Industrial Relations Framework - Coursework Example

Industrial Relations Framework Name Date Course Industrial Relations Framework Introduction The industrial relations framework in Australia is governed by the Fair Work Act 2009. It was established for the purposes of improving the relations between the employers and the employees. The framework governs each profession and hence its relevance in the industry. The employment conditions are also addressed in the industrial relations framework. This is aimed at ensuring that the employers offer the employees good working conditions (Cavagnoli, 2011). This is considering that the poor working conditions impacts negatively on the performance of the employees. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the wages and salaries of the employees is an important issue in any profession. The framework also plays an important role in addressing the issues of the employees with regards to the wages and salaries of the employees. In the Engineering and ICT profession, the employees are likely to encounter some challenges when discharging their duties. Engineers may be forced to work in difficult conditions like the mines while in the ICT professional s may be force to work for long hours. The framework is therefore for the purposes of addressing the challenges that the different professionals may face in the course of discharging their duties. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the framework plays an important role in promoting ethics in the field of Engineering and ICT. The paper thus discusses how the industrial relations framework in Australia affects the manner in which engineers and ICT professionals operate. Discussion The framework plays an important role in setting out the minimum terms of employment. This includes the wages and the working conditions for the employees. In the engineering profession, the manner of operations has been affected by the minimum terms of employment. The people working in the profession are aware of the minimum wages and salaries that they are supposed to receive. This has played an essential role in reducing the exploitation of the engineers in terms of pay (Johnstone, 2011). The minimum terms of employment has played an essential role in improving the safety standards of the engineers. The engineers are aware that it is a must to put on protective clothing when carrying out their duties. Employers are also aware that they are required to provide the engineers with the safety gears in order to ensure that they are well protected. The safety standards in the engineering professional have therefore been improved. This has led to a reduction in the number of accidents as a result of lack of proper equipment. The number of injuries has also reduced since the framework promotes the safety standards in the industry. The ICT professionals also face some risks as they may be required to work under difficult conditions as technicians. The framework also requires the employers to equip the ICT professionals with appropriate working gears. This has therefore played an essential role in improving on the safety standards in the professionals. The quality of services in the ICT and engineering sector has also been improved through the framework. A lot of emphasizes is usually placed on quality of the work by the professionals as it is also part of the minimum term of employment. ICT professional have understood the safety codes when carrying out their duties. It is also important to note that the framework has played and important role in raising the standards in Engineering as well as ICT. The training and employment of the engineers and the ICT professionals have also been improved through the presence of the framework. The number of people joining the profession is also on the increase due to the improvements that has been brought by the framework (Colvin, 2014). In the recent past, the number of engineers was on the decrease in Australia. However, more people are confident in the professions due to the reforms that have been brought about by the framework. The minimum terms of employment has also played an essential role in reducing conflicts between the employers and employees in the profession. The conflict in the engineering sectors is usually about the working conditions and employment standards. This is considering that the professionals may end up working under difficult conditions. The framework is also supported by the provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 and hence making it compulsory for the employers in the sector to ensure that they conform to the standards. The framework plays an important role in governing the industrial action incase the employees are not satisfied with their working conditions or have genuine grievances. In the engineering professional, the employees are bound to have genuine grievances due to the difficulties that they always encounter when working. The framework makes it easy for the engineers and the ICT professionals to come up with their unions and pressure the organizations to provide safe working conditions. It is also important to note that the framework strengthen the enterprise level collective bargaining and hence making it easy for the engineers to put in place appropriate measures to agitate for their rights. It is also important to note that the engineers have formed their own professional bodies and associations for the purpose of setting standards (Roles, 2013). The bodies are also responsible for ensuring that the engineers are working in safe conditions and in accordance to the required standards. Unions have also been formed for the purposes of ensuring that the rights of the engineers are not violated. The professional in the ICT sector have also benefited from the framework as it enables them to regulate the industry and ensure that they are able to put in place measures to promote professionalism. This