CIPD 3MER F305A: Managing Employment Relations & Good Practice

This report provides an overview of the impact of employment law on the employment relationship, discussing internal and external factors, different types of employment status, and the importance of determining an individual’s employment status. It explains key individual employee rights, including work-life balance influenced by legislation, legal support for employees as family members, fair treatment concerning pay, and discrimination legislation. The report also addresses issues related to the termination of employment, differentiating between fair and unfair dismissals, highlighting the importance of exit interviews, and summarizing the key stages of redundancies. It emphasizes the significance of good practices that underpin organizational policies and contribute to the psychological contract between employers and employees.

Running Head: BUSINESS AND CORPORATION LAW 0
Supporting Good Practice in Managing Employment Relation
2/11/2019
Student’s Name

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Impact of Employment Law........................................................................................................................2
External factors 3
Internal Factors 3
Types of employees 4
Rights of employees....................................................................................................................................5
Work-life Balance legislation and other related legislation 5
Family arrangements 6
Fair Treatment of Employees 7
Equalities legislations 8
Psychological Contract 9
Termination of Employment........................................................................................................................9
Unfair Dismissal 9
Fair Dismissal 9
Exit Interviews 10
Redundancies 10
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11

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References.................................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Human resource management is one of the significant act to do in an organization. The reason
behind such significance is the value of human resources. Human resource management deals
with many of the issues such as safety, benefits, employee motivation, performance
management, training, and others (Shodhganga.Inflibnet.Ac.In, 2019). A healthy relationship
between employer and employee is important for the growth of every organization. Both of such
parties, i.e. employer and employee have their different interest and therefore many of the times,
conflict emerged between them. Manage these conflicts and disputes; a proper human resource
management system needs to be in place. In the report presented herewith, the focus will be
made on various aspects related to an employment relationship.
Impact of Employment Law
Every nation has its own separate employment legislation that contains the provisions related to
wages, holidays, disputes, right and obligations of the employer as well as an employee in
addition to many other topics (Reed.co.uk, 2019). These laws have an impact at the start of an
employment relationship. During the process of interview and hiring, employers are required to
consider these laws. Further, employment contract also gets develop considering these laws. In
such a situation, it would not be wrongful to state that these laws influence employment
relationships since the very beginning.
There are some factors also, which has an impact on the employment relationship. These factors
are mainly divided into two categories namely internal factors and external factors, which are
further described hereunder.

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External factors
 State of Economy: - The condition of the economy has a very significant influence on the
employment relationship. If the economy faces issues such as recession, it affects the
economic performance of the company in a negative mode and hence employer has to
take decisions such as dismissal and redundancy. These decisions influence the
employment relationship in an adverse manner.
 Market competitors: - In different industries, the level of competition is different.
Because of higher competition, employers have to pay more benefits to employees,
otherwise, there is a risk of their movement to another organization of the same industry.
In such a manner, the employers of such industries have to provide good jib offers to
retain the employees in their entity. Whereas in the case of low competitive industry, the
situation is reversed. In those cases where the employer knows that employee does not
have another option, they make exploitation of them. In this manner, market competition
influences the relationship of an employer and employees.
Internal Factors
Employees involvement:- Every employer does not allow an employee to take part in the
decision making process. This is the reason that organizations where employer considers ideas of
employees in the decision-making process, employees remain more satisfied and happy. This
factor affects the relationship between them.
Organizational Culture:- Where organizational culture is positive and ethical, employees remain
satisfied and happy (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009). A culture of an organization is a group of
various factors such as policies, management style and behavior of employer and employees.

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In addition to the above-mentioned factors, others are also there which influence employment
relationship.
Types of Employment Status
An organization consists of many kinds of personals. It means these people hold different status
based on conditions of their employment or nature of their work. Three major employee statuses
are discussed below-
1. Employee:- This is the most common kind of employment status. An employee works for
the employer according to the terms and conditions defined under his/her employment
contract. The employer pays the remuneration in the form of salary and to decide the
terms and conditions, contracts need to be in writing. Employees have to perform the
work personally.
2. Worker: - Similar to the employee, workers also do act according to the contract. In
general, they also need to perform the work personally but in cases of some of the
workers, they can send someone else to perform the work given by the employer.
3. Self-Employed: - This kind of person runs their own business and they take the
responsibility of such a business. They often do work at client site. Such people do not
have the same responsibility and entitlements similar to an employee or a worker, yet
they are protected against discrimination and eligible to ask for a safe and healthy work
environment (Acas.org.uk, 2019).
The employment status is necessary to review for many of the reasons. Some of such reasons are
defined as below:-

