Employee Relations Analysis: Rights, Duties, and Obligations at M&S

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of employee relations, focusing on the context of Marks and Spencer (M&S). It begins by highlighting the importance of employee relations and its benefits, such as employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity, within the organization. The report then delves into the fundamentals of UK employment law, including common law, statute, and European law, and their impact on M&S. It examines various rights, duties, and obligations of both employers and employees, offering practical advice for managing employment relationships effectively. Furthermore, the report includes a stakeholder analysis to assess the impact of employee relations on different parties, as well as an evaluation of the psychological contract and work-life balance. Finally, it explores mechanisms for managing employment relationships, analyzing the impact of both positive and negative employee relations on conflict avoidance and resolution within the broader business environment. The report concludes with key findings and recommendations for fostering positive and productive workplace relationships at M&S.

Unit – 20
Employee relations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Explain the importance of employee relations in relation with a specific organisation.........3
Explain different fundamentals of employment law that apply to specific organisational
examples.................................................................................................................................4
Provide some suggestions of organisations can work towards improving employee relations . 5
Explain various types of rights, duties and obligations an employer & employee in a
workplace...............................................................................................................................6
Determine some appropriate advices related to duties, rights and obligations of employment
relationship.............................................................................................................................7
Evaluate the psychological contract & support for employee work life balance in context to
rights, duties and obligations of the employment relationship...............................................9
Explore various mechanisms for intention of managing employment relationship & then
further make justified solutions..............................................................................................9
PART 2..........................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
Conduct a stakeholder analysis ..........................................................................................10
Analyse how stakeholder engagement & its contribution in development of positive
employment relationships.....................................................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
Analyse the impact of both positive and negative employee relations on different stakeholders
..............................................................................................................................................11
Evaluate the positive & negative impact of employee relationships can posses a impact on the
level of conflict avoidance & resolution..............................................................................13
Examine stakeholder perspectives & interests in the broader business environment for
development of positive relationships between employer & employee...............................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERNCES.................................................................................................................................15
INTRODUCTION

Employee and employer relationship is one of most important concepts that are related to
management of every organisation. There are some different aspects that are part of this process
of managing employee relationship. Present report is base on discussion of importance of
employee relations. Marks and Spencer is a British retail brand that is having headquarters in
London. They are having specialisation in home products, clothing and food products. It is a
retail brand There has to be discussion of employment relations in the context of selected
organisation (Caldwell, Band Caldwell, 2016). It as founded in the year 1884 by Thomas
Spencer and Michael marks, they are having 959 stores presently in different parts of world that
consist of 615 stores specifically located in UK. Further there is explanation of different duties,
rights at workplace. There are advices related to duties and obligations of employment
relationship. Role of different stakeholders is analysed & the positive and negative impact of
employee relations on different types of stakeholders is being discussed.
TASK 1
Explain the importance of employee relations in relation with a specific organisation
Organisations that posses positive and good employee relations enjoy many benefits such
as they are able to engage easily, motivate, retain their employees and understand them in a
better way. There are some of the benefits of managing good employee relations in M&S as
mentioned below:
Employee Engagement: Employee relations are playing a very crucial role in increasing the level
of employee engagement (Chitra, and Shanthi, 2019). It helps in having a review about
changing employee expectations, encouraging open level of communications, encouraging level
of discussions & sharing of views.
Employee satisfaction: Employee engagement is related to employee satisfaction. So high level
of employee engagement helps in increasing the level of employee satisfaction in a organisation
as there is long term retaining of employees.
Less number of conflicts: If a organisation is having a positive working environment then there
are situations of less conflict. Employees are willing to understand the perspective of employer
in case of any new change that is bought up by the organisation. Managers in M&S are willing to
maintain effective relations so that they are able to understand their employees in a more better
manner.

