Employee Relations in Contemporary Britain - Essay Example

TOPIC: EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN: ARE THE UNION'S STRATEGIES MILITANT OR MODERATE Employee relations in business organizations play major roles in the overall running of its activities. It is therefore, very important for the management to make efforts towards establishing good and efficient Employee Relations Departments in their Companies or Organizations. The main aim is to ensure that effective communication exists between the management and the different working teams. It's through these arrangements that employees can feel that their subsidiary needs are put into consideration. It becomes the channel through which ideas are addressed. For any Organization, be it profit or non-profit making, to achieve its intended mission, a lot of work needs to be done to sustain a comfortable employee-employer relationship. No one should take this matter lightly because through this link, Suggestions, demands and expectations are passed and their replies channeled. Problems would most likely arise if employees of a particular company go up in arms over certain working conditions, delayed salaries and wages and inevitably, be an issue for the management such as strikes that just occur under their noses (Rose, 2004, pp 30 - 35). Sometimes organizations build their goodwill for years and they can not allow anything or anyone to just wreck it all. In the wake of creating, an employee relation, Workers Unions, Trade Movements and Welfare Societies advises them on the importance of joining them. These are activists who work closely with government to cater for the needs of the country's employees. Their mandatory goal being to pressurize for good reforms on laws, regulations and the constitution that governs them. (Euro found, 2008). In Britain, unions keep on pushing for better deals basing their argument on the current economic trend. It would therefore, be without these unions, very hard for people to come out and ask the government for considerations. The whole union concept is to apply civilized ways in addressing matters that arise every now and then. It involves pushing diplomatically, rather than having employees take to the streets, demanding recognition, as key players in the daily development of different sectors that lead to the total country's economic growth. These Unions also endorse sanctions to employers who appear to be treating their employees unfairly. They educate Companies and Organizations on the ethical point of their relation. Do others good the same way you expect to be done unto. The role that unions play in Britain is not to be ignored. (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, 2008). The strategies and efforts by these Unions can in fact be rated as militant. I say so, because their activities involve; revolutionary, support and activism. Playing as the watchdogs, it also ensures not only that changes are done but are adhered to the latter. Their efforts can be termed as peaceful and radical, though at times aggressive. It is due to this characteristic that employees in Britain find it important to part of at least a union. They term their working style as assertive since most of their rights are put to check by the authority in concern. There are allocations regarding the number of welfare societies one can join. Of course there is no limitation to only a single one. (Salamon, 2000, pp5, pp8-12). Firms that deal with Human Resource management appropriately will witness the good it has done to them. People want to be associated with unions that are clearly instituted to avoid misunderstanding .At this point, it is indistinguishable to acknowledge that a good number of Britain's Unions have proved their worth, they are worthy. With their protocols comprehensively tabulated, it leaves no doubt; they are the correct handlers of matter concerning employees. Though there is still a long way to go, the efforts already achieved are to be desired (Edwards, 2008, pp489, pp512). From that moderate starting pace to now more vibrant, Unions in Britain are fast growing in their numbers. Given the advantage that they can enter or better say access any firm, and do their recruitment, it boosts not only their goodwill and financial interest but the faith that they can deliver and true to say they got it going on. In the long run, this multiple association with other businesses results to networking. It is tantamount to applause the numerous opportunities that employees under the formation get to exploit at their disposal. Another advantage that employees acquire is the ability of these unions to negotiate, proposals, demands, ending up to the signing of agreements between the employer and the employees on their behalf. They also act in as legal advisers to their clients on matters relating to their code. They can include; acquiring of loans and the repayment, future expectations, among other sentiments. This eases the load of looking up for advisers and as a result saving expenses that can be used in other things (Blyton, and Turnbull, 2004, pp430 - 435) Unions work closely if not in conjunction with Human Resource personnel to make sure that employee related cases are handled professionally. This is made possible because, people running the unions have access to Employee Relations experts and the Employee's Court. In the past, there has been crisis in different sectors in the economy of Britain, the main cause being the allocation of leaves to their workers. Some of the leaves include: sic leave, parental leave and maternity leave. There has sprouted trouble in regard to annual holidays. Controversy comes