The Employment Relations Environment in France - Case Study Example

The Employment Relations Environment Name Course Tutor Date Introduction The employment relationship is a legal notion widely used in different countries to refer to the relationship between an employee and an employer. In this case an employee is a person who works under the conditions of the employer. He or she does this in return for remuneration. The employment relation environment are the terms and conditions that have been set to work and the rights and obligations that are there to govern the work been done. These working conditions should not only be in favor of the employer only but also the employee. This is because; fairness should be applied at all times as labor is not a commodity, but the most important factor of production (Somavia 2006, p.2). Some people may offer their labor either within the scope of the employment environment affiliation under the influence of an employer and for certain remuneration or within a commercial connection autonomously and for a cost. Each of these provided relationships has certain distinctiveness which varies from one country to another. They determine to what extent the performance of work cascades within an employment relationship or civil relationship. Employment Relations Environment Analysis: Factors In many countries various factors are used to determine whether there exists an employment relationship. While these factors vary in the different countries, some of them include work for the benefit of another person, work under instruction and the level of subordination to the employer. For the factor of work for the benefit of another person means that the employer has work that he or she would have done but assigns it to someone else to do it on their behalf. Work under instruction is the work that has been assigned to the employee under certain conditions to be met. The level of subordination of the employer is the determination of whether the one assigning the work to be done is the real employer or he or she is working under a higher employer. In such a case it would be difficult for the employee to tell who is his or her employer therefore giving him a hard time to know from whom to inquire about the remuneration. As such it has been thought that the Federal Minimum Wage (FMW) would solve these issues by offering ‘safety net’ to the oppressed employees, while still making the system flexible for employers (Fair Pay Commission 2006, p.3). In some employment relationships, the employee may receive an underpayment comparing it to the work being done. Most people are usually desperate for the opportunity to work somewhere and get an earning that will sustain them. They are willing to work under any condition because they need the money. This is where the importance of the above factors comes in. An employ has legal rights within any working environment as long as there was a contract made. An employee has a right to receive fair remuneration and if the employer does not fulfill that, the employee should take legal action. In some countries, law classifies certain workers as employees whose situation could be vague or provides for a conjecture in their case that there is an employment relationship. On the contrary, the law may specify that certain contractual arrangements cannot be referred to as employment relationships. In some authorized systems certain indicators are used to determine whether or not the relevant factors are there to establish the survival of an employment relationship. The signs include; the extent of amalgamation in an organization, the provision of materials, tools or machinery, who controls the surroundings of the work, the provision of training and whether the remuneration is paid periodically. They also want to know whether the payment comprises a considerable share of the income of the worker. However, in common law countries, judges base their verdicts on certain tests established by case law. For example the tests of control, economic reality, integration in the enterprise, mutual obligation and who bears the financial risks. In all the systems present, the judges must decide on the basis of the facts available, irrespective of how the parties interpret or depict a specified contractual relationship. Prominent parties in employment relations in France Employment relationships affect various interest groups in the labor market. These interest groups include the government, labor unions, employers and other bodies. In France the most prominent and respected party is the labor union Most of the laws and regulations dealing with the labor section are in favor of the labor unions who work on behalf of employees. It has been realized that in most working places that must be an employer exploiting the employees. In France there is the French Labour Union (FLU) that protects workers irrespective of whether or not they have an employment contract provided certain conditions are met with regard to their activity (International Labour Office, 2006 pg.30). Unlike Australia, in France the trade unions are free to choose their representatives. It is their choice in who they want to be their representative in the fighting for the rights of the workers. In France the following categories of employment environments have been assumed to have an employment relationship under certain conditions; performing artists, journalists, sales representatives, models and traveling salespersons. In Australia an employee is any individual whose usual occupation is that of employee, but it does not include a person who is working under a vocational placement. Any individual referred to as an employee has a right to be protected from the exploitation of employers by the Labour Code following the factors that have been set. It becomes very hard for the trade unions to work according to their own rules because some of their rules are not at per with the factors of the employment relations environment. This is because some of these factors are so much in favor for the rights of the workers as compared to the employers Interest parties and employment relationships: Law and Regulatory factors Being the prominent party in France there are some factors that do not favor the labor unions. In an employment contract the employees agrees to work under the instructions of the employer and in most cases the employee works for the benefit of the employer. This is a constraint to the labor unions as that cannot be changed not even by the law itself. The labor unions can therefore only fight for the rights of employees to the extent to which the law permits. This is because in any working environment there has to be the parties to be assigned the work to be done and there also has to be the one who is in charge. According to the Labour Code the determination of the existence of an employment relationship should be directed by the facts of what was actually agreed and performed by the parties to the contract and not on how either or both parties depict the relationship (Blatman 2006, 1). The contract is what speaks of their actions. According to law, this is known as the principle of primacy of fact. Though the labor unions in France can take certain employment conflict cases to the court, their influence cannot go against the judicial independence. In general the judge must make a decision based on the facts. For example the law in many countries provides that the employment agreement may be explicit or implicit. Giving chance for the possibility of an implicit