Enhancement of productivity: When there are positive employee relations then it will help in
improvement of overall efficiency & earning of higher profits. In M&S there is more focus on
reducing overall rate of absenteeism. It will help in motivation of employees to enhance their
level of contribution towards organisation.
Increasing employee loyalty: It is very important for a organisation to work towards
development of employee relations so that there can be proper communication between employer
and employee. It helps in development of a sense of belongingness for employees. In M&S there
is also retaining of employees for a longer time period.
Explain different fundamentals of employment law that apply to specific organisational
examples.
There are three major sources of employment law of UK that is the common law,
European law and the statue.
Common law: All employees of UK are working under a employment contact with their
employer. It forms the basis of employee/employer relationship (Hemalatha and Keerthi, 2019).
Contact of employment is made in writing. There are some mandatory employment protection
rights that are applying to every organisation.
Statue: Since 1970 there is a very high growth that can be seen in way there has been
growth in employment protection legislation that is supplement to rules of common law. There
are certain statues of employment law such as Equal pay Act 1970, Sex discrimination act 1975,
Disability discrimination Act 1995, Employment rights act 1996, Data protection act 1998,
Human rights act 1998. national minimum wages act 1998, employment relations act 2004 that
have to be complied by all organisations. This legislation si supported by affect of employment
relationships & in M&S it is related to having a direct legal impact. There is referring to
employment tribunals in cases of any dispute that takes place because of such laws.
European law: In UK there is implementation of EC obligations that help individuals in
relying on treaty in EC courts. EC legislation is applied for purpose of prevention of
discrimination, equal pay and employee rights on different business transfers. European court of
justice is related to interpreting the European legislation so that judgement is consider when there
are questions of interpreting the obligation that have been derived from European derivatives.
Health & safety: Health and safety act 1974, is a parliament act that defines the
fundamental structure & authority of workplace health, safety & welfare practices in UK. This

act defines duties of employees, suppliers, employers, contractors at workplace. In M&S this acts
entails providing training to staff members. Adequate welfare provisions, safe working
environment and a provision of relevant instruction, information and timely supervision.
Flexible working: According to flexible working amendments June 2014 a employee
with 26 weeks services can request to make application for enhancing flexibility at workplace.
After this it is on employer to provide such right or not. In M&S according to rights of this act
can be exercised by employees to demand flexible working practices.
Provide some suggestions of organisations can work towards improving employee relations
It is very important for every organisation to maintain positive employee relations for
this there are some efforts that are required to be made by management with regards to
organisations functionality in Marks and Spencer.
Organisation working towards improving employee relations:
For the purpose of maintaining employee relations M&S is working towards adoption of
strategies as mentioned below:
Use of participate leadership style: M&S is willing to involve their lower level of staff in all the
major decision that are posing a effect on the functioning of organisation. They are ensuring that
they are willing to use this style so that there can be proper and timely decision that can be taken
in a organisation (Kang, and Sung,, 2017). At same time employees are also satisfied as they
feel that they are valued by leaders in all different types of decisions that are affecting them in
the course of business.
Assignment of targets: Employees are willing to make higher contribution when they are
motivated to work towards a specific set criteria. In case of M&S, managers are willing to assign
their tasks among their team members so that each employee can make a significant contribution
towards achievement of their laid down objectives.
Rewarding employees: Employees are felling valued when they are appreciated and they are
rewarded in terms of promotion, incentives, positive feedbacks and others (Kaur, and Syal,
2017). In context of M&S managers are providing their suggestions continuously so that they are
feeling more valued. They are regularly organising events where they reward their best

performer by offering them both monetary & non monetary incentives according to their level of
performance.
TASK 2
Explain various types of rights, duties and obligations an employer & employee in a workplace.
Rights, duties & obligations of employer:
Rights: There are different rights that are can be exercised by employers in context of M&S such
type of right are mentioned below:
 Right to perform the function of hiring of employees and provide them with instruction
related to their performance at workplace.
 Dissolving the employment contract on the basis of any reasonable ground. Managing work assigned to employees and providing them necessary instructions to
perform their job role.
Obligations of employers:
 Looking for ensuring safety of employees and promoting a better working environment.
 Looking after safety of employees and their occupational health Observing the employment contact, law and agreements.
Duties of employers:
There are certain duties that ought to be performed by employees in a organisation as mentioned
below:
 To ensure that all arguments, laws and contracts are properly followed while a employee
is performing their job role.
 It is the duty of employers to appraise th performance of their employees by providing
them timely increments, monetary compensation and promised rewards for the amount
of contribution that they are making towards organisational functioning.
Rights, duties & obligations of employees:
Rights: There are some rights that can be exercised by all employees irrespective of their level
and position that they are holding in M&S (Lee and Moon, 2018). Some of such rights are
mentioned below:
 Each employee has to work in a safe environment so that they are able to feel secure, safe
while they are functioning in the organisation.

