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employment relation notes and summary
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- Employment Relations COERA1
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Employment relations.Definition of employment relations.
Comprised of certain actors (managers, workers and specialized governmental
agencies), certain contexts (technological characteristics, market and the distribution
of power in the society), an ideology which binds the industrial relations system
together, and a body of rules created to govern the actors at the workplace and work
community.
Human resource management + industrial relations.
Human resource management.
Strategic approach to managing employees.
Recruitment, training, performance management.
Industrial relations.
Relationship between employers and employees.
Employment contracts, workplace disputes, dynamics of work environment.
Employment relations.
Cultivating positive and productive relationships.
Promote open communication, conflict resolution, resolving grievances,
Theoretical perspectives & ideologies.
Pluralist perspective
The pluralist perspective or ideology views the employing organization as a coalition
of individuals and groups with diverse objectives, values and interests. Individuals in
an organization combine into a variety of distinct sectional groups, each with its own
interests, objectives and leadership. The different groups in an organization in terms
of leadership, authority and loyalty.
The different roles of managerial employees and workers groups are the primary
source of some form of competitive behavior, or even conflict between management
and labour. Management is responsible for the efficiency, productivity, and
profitability of the organization. The concerns of the individual workers include
personal aspects such as higher pay, better working conditions, job security.
The unitarist perspective.
This views the organizations as an integrated group of people having unified
authority structure with common values, interest and purpose management is seen
as having the legitimate and right to manage and expect to provide appropriate
leadership. Conflict is regarded as unnecessary as employees are expected to be
loyal to management and their organization. People working in an organization are in
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,basic harmony and that conflict is undesirable and mainly a result of
miscommunication.
The radical perspective.
This draws on intellectual traditions related to Marxist thinking and it therefore
essentially reflects a class conflict world view. The nature of society in which the
organization finds itself. It is assumed that workers are oppressed for the sake of
capitalist interest and hence there is emphasis on the class struggle between ‘haves’
and the ‘have nots’ so typically claimed to be part of capitalist society.
Corporatism and concertation.
Societal corporatism; is an extension of pluralism and is sometimes also referred to
as tripartite coordination or cooperation. The two main active parties (employer
representatives and the representatives of labour.) are no longer viewed as
interacting on mainly a competitive basis. Interdependence is acknowledged
between all three parties (including the state).
Societal corporatism can be described as a democratic social order where the
state allows the other key interest groups to be full participants in the process of
formulating certain state policies and in making certain key governance decisions.
State corporatism; the emphasis shifts from tripartite coordination and cooperation
to a situation where the state moves into a paternalistic or authoritarian mode to
demobilize and co-opt organized labour (trade unions) into government structures .
Concertation; process of consultation, negotiation and collaboration between
stakeholders.
The origins of labour relations.
Rise of industrialism
Mass production Dehumanising effects of mass production and
Division of labour the consequent loss of identity among
More specialized work workers, result in massive potential for conflict.
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, South African perspective of employment relations (ER)
roots of employment relations are embedded in the relationship between employers
and employees, and these parties are integral to modern society.
Organizations exist to deliver need-satisfying products and services to the members
of that society, who are also the very same people who set up work in those
organizations individual dimension.
The theory and practice of employment relations revolve around how the parties
arrange their relationship, organize and execute the work, and distribute the fruits
that accrue from these productive process.
ER is concerned with fairness and justice of these arrangements, with the ways in
which the parties integrated, regulated, balance and institutionalise their party
divergent and party convergent interest and objectives, and with the formal and
informal dynamics that go with it.
Key ingredients to the employment relationship are the aimultaneous conflict
and common ground elements that are build into any employment
relationship.
The heart of the conflict is built on the economic dimension of any
employment relationship, the exchange of labour for pay.
The party with the most power is in the best position to get the other party to
agree on its definition of a fair exchange of wages and conditions of service
for the work done in the context of the employment relationship.
The power imbalance led to employees joining forces and forming
representative bodies to negotiate with employers on their behalf – labour or
trade unions.
This is where the collective dimension of employment relations comes into
play and impacts on the individual dimension of the employment relationship.
Formal dimension of ER; legal and formal rule-making and application aspects,
employment contracts, labour laws and regulations, collective bargaining, grievances
and disputes.
Informal dimension of ER; behavioral dynamics involved in ER, workplace culture,
communication styles, leadership and management style, mentoring and coaching,
social events, office politics.
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, Role-players and stakeholder in ER
Three primary role players
Employers Employees The State
Distributive justice.
Refers to the distribution of the conditions and goods which affect individual
(psychological, social and economic) well- being. Distributive justice in the
employment relations context therefore concerns itself with “employees” perceived
fairness of organizational outcomes that they receive.
Distributive justice is seen to be upheld when an employee perceives their
contribution/reward ratio to be equal to that of others in a similar position.
Negative distributive justice can result in poor work performance and deviant
workplace behavior, such as theft, poor attendance. Reward distribution is therefore
a key theme in employment relations, workers tend to be more concerned with
fairness in the distribution of rewards than fair procedures.
The role of trade unions therefore clearly includes ensuring that distributive justice
prevails in organizations as employing entities. The workers, as union members can
expect their unions to ensure that fair human resource decisions are made, equal
pay for equal work, no unfair discrimination.
Distribution decisions can be based mainly on criteria such as the following;
Equality; where everyone gets exactly the same distribution.
Need; where allocations are based on who needs the goods most.
Equity; where outcomes or rewards are based on how much the person
contributes or invests.
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