Summary BUS2018F Exam Notes: Employee Relations Section

Intro To Employee relations
Definition
Aim
 Create and maintaining a positive relationship between employee and
employer
o Result of an positive employee-employer relationship
 Greater productivity
 Greater moral
 Greater motivation
 Prevent and resolve problems

How it does this
 Designs, creates and implements ER
o Policies
o Practices
o Policies
o Frameworks
o Procedures
 These policies, practices, … , and procedures then regulate
o Concerns
o Conflict
o Disputes

Examples
 Disciplinary policy
 Poor performance policy

,The Employment relationship
 Organisation/employer  Employees  Goal
o Organization/employer employs the employees
o Employees work to achieve goals
 Organizationemployees= primary relationship
o Good primary relationship= achieved organizational goals
o Bad primary relationship = no performance by employees
 Therefore preventing goal from being achieved

,Stakeholders in organisations
General
 Together they make up an organisation

The Employer Party
Role
 Conceptualises and founds the organisation
 Provides funding
 Formulates the vision and mission
 Develops a strategic plan
o Continuously re-evaluates and adapts
 Establishes policies and procedures governing
o financial affairs
o structure
o various functions within the organisation
 Monitors and controls organisational functioning

Perspective
 Concered with
o Cost
o Efficiency
o Image
o Change
o Growth and development

Management
Role
 Provides input and helps various employer roles
o vision
o mission statement
o strategic plan
 may even develop this subject to the approval of the employer
 Establishes policies and procedures
o That deal with the day-to-day running
 Directs and controls the various functions
o On a day-to-day or month-to-month basis
 Employs people to work in the organisation
 Oversees the work and performance of employees
 Monitors the financial affairs of the organisation
 Liaises with external stakeholders

,The Employee Party
Role
 Perform the job for which they are employed to do
 Provide input on work process or department’s functions
o Only when called upon
o Usually the experienced and trusted employees
Perspective
 Concered with
o Wage
o Job security
o Job satisfaction
o Recognition
o Control
o Fair treatment
o Respect

Shop stewards
Role
 Represents employees vis-à-vis management
o Middleman between the employee an employer
 Still an employee themselves
 Have their own job not directly related to the employee-
employer relationship
o Meets with management to represent employee interests or raise
employee concerns
o Represents employees during grievance and disciplinary procedures
 Represents the interests of the union in the organisation
o Arranges meetings with employees
o Reports back to the union
 Performs the job for which he/she was employed


Conflict
Cause of conflict
 Interaction between employees with different perspectives

Result of conflict
 Negatvely affect
o The employment relationship
o Organisation’s bottom line

,Policies and Procedures
Definition
 Frameworks
o Step by step guides
o How to deal with resolve difficulties

What it does
 Govern behaviours
o Of all parties in the organisation
o To minimize conflict

Results
 Minimizes conflicts
 Therefore helps an organisation function effectively


Areas of Employee Relations
 Legal Compliance
o Health & Safety Legislation
o Training Legislation
o Employment Equity Legislation
o Contracts – BCEA Compliant
 Collective Labour Law Negotiations and Disputes
 Conflict & Communication - Grievances
 Discipline
 Dismissals
 Industrial Relations Disputes

,Role of Employee Relations Manager/Officer
Dealing with frameworks policies and procedures
 Promote fair and equitable practices in the organisation
 Formulate policies and procedures
o That provide a framework for the conduct of the relationship
 Contributing to the strategic objectives of the organisation by alerting planners
to the IR implications
 Gate keeping of all interactions, processes and practices within the
organisation
o To ensure they are legal
 Conform to the relevant legislation
 Conform to the code of good practice
 Conform to agreements between the parties

Dealing with communication, negotiation and conflict
 Dealing with conflict
o Preventing conflict by
 Identifying potentially flammable situations
 Then effecting the necessary interventions
o Mediating conflicts which do arise
 Assisting and advising
o Managers in their dealings with employees
o Employees in their dealings with managers
 Ensure continuous communication and training so that
o Employers/managers and employees are conversant with their
respective rights and obligations
 Assist with negotiation of agreements
o By interacting with employee representatives
 Advising on the handling of industrial action and the processing of unresolved
disputes

,Understanding Legislation
SA’s labour framework
Early labour laws
 1658= slave trade
o Boer farmers gave slaves squatting rights in exchange for work
o This was the earliest record of labour practices
 Started to govern the employment relationship
o Smuts implemented the Canadian Model
 In 1909
 Still used today

Canadian Model
History
 Smuts implemented the Canadian Model
o In 1909
o Still used today

Dispute of interest
 Resolution through
o Negotiation
o Collective bargaining
 Mediated by
o CCMA
 Often a power play between the parties

Dispute of right
 Internal Process
o Conciliation
 By CCMA
o Arbitration
 By CCMA
 Can appeal the decision

Apartheid
• Discrimination based on race
• Job reservation
• Training and development rules
• Different education systems

Two Areas of labour law
 Individual
 Collective

, The Tripartite Relationship




SA labour Law Structure/Heirarchy
1. Constitution
 Governs all
 Applies to all laws
2. Statutory Laws
 Contained in Acts and Legislation
3. Common Law
 Contracts
 Precedents
 Case law