 Every employee has the right they must not face any tyep of discrimination or situation of
harassments that can lead to negative Impact on the overall employ productivity. Each employee must get fair remuneration and if they are facing unequal pay for the
same job roles & responsibilities then in such cases, they always possess the right to raise
their voices against the management of the organisation.
Duties: Employees have to compulsorily perform certain duties so that they are able to make a
significant contribution towards such duties. Such as in M&S there are some duties that have to
be performed by employees whole they are performing their assigned job roles &
responsibilities. Some of such duties are mentioned below:
 Performing the job roles with high level of competency. If there are any complaints by
top management related with employee level of performance then those have to be solved
as early as possible. There has to be laying down of some proper communication channels so that there can be
resolving of any type of grievance or conflicts that can take place while employees are
performing their functions.
Obligations: There are some obligations of employees in M&S that are mentioned below:
 Employees posses obligation of perform their job roles in such a manner that there are
minimum errors.
 There has to be maximum contribution that should be made by employees according to
their level of competence & potential (Lee, and Kim, 2017).
 It is the duty of employees that they have to adhere to all instructions that are given by
management and their employers. There has to eb a professional code of conduct that has
to be followed by all employees irrespective of the position that they are holding.
Determine some appropriate advices related to duties, rights and obligations of employment
relationship
Conflicts are very common in every workplace, there is need to develop some clear
guidelines on duties and rights of employer and employees. It is going to create a positive impact
on the functioning of a organisation in case of M&S there are some advices that are mentioned
below:

Fair treatment: Employees posses control on employees. There are situations of abusing
of power at workplace and high discrimination that can lead to efficient performance of
employees. The various legislations like employee rights act, fair labour standards act affect
employee productivity. It is the duty of employers to ensure that they are treating all tyheir
employees fairly that is without any type of discrimination policies.
Safety: According to guidelines set by safety & health administration standards there are
some guidelines that have to be compulsory adopted for employees if employers fail to follow
such guidelines then it can lead to a mental situation of employees where they feel that their
health & well being is not a major concern for employers. It is the obligation of employers to
ensure that there are proper norms of health and safety that are provided to employees. Health
and safety act 1974 has been passed to ensure that there is proper fundamental structure,
authorities and regulations that are practices by employers.
Fair remuneration: Employees deserve that they must be paid equally so that if they are
doing over time then according to it they must be given high monetary compensation (Mishra,
Dimri, and Chaubey, 2017). No difference in pay mist exist between employees working with
same duties and job roles. It is employees right to get fair remuneration according to Equal pay
act 1970 there has to be favourable treatment to both men & women according to monetary pay
and employment conditions.
Best interests: Employee right must have equal Balance with their employers. Employees
,must work according to interest of their top management. There has to be equal contribution to
be made by employer and employees. For example in M&S employees must avoid situation of
workplace absenteeism. There has to be high standards of contribution of employees according
to their level of potential & competence.
Above discussed are some efforts that are part of rights, duties and obligation of both
employer and employees that have to be taken care of in order to ensure that it results in

Evaluate the psychological contract & support for employee work life balance in context to
rights, duties and obligations of the employment relationship
The psychological contract in every organisation is related with three major aspects self
esteem, extraversion and neuroticism. It is affected by rights, obligations and duties of employee
employer relationship. Such as nature of every contract is very dynamic it keeps in changing and
growing with time. It is the duty of employees to posses high level of commitment if they are
willing to extract benefits of such contracts. At same time employees always value employs who
posses strong principles and high concern for welfare of their employees, it indicates that these
are some of key factors that have to be considered while policies are being developed and
strengthening of the psychological contract.
According to flexible working bills, 2014 with respect from 30 June 2014, any employee has a
right who is lardy providing a 26 weeks continuous service that they can serve a application of
flexibility at workplace. Employers in this case posses a choice whether to offer such right to the
applicant. But the employer has a obligation that such requests can only be rejected on eight
specified business grounds that is additional cost, inability to make new recruitment, detrimental
effect on quality, planned structural changes etc.
Explore various mechanisms for intention of managing employment relationship & then further
make justified solutions
Employee relations is a relationship that exist between a employee & employer. Each
company has to use certain mechanism so that they are able to maintain positive & healthy
relations with their workforce. This is a factor that is influenced by many different factors that
can affect the productivity of a organisation and lead towards development of any organisation.
Effective strategy of maintaining positive relation with employees will result in better output of a
country. Some of the mechanism that can be used by M&S are given below: Adoption of a conducive culture at workplace: Employees must posses a positive
attitude towards their work and the workplace. So there is need of a value presentation of
a company and then promoting it transparently. In M&S leaders must ensure that there is
a proper cultural platform that is adopted by management of the organisation.

