Professional Practices
09
Outline: 09_ The Framework of Employee Relations
Law and Changing Management Practices
• What are Employee Relations? • The framework of individual labor law
• The Basis of Employee Relations • EMPLOYEMENT TERMS
• Elements of employee relations • EMPLOYEMENT TERMS: Employment
Contracts in Pakistan
• The framework of collective labor law
• MINIMUM WAGE
• Collective labor
• LIVING WAGE
• Trade unions:
• WORKING HOURS
• Workplace participation
• HEALTH AND SAFETY
• Information and consultation
• Equal pay and Gender Discrimination
• The framework of individual labor law
• Assignment#4
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What are Employee Relations?
ɞ Employee relations is a study of the rules, regulations & agreements by which
employees are managed both as individuals and as a collective group where trade
unions are recognized.
ɞ An organization with a good employee relations program provides fair and consistent
treatment to all employees so they will be committed to their jobs and loyal to the
company.
ɞ It is concerned with how to gain people’s commitment to the achievement of the
organization’s business goals & objectives in several different situations.
ɞ We may also say that employee relations are about the rules governing the work
process since employees are hired to do some specific job.
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What are Employee Relations?...
ɞ So, we can say that employee relations is about the rules governing employment.
ɞ Most of the times, it is the employer who decides the terms and conditions or rules of
employment.
ɞ These rules include anything from pay and normal hours of work to health and safety rules.
ɞ There is a statutory obligation for the employer to provide a written statement of the main
terms and conditions of employment.
ɞ Employment and labor laws and regulations Pakistan covers common issues such as
ɞ terms and condition of the employment,
ɞ employee representation and industrial relations
ɞ discrimination,
ɞ maternity and family leave rights
What are Employee Relations?...
ɞ In the industrial nations however, unilateral framing of rules and regulations by
management is not applicable.
ɞ Terms and conditions are decided by management jointly with trade unions
representing collectivities or groups of employees.
ɞ Managers, on behalf of companies or organizations, negotiate with full time trade
union officials or employee representatives of the union at the workplace, in order to
reach collective agreements about pay and other conditions of employment
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Elements of employee relations
ɞ The elements of employee relations are
ɞ The formal and informal employment policies and practices of the organization.
ɞ The development, negotiation and application of formal systems, rules and procedures
for collective bargaining, handling disputes and regulating employment – Procedural
rules
ɞ The procedural rules are utilized to arrive at substantive rules relating to pay and
conditions, such as hours of work, holiday entitlement, shiftwork arrangements,
overtime, bonuses and fringe benefits.
ɞ Policies and practices for employee voice and communications
Elements of employee relations…
ɞ Software Industry:
ɞ The applicability of the collective bargaining model of employee relations to
software workers is very limited.
ɞ Trade unions have made little impact among software workers, so terms and
conditions of employment are largely unilaterally set by employers and managers.
ɞ It is important, however, for software workers to know about the collective
bargaining/union model of employee relations because few industries or companies
are now untouched by computers and in many the introduction of computerized
work processes may be a union-management issue.
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The framework of collective labor law
ɞ Apart from unilateral management decisions and collective bargaining, LAW is another
way to make the rules that govern employment
ɞ Labor law is that part of law that deals with individuals and legal persons in their
capacity as employees or employers and is concerned with work and relationships
arising from it.
ɞ Labor law is concerned with both the collective and individual aspects of the
employment relationship
The framework of collective labor law…
- Collective labor law:
ɞ Deals with collective industrial behavior and institutions for regulation of employee
relations, such as trade unions and collective bargaining.
ɞ It basically concerns the relationship between employer, employee and trade unions.
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The framework of collective labor law…
- Collective labor law: TRADE UNIONS:
ɞ Trade unions are organized groups of workers who engage in collective bargaining with
employers.
ɞ Some countries require unions to follow procedures in pursuit of their goals.
ɞ For example, some countries require that unions poll the membership to approve a strike.
ɞ Laws may govern the circumstances and procedures under which unions are formed.
ɞ They may guarantee the right to join a union or remain silent in this respect.
ɞ Some legal codes allow unions to obligate their members, such as the requirement to comply
with a majority decision in a strike vote.
ɞ In Pakistan Industrial Relations Act 2012 (section 19 onwards) allows employees to bargain
collectively through their representatives.
The framework of collective labor law…
- Collective labor law: WORKPLACE PARTICIPATION:
ɞ A legally binding right for workers as a group to participate in workplace
management is acknowledged in some form in most developed countries.
