Effective Reputation Management and Legal Implications

The assignment highlights the need for organisations to effectively address the issue of gender pay gap to build a strong reputation. It also emphasizes the importance of creating a right working environment within the organisation to motivate employees and create a better image in external space. The assignment discusses various references from books and journals that support these ideas, including legal implications of decisions.

Law for Business Managers

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Advisory to Mr. Joseph on Contract of Employment.........................................................1
2. Gender Pay Gap in Chia Ltd and advisory to Joseph........................................................3
3. Implications of Working Conditions under current health and safety legislations............4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
There are various kinds of legislation which are there in the field of business and the
same has to be considered by management and owners of a business. So that a better as well as
effective policy for the business can be framed and any legal disputes can be avoided in future.
The current report will have a detailed discussion on various legal issues which are being faced
by Mr. Joseph as a director of Chia Ltd (Abdi and Aulakh, 2012). It is a company which is
engaged in business of providing vegan food, drinks as well as snacks to people. The issues
faced by Mr. Joseph is regarding working of employees and the legal advisory that can be given
to him will be discussed in detail under the report.
MAIN BODY
1. Advisory to Mr. Joseph on Contract of Employment.
Issue
Mr. Joseph is the founder as well as director of Chia Ltd, The company is successful
enough and thus hiring is a continuous process within the organisation. The director of company
has hired a new secretary Dwayne who has been working within the company from last 6 Weeks
but the major issue was that Dwayne and Joseph have not entered into a formal contract of
Employment. Now Joseph, being director of the firm is concerned that whether a verbal
agreement is enough in the eye of law or there is a need of forming a written contract or
agreement between the two in order to make the same valid in the eye of law in an effective
manner. Mr. Joseph has been doing business in an ethical manner so far and thus, a clear
advisory in this regard is sought by Mr. Joseph to reach to a conclusion that whether a written
agreement is needed or not in the case.
Importance of Written contract
Oral agreements are usually invalid and thus it is difficult to prove in front of court or
judicial system in cases of doubt or if contested, thus it is essential that a proper written
agreement is being made between two parties. Written contracts creates clarity and evidence for
both parties. Hence, It is usually advisable to have a written contract so that there is clarity of
terms and no party can misuse each other's rights as well as duties. There are certain situations
when an employer would want that an employment contract shall be there between the company
and employees. These situation includes:
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 Difficult Replacement of employee: When the employer is aware of the fact that the
employee is having certain specific skills and abilities along with experiences that can not
be replaced easily by external sources. Then, the Employer would want to have a legal
written agreement with employee which would bind the individual from leaving the firm
beyond a specific period (Bellamy, 2011). Non Competing Agreement: It is an agreement made between employer and employee to
bind the employee regarding joining of any competitive firm after leaving the
organisation. An employer would want to have a written agreement to restrict employees
in various ways.
Law related to the Case
An employment Contract is basically a legal agreement between two parties, employer as
well as employee and this kind of agreement gives security to both parties and it helps in
protection of their rights in an efficient manner. The Law applicable to this Case is laid down in
Section 230 of Employment Right Act., 1996. This act specifies the rules that needs to be
followed while hiring employees within the organisation and the exceptions that are allowed by
law (Roe, 2013).
However, If Employer and Employee decides not to have a formal written agreement
between each other then they may decide not to have so. In such case there are several
implications that has to be faced by both the parties and the liability to prove that there were a
contract between the two rest with the parties themselves. As a matter of principle, a contract of
employment should always be in writing (Bhattacharya, SCotterrell, 2017).
The case which states that an employment contract is necessary is laid down in Edwards
v Skyways ltd [1964]. The case clearly suggested that written agreement is necessary between
employer and employee and without which it is not possible to define the rights and obligation of
both the parties effectively.
Advisory to Joseph
As per the provisions of Employment Act, 1996; the decision regarding entering into a
formal contract of Employment rest with both the parties and they have the discretion to enter
into a written agreement. If they decide, not to have so, the liability to prove the contract rest
with the parties themselves and court won't be able to help much to the appellant because there
was no Written legal binding agreement in place between the two. Hence, It is advisable to
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Joseph that a written contract is prepared between him and his employee Dwayne so that further
repercussions can be mitigated and there can be clarity of all the rules and regulations that are
there between them. Also, if Joseph wants a better reputation of his company then he shall make
proper legal contracts of employment with employees and just a oral agreement can cause
various issues for the organisation as well as its members over period of time.
2. Gender Pay Gap in Chia Ltd and advisory to Joseph.
Issue
The issue under the current case is that 3 Employees Sonia, Samuel and Simon are being
hired within the company and they were having same kind of experience and were hired at the
same time in 2011 as well. Also, their duties is same and works equally. All in all, they are
similar in every aspects except the pay which is being paid to Samuel and Simon and Sonia. In
this, Simon and Samuel are getting payment more than Sonia. The gap in pay is around 30%.
