Activity A – The impact of employment law at the start of the employment relationship.
The nature of the employment relationship between an organisation and its employees is product of internal and external factors.
The employment relationship is the relationship between an Employer and its Employee and the mutual expectations, rights and obligations between them. a. Describe the nature of 2 internal factors * Contract of Employment. The Contract of Employment can highly motivate employees by listing rewards, pay, bonus and/or benefits. Also training and development programmes are reacted to positively by employees wishing to progress in the organisation. * Organisation Culture. This concentrates on the behaviour and morals of the employees within an organisation and controls how employees relate to each other and how decisions are made within that organisation. It gives employees a sense of identity. It makes them feel part of the organisation by making them understand what is expected of them. b. Describe the nature of 2 external factors * Economic Climate. If there is a downturn in the economic climate organisations are less likely to take risk in new ventures and therefore are less likely to be recruiting new employees. * General level of education. There may not be people in the vicinity of the organisation with the level of education required. This may mean employees may have to be recruited from further afield. This will probably mean they have further to travel to work, incurring more expense, and also affecting their work/life balance.
Of importance to this relationship is the nature of the contract that exists between the organisation and employee a. Explain 3 different types of contract * Zero hours contract. This is a contract where the employer is not obliged to provide the worker with any minimum working hours, and the worker is not obliged to accept any work offered to them. * Permanent contract. This is an official agreement between an employer and an employee in which employment rights, responsibilities, and duties are set out. This kind of contract does not normally have an end date. * Fixed term contract. These are contracts that last for a specified time, or that will end when a specified task has been completed.

There are certain rights and obligations that attach themselves to different categories of employment status a. Briefly outline 3 areas of the employment relationship where status (employment status) has an impact.
There are three types of employment status – Employee, Worker and Self-Employed

The majority of people in work are employees. An employee is someone working under a contract of employment. This does not necessarily need to be written down as it exists when terms and conditions are agreed between the employee and the employer. The contract will normally set out what the employee is expected to do and they will be expected to do the work personally. They cannot send someone else to do the work for them.

A worker is any person who works for an employer, whether under a contract of employment, or any other contract where the individual agrees to do any work or service personally. Most agency workers and short term casual workers are examples of people who are likely to be workers but not employees.

A self employed person does not have a contract of employment with an employer. They provide services over a period of time for a fee and are a business in their own right. They will pay their own Income tax and National Insurance contributions. They do not have employment rights as such, but they do have legal rights. They must not be discriminated against and they are entitled to a safe and healthy working environment.

Activity B – Employee rights during the employee relationship

The employment relationship also impacts upon the Psychological contract.
What is meant by the term ‘Psychological Contract’ and give examples of good practice, policies and procedures which might underpin it.

The term psychological contract was first used in the 1960’s. It is defined as the informal arrangement between an employer and an employee and their perceptions of what their mutual obligations are towards each other.

An employee is more likely to be happy and motivated in their work if they feel like they are appreciated and being treated fairly and equally alongside their colleagues. This is explained in more depth by the Adams Equity Theory.

This theory is named after John Stacey Adams, a workplace behavioural psychologist. The theory is built on the belief that employees become de motivated both in relation to their job and their employer, if they feel as though their ‘input’ is greater than their ‘output’.

Employers expect (input)

Effort, loyalty, hard work, commitment, skill, ability, adaptability, flexibility, tolerance, determination to work, trust and support.

Employees expect (output)

Financial rewards, pay/salary, benefits, expenses, pension, bonus, recognition, reputation, responsibility, sense of achievement, praise, stimulus, sense of advancement, job security.

The theory argues that employers should try to find a fair balance between the inputs that an employee gives and the outputs they receive, and in doing so employees should be content where they believe these to be in balance. They will then perceive they are being treated equally and fairly along with their colleagues and therefore will be happy in their work, being more productive and motivated.

