Employment Relations

Ian MejiaRedfield College2009

Effective Employment Relations

The Role of ER in business successCommunication SystemsRewardsTraning and DevelopmentMeasures of EffectivenessEthical and Legal Issues

SyllabusEffective employment relations • role of employment relations • communications systems — grievance

procedures, worker participation, team briefings • rewards — financial, non-financial • training and development — induction • flexible working conditions — family-friendly

programs • measures of effectiveness — levels of staff

turnover, absenteeism, disputation, quality, benchmarking

Employment Relations and Business Success

Related to business goals and objectives

Employment relations as a means of competitive advantage

Human Resource Management

Communication Systems Effective ER relies on open lines of

communication. Good communication leads to improved

performance through Senior management can communicate goals

easier Employees ideas will not be wasted Employees are more involved and will be more

motivated and satisfied Business will have a clearer focus Conflict can be avoided or resolved quicker

What are some direct and indirect communication strategies?

Daily walk around by management Regular formal meetings Staff newsletters or bulletins Suggestion schemes Surveys Emails Other

Grievance Procedures

A grievance is a dispute about the interpretation or operation of an employment contract or alleged cases of discrimination.

A grievance procedure is a pre-determined set of guidelines outlined in the employment contract or award to resolve a dispute without industrial action

Benefits of Grievance Procedures

Minimise productivity loss and business disruption

Gives employees opportunities to voice concerns and problems

Decreases staff turnover

Worker Participation Allowing workers to influence and decide on

operations and decisions within the organisation.

Results in higher job satisfaction, increased loyalty, increased motivation, and greater workplace cohesion.

Increases flexibility in the workplace as decision making is decentralised.

Worker Participation

Work teams Autonomous work teams Quality circles Employee representatives Worker Committees Team Building

Industrial Democracy

Decision making power is shared amongst the organisation

Employers may see this as a challenge to their authority.

Team Briefings

Effective when there is a two way communication with managers and employees

Can be used to motivate and focus on the overall ‘vision’

Invites input in to decision making process

Rewards and Working Conditions

Used to motivate and retain eployees.

Financial (monetary) and non-financial

Started off as just wages and then moved to other benefits

Financial Rewards Australia’s 3 tiered wage system

- Award wages- Certified Agreements (CAs)- Australian Workplace Agreements

Revision: awards are documents specifying minimum wages and conditions of employment. The ‘safety net.’

Certified Agreements

These are agreements negotiated at the workplace level.

Normally they will account for a particular business or group of employees

Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs)

Individual contract with the employer. Led to ‘earning drift’ a situation where

wages are becoming increasingly unequal.

Trends

Q. Under what agreements do you think wage increases were highest?

A. AwardsUnion CAsNon Union CAsAWAs

Financial Rewards Include

Bonuses and cash payments Superannuation or deferred payments Issuing of shares and stock options Providing discounts on purchases of

stock

Salary Packages

Common practice of packaging a specified amount with some paid in the form of a company vehicle, mobile phone, laptop, etc.

These are fringe benefits. Fringe benefits tax is paid for by the business and not the employee.

Advantages and Disadvantages

What are the advantages and disadvantages when offering financial benefits?

Non – Financial Rewards

Relates to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

What are some examples non-financial rewards that may be preferred over extra income?

Non – Financial Rewards Employee recognition schemes Informal praise Skill development Promotional opportunities Lateral career movements Flexible work hours Study or parental leave Decision making opportunities Job security Rostered day off (RDO’s)

Family Friendly work conditions

Sick days for immediate members of the family

Childcare Maternity and Paternity leave

What are the benefits to the company of taking on these costs?

Training and Development

Ongoing skills development Paid education On the job training

Used to increase motivation Increase flexibility Make use of technology

Induction Formal orientation of new employees

into the company operations and culture.

The quicker an employee can learn, the cheaper it is for a business.

The more effective/productive the worker is the more revenue a business will receive.

Measures of Effectiveness

Effectiveness of Employment Relations is not measured by company profit.

The two main measures are Quality and Conflict

Benchmarking

A means of measuring quality and effectiveness.

Page 260 (5 benchmarks for ER)

A business observes ‘Best Practice’ Results in higher quality products

Benchmarking

Levels of customer service Number of sales / returns Labour productivity Complaints OH & S

Staff Turnover

A measure of how many people voluntarily leave a workplace and need to be replaced.

Turnover reflects the effectiveness of employment relations although the goal is not to get turnover to zero.

Absenteeism

Absence during normal working hours Sickdays, unpaid leave etc Large cost to a business

How does absenteeism represent a failure of employment relations?

Disputes

Stop work meetings or strikes or lockouts.

Represent a complete breakdown of employment relations

Quality

Quality of goods or services produced.

Quality against past performance or against similar businesses.

Ethical and Legal Issues

Working conditions Occupational Health and Safety Worker’s Compensation Anti- Discrimination Equal Employment Opportunities Unfair Dismissal

Occupational Health and Safety

High cost to society and business Has become a focus of Government

legislation Apart from obvious injuries like cuts,

bruises, and sprains/strains there are a large proportion of chronic joint and muscle conditions.

OH&S

The key legislation in relation to OH&S include

The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000

Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001

Worker’s Compensation

Worker’s Compensation Act 1987

All employers must have a compensation policy to protect them from financial claims of work related injuries.

Anti-Discrimination It is illegal to discriminate on the basis

of personal characteristics, marital status, pregnancy, impairment, sexual preference, union membership, religion, political opinion etc.

Disability Discrimination Act 1973 Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Sex Discrimination Act 1984

Equal Employment Opportunity

Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987

Affirmative Action Act 1986

Disadvantaged groups should be favoured

All companies with over 100 staff must have an EEO policy.

Unfair Dismissal

Only applies to business with more than 100 employees since Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005.