The persons who carries on the business undertakings or persons who are the employers of any organization is statutorily obligated to comprehend and abide by the employment-related legislation and perform their obligations towards the employees or the people who work under them. While ensuring compliance with the employment obligations, employers or the persons carrying on re business undertakings must also make sure that the business activities are carried on lawfully (Beal & Beal, 2016). The fair implementation of the legal obligations with respect to the business activities and the employees is essential as it assists the employers to enhance the morale of the employees and minimize the staff turnover.
Besides the legal obligations, the employers of an organization have certain ethical responsibilities towards the employees to be fair in their conduct relating to the employees. The proper implementation of these obligations is indispensible for any organization as it results in employee satisfaction, thus, serving the purpose of improving the image and reputation of the organization. There are significant benefits associated with businesses that are working to best practices as it identifies the advantages of regularly obtaining the views and opinions of the employees either by way of consultations with the unions, individuals, groups or with all the three of them.
The concept of best practice entails development and implementation of effective consultation processes that promotes involvement and cooperation between the employees and the management of an organization (Cohn, Fehr & Goette, 2014). However, there are certain factors that act as hindrances to a smooth employment relations within organizations. Such factors include closure, underpayment of wages, strokes, and lockouts. Most of the issues can be resolved through an effective communication process or using consultation process, which involves direct communication of the issues between the employees and the employers.
The employment related issues that this research paper focuses on include the disputes that arise out of closures and underpayment of wages within an organization. The concept of closure or business closures refers to a situation when an organization is incapable or is willing to carry out its business activities. The potential cause that leads to the closure of a business undertaking includes bankruptcy of the business due to paucity of funds. A closure may take place when the purpose of the company is no longer necessary for the company.
There are two forms of closures- voluntary or involuntary closures that shuts down a business organization. Voluntary closures of organization do not take place as frequently as involuntary closures until there is a significant change that hinders the operation of the business organizations (McDonald & Thompson, 2016). Sometimes closing down of the organization remains to be the sole option for the business undertaking. The closures may be a forced closure resulting from a change in the regulations, downturn in the market conditions or an unforeseen series of events. Under any circumstances, the decision to close down a business especially if such business undertaking is an established one is always difficult to make as it involves the future of the employers, shareholders and most importantly, the employees of an organization.
Despite the reasons for closing down of business undertaking, it is important to inform all the people working within the organizations including the time-scales involved in the closing procedure of the organization. The nature and size of the business undertaking are to be taken into consideration while planning the closure of an organization (Storey, 2016). The organization must inform the suppliers for enabling them to reduce and complete their deliveries. The creditors must be informed so that they can claim on the assets that remaining in the business organization.
The most critical aspect of a Business closure is timing, which implies that if the closing down of the business, is due its insolvency, the timing and closure procedure of the business organization shall be beyond the control of the company owners and a liquidator shall be appointed to wrap up the closure procedure of the organization. In the event the company is not shutting down due to insolvency, an organized closing down of the company is a preferable option (Callahan & Bowman, 2015). It would enable the company to give their staffs’ greater opportunity to seek alternative employment and would enable the company to fulfill its prior business commitments to its suppliers and clients.
At the time of closing down of any business undertaking, the employees may either terminate the employment with the business or transfer the business to the new owner of the business in case the business is being sold. The termination of employment and the process of letting the employees go is difficult as it puts the future of the employees at stake. Under such circumstances, a good communication skill is essential, as it would make the time convenient and easier for both the employer and the employees.
The employer is required to serve a notice of to the employee with respect to the shutting down of the business undertaking by either delivering the notice personally or serving the notice at the last known address of the employee (Hardy, 2016). The employees should be served the notice within the notice period, which varies on the working period and the type of the employees. For instance, s notice was not required to be served to any casual employee. The employers have an option to make payments for the notice period to the employee but that amount should be equal to the entire amount that the employee would have received if they worked for the entire notice period.
In case an employee is transferred to a new owner or terminates employment with the business, the employees shall be entitled to some entitlements, which includes any arrear wages, or any accrued leaves that should have been paid out to the employees. Such entitlements depend on factors like contractual terms, relevant modern awards, redundancy option available for the employees, etc.
The impact of closure of business undertakings on the employees is significant. The workers who lose their jobs often become subjected to economic and non-economic expenses. Although the Australian employees who are dismissed owing to the change in the market and economic condition, quickly get a new jobs given the flexibility of the labor market that enables the employers to hire and fire the workers, demonstrating a high level of dynamism. However, Australia lacks specific policies as short-time working schemes that would prevent layoffs resulting from market downturn.