Work life balance issues can have wide ranging benefits a. What benefits might these be

The work life balance is about people having choices. Choosing how much a person wants to work and how much time they want for other things of importance in their life.
Many people want more flexibility to manage their different responsibilities, for example, parents of young children may need to make themselves available to take them to school and pick them up again afterwards. Or they may have elderly relatives to consider, or take care of.
Parents of children 16 and under (disabled children under 18) and carers of adults are entitled to apply for flexible working.
Many organisations are looking at different ways of integrating flexible working conditions into their workplace. There are a number of techniques available to work flexibly:
Time off in lieu, flexitime, part-time hours, staggered start and finish hours, working from home, team organised rotas, term time working, compressed working hours, annual hours, career breaks, zero hour contracts.
The potential benefits are the organisation has a highly motivated happy workforce, with good morale. Therefore staff are less likely to take sick leave, will be happy whilst they are at work, and will be more productive whilst they are there. Also, if a person is happy in their work their loyalty increases towards the organisation, and they may feel they are more able to focus on their work and progression in their career. The organisation is likely to find itself as an Employer of Choice by offering flexible working arrangements as it will appeal to a much wider spectrum of people who may be looking for employment.
The organisation can also be presented with new opportunities such as extending their opening hours, no extra recruitment costs incurred, just a more flexible workforce available to work as and when required.
However there are potential difficulties that may arise with offering flexible working. These can include communication issues, employees feeling out of the loop, resentment from employees who are not on flexible hours, and performance management. Essentially these are problems which should be managed easily by keeping every member of the team informed at all times of any developments which they need to be aware of.
Flexible working should be made available to everyone whatever their situation, and needs to be portrayed as a practice, not as an entitlement or a perk.

b. How might the provisions of the Working Time Directive relate to the development of a work life balance: with reference to employee holidays, rest periods, working hours, and night working

The working time directive sets out

* The number of hours an employee can work in a week * Entitlement to paid leave * Limits on the normal hours of night workers and regular health assessments. * Special regulations for young workers.

The working time directive states that an employees average working time must not exceed 48 hours for each seven day period unless they have previously agreed with their employer to work more.

Workers are entitled to four weeks paid annual leave. This is in addition to the 8 statutory Bank Holidays.

A night workers average normal hours of work must not exceed 8 hours for each 24 hour period. They are also entitled to free regular health checks.

Rest Periods.
Daily rest. A worker is entitled to not less than 11 consecutive hours rest in each 24 hour period.
Weekly rest. A worker is entitled to a rest period of not less than 24 hours in each seven days or,
Two rest periods of not less than 24 hours in each 14 day period or, One rest period of not less than 48 hours in each 14 day period.

There are special regulations for young workers which restrict their working hours to 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.

The working time directive allows employers and employees to be more flexible in their approach to the work life balance. This improves the mood of the employees allowing them to feel respected and valued by the employer and not just taken for granted. This in turn, improves the employees attitude to work, their morale and their productivity. Employers are happy because they have a more motivated and productive workforce, giving their customers a better service.

Activity C Issues to be addressed at the termination of the employment relationship

The employment relationship can end when the employee resigns or is dismissed (there are several forms of dismissal)

When an employee resigns it is customary in some organisations to hold an exit interview. What are the benefits to both parties from doing this.

Exit interviews should be conducted when a person wishes to leave an organisation. It should get to the bottom of why valued members of staff are leaving and also should form the basis of an action plan to stop them wanting to leave in the first place.
An organisation is missing out greatly if they do not hold exit interviews as it is not receiving information that the leaver might give and therefore are not able to put matters right when recruiting next time.
Exit interviews may also present the opportunity to the organisation of preventing the person leaving if they are perceived as being a valuable member of staff. May be they are not happy with their working conditions or level of pay or reward scheme etc.
For example in the organisation I work, we had a employee wishing to leave. Through our exit interview it was established that she was unhappy because she believed a colleague was better thought of and appreciated more. They always seemed to be getting the easier jobs and she’d heard them bragging to another colleague that they had had a pay increase. Training was offered to the employee with a promise of a pay increase once training was completed satisfactory, and she decided to stay. We therefore managed to keep a valued member of staff on board and avoided any recruitment costs which would have been incurred should we have had to replace her.
Exit interviews give the employer the opportunity to ask the employee why they are leaving, and what they think is good and/or bad about the organisation. For example is the problem to do with the job itself?, the management?, pay or other terms and conditions of work?, training and career prospects within the organisation?, working conditions and amenities? or equal opportunities?
They are an excellent opportunity to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation, to help how to retain staff and keep them happy. It is a chance to review working conditions, reduce staff turnover, improve the quality of management, improve morale of remaining staff and improve the retention of remaining staff.
Exit interviews also benefit the employee as they give them a chance to express their concerns and hopefully allows them to leave the organisation on a positive note.