ɞ In most EU member states (for example, Germany, Sweden, and France) the
workforce has a right to elect directors on the board of large corporations.
ɞ This is usually called "codetermination" and currently most countries allow for the
election of one third of the board.
ɞ In Sweden, participation is regulated through the "Law on board representation".
ɞ The law covers all private companies with 25 or more employees.
ɞ In these companies, workers (usually through unions) have a right to appoint two
board members and two substitutes.
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The framework of collective labor law…
- Collective labor law: INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION:
ɞ Workplace laws in many countries require that employers consult their workers on
various issues.
The framework of individual labor law
- Individual labor law:
ɞ Individual employment law regulates the individual employment relationship as it
arises from the contract of employment.
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The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: EMPLOYEMENT TERMS:
ɞ The basic feature of labor law in almost every country is that the rights and
obligations of the worker and the employer are mediated through a contract of
employment between the two.
ɞ Many contract terms and conditions are covered by legislation or common law.
ɞ In the US for example, most state laws allow for employment to be "at will", meaning
the employer can terminate an employee from a position for any reason, so long as
the reason is not explicitly prohibited, and, conversely, an employee may quit at any
time, for any reason (or for no reason), and is just required to give a prior notice.
ɞ Another example of employment terms in many countries is the duty to provide
written particulars of employment to an employee.
ɞ This aims to allow the employee to know concretely what to expect and what is
expected.
The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: EMPLOYEMENT TERMS: Employment Contracts in Pakistan
ɞ Constitution of Pakistan affords every one of us with the right to enter upon any
lawful profession or occupation (Article 18).
ɞ The relevant legislation on employment contracts is as follows:
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The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: MINIMUM WAGE
ɞ Each country sets its own minimum wage laws and regulations, and while many
industrialized countries has a minimum wage, many developing countries do not.
ɞ Minimum wage of unskilled workers for the Punjab is 20000 per month in 2021.
ɞ Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recommended a minimum wage of Rs21,000 for unskilled
workers.
ɞ Whereas, Sindh has recommended a minimum wage of Rs25,000 for unskilled
workers.
ɞ Wages can be paid on daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. However, a wage
period can't exceed one month.
The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: LIVING WAGE
ɞ A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their
basic needs.
ɞ The living wage is higher than the minimum wage and is designed that a full-time
worker would be able to support themselves and a small family at that wage.
ɞ Needs are defined to include food, housing, and other essential needs such as
clothing.
ɞ The goal of a living wage is to allow a worker to afford a basic but decent standard of
living.
ɞ Living Wage Family in Pakistan is expected to reach 32000.00 PKR/Month by the
end of 2020, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts
expectations.
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The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: HOURS
ɞ The maximum number of hours worked per day or other time interval are set by law
in many countries.
ɞ Such laws also control whether workers who work longer hours must be paid
additional compensation.
ɞ Before the Industrial Revolution, the workday varied between 11 and 14 hours.
ɞ With the growth of industrialism and the introduction of machinery, longer hours
became far more common, reaching as high as 16 hours per day.
ɞ Now a days an 8 hours working day is a standard in many countries
The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: HEALTH AND SAFETY
ɞ Labor laws also involve safety concerning workers.
ɞ Such laws deals with all aspects of health and safety in the workplace and has a
strong focus on primary prevention of hazards.
ɞ In Pakistan Chapter 3 of Factories Act makes it obligatory on the employer to
provide for safe and healthy working environment to the workers.
ɞ Labor Protection Policy 2006 directs the enterprises to provide workers with
protective clothing and equipment.
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The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: Discrimination
ɞ Such laws prohibited discrimination against employees as morally unacceptable and
illegal, in particular racial discrimination or gender discrimination.
ɞ In accordance with the article 27 of the Constitution,
ɞ "No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated
against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence
or place of birth".
The framework of individual labor law…
- Individual labor law: Equal pay and Gender Discrimination:
ɞ Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labor rights that individuals in the same
workplace be given equal pay.
ɞ It is most used in the context of gender discrimination, in relation to the gender pay
gap.
ɞ Equal pay relates to the full range of payments and benefits, including basic pay, non-
salary payments, bonuses and allowances.
ɞ Some countries have moved faster than others in addressing the problem.
ɞ Since President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, it has been illegal
in the United States to pay men and women working in the same place different
salaries for similar work.
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