5DER Assignment Example
Question 3
Summary on how you would advise an employer or a group of organisations on the purpose and scope of statutory trade union recognition
The purpose of trade union recognition is significant to employers, because the unions work towards ensuring that they establish good working relations with them. Employers who recognise trade unions form some form of agreement, where they work to meet the interests of both parties. I would advise employers and group of organisations to recognise trade unions so that they can effectively negotiate the pay, and conditions of work in the organisation. Working together with the two parties makes it possible for them to reach into agreement on the main issues of discussion. When the two parties fail to come into agreement, they can engage the Labour Relations Agency, which is the body that helps the employers and the trade unions come into agreement. Employers should therefore understand the significance of having trade unions in supporting their working relationships with the employees.
Statutory trade union recognition to the employers is an aspect that makes it possible for the employers to address the concerns of the employees. This happens because the trade unions negotiate on the terms and conditions of employment through collective bargaining. Collective bargaining work when both the employers and the trade unions come into an agreement on how they are expected to cooperate and work together to ensure that they meet the interests of the workers (Ewing and Hendy, 2017). Employers should recognise the trade unions in order to make collective bargaining procedures easy and achievable. Without having the employers recognise trade unions, and then the trade unions seem irrelevant within the organisation setting.
Employees should recognise trade unions as well, and they should be allowed to join trade unions for their rights to be recognised. Employers in recognising trade unions cannot in any discriminate an employee or make him/her become disadvantaged because of joining a trade union. In recognising the trade unions, the employers allow members to participate in the trade union activities, including voting in union election, attending meetings and urgent trade union matters, and attending the trade union annual conference. Recognising trade unions is important to employers and organisations because together they can identify possible future challenges and address them effectively.
Question 6
Explain what is required to advise, coach, and guide line managers in the skills for handling grievance or disputes in the workplace
Handling grievances and disputes is a sensitive issue, and line managers should be keen in following the right procedures and options. Grievances and disputes result to conflicts between and among teams of workers within the organisation. Line managers should have skills that should support the team and these skills are meant to bring out mutual respect in all parties involved in disputes. According to Townsend and Hutchinson (2017), line mangers should be coached on how to handle problems that arise from conflicts. This involves having the managers become concerned about the behaviours and attitudes of their subordinates, and when inappropriate behaviours develop, they should get involved and concerned to ensure that the behaviours do not drift resulting to disputes. Managers who are good problem solvers prevent conflicts and disputes from escalating, and this involves developing solutions to the identified problems.
Line managers should be guided on how to effectively communicate in order for them to effectively handle grievances and disputes. Before the conflicts escalate, the managers should be guided to communicate one-on-one with the people who are part of the conflict. In order for this to be successful however, the managers should be proactive, and initiate conversation on the issues that cause disputes (Liddle, 2017). This should be done immediately there is change of behaviour, or when problems start brewing.
Line managers should have critical thinking skills, in such a way that they can easily manage conflicts. As critical thinkers, managers should have the skills to realise that there is a tough situation that needs to be addressed. In order to do this for example, the managers should be keen to protect the employees and remove them from the conflicting situations. For example in situations when an individual keeps bringing up issues of conflicts, the manager may decide to move the individual to a different workplace. Nevertheless, this may cause deep grievances if the manager does not engage in some form of consultation with the individual before moving him/her to a different work area.
Managers should also have good decision making skills. This is more important in situations when grievances become consistent. According to Liddle (2017), managers in such situations should learn how to assess the conflicts and disruptive behaviours, and make the decisions that support improved forms of behaviours that the individuals should abide to. The decision making skills help the managers identify with the most important steps that should be taken in order to effectively manage the conflicts. Decisions also have to be made when situations escalate more, and this means that managers have to be keen to ensure that they make decisions on dismissals. The managers also have to ensure that procedures before and during the dismissals are followed, and in a more consistent manner. However in order for this to happen, managers should be able to evaluate the situations and make the right decisions on the same issue.
Distinguish between third-party conciliation, mediation and arbitration
Conciliation is the involvement of a third-party individual who helps the disputing parties come into an agreement. The conciliator is the third party individual who assists the parties in the negotiation process, and helps them come to a mutual understanding on the best solution to take into solving the dispute. The conciliators are helpers because they advise the conflicting parties, and also make proposals on how they can easily resolve conflicts. They act as guiders and come up with proposals on the solutions that work best in solving the disputes (García et al., 2019).
Mediation is a problem solving method where a neutral person, who is the mediator, helps the disputing parties come up with a resolution that is satisfactory to each of them. Mediators help the conflicting parties come up with interest and concerns for them and for the other parties, which then help them make the right decisions on which of the solution is effective to resolving the conflicts. Mediation is less expensive, fast, and allows the disputing parties to express what their interests are before solving conflicts (Zeller and Trakman, 2019).
Arbitration is a method of conflict resolution, which is more popular in resolving employee conflicts. According to Zeller and Trakman (2019), the conflicting parties present their disputes to an arbitrator, who should be a qualified person, and who understands the legal ways of doing things. The arbitrator determines the outcome of the case, and the conflicting parties may voluntarily engage an arbitrator or follow court orders on engaging the arbitrator. However, there are possibilities that the arbitration process may not be as formal as the court proceedings, and the outcomes may be confined in traditional ways of solving conflicts. In an arbitration agreement, the arbitrators may help the conflicting parties resolve the current disputes, and other possible future disputes.
References:
Ewing, K., & Hendy, J. (2017) New perspectives on collective labour law: Trade union recognition and collective bargaining. Industrial Law Journal, 46(1), 23-51.
García, A. B., Pender, E. R., Medina, F. J., & Euwema, M. C. (2019) Mediation and Conciliation in Collective Labor Conflicts. In Mediation in Collective Labor Conflicts (pp. 3-16). Springer, Cham.
Liddle, D. (2017) Managing conflict: A practical guide to resolution in the workplace. Kogan Page Publishers.
Townsend, K., & Hutchinson, S. (2017) Line managers in industrial relations: Where are we now and where to next?. Journal of Industrial Relations, 59(2), 139-152.
Zeller, B., & Trakman, L. (2019) Mediation and arbitration: the process of enforcement. Uniform Law Review, 24(2), 449-466.
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