Dismissal should always be fair. Identify those circumstances under which dismissal is considered to be fair and give examples of those circumstances where it is to be considered unfair

According to the ACAS code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance dismissal is considered to be fair if an employer can show it is for one of the reasons listed below * Because of an employees conduct or a reason related to it * Because of an employees capability to do the job or qualifications for the job * Because of a redundancy * Because a statutory duty or restriction prevents the continuation of employment * Some other substantial reason of a kind which justifies the dismissal
And that the employer acted reasonably in treating that reason as sufficient for dismissal.

Although the code is not legally enforceable, employment tribunals are legally required to take it into account when considering relevant cases.
Dismissal should always be the last resort. A disciplinary procedure is the procedure an organisation will follow and has certain rules and standards contained within it. First and foremost it is there to help and encourage employees to improve rather than imposing punishment on them. It can bring concerns to a head, allows them to be dealt with and helps the employee to become effective again.

Dismissal is considered to be unfair if it is for one of the reasons listed below * Pregnancy and all reasons relating to maternity * Family reasons – parental leave, paternity leave, adoption leave or time off for dependants * Representative and trade union membership * Discrimination – 9 protected areas under the 2010 Equality Act. Gender, Race, Disability, Religion, Sexuality, Age, Gender reassignment, Pregnancy, Marital status- partnership * Part time and fixed term employees * Pay and working hours

When compulsory redundancies have to be made, there are certain actions that have to be undertaken by the organisation – what are the key stages? What are the possible ways in which redundancy can have an impact on the whole organisation

Before compulsory redundancies can be made, the key stages that must be followed by organisations are as follows.
The organisation must consult with any trade union or employee representative whose members will be affected. The reason for the consultation is to provide information as early as possible and also to allow all concerned to share the information and to explore alternative options.
There are certain measures that can be taken that may avoid compulsory redundancies. These include natural wastage, restrictions on recruitment, retraining and redeployment to other parts of the organisation, reduction or elimination of overtime, introduction of short term working or temporary lay offs.
The consultation should include suggestions of avoiding the redundancies, decreasing the number of people to be made redundant, and should precede any public announcement of the redundancy programme.

Consultation should commence as soon as possible, but must begin at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect if between 20 and 99 employees are to be made redundant over a period of 90 days or less, or at least 45 days before the first dismissal takes effect if over 100 employees are to be made redundant over a period of 90 days.
During the consultation numbers and descriptions of the employees it is proposed to be made redundant should be disclosed.
The positions that are selected for redundancy will be decided upon by using selection criteria.
The selection criteria that are used to identify the positions that will be made redundant are usually Skill, Experience, Standard, Aptitude for work, Attendance, Disciplinary record, Multiple criteria.
Details of severance terms should be made known during this consultation also.
Details of any relocation expenses should be revealed.
Details of any hardship or appeals procedures and also discussion of helping redundant employees obtain training or search for alternative work may also take place during the consultations.
Notices of termination should not be issued until consultation has been completed.

Redundancies can have a massive impact on the whole organisation. Those left behind can feel vulnerable, have lower levels of morale, and self esteem, lack of enthusiasm, and scepticism about their future in the organisation. They need lots of reassurance and positivity from their employer.
However, if the organisation handles things in a correct manner, and attempts to keep people informed and involved, this can be turned around quite efficiently and quickly.