Samuel as well as Simon is being paid 10 Pound per hour as compared to only 7 pound per hour
to Sonia. Thus, there is a wide gap in the payment of wages to employees and Joseph is seeking
advice on this issue that whether Sonia shall be paid the same amount as what is paid to Samuel
and Simon.
Importance of Gender Pay Gap Issue
There is a major issue of gender pay gap within United Kingdom. According to various
reports that have been conducted on this particular issue, it was observed that around 3 out of 4
companies in United Kingdom pays more to its male employees then its female employees.
Thus, it is essential to make sure that right kind of treatment is given to Women as well in terms
of payment of wages or salaries (Dicey, 2013). Now the Government has put regulations
regarding publishing gender pay reports on employer, who are having employee base of 250 or
more. The official gender pay gap stands at around 18.4 percent for full time as well as part time
workers as laid down by UK's office for national Statistics. Thus, it can be said that it is a heated
up issue within UK and offering a lower salary to individuals based on their gender can be
negative for the image as well as reputation of the company in longer run.
Law Related to the Act
The act that relates to the case is Equal Pay Act 1970, and also the Equality act, 2010.
The law clearly states that it is illegal for an employer to pay people unequally performing the
same job, and if an employer do so then there is a provision of penalty. If the employer fails to
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pay equally to its employees who are having same kind of credentials for the job, there is a
provision for penalty but only in the severe cases. There is a mandatory provision of time to time
reporting about the payment of wages to employees, also known as gender pay gap report.
Though, there is no provision for action to be taken against higher gender pay gap reports but i t
does have an impact on the mindset of people as to what contribution the company is making in
the overall development as well as growth of the society (Ferry, 2012). It is very important to
make sure that directors and management of the company are having adequate knowledge of all
the legal aspects regarding payment of wages to employees.
Advisory to Joseph
Thus, It is advisable to Joseph that he shall pay all the three employees on the basis of
their credentials and based on that it is quite visible that Sonia also deserves an equal pay as
compared to its colleagues which is 10 Pound and not 7 Pound. Joseph, being the director in
company is responsible to make sure that a better image of company is represented outside the
organisation and for this, it shall make sure that all the people who are working in organisation
are getting a fair treatment for the work that they are doing. This will result in better and efficient
growth over period of time for the company (Potestà, 2013). Hence, It can be concluded that
Joseph shall pay salary to Sonia on an equal footing and there shall not be any gap in payment.
The pay gap issue, if addressed within time will benefit organisation as there will be more people
who will be ready to work for the organisation that will be beneficial for the company in the
longer run.
3. Implications of Working Conditions under current health and safety legislations.
Issue
The issue in this case is related to the working environment that is being provided to
individuals who are working in the organisation as employees or workers. The employees are
having issues related to working condition that are there in Chia Ltd and they want a better
treatment of the issue by providing them right kind of facilities to work in. It is the primary
responsibility of the employer to provide safe and reliable working conditions for employees so
that they can work flawlessly and con contribute their best for the growth and development of
business over period of time. Under Chia Ltd.. there are around 20 employees working within the
company and is having various issues related to safety and working conditions that are their in
the company. There have been many cases of exposed wires in the factory of the company also
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the floors on which the employees has to work is also quite slippery in nature which is causing
problem to employees for working and thus they are not able to work in a productive manner.
The issue relates to the violation of Human rights, and thus the organisation will have to
effectively manage their employees in order to get a better result from their employees.
Importance of Health and Safety of Employees
It has been mentioned in the reports of Human Right Organisations of UK, published in
the year 2008 that the employers of UK has been consistently ignoring and taking for granted the
issue related to working condition that are being provided to employees to do job. Most of the
employers does not match the standard laid down by the Human rights commission of the
country, which makes it even more difficult for the employees to do their work properly and
contribute in the production of goods and services of the company. Thus, the resultant decline in
the productivity level is cause majorly due to the working condition that is being provided which
is not up to the mark and the management has to work accordingly in an effective manner to
oversee the issue constructively. Employers have duties under health and safety law to assess
risks in the workplace (Johnson, 2012). Risk assessment procedure should be carried out that
address all risks that may cause harm individuals at workplace. Employers must give one
information about the risks in your workplace and how one are protected, also instruct and train
you on how to deal with the risks. Thus it can be said that, proper training shall also be given to
individuals, if the employer is aware of the fact then it shall inform employees in this regard and
better as well as effective management of employees shall be done so that they remains with the
organisation in an efficient manner.
Law Related to the Issue
The law related to this issue is laid down in the health and Safety Regulations,1994
issued by the UK Government. It specifies that there are certain standards that needs to be met by
an employer for hiring employees to work in their factory. These Standards needs to be met, if
Chia Ltd wants that employees keep on working in its factory. The various rights that are
available to employees are as follows:
 Employer shall provide personal protective as well as safety equipment free of charge
to its employees and there shall be no fees that should be charged for the same.