While some of the workers who are displaced manage to have access to higher levels of re-employment support with the help of structural adjustment programs but this approach may not work in case the labor market is buoyant. The displaced workers may find it difficult to find sustainable jobs of a particular quality, hence additional measures should be developed to avert excessive layoffs and improve re-employment support for workers that are affected by redundancies (Hardy, 2016).
The other issue that acts as a hindrance to the implementation of a good employment relation is the issue relating to underpayment of wages to the employees of an organization. Underpayment of wages is a significant issue, which arises when the employers fail to pay allowances, minimum wages or penalty rates stipulated in the instrument applicable to the business organization. Such employer may be sued for recovering the under paid wages (Wilkinson, et al., 2014). The Fair Work Act 2009 sets out the agreement or award that covers the employee through the industrial relations system. The employees who are of the opinion that they are being underpaid may seek legal assistance from the Fair Work Australia. In case of underpayment of wages, various remedies are available such as voluntary payment to mediation, court orders, official letters of caution and considerable fines in case the underpayment of wages was a deliberate act of the employers.
The complex legal system, agreements and awards in Australia often leads the employer to underpay the employees unintentionally. Consequently, it implies living on an unfair low wage for the employees and for the employers, they become subjected to unnecessary severe penalties for something that is not deliberate. Employees are considered as an indispensible resource for any organization and they are the key factors that contribute significantly in the success of an organization. From the person who holds the lowest position to the person holding the highest position are all considered as employees as long as they are paid for their work. Hence, the way an employee is treated and the extent the employees value the company has a great impact on the organization and performance of the organization.
The potential causes that leads to underpayment and overworked conditions in an organization may be, firstly, the poor performance of the organization, which results in losses suffered by the employers for a particular period (Brennan et al., 2017). Consequently, the company lays off some employees because the employer as the employer is unable to pay the salaries of the employees. Secondly, frequent interruptions and the necessity to multi-task among the employees is another significant reason that leads to underpayment and overworked employees. The employees are often interrupted while doing their works, which causes them to do multi-tasks. The employees may feel they are underpaid for the additional work they do within the organization.
The labor of the aboriginal people in Australia has been exploited since the years of colonization. The exploitation has taken various forms such as underpayment, non-payment of wages, mismanagement of savings, pensions, etc. These practices are known as ‘stolen wages’ which had taken place owing to the infringement of the fiduciary duty on part of the employers. However, the statutory claims made by the aboriginals were on the grounds of industrial relations and later, on the grounds of anti-discrimination legislation. The exploitation of the labor of the indigenous people was subjected to legally sanctioned government control under the namesake protection Acts of the 19th and 20th centuries such as the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1987 (Qld). Under the statute, the governments have been exercising levels of control over every aspect of the lives of the indigenous people, including their employment aspect (Brennan et al., 2017).
There is a significant impact of underpayment and overworked employment condition where the employees are exhausted as the companies tends to hold onto their best employees and provide them with adequate trainings. The additional trainings are provided due to the absence of sufficient employees, which ultimately, enhances the workload of such employees. The employees often feel that their input is undervalued, as they only know to concentrate on their work and enhance their output. Under such circumstances, it would be beneficial if the employer provides incentives by way of bonuses or through vacation as it will make the employees happy and they will not feel exhausted.
The underpayment and overworked employees will not feel motivated while working as the workload already makes them exhausted and above that, they are not being paid adequately which makes them feel less motivated to do their job (Freedland et al., 2016). Under such circumstances, the employers must develop and improve their personal bonding with the workers and strive to improve personal bonding among the employees and the coworkers. The term ‘personal bonding’ refers to the good relationship that should be maintained between the employers, employees and the coworkers beyond the working environments. The personal bonding would enhance the spirit of teamwork at time when the employees feel exhausted. They should be assured of the fact that the employers trusts in them and they shall be paid properly for the works they are delegated to do as well as any additional works (Callahan & Bowman, 2015). The employers may also introduce training programs that would be beneficial for the employees and would encourage them to perform their work as well as any additional work.
In the case of Churchill Abattoir, the issues arising from closure of the business undertaking have been discussed. The working class people are not satisfied with the fact that about 270 workers of Church Abattoir were retrenched from the plant on September 28 and 29 after the boning and slaughter rooms closed few weeks after the company had announced the closing down of the organization (Freedland et al., 2016). Further, 300 workers will be out of job the subsequent year when the sausage and corning rooms of the plant are going to be shut down that is run by the country’s supermarket giant, Woolworths.