up as a result of unclear schedules in the firms. The duration of time and the months in which they fall is usually the problem. But, it is easier now with intervention of the unions. (CIPD, 2008) The efforts already in place and the others still in progress by the diversified field of work employment and society has their fruits. Anyone who is represented by any union in Britain will confirm this or at least appreciate they are on their way. Given the time, a lot can be done. All over the world, the payroll has had issues, in terms of minimum wages, overtime, and the ages of the employees in their recipient. This is because; there were no clear directions on the subject; that is, the amount, time and the level/ranking of the employee. (Department of Labor, 2008) In the contemporary British world though, there are people who choose not get involved with whole unionism. It has led to unimaginable hustles when it comes to payment and settlement of pensions as retirement time finds them, and they are not members to any Employee's Union. This is why media broadcasts retirees claiming their dues, and it does not take one to be a genius to conclude that their bosses might end up putting them on hold. The firms they were working for might at the moment are facing problems such as bad business, corruption, embezzlement and as a result, the management just promises to sort them out, which in many cases as we have seen never happens. From the above example, employees who are still active should make it to be an eye opener. Get a union and register with them if they do not want to be in the same situation, under the same fate. This enables a person to get his claim at the right time and in a share that one can budget on: depending on the cost of living at the time. The amount should cater for the expenditure of daily needs and leave some for investment. It is therefore important to ensure we let people with influence, wit and expertise to handle it. And it is through the Unions that the latter can be solved to its fullest. (TUC, 2008) Normally, a lot is dwelled on regarding the employees who are under a private firm or government corporate. There is partial or even total ignorance on matters about the self employed or the entrepreneurs. It is once again worth noting that, this lot too is part and parcel of the Employees Unions spread over Britain. We have unions that deal with this bracket of earners. And it is in good taste to say that they are doing a good job. They are involved with their representation in the field. (Hollinshead, 2003, pp 34, pp38) Unions are really keeping things in their way. To begin with, it is through their arrangements that employees get to know of open business opportunities. This made possible by placing advertisements on the different types of media. Some of them include: print, posters, electronic, and the internet. It is easy to find job vacancies placed in newspapers, magazines, journals, television and radio. The gains brought by the unions are too many to count. Terming them moderate would not be appropriate because their effect can be felt in the industry. The British government is supportive of their ideas since the overall welfare of its citizens appears to have a drastic. A lot is to be desired and the trends that employee's unions are taking the country are just wonderful. The working conditions of workers have greatly improved with even safety appliances and clothing provided for. (Incomes data, 2008) Publications with information about the requirements needed to be members of different unions are available in stores and even street vendors. It shows the seriousness that investors in this sector have and their undying urge to change Britain. In conclusion, more financial considerations, ought to be allocated to assist in developing these Unions. Beneficiaries have to launch vibrant campaigns to educate people what they offer, advising them on the packages that suit them. The employers should give their employees the right to be members of these unions no matter the number. Lastly, Britain employees must back these unions by membership and active participation. If this is achieved trade unions will continue with their militancy and hence help employees in the country. REFERENCES: Blyton P. and Turnbull P. (2004) The Dynamics of Employee Relations: Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.3rd edition, Chapter 9, pp430, pp 435 CIPD (2008) Benefits of membership: Last retrieved on 17th April 17, 2008 from The World Wide Web at www.cipd.co.uk . Eurofound (2008). Working longer, living better - Europe's coming of age. Last retrieved on 17th April 17, 2008 from The World Wide Web at http://www.eurofound.ie/ BERR (2008) Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reforms: Last retrieved on 17th April 17, 2008 from The World Wide Web at http://www.berr.gov.uk/employment/index.html Edwards P. (2003) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice in Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. Special edition, pp489, pp512 Hollinshead G (2003) Employee Relations Harlow: Prentice Hall. 2nd edition, 2nd chapter, pp 34, pp38 Incomes Data (2008) Employment Law Brief. Last retrieved on 17th April 17, 2008 from The World Wide Web at http://www.incomesdata.co.uk/ Rose, E. (2004). Employment Relations: Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. 2nd edition, Chapter 2, pp 30, pp 35 Salamon M. (2000) Industrial Relations, theory and practice: Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Chapter 1, 4th edition, pp5, pp8-12 TUC (2008) Law at work: Last retrieved on 17th April 17, 2008 from The World Wide Web at http://www.tuc.org.uk/ Read More