Discuss About The British Journal Of Industrial Relations?

Importance of Employment Relationship

Question:

Discuss About The British Journal Of Industrial Relations?

When a person offers services or performs a certain type of work under conditions and is in turn compensated, a legal link between him and his employer is created and is called the employment relationship. It is through the business relationship, that complementary rights and commitments are made between the employer and employee (Baudrillard, 1981). It becomes the primary vehicle through which employees access the rights and advantages related to employment in the zones of labor law and social securities. It also determines the nature and degree of employer’s rights and obligations towards their employees.

In most firms, the employment relationship and agreements are often determined by the employer rather than having both parties bargain and agreeing to terms (Baudrillard, 1981). Most employers uses the take it or leave it concept leaving employees with no choice than to abide by these agreements even though they are not good for them. This leads to the hierarchical type of employment relations. However, the government of a country sets rules that govern against employment discrimination, retirement benefit plans and the healthcare and safety of employees which a firm has to comply with if not, may lead to dire consequences (Baudrillard, 1981).

On 2^nd of October 2000, the Employees Relation Act 2000 was enacted, which was later review and amended on 1^st of April 2016. The main objective of this act is to ensure that good employment relationship are built and maintained through the advancement of good faith in all aspects of the work environment and that of the business relationship (Clegg, 1975). It promotes the effective requirement of work norms specifically by giving enforcement power to labor inspectors and the authority. It also promotes recognition in New Zealand of the standard basic international Labor Organization Convention 87 on freedom of association and convention 98 on the Right to organize and bargain collectively.

All workers, whether full-time, part-time, fixed-term or casual are entitled to a duplicate of their employment agreement in writing, which must state all the terms and conditions which are at any rate comparable to the rights in the law. These ters should ensure the employee’s safety at work and protection against work bullying or harassment (Blyton, 1994). It also ensures that the employee works in good faith. It is the employee’s responsibility to abide by all rules and regulations set by the employer. The employee also has to act reasonably and relate with each other in good faith. For example, once the employee has agreed to work for the firm, they should dedicate their effort and time, and use their skills in ensuring that work assigned to them is done effectively.

Employment Agreements

The employee is also entitled to compensation and remuneration for the work done and services offered. The employee also has right to refuse to perform certain work (Fox, 1974). For example, an employee is asked to come into work on his free or leave days or asked to work extra hours, he is entitled to refuse to work should it be an inconvenience to him. The staff member at Steel Engineering may also refuse to work if the services he is required to offer can cause him harm health wise. This is according to section 67E of the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2016 (no.9) (Baudrillard, 1981). The employer is required to not treat the worker adversely, e.g. by, forcing the employee to retire or resign or unlawfully dismissing the employee. An employer who fails to follow this rule may be subjected to consequences by the law.

An employee has a freedom of becoming a member of a union or not. If a member, the employer is required to release the employee to attend at least 1 union meeting. An employer is required to inform the workman of all the collective agreements and work he will cover (Dunlop, 1958). The employer is also required to inform the employee that he can join a party to the collective agreement or how to contact a union. And should the employee join one, he is to be informed he is bound to the employer by the collective agreement. The employer should also present the employee with the collective agreement and that all work should not go against subsection (2) of the employment relationship in accordance with the collective agreement. The general manager at Steel should inform and explain to James Smith about all this. He should also discuss with James what is required of him according to the Individual Employment Agreement. Section 62(1) states that an employer is required to comply, failure to which, may draw penalties by the authorities. James should also enquire about unions and ensure that he understands the agreements before signing them.

Employer and employees should have an open and honest relationship. They should maintain a good and productive relationship and ensure communication and interactions between them are constructive (J, 1978). This is called good faith. Not only does it ensure good relations between employer and employee, but also between a union and its members. Section 4(1) states that parties must deal with each other in good faith. Confidentiality must be maintained between these parties and no party should mislead or be deceitful to the other. For example, employees at Steel are required to maintain order in the workplace and should there be a problem, they should approach the manager in a mature way and solve those issues instead of participating in strikes. The employers at Steel should also be mindful of their employees while making decisions that may affect them, for example, liquidation of the firm.