has also impacted positively on the operations and regulations of the industry. The professionals in the engineering as well as ICT sector have also been able to improve on their operations due to the increased levels of professionalism that has been encouraged by the framework. A flexible work arrangement is important for the professionals in the ICT and Engineering sector. Some of the engineering works usually take a long period of time to be completed. On the other hand, the engineers may be required to spend a lot of time working in order to complete their tasks. Their employers in most cases may end up putting the engineers under a lot of pressure in order to ensure that they are able to meet the datelines. However, the framework has played an important role in ensuring that flexible working arrangements are in place for the purposes of ensuring that the engineers are able to achieve an appropriate work life balance (Stewart, 2011). The work life balance is also important for the purposes of improving on the productivity of the engineers. The framework has therefore played an important role in ensuring that the engineers are able to take some times off whenever they need to do so. This is unlike the past where the engineers had to work continuously with little or not time for attending to their family issues. The quality of family life has also been improved through the introduction of the framework. The ICT professionals also benefit from the flexible work arrangements as it enables them to take to respond to their family issues. Productivity has therefore been improved through the provisions in the framework. The operations in the engineering and ICT sector have thus changed due to the flexibility that has a positive impact on productivity. Ethics and professionalism is important for the Engineers and ICT professionals whenever they are carrying out their duties and responsibilities. The framework plays an important role in ensuring that the engineers act in a professional manner. The clients usually require the engineers to provide high quality services. Through the concepts of ethics that has been brought about by the frameworks, the engineers in most cases have to perform their duties effectively. This has reduced the incidences of substandard work that was initially performed by the engineers who were not ethical. On the other hand, it is also important to note that poor workmanship has also been reduced as the ethical concepts require the engineers to observe high standards when performing their duties. The engineers also have an obligation of providing quality services to their employers (Palmer, 2013). It is also important to note that the framework plays an important role in ensuring that the engineers charge reasonable amounts to their clients when performing their duties. The relationship between the engineers and their clients has also been improved by the framework due to the improvements of standards as a result of high ethics. The relationship between the engineers and their employers has also been improved by the framework. The productivity in the profession has therefore improved due to the ethical concepts. The ethical concepts has also played an important role in bring sanity to the industry as it has reduced the incidences of engineers being involved in unethical practices. The framework also promotes ethics among the ICT professionals. This is considering that the concepts of ethics are required in the ICT professionals in order to develop a good relationship between the professionals and their employers or clients. It is the duty of the ICT professionals to ensure that they meet the requirements of their clients or employers. This means that the ICT professionals have to ensure that they do not misuse the information of their clients or employers. The professionals are supposed to ensure that the data is secured and they are not involved in the unauthorized access of the data of the employers as this may impact negatively on the employers. Ethics has played an important role in ensuring that the incidences of ICT professionals being involved in hacking incidences are reduced. It is unethical for the ICT professionals to be engaged in such activities as it impacts negatively on the security of information of the clients or an organization. The framework plays an essential role in ensuring that the standards in the sector are improved in terms of ensuring that the data is secured (Stewart, 2011). Professionalism has thus been enhanced through the use of the framework as it requires the ICT professionals to act in a professional manner. The trust from the clients and employees on the sector has also been enhanced through the framework. This is an indication that the standards in the sector is improving that the professionals are operating in an ethical manner. The levels of professionalism have also been improved due to the framework as the rights of the professionals in the industry are protected. The engineers and ICT professionals cannot face unlawful termination of employment. Inmost cases, the engineers and the ICT professionals are usually faced with difficulties in terms of their working conditions. The framework gives them the right to express their dissatisfaction in a professional way. This involves industrial action and their employment cannot be terminated on such grounds. This has played an important role in ensuring that the employers fulfill their part of the bargain with regards to the working conditions. It is also important to note that it is ethical for the employees to fulfill their duties and obligations for the benefits of the employees (Johnstone, 2011). This has impacted positively on the Engineering and ICT profession. Protecting the rights of the ICT and Engineering professionals is important in ensuring that the professionals are able to carry out their activities effectively. The framework offers the professionals