Introduction The relationship between employer and employees plays a pivotal role in the performance of the organization. Employers and employees have certain responsibilities towards each other which facilitate a fair and productive workplace. Positive work relationships create a cooperative climate with effort towards the same goals. Conflict, on the other hand, is likely to divert attention away from organizational performance. Unnecessary conflict may be prevented through employee involvement and treating employees in a fair manner. Ethical employment practices, involving employees in decisions, and treating employees as valued organizational members all work towards a positive employer-employee relationship. Unfortunately, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for an outside party to help employers and employees resolve differences through processes such as mediation or arbitration. Taken together, positive engagement strategies and constructive resolution of differences help to develop relationships which support organizational performance and success. Concepts of Employee Rights and Responsibilities Legal considerations play an important role in how employers and employees interact in the workplace. Common-law doctrines regarding this relationship have been established from many legal decisions made over the course of centuries (Reed & Bogardus, 2012). Common-law doctrines lay the foundation for best practices in employment which provide for both employer and employee safeguards. The doctrine of employment at-will provides that employers may hire, transfer, promote, or terminate employees at any time for any cause, and employees have the right to resign at any time with or without notice (Reed & Bogardus, 2012).... ... middle of paper ... ...onship between the employer and the employee. Employers who recognize this and proactively use strategies to promote employee involvement and fair employment practices will be likely to reap the organizational rewards of doing so. References Colvin, A. S. (2013). Participation versus procedures in non-union dispute resolution. Industrial Relations, 52(S1), 259-283. Gies, T. P., & Bagley, A. W. (2013). Mandatory arbitration of employment disputes: What's new and what's next?. Employee Relations Law Journal, 39(3), 22-33. Reed, S. M., & Bogardus, A. M. (2012). PHR/SPHR: Professional in human resources certification study guide (4th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc. ISBN-13: 9781118289174 Rowley, C. (2010). Routes to resolution. Professional Manager, 19(3), 34-35. Zachary, M. (2012). Employment at will and public policy. Supervision, 73(11), 21.
Sloane. A. A., Witney, F. (2010). LABOR RELATIONS (13th editions). Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ
Bennett-Alexander, Dawn D. & Hartman, Laura P. (2001). Employment Law for Business (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing. Downloaded February 4, 2008 from the data base of http://www.eeoc.gov
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2014). Fundamentals of human resource management (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Purpose & Other: : I give the purpose and other a 10 out of 10 because the goal of the article was to inform organizations, employers, presidents and/or employees about the importance of strengthening relationships between an employer, an employee, and the company in its entirety.
Moran, J. J. (2008). Employment law: New challenges in the business environment. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human resource management (13th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomas/South-western
In dealing with a person’s livelihood, and often, sense of self, it is of no surprise that ethical issues regarding employment practices are of great concern. The issues of employment at will and due process contracts in the workplace are among the most widely contentious in the realm of employment. Employment at will is the doctrine that employment may be ended, by either party, for good, bad or no cause at all.1 Due process, on the other hand, is the employment practice in which a person may appeal a decision as a means of receiving an explanation and the opportunity to argue against it.2 Employment at will is the standard in the majority of private corporations today and is argued for relentlessly by freedom of contract enthusiasts, however, it is becoming ever more apparent that employment at will contracts reflect the old corporate maxim where the single bottom line, profit, is accented and the well being of other stakeholders, in this case the employee, are of little or no influence. Due process should be accepted as the prevalent employment system as it shelters employees from the hostile actions of the more powerful employer, provides a stable, bilateral contract between both parties and portrays the growing ethical concerns of society.
Not only is it one of the few ways to protect workplace fairness and due process, it is also an effective way balancing power and resolving workplace conflict. Without the grievance process, employers can make authoritative and discriminatory decisions that harm the livelihood of their workers. Through watching the case, I received a first-hand perspective, which helped me understand the underlying reasons behind the need for a grievance process. For example, Rick Avalos and Commuter Airlines have total control over rules and regulations in the workplace. Even though Avalos did not conduct a fair investigation and expressed bias toward Daniels, he still had the power to discharge and discipline him for a minor offence. Through the grievance procedure, workers like Daniels have a fair opportunity to voice their perspective of the situation, which was not typically offered them in the workplace. However, both sides exhibited signs of hostility towards each other, which clouded the situation. The grievance process and a neutral arbitrator brought clarity and fairness into the investigation. Since the arbitrator is a third party, the union and employer can trust him to act without preexisting assumptions in instituting industrial justice. Therefore, I found that the grievance process also helped to check the power of the employer and served as an outlet for unions to challenge existing authorities and workplace rules. However, I also found the process to be highly complex and subject to the experience, skills, and impartiality of the arbitrator. Furthermore, the process slows and hinders managerial authority and the decision making process because of the various time-consuming checks and balances. When employers are going through the grievance process, they can lose money and surrender potential profit because they have to hire a
... with the aggrieved worker and representative meeting with the supervisor involved, followed by an appeal system with strict time limits and ultimately ending in binding arbitration. When management and the union cannot resolve a grievance submitted by a union, the union must decide whether to proceed to the final step of the grievance procedure: arbitration. Arbitration is an adversary proceeding like a trial in court. An arbitrator’s function is usually to interpret the collective bargaining agreement between the parties, not to apply his or her standards of what is right in a given situation. The courts have sought to compel labour and management to a peaceful resolution of grievances through arbitration. The Supreme Court has given support to the arbitration process in a series of decisions, and judicial deferral to arbitration has become a basic tenet of national labour policy.
Fox, Alan (1966), Industrial sociology and Industrial relations. Royal Commission on trade Unions and Employers Association. Research Papers 3, HMSO, London
Reed, S. M. & Bogardus, A. M. (2012). PHR/SPHR Professional in human resources certification study guide. (4th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons.
Morrow Bernardi (1999) Resolving Workplace Disputes. Source: Canadian Manager, Spring99, Vol. 24 Issue 1, p17, 4p. Available: www.wls.lib.ny.us/databases/ebsco.com 06/10/99
How difficult (or easy) is it for an employer to prevent an employee working for others (or themselves), both during the employment and after it has ended? Refer to relevant cases and legislation.
Conflict exists in every organization as a result of incompatible needs, goals, and objectives of two people while aligning to the overall business requirements. Though disagreement is linked with negative impact, the approach has healthy considerations (Leung, 2008). For instance, some conflicts create an avenue for the exchange of ideas and creativity to meet the set organizational purposes. However, damaging disagreement in organizations results in employee dissatisfaction, turnover, and poor services and reduced productivity. The paper establishes different types of interpersonal conflict and key resolution strategies used to address the problem. Human resource managers need to have the capacity to identify different levels of conflicts and the best methods to negate them.