The Employment Relation Act 2000

Section 60 states that employees should be given adequate information on terms and conditions to be met while working at a firm. They should not be pressured into signing an agreement before having understood the agreements well. Good faith behavior is required. Under section 68, a party should not be subjected to unfair bargaining (Baudrillard, 1981). The employee is also entitled to challenge the bargain on grounds that it is unfair. Section 69 also states that an employee has the freedom to request a variation in his working arrangements. Hemi Wingate has a right to challenge the bargain offered to him by the general manager. By giving him an ultimatum, the manager has not acted in good faith, given that he pressured Hemi to sign the agreement. Hemi has a right to petition and challenge this in court through the labor inspector, and should the manager be found guilty of not adhering to good faith, he may suffer dire consequences (Baudrillard, 1981). Hemi also has a choice of resigning his job should he feel that he is not rightfully catered for.

There are two main types of employment agreements (Fox, 1974). I.e., the individual employment agreement and the collective employment agreement. In individual employment agreement, negotiations between the employer and employee take place and they discuss the terms and conditions of the employment. These agreements should be in writing and before the employee signs the agreement, he should review it thoroughly and if there are changes he would want, notify the employer as soon as possible and try to negotiate it. Both parties should sign the agreement and each should have a copy of the agreement. This agreement is between the employer and employee even if it matches with a collective agreement of a union party.

The collective employment agreement, on the other hand, is negotiable by unions that are registered and employers. Employees covered by these unions by collective coverage clauses must be on collective agreement with the union (Blyton, 1994). These unions aim at maintaining ace of a good productive relationship between the parties and negotiate with the employer on behalf of the employee. Employees may also be employed a casual, part-time or full-time worker, or under fixed term depending on work they perform or services offered. Steel Eng. Ltd. Aims at employing new employees. The general manager should decide what type of services he requires to ensure that they hire the best candidate.

Rights and Responsibilities of Employers and Employees

1. John Samson – Collective Employment Agreement
2. Range Walker – Part-Time Employment
3. Brendan Talbot – Full Time
4. Melanie Wheeler – Fixed Term
5. Conrad Abraham – Casual

Under section 4(1), it was not right for the general manager to change Lester’s IEA to casual laborers without consulting with him. This is against good faith of employment relationship (Beardwell, 1994). Should the manager wish to change Lester’s employment agreement, he should have consulted him and negotiate the bargain with him till they come to an agreement. Lester, in this case, is entitled to challenge his changeover to casual, however, he may not deem it necessary since his pay is still the same as in IEA. The general manager should know that Lester is not a casual laborer since he works 45 hours in a week and offers his services regularly.

According to section 66, an employer and employee may agree to end employment at a specific date (Baudrillard, 1981). By hiring two more workers to assist in the completion of a contract, Steel Ltd. Has entered in a fixed-term employment. The completion of services to be offered also means the end of this contract between Steel Ltd and the two employees. Once the task is through and the worker still works for Steel Ltd, this will not be covered under Fixed Term Employment and they are required to enter into another contract in order to work for Steel legally.

For an employee to be placed on probation, this must be captured in writing during employment. Section67(1) states that the employee should not be dismissed unlawfully and that they are dismissed at the end of probation period. The manager should not have dismissed Maddie before her probation period was over even though Maddie’s performance does not meet the expectations. However, section 67A states that an employer may dismiss an employee under the trial period for 90 days if the not satisfied with employee’s work, may dismiss them at any time during the trial period. This should be in writing (Abbott, 2006).

The employment relation amendment act 2008, section 6 and 7 provide that an employee can specify a 90 day or less period within which the employer has rights to dismiss the employee due to lack of work satisfaction. Due to dismissal, the employee cannot challenge this decision and present his grievances to the employer unless specific exceptions like breastfeeding that comply to a superannuation fund. Should the manager decide to terminate Shirley Anderson, no legal action can be taken against him. This trial period should also be in written form, as an employee agreement, Section 67A

Types of Employment Agreements

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

This employment contract dated 2 October 2017

Between

Steel engineering limited (employer)

And

Justin Thyme (employee)

Job title: design engineering

Minimum work hours: 45 hours a week

Background

The employer believes that the employee has required skills and experience to benefit the business.

