Labour Relations Final Assignment Outline
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Labour Relations Final Assignment Outline
Part 1. Analysis of Environmental Factors
The collective agreement Clean Right Partners and Allied Service Union signed in 2016 comprehensively covers the relationship between the employees of Clean Right Partners Union and management. Three years later, the collective agreement, while mostly effective because of its comprehensive nature, requires modification because of emergent economic, social and technological issues that have affected the workplace’s nature. A significant environmental factor is the coronavirus pandemic. The highly infectious Covid-19 virus has significantly changed the economic, social and technological climate of the world. Covid-19 has led to social distancing and lockdowns, which have affected considerably workplace culture in many industries. As a result of the pandemic, the economic downturn has also significantly affected companies’ and people’s lives. These effects are likely to exist for years and perhaps permanently hence changing organizational culture and the relationship between employees and the organization. Because of this pandemic, technology has become even more integrated into people’s daily lives. This is because technology such as Zoom allows people to converse, discuss and continue business processes without needing to meet physically. The technological innovations that have been instrumental during the pandemic are being increasingly appreciated, as research has shown that these technologies can promote organizational performance while simultaneously enhancing the quality of employees’ life. In light of the changes that Covid-19 has caused economically, socially and technologically, revising the collective agreement is necessary as some clauses in the collective agreement can be added and removed to ensure that both the organization and union members benefit. Additionally, the removal of some clauses in the collective agreement will eliminate provisions that inhibit optimal performance among union members and those that create challenges in organizational performance in the pandemic’s unique conditions.
The other significant environmental factor that merits modifications to the agreement are the nascent research on the importance of employee wellbeing, specifically in terms of family and work-life balance. Given that the millennial generation emphasizes work-life balance and dominates the contemporary workforce, it is essential to edit the agreement to ensure that the family work-life balance and employee autonomy are promoted and not crippled by the agreement. Research indicates that family and work-life balance are beneficial to employee performance. Family and work-life balance and employee autonomy will benefit the organization and the employee whose well-being will also be improved. The collective agreement in its current constitution has provisions that impede employee autonomy and promote an unhealthy work-life balance. In its current constitution, the agreement affords the Union and the overt company control over the employee’s affairs. Research shows that such control over the employee work-life is negative for employee performance and their wellbeing and hence the importance of modifying the agreement to increase the power and control of the employee on their job requirements and responsibilities, and their ability to fairly contest employment disputes. An organization that promotes such employee rights benefits because these rights evoke employee loyalty and commitment, positively influencing performance.
Part 2. Revision of Current Terms
Several articles in the collective agreement need modification to simultaneously promote organizational performance and employee wellbeing in light of the current environment. Labour relations are fundamentally anchored on the idea that both the employer and the employee can benefit when appropriate policies dictate employer and employee relations. However, given the dynamic nature of politics, society and the economy, these interests can sometimes be conflicting. Some articles in the collective agreement need changes to facilitate organizational performance and employee welfare amid the new business and social environment.
Article 6 on the Employee Record dictates that the use of employee records. The Article states that employee records shall not be relied upon after ten months of employee termination unless the cause of termination involved violence. This clause is problematic for two reasons. On the one hand, ten months are very long, which can significantly affect an employee’s employability in case of prospective opportunities. It is essential to understand that some employee dismissals can be unfair or ambiguous, and therefore, employee records that can harm an employee for ten months can be very punitive. Similarly, the provision of violence being on the prerogative for consideration is lenient. Cases involving discrimination should also be included as factors that should be among the severe conditions that should stimulate the valuing of employee records in future.
Article 9 also suggests that union members will not be involved in strikes and boycotts. This article in the agreement significantly favours the organization and disadvantages the Union members. The article needs to be revised to allow for Union members to strike when they feel aggrieved by the company.
Article 5 on discipline and discharge dictates that the company must notify the employee in two days of being discharged and that the employee has the right to have a 10-minute interview with a Union Steward. This should be edited to ensure that all discharged employees and those that are disciplined will get an interview with the Union Steward to ensure that the details surrounding such situations are captured. This will be important in ensuring transparency in the discharge and discipline process.
Article 12 on the vacations with pay dictates the terms of vacation days and the appropriate compensation that the company will issue to the Union members. Among the stipulations is that employees with more extended periods of service are entitled to more generous pay than other members with lesser periods of service. Proposed changes will ask that a new formula is introduced for more equality in vacations with pay as issued to the union members.
