Forward with Fairness Law and Policy - Coursework Example

Running head: FAIR WORK ACT 2009 Forward with Fairness Law and Policy Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date: Forward with Fairness Law and Policy Introduction The federal government enacted Forward with Fairness law and policy to introduce changes in the labour laws in Australia. The aim of creating these laws was to establish flexible workplaces and protect the welfare of employees. The need for flexibility at the workplaces has increased due to the increasing number of women at the workplaces (Christensen & Schneider, 2010). This has required employers to consider making decisions which allow people work while having good contact with their families. Balancing work and family life has been an emerging requirement that employers must fulfil to ensure their employees are satisfied. Implementing the new laws will improve economic competitiveness of the organizations domestically and in the global markets (Heymann and Earle, 2009). In this paper I will discuss the role of collective bargaining under the Forward and Fairness laws and policy. Other aspects about the new laws discussed include rights of employees joining labour unions, performing strikes and secret ballots. Collective bargaining will also be assessed at the perspective of dispute resolution and creating collective agreements. Changes brought in the ‘Forward with Fairness’ laws Collecting bargaining is one aspect of the Forward with Fairness law and policy that was enacted on 1 July 2009. This law states that employers have the obligation of enabling their employees to negotiate in all aspects that affect them at the workplace. The new laws require that the application of terms and conditions under any employment contract should be consented by both the employer and employee. The rights and responsibilities of each party in the employment contract are negotiated and agreed upon before putting them into action. Joint regulation in a work environment is a requirement that employers should adhere to. It is important that employers should consult employees before implementing any decision that may affect them at the workplace (Smith, 2010). Collective bargaining creates a contractual relationship between employers and employees. Both parties must consent to the contract. After making the contract, the employer and employee representatives sign the agreement to make it legally enforceable. The documents are kept in a safe place where both parties agree. Amendments to the agreement can be made upon request by any party. However, no changes can be made to the agreement without the consent of any of the parties. Collective bargaining agreements are legal contracts which can be used in a court of law when any of the parties contravenes the provisions of the contract (Smith, 2010). New approaches created by the new laws After the implementation of the Forward with Fairness law, major changes have been experienced. New approaches have been adopted such as awarding employees, collective bargaining, bargaining in good faith, resolving disputes and resolving workplace agreements. Under the current collective bargaining system, a master-servant relationship between employers and the employees has been abolished. All parties are perceived to be equal and have the right to express themselves when making decisions that may affect them. Negotiations are encouraged by the new sets of labour laws and authoritative management of employees has been discouraged. In the past, employers had exclusive control of the right to hire and fire, change remuneration as he/she wishes as well as determine the appropriate working hours and the work practices to be followed by all employees. The rights of employees were not respected since employers had control over their employees (Smith, 2010). Under the new laws, employees have the right to have their own representatives who should create a bridge between employers and employees. These representatives have the right to seek the opinion of employees about how they should work and how the employers should handle them. Trade unions are legal institutions which allow employees to represent their grievances (CCH Editors, 2009). In modern economic environments, employers and employees are now being perceived to be equal since, employers own capital while employees own labour factor of production. Both parties are required by the new laws to respect the rights of each other since mutual benefits are gained from the relationship (Jenkins & Sherman, 1997). Role of the right to strike, secret ballots and unions Employees have the right to strike if they feel dissatisfied by the conditions of work. According to (Sinha, 2010 pg. 182), “the right to strike is an integral part of individual freedom and liberty, under which man has the right to decide to work or not to work for certain given terms of employment.” Employees have the right to work when they are willing and they cannot be coerced to work. Jansson (2008) is of the opinion that strikes disrupt the normal operations in an organization but in some cases it is not avoidable. When an employee quits employment or breaks his/her contract with the employer, a civil wrong is done. The employer has the right to take legal action against the employee should the proper channel of performing a strike is not followed. Strike is a concerted withdrawal of labour and cannot be said to be an offence if the proper procedures are adhered to the letter. Employers are restricted from intimidating employees when they demonstrate or strike. In addition, employers have the obligation of not interfering with the operations of the labour union (Sinha, 2010). There are restrictions on the right to strike as required by the new law. Trade unions should issue prior notice to the employer before a strike proceeds. The new law prohibits employees from pursuing a strike without the consent of the employer. Other resolutions to disputes in an organization are the use of a mediator, an arbitrator or conciliation. Secret ballots are required to be provided to members of a labour union before undertaking a strike. The secret ballot allows the union members to pursue a strike under the consent of all members. The union members are aware of the consequences of the strike and should consent to the strike so that there are no divisions among members when the strike is in progress. The secret ballots provide a democratic right to each member of the union to agree to the activities of a labour union. Strikes which are not democratically acceptable by the union members are voted out and such strikes cannot proceed (Blanpain, 2008). Employers are restricted from interfering with elections held by employees at their unions. The new laws provide employees with the right to hold free and fair elections for their labour unions. This law was put in place to allow employees have the freedom to choose leaders who are neutral. To enhance fairness in the running of trade unions, employees have the right to hold free and fair elections to enable them have the right leaders as well