HRM330 Employee Management Relations | Management Assignment Help

1. Describe the barriers and benefits of collaboration between unions and employers

Barriers

a. Unions discourage individuals- It can be said that the decisions that have been made by the unions have to be followed strictly by the employers. One individual employee cannot deny the decision made by the union as it works in a group not individually. In some cases the individual employee who does not want to follow the decision of the unions, leaves the union collaboration as they always have an option. Hence it can be said that the union does not support any individual and neither the union changes their decision if one individual employee is not comfortable with the decision made by the union.

b. Labor cost is high- It is said that unionized employers are more expensive to hire than non unionized workers. Due to this reason it can be said that the unions can drive the cost up anytime if they want. The unionized workers are not always affordable and if they are hired then the cost is increased by the unions. Therefore it can be said that becoming a part of the union can be expensive for the employers and the union by their will can increase the labor cost anytime.

Benefits

a. Workforce Stability- One of the advantages of collaborating between the unions and employers is that there is workforce stability. The employers get the assurance that they will be provided with a proper stability in their workplace. The unions sometimes provide training to the employees regarding their work (Torfing et. al 2019). Once the employees are engaged in the work training program of the unions then the employers creates a better and safer workforce for them which helps them in maintaining the workforce stability. After the employers join the training program of the union they might get illness or injuries for which the employers might not b able to go for the work for a few days.

b.  Employers Protection- There are chances that the employers might be fired from their work even if they have not done anything wrong they have been a victim of any conspiracy in that case the unions protects the employers. The unions also help the employers to handle any kind of disputes that they might face from their management or from any other employers.

2. Discuss the following statement: "Strikes may be a cause for concern; however, strikes also serve legitimate purposes

The statement “Strikes may be a cause for concern; however, strikes also serve legitimate purpose” means that the strike made by any unions is done for a reason and the strikes are also done in order to fulfill some purposes that are legal. A strike in the company or business is done when the employers are facing any kind of issues regarding their wages or any respective concern. Before the strike the employers and the unions try to solve it by informing the higher authorities of the business (Hodder et. al 2017). After informing the higher authorities if the employers and the unions see that the authority is not taking any action then together they call a strike in which their demand is to consider their issues and to provide them a proper solution or way after analyzing the situation.

3. Factors affecting the union-management relationship

The union focuses on the employers of the company whereas the organizational management is responsible for controlling the environments of the work and the resource of the company. There are many factors such as working environment; resources, employee management etc are some of the factors that can affect the union-management relationship in a both negative and positive way (Bowler, 2019). Sometimes it is possible that the union and the management of the company are opposing each other in some condition, therefore in order to balance the union-management relationship it is important to have a mutual understanding and both should respect each other’s decision.

4. The primary functions of the grievance process

Grievance process is a process through which the HR management of the firm can create a system in which the employees of the firm unionized or non unionized are able to report their grievances. Now there are some major functions that are played by the grievance process and it is as follows:

1. Identification of workplace conflicts: It is important to understand that in any firm there are workplace issues, conflicts and disputes that are faced in the operational activities of the workforce. In such scenarios the management has to identify them and mitigate them so that the company is able to operate in an effective manner. For this purpose the Grievances process becomes an effective tool and system through which the employees report their problems, conflicts and issues in the operational activities of the firm helping the HR management to identify the possible problems that are present in operations (Sangster, 2014).

2. Creation of dispute settlement process: The primary function that is played by the Grievance process is that the company through this process is able to identify the issues, conflicts and disputes that are therein the firm. Based on the information provided to the Grievance cell by the employees of the workforce the management is able to understand the nuances of the  issues and conflicts based on which the management is able to understand how to manage and settle the issues so that the firm is able to operate in an effective manner.

3. Registering the workplace issues and grievances that has been reported: One of the most effective and primary functions of the Grievance process is that it registers the issues, conflicts and disputes that have been reported and resolved by the firm in recent times. This helps in keeping a record of the things that have happened and how the company can resolve it if the same problems are encountered in the future.