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1. Rights of person:- What will be the rights of a person under employment depends on the
fact that what is the employment status. If a person is a worker or an employee, then
his/her are decided by the employment agreement but if a person is self-employed then
the contract developed between such person and a client prescribe the nature and limit of
the right.
2. Responsibilities of employer: - In addition to the right of the employee, liabilities of the
employer are also affected by employment status. For instance, an employer is more
liable towards workers and employees in comparison to self-employed people.
3. Protection for employees: - Different personals have different protection from the side of
the employer. Until the employment status would not be clear, the employer will not be
able to determine which protection he/she is required to provide and up to which level.
Rights of employees
Different countries have different employment legislation. These legislations and laws are there
to define the rights of employees. Employees covered under a specific employment law are
entitled to receive all the rights stated in the same. These rights are mainly related to pay,
holidays, shift hours, protection against discrimination and dismissal and so on. Therefore,
employment laws have huge significance. The significance of some of them are as below.
Work-life Balance legislation and other related legislation
First, it is necessary to understand that what the meaning of work-life balance is. In order to
answer this question, this is to state that this is a balanced system between the working patterns
and other personal responsibilities of an employee. In regards to this balance system, legislation
plays an important role. These allow an employee to make a proper balance of their professional

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life with their personal life. According to the works foundation, work-life balance seems to be
achieved when the rights of an individual to fulfilled life inside, outside paid work, is respect and
accepted as a norm for the mutual benefit of the business, individual, and society. If to talk about
the legislation on this topic, this is to state that The Working Time Regulations (1998) has a great
influence. According to the provisions of this act, no employer can force the employee to work
for more than 48 hours a week on an average basis ( Booth, Robson, Welham, Barnard &
Bartlett, 2009). In this manner, the legislation helps the employees to spend times on their
personal lives. In addition to the stated legislation too, many other legislations are also there
which provide family arrangements to employees. To review the importance of work-life balance
and related legislation, this is to state that the same provides a healthy mental state to the
employees. Many of the times, it is not possible for the female employees to come in night shift,
or sometimes, it is not possible for the employees to work in the given shift. In such a situation
these legislations provide them enough support to carry their job in a manner, which do not make
any harm to their personal lives.
Family arrangements
As mentioned above, many types of family arrangements are available for the employees as they
are required for efficient working and to make a healthy work-life balance. Various legislations
provide different support to employees. For instance, the Work and Families Act 2006 is another
legislation that provides the entitlement of leaves to an employee at the event of adoption of a
child. The Maternity and Parental Leave Regs 1999 is also there which grant the right to take the
paid leaves and to return on work after delivery to female employees. According to the
provisions of adoption rights granted to employees, they can take statutory adoption leave up to
52 weeks (Gov.uk, 2019). The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 provides the

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provisions related to Paternity Leave to the male employees. In addition to this, employees are
eligible to take the dependents to leave. They are allowed reasonable time off to handle the
emergency in cases of dependents. In a conclusive way, this is to say that in addition to being an
employee of the organization, a person is also a member of a family and the same has certain
responsibilities towards his/her family. These legislations ensure that an employee has enough
flexibility to perform these personal liabilities.
Fair Treatment of Employees
An employer is required to treat all of its employees fairly with respect to pay (Nicholson, 2019).
Every employee does a job to get the salary and remuneration and hence in this manner this
factor has huge significance for them. There are many reasons because of that employees should
be treated fairly. Two of the most common reasons are as below:-
 The very first reason is that unequal or lesser pay to woman employee makes the
employment typical for them. Whereas on the different side, when an employer treats
them equivalent to a male employee, it boos up their confidence and it enhances their
efficiency.
 Another reason is the goodwill of the employer. Employers who treat their employees
fairly in relation to their pays has high goodwill in comparison to others. In such a
manner in order to increase the goodwill and reputation of the organization, an employer
should fairly pay to every employee.
Equalities legislations
As the name implies, these legislations are there to remove the discrimination from the
workplaces. These legislations are a part of the employment laws of a nation and cover various

