Factors Affecting Employment Relations Environment in France - Case Study Example

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ENVIROMENT COUNTRY: FRANCE STUDENT: XXXXXX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. This report discuses employment relations environment in France and considers the factors that affects employment relations environment in general. These are external and internal. The major ones include the employer and employee relations. They form the prominent party within the employment environment relations. They play the central role since they influence other parties to participate due to their issues. Others are the trade unions who normally engage themselves in negotiations and bargaining for the employees. The Government and other agencies also play a big role in ensuring the rule of law is followed in employment relations environment and includes the court and the tribunals. Employers also have their representative, the employers association who handles their grievances. The shop stewards represent other employee to their employers and are the ones who engage the trade unions when disagreement between them and employers arise. The report identifies the employer and employee as a prominent party. The two faces some of constrains in the course of operations and these constrains are not unique. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Introduction 1.0………………………Factors affecting employment relations environment. 1.1……………………… Employer-Employee environment 1. 2………………………Trade unions 1. 3………………………Government and other bodies 1. 4………………………Courts and tribunals 1. 5………………………Employer’s association. 1. 6………………………Shop stewards or employees representative. 1. 7………………………Other factors. 2 .0………………………Prominent party within employment environment. 2.1……………………….Employee and Employer 2. 2………………………How employer employee constrain. 2. 3………………………Not unique. 3. 0………………………Conclusion INTRODUCTION. According to a Bureau of European and Eurasian affairs, 2009, France had a population of approximately sixty four million people with about twenty eight million work force (2008) working in various fields. The report further indicates a steady economic growth and government top priority agenda of reducing high unemployment and create more jobs for their citizens. Employment relations environment not only affects France as a country alone but globally. It includes all the elements, external and internal of human resources management (Cuizo, G. 2008). Among the factors most considered includes, the employer-employee relations, trade unions, shop stewards, management, government agencies, tribunals, employer’s organizations and other technological factors. All these collectively form a system in which employee and employers operate. These bodies engage themselves in bargaining and negations between employees /employers and their representatives to determine specific terms and conditions of employment in general. Industrial relations carry all these factors into a system regulating employment in general (Armstrong M, 2003). International labour organization and other related bodies ensures global employment terms and conditions of workers are well addressed. Child labour abolition had been taken seriously and the organization has been monitoring its progress in various countries of the world at large (Julin H, 2006). Employee and employers forms the basis on which most of the employment relation environment arises and they play a central role. 1.0. FACTORS WHICH AFFECTS EMPOYMENT RELATIONS ENVIROMENT 1.1. Employer-employee Environments. Just like any other system employee- employer relate in a manner which both require frequent communication with a view to achieve a common objective for the organization. The management takes the role of leadership in an organization ensuring the work has been carried out according to the laid down polices and procedures of the organization and the managers represents the business owners in ensuring employees do the work they are given (Armstrong M, 2003). The employers view their employee in terms of achieving high performance and efficiency in the work place. They ensure decision making is shared equitably among the employees. They ensure employees are committed to the work they are given and adhere to the rules and regulations of the organizations. In return employees expect better pay for their work and other benefits to improve their morale for better performance and increased efficiency. Many times employees may not easily get all what they demand from their employer. Employers on the other hand pay less in order to increase savings and reduce expenses in order to maximize their profits. These may result in a tug of war between the employees and employers until their grievances are taken up by the trade union or the tribunals to resole such conflicts and this may engage the employer in negotiating terms with employee representatives. The relationship of the employee and employer brings other parties and each of the party has contribution towards either the employer or the employees. This makes the employer and employees as the major party since without the two then other parties may not have anything to contribute. (Cole, G.A, 2002). 1.2. Trade Unions Environment These are bodies formed by employees’ representatives to promote and protect the interest of their members. In employment relationship set up, all the members are not equal, there are the employers who ensure employees work for what they are paid for and are always superior to the terms of employment given to them .Therefore trade union provide a common voice (John, W and Bhave, Devasheesh, 2008) in which they present to the employer any grievances from the employees. They also provide other services to their members like finance and legal advice and engage in negotiation and collective bargaining for the employees (Armstrong M, 2003). Generally trade unions participates in decision making and negotiations on issues affecting employees and also regulate relations with other trade unions .since most of the time disputes may occur between employer and employee where they result to strike and may paralyze the operation of business . 1.3 Government and other bodies Environment The government plays a vital role in ensuring employees- employer relationship by providing rules and legal frame work in ensuring law and order is adhered to. The government ensures that there is harmony at work place and no human rights violation. They ensure working environment for the employees is favourable. The government provides other legal bodies in ensuring at retirement age, employers provide better terms of payment especially when it comes to payment of terminal dues and general protection of the employee. The government ensures justice is done. They give individual rights under the employment contracts and introduce many acts and other labour relations to protect both the employee and the employer (Cole, G.A, 2002). 