as ensure good representation to their employer (Blanpain, 2008). The role of new and proposed institutions in the system In some cases, coming into an agreement about how to conduct various activities in an organization may not be successful. Strikes have been said to disrupt the normal processes in an organization and should be avoided at any cost. Strikes are not the best way to solve conflicts between employers and employees. There are different methods of conflict resolution. There are several institutions that have been proposed for resolving conflicts arising from the trade activities. Some of the methods used to resolve disputes are courts, negotiation, arbitration, and mediation among others. Court procedures have been used for a long period to settle disputes between the two parties (Lyubenova, 2004). In this case, either the employer or the labour union can sue each other in a court of law. Negotiation is a process whereby the conflicting parties come into consensus about specific issues. In such a case both parties are willing to come into an agreement about how to run the organization with minimal conflicts. Negotiations help the parties resolve disputes and come up with better systems of running the organization. Mediation is a process where a third party is involved in bringing together the parties under conflicts. When employers and employees have conflicts, they can use a mediator to resolve their differences (Holley, Jennings & Wolters, 2008). Mediation is a process that must be accepted by the two parties. The parties specify the most suitable individual or organization to act as a mediator and a deadline to the entire process is set. Mediators have the role of bringing together the conflicting parties but have no right to impose agreements. Mediators should be impartial, voluntary, competent, confidential, objective and responsible when carrying out their roles. Mediators should support the conflicting parties and can seek help from other mediators. After the parties have resolved their disputes, they sign an agreement under the supervision of the mediator (Lyubenova, 2004). Arbitration is another process that is used when employees and employers have a conflict. An individual or a commission may be used as an arbitrator to settle disputes between the employers and employees. The parties in dispute choose a certain number of representatives to be involved in the arbitration process. The parties present their disputes and the arbitrator helps the parties come to an agreement. The final agreement legally binds the parties and none of them can go against the final decision (Lyubenova, 2004). Impacts of the changes to recent court and tribunal processes Changes in labour laws under the Forward with Fairness law and policy will have a great impact on court and tribunal processes and decisions. Court procedures will have to be amended to incorporate the changes in dispute resolution processes. Employees have more power to decide the way employers manage human resource factors. In addition, employees have been granted more rights and this will require courts to provide proper remedies to employees injured by their employers (Lyubenova, 2004). After the introduction of the new laws, employers are now required to provide flexibility at the workplace and to make decisions which are in line with the new laws. Employers have the obligation to allow employees pursue their rights without restrictions. The new laws require employers to incorporate employees in decision making processes to ensure they provide consent in all matters that affect the organization. There is need to establish better mechanisms of resolving disputes under the new laws without recourse to courts. Mediation, arbitration and establishment of agreements will be of great importance when resolving conflicts between employees and employers. Labour unions are very important in delivering grievances of the employees to the employers. Unions help reduce strikes in organizations and this improves the performance of employees at the workplace (Lyubenova, 2004). Conclusion Labour laws have been amended to accommodate the changing economic conditions and to improve the relationship between employees and employers. Employers have been restricted from oppressing their employers and this has been made into effect by establishing legal frameworks which enable collective bargaining at the workplace. Labour unions are used by employees to act as a bridge with their employers. Strikes are legal mechanisms through which employees express their grievances. Strikes are performed when all other methods of resolving conflicts such as arbitration fail. Dispute resolution is important during strikes since strikes can disrupt normal activities of an organization. Employees and employers should have appropriate mechanisms of resolving their conflicts. Collective bargaining is an important aspect that has been introduced by the new labour laws and should be used to improve workplace conditions. Employers should come up with better strategies of implementing the new laws since a lot of changes are required at the workplace to accommodate changes introduced. Government leaders should continuously amend labour laws to protect the welfare of employees while maintaining a favourable environment for employers. References Blanpain, R. (2008). Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations in Industrialized Market Economies. 9th Edition. Kluwer Law International, ISBN 9041126112, 9789041126115. CCH Editors (2009). Understanding forward with fairness: a practical guide to the new workplace relations system. CCH Australia Limited, ISBN 1921485760, 9781921485763. Christensen, K. and Schneider, B. L. (2010). Workplace Flexibility: Realigning 20th-Century Jobs for a 21st-Century Workforce. New York, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801475856, 9780801475856. Heymann, J. and Earle, A. (2009). Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth That We Can't Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone. Stanford University Press; ISBN 0804768900, 9780804768900. Holley, W. H., Jennings, K. M. and Wolters, R. S. (2008). The Labor Relations Process. Cengage Learning, ISBN 0324421443, 9780324421446. Jansson, B. S. (2008). The Reluctant Welfare State: Engaging History to Advance Social Work Practice in Contemporary Society. Cengage Learning. ISBN 0495507148, 9780495507147. Jenkins, C. and Sherman, B. (1997). Collective bargaining: what you always wanted to know about trade unions and never dared to ask. Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0710086911, 9780710086914. Lyubenova, S. (2004). Dispute-resolution mechanisms introduced. Retrieved 25 Sept. 2010 from; http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2004/01/feature/bg0401103f.htm. Sinha (2010). Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation. Pearson Education India. ISBN 8177588133, 9788177588132. Smith, S. E. (2010). What is Collective Bargaining? Retrieved 25 Sept. 2010; from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-collective-bargaining.htm Read More