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aspects related to discrimination. To create a positive work culture, it is important to treat every
employee equally. Following are some of the concept covered by Equalities legislations:-
 Direct discrimination:-, Discrimination is an act of employer where he treats his/her
different employees in a different manner. According to the Equality Act 2010, the
employer will be held liable for the discrimination if he makes difference among
employees based on their disability, sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status,
or pregnancy (Equalityhumanrights.com, 2019).
 Indirect Discrimination:- In this kind of discrimination, the employer does not do a
difference in between two employees, but creates such a situation where it no longer
remains possible for the employees to continue their employment.
 Harassment:- It is a situation where an employer hurts the dignity of an employee by an
act or by making any statement. Harassment creates the offensive or uncomfortable
working environment for victim employees and therefore the same is an unethical act.
 Victimization:- It means punishing an employee or threatening the same at the even
where he/she ask for their entitlements or to make a complaint regarding unethical or
illegal activities identified at the workplace (worksmart.org.uk, 2019).
All the above-mentioned terms are a part of the discrimination laws and employer should make
the efforts to reduce such activities.
Psychological Contract
The psychological contract can be understood as the unwritten set of expectations of employer
and employees with each other and the same is different from the written and formal
employment contract (Sharman, 2018). In other words, this contract is a perception of both the

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parties of an employment relationship reading their mutual obligation towards each other. For the
betterment of an organization, a positive Psychological contract needs to be there. The lead task
of the subjective contract is to reduce the level of insecurity as it covers all the aspects, which are
not there in the written contract developed between employer and employee. In this manner,
these contract developed a mutual balance between the aforesaid parties. Some practices are
there which affect such contracts in a negative manner. These practices include the irresponsible
behavior of employer or employee or the development of a hostile environment. In addition to
this non-fair behavior of any of the party, also bring negative impacts. In opposite to this, by
taking the following steps, positive Psychological contract can be developed:-
 Adoption of the policy of transparency
 Treatment of employees as stakeholders
 Developing the level of communication (Nscpolteksby.ac.id, 2019)
Termination of Employment
Both of the parties such as employer as well as an employee have the right to terminate the
employment contract. Where an employee can terminate such contract by way of resignation, an
employer may do the same by way of redundancy or dismissal. At the time of termination of the
contract by the employer, few things are necessary to consider and nature of dismissal is one of
them. Dismissal of an employee can be fair as well as unfair. Whether a dismissal is fair or unfair
is necessary to check as the same effect the rights and obligations of both the parties. Both of the
kinds of dismissal are discussed hereunder.

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Unfair Dismissal
Unfair dismissal is an act of the employer where he terminates the employment of an employee
without having a proper ground to do so. In addition to this, a dismissal will also be treated as
unfair if the reason for doing so was fair but the employer did not follow the procedure
prescribed under the law.
Fair Dismissal
Opposite to unfair dismissal, in case of fair dismissal, employer terminates the employment
contract for the fair reasons. Now the issue is to determine what such reasons are. In order to
answer this question this is to state that if an employer terminates the employment relationship
on the following grounds, then the dismissal will be classified as fair one:-
 Capability
 Redundancy (Watt & Border, 2013)
 Breaking the law
 Misconduct such as poor discipline or other acts (Nidirect.gov.uk, 2019)
If an employer dismisses an employee because of any one or more than one factor then such
dismissal will be treated as fair dismissal and employer will not be liable under any legislation.
However, he/she will be liable to follow the procedure mentioned under the ACAS practice code
with respect to the dismissal of the employee.
Exit Interviews
An exit interview is conducted when an employee is about to leave an organization (Elsevier,
2017). These interviews are important from the perception of management. The same can be
understood as a review and suggestion mechanism. It helps the management to identify the

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negative points of the organization or issues of employees. These interviews are different as the
same provides a free and open platform to the employees. The reason behind the same is that
they do not feel any more fear from the management because of the termination of their services
and are able to provide independent opinions. These interviews have huge significance not only
for the employers but for the employees too. It provides an employee, the opportunity to share
the experiences and to raise the voice against the unfair practices of the employer. Here to state
that such an interview are hard to conduct sometimes as many of the times employees do not get
ready to share their personal experience or reasons to quit the job. In such a situation, managers
need to make such employees understand and to prepare them for exit interviews as it is
beneficial for the employer as well as the employee.
Redundancies
Redundancy is a situation where the office of an employee remains no longer useful for the
employer (Raiden, Dainty & Neale, 2009). . In such a situation, the Employer has to terminate
the services of an employee. The subjective situation is out of the control of the employer.
Redundancy can occur cause of many reasons such as a change in the nature of business
activities, or business line or takeover of the business by another business, which uses
technology, or so on. Redundancy proves as a cost saver for the employers but can be an issue
for the employee on another side. It is one of the most distressing events, that an employee
experiences (Cipd.co.uk, 2018). It becomes the responsibility of the employer to manage the
redundancy in an effective and efficient way. A proper procedure needs to be followed while
declaring the redundancy in an organization in order to reduce the negative impact of the same.
The procedure for managing the redundancy is mentioned as hereunder:-