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 The Employee do have the right to stop their work and move away from the workplace
in a disciplined manner if they see a threat to their life working in the premises of the
organisation (Lobeiras, 2013).
 Rest Breaks shall be provided to employees during a working day. They shall not be
mistreated by employers for their work but a guidance is welcomed, but if mistreatment
and physical violence is there, then employee or worker can left the job without any
notice or information to the employer in this regard, as this is one of the primary
requirement of any human rights regulations that physical violence is not accepted.
 They are entitled to get a paid holiday on an annual basis. It shall be looked in an
effective manner by the employer (Morrow and Howieson, 2014).
As mentioned in the case Kennedy v Cordia (Services) LLP [2014]. The employer is
liable to provide healthy as well as effective working conditions to its employees so that they
will be able to work in an efficient manner. But the case also suggested that employers have the
right to assume that employees will take the necessary precautions while working for the
organisation in an effective way.
Advisory to Joseph
Thus, It is advisable to Joseph, after going through the above case, that it is mandatory
for employers to build a working environment within the organisation that will be conducive for
the employees to work and this will be beneficial for the employer as well because it can lead to
better reputation and image of the organisation in longer run. Also the fact that issue raised by
the employees are quite genuine and those issues directly relates to the safety of people who
were working in the organisation. If the level of safety is not maintained and due to this any
accident takes place in the premises of the company which causes Physical injury to any
individual then it attracts very serious penalty on the employer and criminal actions may also be
initiated against the organisation (Parker and Pearson, 2013). Thus, it is better to make sure that
employees safety are taken into consideration way before they are being hired and necessary
protection to them shall be provided as well because they are the one working for company and
is a major pillar for the growth of organisation. Thus, Joseph shall ensure that all the issues that
are being put by the employees in front of the company are addressed and they shall not be
mistreated by the management of the organisation. There are severe implications of not able to
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provide safe and healthy working conditions to employees, hence in order to prevent the same
there is a need to take necessary precautions and manage the business efficiently.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that management of business requires specific
knowledge of law and for this purpose the management of organisation should have effective
knowledge of the legal system and provision that will lead to better management of the business
in an efficient way. The issue related to gender pay gap has to be effectively addressed by the
management in order to build a effective and efficient reputation of the organisation within the
external environment. Also, it is equally important to make sure that Employees are given right
kind of working environment within the organisation, so that they will be motivated to work for
the organisation and a better image and reputation of the firm can be created in external space.
The Legal Implications of every decision shall be understood well before by considering all the
aspects of the same, in order to reach to a conclusion.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abdi, M. and Aulakh, P.S., 2012. Do country-level institutional frameworks and interfirm
governance arrangements substitute or complement in international business
relationships?. Journal of International Business Studies. 43(5). pp.477-497.
Bellamy, R., 2011. Political Constitutionalism and the Human Rights Act. International Journal
of Constitutional Law. 9(1). pp.86-111.
Bhattacharya, S. and van den Bergh, R., 2014. The Contribution of Management Studies to
Understanding Firm Behaviour and Competition Law.
Cotterrell, R., 2017. Law, culture and society: Legal ideas in the mirror of social theory.
Routledge.
Dicey, A.V., 2013.The law of the constitution(Vol. 1). OUP Oxford.
Ferry, J.M., 2012. Understanding the European Union in the Cosmopolitical Sense. Archives de
Philosophie,.75(3). pp.395-404.
Johnson, L., 2012. Pluralism in Corporate Form: Corporate Law and Benefit Corps. Regent UL
Rev. 25, p.269.
Lobeiras, A., 2013. The Right to Say I Don't: Forced Marriage as Persecution in the United
Kingdom, Spain, and France. Colum. J. Transnat'l L..52. p.896.
Morrow, S. and Howieson, B., 2014. The new business of football: A study of current and
aspirant football club managers. Journal of Sport Management. 28(5). pp.515-528.
Parker, M. and Pearson, G., 2013. What should business schools teach managers?. Business and
Society Review.118(1). pp.1-22.
Pentony, B., Graw, S., Lennard, J. and Parker, D., 2011. Understanding Business Law.
LexisNexis Butterworths.
Potestà, M., 2013. Legitimate expectations in investment treaty law: understanding the roots and
the limits of a controversial concept. ICSID review.28(1). pp.88-122.
Roe, M.J., 2013. Corporate Short-Termism—in the Boardroom and in the Courtroom. The
Business Lawyer, pp.977-1006.
Stevenson, J., 2014. Popular disturbances in England 1700-1832. Routledge.
Wells, H., 2012. Corporation Law is Dead: Heroic Managerialism, Legal Change, and the Puzzle
of Corporation Law at the Height of the American Century. U. Pa. J. Bus. L .15. p.305.
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