the opportunity to exercise their rights with regards to the working conditions and hence promoting the safety standards and the work standards. The minimization of risks has also been achieved through the use of the framework. This is because the employers can no longer expose the engineers or ICT professionals on risky conditions without ensuring that they are adequately protected or insured. The health of the professional who work in extreme conditions is usually prioritized as required by the framework and hence improving on the quality of life of the professionals. In Australia, most of the professionals like Engineers and ICT professionals do not belong to unions. This is because of the roles that they play in their organizations. This affects the ability of the professionals from actively agitating for the rights incase of difficulties in the working conditions. However, the framework does not forbid the professionals from joining the unions. This means that the engineering and ICT professionals can be union members and agitate for their rights incase of any issues that they are not satisfied with. On the other hand, the framework plays an important role in enabling the professionals to choose a third party for the purposes of representation in the workplace issues (Cavagnoli, 2011). This is considering that the workplace issues can impact negatively on the performance of the professional if it is not taken seriously. The right to involve a third party representation has impacted positively o the performance of the professionals. This is because the engineers as well as the ICT professionals have the right to involve their professional bodies to represent them in their workplace issues. This has impacted positively on the professionalism of the industry as the professional bodies are also strict when it comes to the ethical issues. The representation of the engineering and ICT professionals ha thus been improved due to the framework. Solving conflicts has also been made easy by the presence of the framework and hence impacting positively on the relationship between the employers and the professionals. The professional conduct of the engineers and the ICT professionals has also improved due to the framework. The professionals have learnt how to handle their clients well and in a professional manner. The level of customer satisfaction in the engineering and ICT industry is on the increase. This is because the framework promotes professionalism and ethics. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the framework has impacted positively on the training of the professionals. The framework encourages the professionals to undertake trainings for the purpose of improving on their knowledge and skills (Palmer, 2013). The employers are thus required to provide such opportunities to the professionals. Professional misconduct by the Engineers and the ICT professionals is forbidden and the members usually face stiff penalties. This is considering that it is unethical for the professional to be engaged in misconduct. The framework provides guidelines with regards to the relationship between the employee and the employer. This is important for the engineering and ICT professionals in terms of enabling them to develop policies and guidelines to ensure that workplace ethics is maintained at all times. Engineers and ICT professionals are also gaining job satisfaction die to the presence of the framework as it is aimed at improving on the standards of the professionals. The number of people who are leaving the engineering profession is also on the decrease due to the presence of the framework. The trends also indicate that the engineers and ICT professionals are set to be more ethical in future. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the industrial relations framework is for the purposes of enhancing the relationship between the employees and the employers. On the other hand, it ensures that the working conditions of the employees are improved. He engineers cam benefit from the framework as it promotes safe working environment for the engineers. The framework is also important in terms of ensuring that the employees are able to maintain professionalism and ethics when carrying out their operations. The ICT professionals have to observe high levels of ethics and ensure that they gain the trust of their employers. The framework has played an important role in ensuring that the ICT and engineering professionals avoid misconduct and unethical practices that impacts negatively on their clients or employers. It is also evident that the framework promotes the rights of the employees and hence preventing the exploitation of the employees. The professional in the engineering and ICT sector are also gaining the confidence of their employers or clients due to the presence of the framework. It is evident that the development of the ICT and Engineering profession is dependant on the level of ethics and professionalism. The issue of ethics and professionalism can be maintained through the use of the framework. List of References Cavagnoli, D, 2011, A conceptual framework for innovation: An application to human resource management policies in Australia, Innovation: Management, policy & practice, 13(1), 111-125. Johnstone, R, 2011, OHS inspectors and psychosocial risk factors: Evidence from Australia, Safety science, 49(4), 547-557. Colvin, A, 2014, Rediscovering collective bargaining: Australia's fair work act in international perspective, Industrial & labor relations review, 67(1), 274-276. Roles, C, 2013, Fair Work Act and Worker Voice in the Australian Public Service, The. Adel. L. Rev., 34, 93. Stewart, A, 2011, Fair Work Australia and the Legacy of the Commission, Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(5), 551-555. Palmer, E, 2013, The representative role of unions in the Fair Work system, Journal of Industrial Relations, 55(3), 421-424. Read More