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1. Planning and Preparation: - This is a very first step in the process of redundancy
management where the management of the organization thin of the requirements of
redundancy. If they find redundancy required, the move ahead to document preparation.
2. Identification: - In this step, managers of the organization identify and select the
employee who is going to be affected by redundancy.
3. Individual consultation: - Dismissal cause of redundancy requires an employer to arrange
the individual consultation with each selected employee. To develop effective
communication and to offer alternative employment is required in the cases of
redundancy.
4. Service of notice: - After the proper discussion and consultation with the employees, the
employer is required to serve the notice of redundancy to employees.
5. Dismissal: - As the final step employer terminates the employment contract with the
employee and provide the final payment schedule to the same.
Here this is necessary to state that the above-mentioned activities should be performed in the
provided order only.
If to check the impact of redundancy on the overall organization, this is to state that it not only
affects the redundant employees but also bring an impact on the organization. Due to
redundancy, the organization faces a high labor turnover rate, which affects the performance of
the organization in a negative manner. It also affects the performance of the employees who have
not been redundant as they feel emotional because of the redundancy of your colleagues and they
feel insecure about their jobs. In a conclusive way, redundancy affects the overall organization
mostly in negative mode.

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Conclusion
In order to conclude this report, this is to mention that employment contracts and employment
laws are two elements, which affect every employment relationship. In the presented report, the
focus has been made on many of the terms such as work-life balance, fair treatment,
discrimination, unfair dismissal, psychological contract, and redundancy. Different employment
legislations provide the provisions of different topics. By reviewing them and adopting the same
in practice, an employer can ensure a healthy working environment. In opposite to this,
ignorance and breach of employment legislation can create an issue for the employer. In order to
develop a positive working culture, employers are advised to adopt positive policies and
practices.

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References
Acas.org.uk. (2019) Employment status. [online] available from:
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5071 [Accessed on 12/02/2019]
Booth, N., Robson, C., Welham, J., Barnard, A., & Bartlett, N. (2009). Tolley's Managing a
Diverse Workforce. Oxon: Routledge.
Cassidy, C., & Kreitner, B. (2009) Supervision: Setting People Up for Success. USA: Cengage
Learning.
Cheary. M. (2019) Why does employment law exist? [online] available from:
https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/why-does-employment-law-exist/ [Accessed on
14/02/2019]
Cipd.co.uk. (2018) Redundancy: an introduction. [online] available from:
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12/02/2019]
Elsevier. (2017) Introduction to Health Services Administration - E-Book. Elsevier Health
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Equalityhumanrights.com. (2019) Protected characteristics. [online] available from:
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act/protected-charactseristics [Accessed on
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Gov.uk. (2019) Statutory Adoption Pay and Leave: employer guide. [online] available from:
https://www.gov.uk/employers-adoption-pay-leave [Accessed on 12/02/2019]

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Nicholson, N. (2019) Why Treating Employees Fairly is Important. [online] available from:
https://hr.sparkhire.com/talent-management/why-treating-employees-fairly-is-important/
[Accessed on 12/02/2019]
Nidirect.gov.uk. (2019) Fair reasons for dismissal. [online] available from:
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Raiden, A., Dainty, A., & Neale, R. (2009). Employee resourcing in the construction industry:
strategic considerations and operational practice. Routledge.
Sharman, A., (2018) Naked Safety: Exploring The Dynamics of Safety in a Fast-Changing
World. Oxon: Routledge.
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http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/36581/10/10_chapter1.pdf [Accessed on
12/02/2019]
The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010
The Maternity and Parental Leave Regs 1999
Watt, B., & Border, R. (2013) The Employer's Handbook. UK: Routledge,
Work and Families Act 2006

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Working Time Regulations (1998)
worksmart.org.uk. (2019) What is victimisation? [online] available from:
https://worksmart.org.uk/work-rights/discrimination/harassment-and-bullying/what-victimisation
[Accessed on 12/02/2019]