Article 16 on leaves of absences dictates the stipulations around various leaves that union members will be guaranteed by the company. One of the stipulations is pregnancy leave will be without pay. This component of the article will be rewritten so that union members can get pregnancy leave with pay. This is important to ensure family work-life balance, which is beneficial to both the employees and the company. Similarly, the time allotted for leaves resulting from the death of family members will be increased from three days to seven days, with employees being guaranteed payment during this period.
Part 3. Proposal of New Terms
The Union and the Employer will suggest two novel articles each to be included in the new collective agreement. These recent articles will comply with the Employment Act. Essentially, the parties will be expected to act in good faith and that the articles will seek to benefit both the employer and employee by improving the relationship between the two parties.
The Union will propose two articles to be used by the organization. The first article that will be included in the collective agreement is the family work-life balance. This article will ask that the employer ensures that employees will have a family work-life balance. In this clause, it will be expected that the company will not in any way intentionally or accidental foster an environment where the employee’s family and work-life balance is interfered with. The company will ensure that employees work for a certain amount of time and not exceed the time limits that could impede upon the family work-life balance. Upon a case where the employee feels family work-life balance has been affected through company action, a moderator will be appointed to solve the dispute, and the company will pay compensation in such a case.
The second article that will be proposed by the Union is a health insurance provision. The company will guarantee that all employees will be guaranteed comprehensive medical cover not only for injuries and illnesses related to the work they do but also in case of injury or illnesses sustained outside of work. The health act will also seek to ensure that the organization ensures that employees are guaranteed a regular psychological evaluation to ensure that the union members’ mental wellbeing is optimal at all times.
The employer, on their part, will suggest two new articles to be introduced to the collective agreement. The first article that the employer will propose is a discrimination act. The article will stipulate that Union members will be liable to discipline and discharge if they are found to have engaged in discriminatory acts. Most importantly, in this act, the employee will culpable for punishment even if such discriminatory acts are performed outside the work setting. The aim of this article is to ensure that employees promote a good image of the company, hence enhancing the company’s brand equity and public image.
The company will also propose a social media use act. The company will propose that the company should have the power to be able to monitor employees’ social media use. As such, all employees will reveal their social media accounts to the employer if they have such accounts. The article will be clear that the intention of this stipulation is not to infringe upon the employees’ freedom of speech; rather, it is to ensure that the employees use social media in a way that does present a bad company image, such as being involved in inappropriate language. The purpose of this article is to ensure that the company’s brand image remains ideal and prevent irresponsible social media use that can adversely affect the company’s image. In a world where social media has become one of the primary ways of communication with power to make or break companies, the company feels that its employees should use this medium responsibly.
Part 4. Considerations of Labour Risks
The collective agreement poses some labour risks for both the Union and the Company. The risk for the Union emerges on the demand that employees behave well within and without the organization. When employees are liable for discipline and discharge for events that occur outside the workplace, the Union faces a chance of rebellion from members of the Union. While the principle of these stipulations is altruistic, it is likely that some Union members will feel that their autonomy is being infringed upon by such stipulations. Employees like to feel autonomous even if they are union members. The stipulations that seek to check employees’ behaviour outside of work sends the message that the company is controlling them. It will lead to dissatisfaction among the employees and claims that fundamental rights such as the freedom of free speech are being violated in the collective agreement. This could expose the Union to lawsuits which are costly and harm the Union’s negotiating capacity. Union members who feel disgruntled may seek to exit the Union hence affecting the Union’s collective power.
A significant risk that emerges from the collective agreement is that of employee exploitation, which is contrary to labour laws. In the new collective agreement, employees’ activities on social media and outside of work will be monitored by the company to ensure that employees do not behave in a manner that adversely affects the company’s reputation. This creates a problem because such monitoring can be misused through breaches of privacy or the use of an employee’s social media activities to inspire decisions against the employee. For example, conflicting political affiliations between the employee and the company’s top brass may be used as grounds for the contest in case of a discipline issue within the organization. Even if a case of discipline may not be inspired by such differences, the employee can make this claim hence exposing the company to a burden of having to explain that this is not the case. Such instances could cause the company to be embroiled in prolonged legal suites, and its brand image will be adversely affected by such a process.
The other major risk that the company will be exposed to is adapting to the new stipulations of the collective agreement, which will be both costly and could lead to disputes as a result of mistakes that arise because of the novel collective agreement. The new collective agreement places significant responsibility on the company to ensure a work-life balance for the employees. These stipulations demand that the company will spend more money on the employees, a reality that will pose challenges for the company and risk disruption of the budget. At the same time, the new stipulations will require a period of time before it is fully inculcated into the organization. Before the stipulations are fully inculcated into the organizational culture, the company risks being embroiled in disputes in case of an infraction to the agreement caused unintentionally because the organization has not fully grasped the collective agreement.