1.4. Courts and Tribunals Environment According to Cole,(2002,p.466),’ introduction of tribunals was intended to enable legal disputes to be treated less formally than in a usual court of law and only one legally qualified chairman would represent employer and employee respectively ’. These are bodies set to deal with disagreement in employment. They handle issues of unfair dismissal, discrimination and employment protection. This body comes in especially where there has been disagreement between employers and employees and trade unions Intervention is unable to settle the matter. The matters are referred to the tribunal court for the final judgment (Armstrong M. 2003). 1.5. Employer’s Association Environment Despite being the owners of the business employers share their grievances also. This body ensures that the interest between trade unions and the individual employers have been resolved equitably. The body also ensures unfair competition between business competitors in the market is kept to a minimum. These organizations represent the employers (Armstrong, M. 2003). 1.6 Shop stewards /Employees Representatives The employee cannot all go to face the employer at the same time. They have a representative who airs their dispute. Incase their grievances are not settled between the employer and the employee then that is the time shop steward forwards the case to the trade unions. They are like communication channel between the management and the employees. These are normally selected among the employees to represent them. 1.7 Other Factors Other factor which greatly affects the employment environment includes technological advancement. Advanced technology ensures most of the unions employees are not really needed since most of the manual jobs are done by computers. This means the employer only remains with few technical staff and generally who are also managers. This reduces issues of trade unions and tribunal cases at a great length. Also diversity changes in the labour market as well as growing demand of skilled and professional workers has contributed many changes in the labour market. Most people buy and sell online and others work on line. The technology has made people work on one to one bases where issues of trade union may never occur. (Cuizo, G. 2008). 2.0 PROMINENT PARTY-WITHIN EMPLOYMENT ENVIRONMENT 2.1 Employee-employer Environment In actual sense without employee the employer cannot work alone. Among other organization resources, employees also forms part of the resources commonly referred as human resources. Without them nothing can be done by themselves. (Armstrong, M. 2003). Employer- employee forms the prominent party since without the two there cannot be trade unions. No grievances hence no court. Government may never have any body to protect as in terms of human rights and other legal issues. No bargaining and negotiation if the employee and employer do not exist. This shows how the employee and employer influence other external parties within the employment relation environment and forms the major party. Employee and employer contribute a lot in terms of economic growth and this creates employment opportunities and general economy of the country at large. 2.2 How employer and employee constrain Generally both parties face constrains. Employers may have policies which are not conformity with current trend in the market (Kaufman, Bruce E.2004). If the policy of the organization says that they may promote a staff form within yet due to the competition in the labour market may face some constrain in making a decision whether to hire form outside or promote a non-qualified individual from within .Also the employees face a lot of constrains especially when handling the trade unions and other bodies to oversee their dispute. They are forced to be members of such trade unions. Government policies and other legal systems affect the employers. Non-payment of taxes may affect business employees and other legal requirement in operating business. Technology advancement affects employers as most of the current business trend is done on computerized system, meaning few employees are needed at the work place. When employers try to do away with unwanted staff, trade unions and other bodies may intervene making it more difficult for employers. 2.3. The constrains experienced by employer /employee not unique. Constrain faced by the employee and employers are not unique at all. The world is changing drastically .Technology has taken a tall order in most business operations. Mostly people are working online and the issue of having trade union is almost dying. If the business does not operate according to the rule of law, the government agencies will intervene and this may cause some constrain to the employers. These are normally problems faced by any environment one is operating in. Business have computerized the operation most of the employers only needs technical staff to do very few operations on machine. These are simply external operations factors the employee has no control over them .all has to happen and it is there. 3.0 CONCLUSION. In the business world employers and employee makes it possible for people generally to access goods and services. These two parties cannot operate just from nowhere hence there are environmental factors which surround them. They cannot avoid such environmental issues unless otherwise they are not in operation. The business operations are also currently facing a lot of challenges due to the stiff competition and other complexities faced by the business owners. Others close down due to poor performance in the market. All these difficulties face the employers or business owners and in return they end up transferring their frustration to their employees. Either they may reduce their pay or even suck them. To avoid such disputes other parties join in with different roles to play, all towards the employee and the employer. It is ideal all other parties to participate in order to harmonize the working operations of the workers and their employers. Reference: Armstrong, M. 2003, A Handbook of Human resources management practice, 9th edition Cuizon, G. 2008, Key Elements Affecting Human Resource Practice, External Factors Junlin, H. 2006, the International Labour Organization's Role in Nationalizing the International Movement to Abolish Child Labor Cole, G, A, 2002, Personnel and Human Resources Management, 5th edition Budd, John W. and Bhave, Devasheesh 2008, "Values, Ideologies, and Frames in Industrial Relations," in Sage Handbook of Industrial Relations, Sage. Kaufman, Bruce E. 2004, the Global Evolution of Industrial Relations, Events, Ideas, and the IIRA.International Read More