The employee will commence permanent full-time employment with the employer on 2^nd cot 2017.

The employee agrees to dedicate his time and skills to the firm and perform his duties truthfully

The employee shall receive an annual salary of 92000$ payable in monthly installments and is entitled to annual leave on top of the holidays as stated by the holiday act.

He is also entitled to a car and a cellphone which he shall use for business purposes.

He is entitled to the access of design information, which is sensitive information and must be handled with care. Expose of this information will lead to severe consequences.

• inquire about (utilizing scientific demonstrating to work through new improvements and developments)
• configuration (transforming research thoughts into specialized plans for models utilizing PC helped outline (CAD) and PC helped designing (CAE) programming)

testing (gathering and investigating information from model testing) adjusting outlines (in front of make or establishment)

The employer should always have a record of all employees details, including payment. Details like employee’s name, age and employment date should be included (Abbott, 2006). The number of hours an employee works should determine the amount that they are pays. Section 130(1) requires every employer to comply and be open about employee’s payment. Good faith has been breached when the manager decided to pay Jayne little money for being a minor. The wages Act has also been breached.

Starting Wage

12.60*45=567

Adult minimum wage

15.25*45=686.25

686.25-567=119.25

Zero-hour contract is where an employer and employee enter into a contract that ‘states that the employer is not obliged to have minimum working hours and the employee can refuse work offered. New Zealand parliament passed the bill that prohibits employers and employees from participating in zero hour contracts. The bill states that every employee should have a minimum working hour each week and workers can refuse extra hours (Baudrillard, 1981).

New Zealand’s Wages act stipulates that the minimum wages for an adult should be 15.75$ per hour.

If Enu’s wife picked 350 bins for over four weeks that means she picks 350/4=87.5 in one week.

Her pay for one week was 87.5*5=437.5.

The law states that at least in a week and adult should earn 5*126=630

This means she is earning less than the law states.

Should a worker wok on holiday, the employer is required to pay them that day’s pay. The employee should be paid on a daily basis every day that he works during the holidays, Holiday’s Act 2003.

Fixed-term Employment

Enu’s daily relevant pay is 192$ per day. If he decided to come during the holiday, he will be compensated

25$*8hr = 200$

This amount is more than what he earns on a daily basis. SEL should encourage Enu to work on holidays since it will benefit him.

If Enu works on holiday without agreeing, he is entitled to an alternative holiday and SEL is obligated to pay him for working on that day. Enu also can exchange his alternative holiday with payment instead of going on a holiday.

Employees are granted a sick leave of 5 days which are paid sick leaves a year after working in a firm for at least 6 months. Sick leave accumulation can only add to a maximum of 20 days and an employer and employee must discuss this prior this period. Once Susie uses up her 5-day sick leave, with no evidence of sickness, the manager can dismiss her.

James being a full-time worker should earn at least ((40*24) *4) *12=46080$ per annum. By receiving 52000$ per annum, that means his leave Bonus was also included while calculating his annual pay. Getting an extra 1920$ indicates he earns more than he rightfully should.

Employees and workers should know their rights and responsibilities (Baudrillard, 1981). These terms and conditions should be applied in every workforce to ensure that jobs are done effectively and efficiently without the harassing of one party. Employers should treat employees as important because without them no jobs can be done.

Once a collective agreement is due to roll over, unions and employers should decide on what actions to be undertaken. If they do not come to an agreement, various methods like meditation are utilized to ensure no conflicts arise. Both parties must agree to mediation services as provided in Section 144. They should be presented to authority to determine how both parties will share costs. Collective bargains also bind these two parties together.

Conclusion

Employees in new Zealand are covered by the Employees Relation Law (ERA).  ERA covers everyone that offers services and is compensated as a result. However, independent contractors are not covered by ERA (Dessler, (1997)). The duties of an employee include; ensuring a safe work place, paying of workers, taking responsibilities of employees workers and not discriminating them while employees are required to obey the employers instructions, work effectively and efficiently (Clegg, 1975). This ensures that both employer and employee achieve goals set for the firm.

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