contract means giving credence to the facts adjacent to the agreement that has been attained between the employer and the worker and such a contract is not in writing. It is also a probable case where the facts reflect a diverse authenticity from that which might be in a written contract. Other different laws will define a worker as an individual who embarks on to place his or her professional activity in exchange for remuneration. He or she agrees to work under the instruction and authority of an employer, and not the whims of the trade unions. These laws go on to specify that neither the legal status of the employer nor that of the labor unions shall be taken into account in the determination of whether a person is a worker (International Labour Office, 2006 P.27). Another constraint arises from the fact that the labor unions may not be in a position to force their governments to ratify the ILO Conventions. The Governments can have their own “interpretations and selection of standards to ratify or to ignore” them altogether (Standing 2008, p.3). Basically the employment relation environment will be based on France. There are trade unions that have been created in support of the employee in order to avoid them being exploited and underpaid. These trade unions are very important and have been allowed to work under the regulations of the country to ensure that the workers receive fair treatment especially in terms of their pay (Joint ILO-WTO study, 2007, p.2). Most employers will take advantage of the situation that the employees are afraid to lose their jobs therefore will work under any condition set by the employer. It is the duty such kind of trade unions to ensure that such kind of issues are not present in working places. In a working environment there should be good working relationship. Employment Relations: Australia vs. France Fundamentally it is viewed that the constraints are not unique. Although they may have few differences, you will find that they are somehow similar. The only difference is that in Australia the trade unions are government directed therefore they have no wide scope of setting their own rule and the representatives are appointed by the government. That is not the same case in France because the trade unions or the parties have the liberty to appoint their own their own representative therefore can set their own rule that will not cause conflicts with the factors or the international rules defending the rights of the workers. It was only in the 1960’s that the union density was low and the state took the responsibility of fostering experiments with worker participation culminating in the Auroux laws which promote the expression of employee views. In Australia, the Federal Court has set the boundaries on the relocation of activities and workers to a different individual or venture. The Court dealt with the firing of workers in charge of the home and community care of elderly, disabled or disadvantaged people by the Greater Dandenong City Council, in the State of Victoria. The stipulation of these services had been opened up to an aggressive tendering, although it was known beforehand that the personnel already employed by the council would not be able to struggle unless they accepted a diminution in their entitlements acquired through collective bargaining. This means that most of them would have to be dismissed. In the long run they ended up losing the bid to a company offering the services at a cheaper rate with lower conditions of employment. Subsequently, most of them were dismissed, some of them being employed by the lower-bidding company but with lower terms and conditions. The Court held that the dismissal that had taken place was not for a good reason. It was prohibited and in breach of the Workplace Relations Act of 1996 i.e. because of their entitlements under the collective agreement and was thus in infringement of liberty of association. In Australia there is the Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC), which is a body that has the responsibility of setting award wages. This is a union that has been appointed by the government to set and vary wages in awards. The responsibility of the union is to set the minimum wages and ensure that they vary with the economic status. The good thing is that in Australia the minimum wage is way above higher than in any country of the developed countries (Wooden, 2005, p.9). Another duty of such trade union is to protect the employees from unfair dismissal from the working places. Some employers are very unfair towards their employees such that if one is not working according to the expectations of the company or business, they are fired with immediate effect. They do not even give them the chance to improve their work through learning from others. A good employer will offer training to the workers to ensure that they are familiar with the working conditions. Employers should also award their employees for the work done and this will increase the productivity of the business. Conclusion In the outline of the Decent Work Agenda, all employees, in spite of their employment status, ought to work in surroundings of decency and dignity. The term employee is a lawful term which refers to a person who is a party to a definite type of legal relationship which is usually called an employment relationship. There are rights and entitlements which exist under laws, regulations and cooperative agreements and which are precise to or linked to workers who toil within the capacity of an employment relationship. Every employee is entitled to protection of their rights incase the other parties tries to violate them. Reference: Blatman, M. 2006 Labour court system in France, Social chamber of the French supreme court http://www.ealcj.org/documents/francesummary.pdf International Labour Office 2006 The Employment Relationship, International Labour Office Geneva, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc95/pdf/rep-v-1.pdf. [April 30, 2010]. Kochan, T., A., & Lansbury, R., D., 1996, Changing Employment Relations and Governance in the International Auto Industry, Sao Paulo, Brazil http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/1618/Kochan.pdf?sequence=1 [April 30, 2010]. Joint ILO-WTO study, 2007 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Summary and Initial Commentary on Trade and Employment, http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ILO-WTO_paper_summary_and_comments_-_final.pdf. Fair Pay Commission 2006 Submission to the Australian Fair Pay Commission for Consideration in Determining the First National Wage Decision, ABS Education and Training Experience, Australia, http://www.hreoc.gov.au/pdf/200607submission_fairpay.pdf [April 30, 2010]. Standing , G. 2008 . The ILO: An Agency for Globalization? http://www.unhistory.org/readinglist/pdf/StandingILO.pdf [April 30, 2010] Taran P. (n. d) Promoting Equality in Diversity an Agenda a For Action, ILO – Migrant 4 route des Morillons CH 1211, Geneva http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/equality/download/tool/unionspamphlet_en.pdf. [April 30, 2010] Somavia J. 2006 Facts on Decent Work .International Labour Office 4 route des Morillons CH-1211 Geneva 22 Switzerland http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/portal/images/stories/contenido/pdf/Fact%20Sheets/FSDecentWork.pdf. [April 30, 2010] Wooden, M. 2005 Australia’s Industrial Relations Reform Agenda Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/people/mwooden/ace05_%20ir_reform_agenda.pdf. [April 30, 2010]. Read More