5. Understanding on does the union have to take the grievance to arbitration

Looking at the current scenario it can be said that the employee was reported to have disciplinary issues in the following operations and was stealing the property of another employer in the workplace for which he was dismissed from the workplace by the Employee union. Now Employee Union is a legal representative of the employees within the firm but it is not entitled to give decisions over the employment in the company. It can file grievances, raise issues and represent the employees in the firm but cannot expel an employee on themselves. Hence for this purpose the Union will have to take the grievance to arbitration as the grievance process is an effective way through which the management of the firm will be able to identify the issues, settle the issues and register the issues for better operations of the workforce in the future. In a hierarchical system it is very important that Union files grievances to the Grievances cell to make sure that the management of the firm is informed about the issues, problems and disputes that the employees are facing in their operational activities (HERAN, 2014). The decision making process rests in the hands of the management of the company and the union must ensure that the decision over the employment of an employee rests with the management of the firm. The Union must act an legal representative of the employee that are being affect by the current problems, issues and conflict in the work and report the the following is that the management is able to gather different kinds of information for the current problems and analyze the situation based on which effective settlement and mitigation of the issue can be done.

6. Fire department case study

1. On what basis, if any, can the union file a grievance

In the current scenario it is seen that the employee of the workforce has defined a system for promoting its employee that consist of promotion based on skills, ability and efficiency and if the employees are equal on all these parameter then seniority will be factors that will be considered to make sure sure that one of the employees are promoted to an higher rank in the fire Department. For the purpose of understanding the skills, abilities and effect of the employee interviews and written examination will be taken and if all the employees score the same then the judgment will be made on seniority. The Union of the employees can raise an issue over this promotion process and can file a grievance reporting that past on field performance of the employee should be considered as an parameter for promotion instead of seniority.  This is because this will show the true ability, skills and efficiency that the employee has and has shown in the past.

2. Explaining the outcome expected at an arbitration hearing

It is important to understand when an arbitration is made and grievance is filed by the Union of the employees there is discussion and deliberation of situations by the management of the organization. In the current case the management of the organization will analyze the point made by the Union and will also understand the perspective of the HR management over the process of promotion based on this future judgment over the process of the promotion will be taken to justify the promotion process in the operations of the firm (Cooke et al. 2016).

7. Suspension case study

 a. Explaining argument will the union make at the arbitration hearing

In the context of the case study the union can make an argument that the employee after his work has left the office which was his fault and it is acceptable as the employee was not allowed to leave the premises early. The union can also argue that a suspension for one week is too much for the employee as it will be an unpaid suspension and therefore the employee will not get the full salary as his suspension amount will be deducted from his salary for which he might face trouble as he has a family to feed. The union can also argue on a point that the employee has definitely made a mistake so the company can spare him as it is for the first time and a warning will be enough for the employee.

b. If you were the arbitrator, what would your decision be

Thinking from the perspective of the arbitrator I would have analyzed the problem thoroughly and then would have come to a conclusion. The conclusion would have been that the employee has definitely violated the terms and policy of the company but since this was done for the first then a warning would have been enough for the employee (POLAT, 2016). Even if the warning is not appropriate then a suspension of three days will be enough to make the employee understand about the mistake that he has made. Therefore it can be said that due to violation of the company’s law by the employee as he left the office earlier which was not allowed to him he shall be given a suspension of three days and also he should be given a warning so that this is not repeated in the future.

c. If the grievance is allowed, what remedy should be ordered

It can be said that if the grievance is allowed for violating the terms and policy of the company the best remedy that can be provided is that the suspension would be of three days and the employee will also be given a warning for violating the norms of the company. This was the first time I made a mistake which is why considering the employee’s perspective and what he has said the conclusion is to minimize the suspension days. So therefore a three days suspension should be ordered in the name of that employee who left the office prior after completing his work which was not allowed to him. So for the mistake a warning should be also given to the employee for the last time by saying that if this is again repeated in the future then very strict actions will be taken against him.