In case of Baiada, the closure of Steggles Plant, the biggest chicken meat processor that is another Ipswich suburb shall displace more than 400 workers. The closure of the business undertakings amounted to a serious blow to the workers as the unemployment rate in Ipswich Australia as already 8 percent in July, the worst levels in Australia. as per the reports the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU) and the state government of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk are enforcing the closure of the business undertaking ensuring that nothing is done against them. The government promises to hear the workers and create job opportunities. These methods have been used for decades by Labor and Federal governments to enforce the far-reaching closures by the corporations varying from one industry to another. However, the workers have contended that such promises of creating job opportunities have always been illusionary.
The workers of the plants are of the opinion that these plants have been there for years and it is all about the profits for which the organization was taking away jobs from the workers who are in need of such jobs (Freedland et al., 2016). The organization has given the cause of such closure to be shortage in supply of livestock and increased prices. Further, the employees were served with closure notice before one month they were being laid off and were assured that they shall be paid their entitlements. As discussed earlier, that despite the reason of the organization, in case of closure, the business organization shall serve notice and communicate with the employees within a time to enable the employees to look for another job opportunities.
The sudden decision of closure had a significant impact upon the workers who were retrenched from their jobs. It would make it difficult for them to earn a living and would create inconvenience for their families as well. The employers of the organization have failed to exercise their duties to ensure a healthy and secure working environment to its employees. The employees who have been working for the organization have not been given sufficient time to find themselves another job. The lack of communication and the arbitrary decision taken by the organization has left the workers helpless and worried about their families that they have to feed.
Abattoir Company had failed to provide the workers with better working conditions and did not have regards to the future of the workers and their families while deciding to close the business organization. The company merely promised to pay the entitlements but did not pay them and neither the organization gave the workers reasonable time and opportunity to seek alternative employments, thus, disregarding the future and welfare of the employees and their families (Hardy, 2016).
In the Wave Hill walk off case, the aboriginal people were provided with poor working conditions and the wags paid to them was lesser than the wages paid to the non-aboriginal employees. Although an attempt was made to introduce equal wages for the Aboriginals through the enactment of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission but it delayed in deciding the payment of award wages to the male Aboriginal workers in the cattle industry. A spokesperson, Vincent Lingiari, led a walk-off of 200 Aboriginal stockmen, their families from wave Hill as a protests against the pay and work conditions.
As discussed earlier employees are the assets of an organization as their contribution makes an organization successful hence, it is the primary responsibility of the employers to ensure health and welfare of the employees. In the given case study, the aboriginals were not only provided with poor working conditions but were also paid lesser than the wage paid to the non-aboriginal workers of the cattle industry (Beal & Beal, 2016). The aboriginals were controlled and were underpaid which implies that they were deprived of the wages that they were entitled to receive according to their efforts, instead they have been paid less than what they should get. This serious issue arises from the employment relation that may result in poor performance of the organization. In the case study, the underpayment of the aboriginals led to the walk off of the employers and their families from the Wave Hill and the protests was supported by the non-aboriginals as well.
The issue of underpayment of the workers arises from the intention of the employers to boost profit and save expenses. When employees walk off or are retrenched from the organization, the remaining employees are overloaded with works striving to fill in the gap to ensure the performance of the business activities (Callahan & Bowman, 2015). The common link between the two cases is the working condition and the breach of the employer’s obligations to ensure welfare of the employees whose contribution attributes to the success of an organization. Both the industry did not consider the future or condition of the workers and their families, which is one of the most significant impediments in a healthy employment relation.
When there is an incline in the workload, it becomes easier for the employers to enhance the wage rate as it might strive to make profits. However, they should consider the fact that a good working environment should be provided to the employees to make them feel less stress and encourage them to perform their best, thus, leading to progress of the company.
Conclusion
In the contemporary era, it has become more important for the employers to ensure that the employees remain motivated to perform their work and are not being subjected to any form of discrimination with respect to payment, race, nationality, gender, age, etc. Salary and work are related with each other as salary or remuneration is what attracts a person to work for a particular organization. The employers and the employees are responsible for the growth and progress of an organization. Besides, the profit-making motive, the employers must take into consideration the welfare of the employees as they are the assets of an organization and the employers must act in the best interest of the employees.
Reference List
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