 Involvement of team members: Employees must feel that they are Valuable for the
organisation and for this they should be ready to accept all challenges and
responsibilities, In M&S top management should make sure that employees are enjoying
the work that they have been assigned. Team leaders must intervene only when they feel
it is important. Insisting in proper channels of communication: In M & S, Employers must ensure that
there are proper channels of communication that has been laid down among their team
members (White, Locket. and Currie, 2019). There has to be avenue for articulation of
wishes, complaints and needs.
 Recognition: Employers should make sure that they are praising employees who are
showing exception level of performances towards organisation. There has to be timely
rewards that should be given so that there can be generation of a Competitive spirit
among other employees.
PART 2
TASK 3
Conduct a stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder analysis is a technique that is used by organisation in order to make a depth
analysis of different stakeholders that are part of a organisation. There are different types of
stakeholders that are part of external environment of a business organisation such as customers,
government and some of them are related organisation internally. Some of stakeholder that are
part of M&S and affecting its functionality are mentioned below: Employees: Employees are one of most crucial stakeholders as they are actually
performing all assigned functions. They are one of most important assets for any
organisation as they posses direct relation with the growth & success of any organisation. Customers: Customers are part of external stakeholder of a organisation and in turn
responsible for revenue of every organisation. Each and every functioning in a
organisation has to be performed ultimately by employees (Raizada, 2019). This is

reason why it become very necessary for organisations to have a satisfied workforce so
that they are able to maximise the level of contribution made by each employee.
 Government: all the organisation and industries in every county are govern by
government of that country. They posses impact on way functions are being performed
Analyse how stakeholder engagement & its contribution in development of positive employment
relationships
Stakeholder engagement is a process that is used by organisations to communicate with
their stakeholders. It is a way that helps organisations in understand their workforce and level of
engorgement. It is also very helpful in improvement of communication level between employees
and employees. It is also helpful in strengthening of community connections so that there can be
building of prominent relationship with their donors, leadership potential customers.
TASK 4
Analyse the impact of both positive and negative employee relations on different stakeholders
Employee relationship is defined as an organisation effort to develop and maintain good
as well as positive relationship with the employees prevailing at workplace. It is important for an
entity to maintain good relationship with staff members so that they can retain for longer time
period and increase the productivity of company in an effective manner (Ritesh, and Mehrotra,
2017). In order to maintain good relations with employees, an entity is required to view its staff
members as contributors and stakeholders in the organisation instead of viewing them as paid
workers or labourers. It encourage staff members and develop their interest of working with
company that has direct impact on performance and productivity of an organisation in a positive
manner. It is determine that both positive and negative employee relation has impact on different
stakeholders associated with the company. The impact on various stakeholders is given below in
relation to the respective organisation:
Stakeholders of Marks &
Spencer
Positive employee relations Negative employee
relations
Customers It is analysed that positive
employee relationship help an
entity to provide quality
service to customers which
Negative employee relations
sometimes leads to internal
conflicts and frustration in
employees. This has

develop positive image in
mind of customers towards
brand. In addition to this, it
help in customer retention and
satisfaction as well.
negative impact on the
service provide to customers
and leads to customer
dissatisfaction.
Government The government develop
various laws and policies and
if there is positive employee
relationship then it leads to
proper follow up of all
policies and implementation
of activities without any
interruptions (Seshiah, 2019).
It is analysed that such stake-
holders also influenced
through negative employee
relation as it is difficult to
implement labour law
practice at the workplace.
Suppliers Positive employee relationship
directly leads to long-term
satisfaction of suppliers as
they deal in a best manner
with the staff members. In
addition to this, positive
employee relationship also
help company to attain
competitive advantage at
marketplace.
It is determine that negative
employee relationship has
negative influence on brand
that is associated with the
number of suppliers. It is
important for higher
authorities of Marks &
Spencer to develop long-
term relation with suppliers
in order to ensure
availability of raw materials
on time due to which all the
activities is implemented
without any interruptions
and delays.
Employees One of the major impact of
positive employee relationship
is it will increase the
It is determine that negative
employee relationship
develop a negative mind set