere between the two.

Trade Unions – Industrial ActionIndustrial ActionIf the negotiation process collapses employees can take further action:

These are using it in an attempt to get the employer to give-in to their demands by reducing the profits which the company is making

Non co-operation. Refusing to attend meetings and use new machinery or processes.

Work to Rule or 'Go Slow'. Refusing to perform any tasks not in the contract of employment and keeping the output of products to a minimum.

Overtime Ban. Refusing to work any hours over and above the required weekly number of hours.

Trade Unions – Industrial ActionPicketing. Standing at the entrance to the workplace and not allowing any person or vehicle to cross the 'picket line' and enter the workplace.

'Blacking‘ (blacklisting). Refusing to deal with certain employees or suppliers because they have refused to participate in the industrial action.

Strikes. This is often the last resort for a trade union.

• Employees stopping their work• Leaving the workplace and refusing to return.

Link to strike videos

Mini Plenary• What are trade unions?

• A group of workers who join together in order to protect their own interests and to be more powerful when negotiating with their employers.

• What are the aims of a trade union?• To improve wages, training, working conditions and represent the members

interest• How many different types of trade unions are there?

• Four (general, industry, craft and white-collar)• What is the public sector

• Is the part of the economy that is controlled by the state• What is the private sector

• Is the part of the national economy that is not under direct state control.• What is collative bargaining?

• Negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees.

• Why might trade union and employer call in the mediators? • Help settle the disagreement

Mini Plenary• Name the six type of industrial action which employees can take?

• None-cooperation• Work to rule• Overtime ban• Picketing• Blacking • Striking

Dinner Time (12noon)

Employees Relations Act Task – Read the provide hand-out(s) and make notes

• Use your notes to create a brochure or set of flyers/ posters for your employees:

• You need to explain the different requirements and how they support the employee and employer

• They will be displayed on the wall

• http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents • http://www.lawdonut.co.uk/law/employment-law/discipline-and-grievance • http://

www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_rights_at_work_e/basic_rights_at_work.htm

Handout from here