8.  Hospital case study

 a. Explaining arguments might the union make at the arbitration hearing

In the current scenario it is seen that the organization wants a bilingual employee that is able to speak both French and English and Smith is  Bilingual person and has also communicated effectively in the operations of the hospital while communicating with french people in their language. He has not been awarded the job roles after failing the tests alo while performing well in the operations of the dialysis unit. The union can make the argument that even though Smith is not proficient in French language he is able to effectively communicate in both the language and fit into the requirement of the workforce operations and hence the following should be given the job role as the following will be able to operate in an efficient manner (Kulkanri and Borde, 2014).

b. Explaining arguments might the management make at the arbitration hearing

The management of the hospital on the other hand can argue that as the company wants a person that is proficient in the bilingual communication and Smith has not been able to pass the test and examination that was given to him meaning that the following is not proffeceit in the language and is not able to meat the standard language requirement that the management has asked in the operations of the firm. For this purpose Smith cannot be rewarded the job that the following has applied for recently.  This is because Smith has not been able to pass the test proving that he is not efficient in the French language and this can cause problems in the operational activities of the firm in an evident manner.

c. Explaining other considerations would you consider as part of the decision

The other consideration that can be considered in the current case is that currently in the workforce there is no other employee that is Bilingual in communication hence there no option available to the management of the firm. The current nurse is not able to speak french and this will hamper the operations of the hospital and healthcare services that are provided to the patient in that unit. Whereas Smith has been reported to be good in communicating with patients in their language and in english with other staff of the hospital creating good communication within the operational activities firm based on which the following should be awarded the job (McDonald et al. 2015).

d. Explain the decision if you were the arbitrator. Is there an alternative decision to consider

The decision will be to award the job to Smith as the following has done good in communicating in both the language in the current workforce operations and this has benefitted the operations of the firm in an evident manner. It is important to understand that being good in communication will help Smith to contribute in a better way to the operations of the firm even though the following is not not a high professor he can speak and understand both the languages and suit the current scenario. Another alternative will be to hire an employee through external recruitment and selection that fits the operations of the firm. In this way the hospital requirements will be fulfilled and better operations will be conducted in an evident manner (Hicks, 2014).

References

Bowler, J., 2019. ANTECEDENTS AND INFLUENCE OF THE UNION-MANAGEMENT RELATIONSHIP ON EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE, COMPONENT AND METAL INDUSTRIES IN THE NELSON MANDELA BAY METROPOLE.

Cooke, F.L., Xie, Y. and Duan, H., 2016. Workers’ grievances and resolution mechanisms in Chinese manufacturing firms: key characteristics and the influence of contextual factors. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(18), pp.2119-2141.

HERAN, T., 2014. When Resistance Crosses over the Workplace in a Context of Precarious Labor: A Study of the Invisible World of Agribusiness in the Limarí Valley, Chile. In Global Management, Local Resistances (pp. 183-207). Routledge.

Hicks, C., 2014. An alternative approach for dealing with workplace grievances. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 22(5), p.25.

Hodder, A., Williams, M., Kelly, J. and McCarthy, N., 2017. Does strike action stimulate trade union membership growth?. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 55(1), pp.165-186.

Kulkarni, C. and Borde, A., 2014. Grievances in Industry. International journal of research in business management? ISSN, pp.2347-4572.

McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S. and Graham, T., 2015. Developing a framework of effective prevention and response strategies in workplace sexual harassment. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 53(1), pp.41-58.

POLAT, C., 2016. AN EXAMINATION ON THE CONSUMER PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED, THE USE OF CONSUMER RIGHTS AND THE DECISIONS OF CONSUMER PROBLEMS ARBITRATION COMMITTEE. Academic Review of Economics & Administrative Sciences, 9(1).

Sangster, J., 2014. Just Horseplay? Masculinity and Workplace Grievances in Fordist Canada, 1947–70s. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 26(2), pp.330-364.

Torfing, J., Sørensen, E. and Røiseland, A., 2019. Transforming the public sector into an arena for co-creation: Barriers, drivers, benefits, and ways forward. Administration & Society, 51(5), pp.795-825.

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