Employee Relations: UK History, Case Study, EU Perspective, and HRM

This report delves into the intricacies of employee relations, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject within the context of the UK. It begins by exploring the historical development of employment relations, examining different frames of reference like unitary and pluralistic frames, and assessing the impact of trade unionism. The report then presents a case study focusing on junior doctors' contract disputes within the NHS, analyzing conflict resolution procedures, key elements of employee relations, and the effectiveness of negotiation strategies. Furthermore, the report assesses the impact of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK, comparing methods of worker participation and exploring the role of human resource management in shaping employee relations. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and insights gained throughout the analysis.

EMPLOYEE RELATION

Table of Contents
EMPLOYEE RELATION...............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 : Employment Relation's history with context to the UK. ................................................1
1.1 Various frames of references describing the implication of each and every perspective as
ways for handling employment relations ..............................................................................1
1.2 Assessment of various changes in the trade unionism that affected employment relations
in the UK................................................................................................................................2
1.3 Roles of the various players in the employment relation.................................................3
TASK 2 : A Case Study on Junior Doctors Contract Disputes........................................................4
2.1 The different procedures NHS follows inorder to deal with various conflict situations..4
2.2 Key element of employee relations in a selected conflict situation.................................5
2.3 Effectiveness of the process followed in resolving the conflict.......................................6
3.1 Role played by negotiation when collective bargaining as in conflicts...........................6
3.2 Various negotiation strategies and their impact on conflicts............................................7
TASK 3 : EU Perspective................................................................................................................8
4.1 Assessing the impact of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK and the changes it can
make.......................................................................................................................................8
4.2 Comparing methods to gain workers participation and involvement in decision making9
4.3 Impact of human resource management has on the employee relation..........................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
In this report we will learn about the employee relation and how it helps an organisation
to manage the relationship between employers and employees. The different frames and factors
affecting the employee relation in the UK. The study also includes the roles of different players
in the employee relation within an organisation(Marsden,Caffrey and McCaffery2013).The study
describe the process an organisation must follow while dealing with various conflict situation in
an organisation as well as the elements or features of employee relation with regards to the
conflict situation. It also consist the various strategies and impact of the strategies on the conflict
situation. Furthermore, the study describes the impact of EU on the industrial democracy within
the UK, different methods that are used to gain employee participation and their involvement in
decision making and at last the impact of human resource management theories on the employee
realation.
TASK 1 : Employment Relation's history with context to the UK.
1.1 Various frames of references describing the implication of each and every perspective as
ways for handling employment relations .
There are two types frames which are very effective in handling the emploment relations
within an organisation. The two frames are Unitary fram and Plurastic frame which are described
below -
 Unitary frame – This frame can be defined as the policies, values, behaviour and beliefs
that are related with the management and organisation. The employees and the
management must understand their respective roles and responsibilites they need to
perform wihtin an organisation to achieve a common objective or goal(Fombrun,Tichy
and Devanna,2015). The employees of an organisation should perform their tasks or
operations effectively with the help of their skills, abilities and knowledge to obtain a
sepecific goal or objective. There are conflict situations often arise within an organisation
among the employees or between the employers and employees, this conflicts are
handled and ressolved by the management or Human resource management of the
organisation. The Unitary frams states that the power or authority of decision making is
with the management of the organisation. The employees can not go against the
management or their decisions. This is important to develop discipline within an
organisation but develops inequality and demotivation among the employees.
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 Pluralistic frame – In the Pluralistic frame, the organisation creates two types of
divisions or groups which are the management and the trade union. The management of
an organisation is built in order to handle and manage the operations of the organisation
but sometimes the management fails to understand the employees perspective which
develops an situation of conflict within the organisation such strikes(Paauwe,2013). The
employee inorder to put their points and needs in front of the management creates a trade
union and the leader of the union is also selected by the employees. This trade union
understand the employees perspective and try to provide a proper solution for the issue.
The trade union act as a mediator between the management and the employees. This
frame helps the employees to raise their issue and also motivate the employees, also the
conflicts and issue are ressolved easily.
1.2 Assessment of various changes in the trade unionism that affected employment relations in
the UK.
There are many changes in the trade unionsim made with the changing time these changes have
an great impact on the employee relations within an organisation. The trade unions are created to
help the employees raise their perspectives and get the conflicts or issue ressolved. The trade
union affects the employee relation in both and negative way. The employees interact with the
members of the trade union regarding the issues or problems etc. to get a proper solution this
affect the relationship between the employees and the employer or the management of the
organisation(Dizgah,Chegini and Bisokhan,2014). The management is created to communicate
with the employees and ressolve their issues but due to trade unionism there is a communication
gap developed between the employees and the management which negatively affect the
managerial control within the organisation. Trade unionism also helps the employees to put their
perspective with regards to any issue or conflict. The demands and changes the employees share
with the trade union are discussed with the management. This helps in motivating the employees
and develops a job satisfaction. The trade unionism helps the management to understand the
employees perspective in a better way and can act accordinglly which helps in reducing conflict
within the organisation. In the UK the trade unionism has played a effective role in order to
motivate people in a work environment. The employees are getting satisfied and can work
without any pressure or inequality by the management. The management of the organisations are
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also getting benefits while ressolving the conflicts or issue arises(Torrington,Taylor and
Hall,2016).
1.3 Roles of the various players in the employment relation
Employee relations refers to the approach to control and manage the relationship between
the employer and the employee. Every organisation needs to have a fair and good relationship
among the employees and the employer to maintain a healthy work environment. The employee
realtion help to develop a positive attitude in the work environment this leads to the increase in
effectiveness and productivity of the organisation as the employees gets motivated and highly
satisfied and the employer gets the desired outcomes and results. Their are various players or
elements who plays important role in the employee relations as described below -
 Employees – The workers or employees are the main players who need to perform their
role effectively in the employee relations. As the relationship and the work environment
is highly dependent on the employees or human resource of an organisation. The
employee should understand and behave in a good manner within an organisation to
build a healthy employee realtion(Hoobler and Johnson,2016).
 Trade Union – The trade union ensures that the employees are not facing issue, inequality
or discrimination within an organisation. They act as a communication medium between
the employees and the management to ressolve any kind of issue or conflict in the
organisation.
 Employer association – The association consist of the board of directors, top level
managers etc. who have the authority to make decisions within an organisation. These
association identifies the various issues or barriers the employee and thr organisation is
facing in achieving the goals or objectives. They understand the employees perspectives ,
demands and needs for taking appropriate actions or decisions I favour of the employees
and organisation(McClean and Collins,2015).
 Government – There are various laws and legislations that are imposed by the
government on the organisation which are important to be followed. This legislations are
developed in the favour of both the employees and employers. It helps them to
understand the rights of both the sides and reduces the rate of the conflicts and issues
within an organisation.
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TASK 2 : A Case Study on Junior Doctors Contract Disputes
2.1 The different procedures NHS follows inorder to deal with various conflict situations
There are various situations arises within an organisation due to the changes in the
operations or policies imposed in an business which are not accepatable by the employees and
leads to a conflict. The employees disagrees with the management decision at various conditions
and goes against. This creates a conflict situation within the organisation. In order overcome
these conflict situations the NHS develops and follows various procedures or activities which
helps them to control and manage the situations effectively. The steps taken by the NHS in the
conflict situations are as follows -
 Single employee – This is a condition in which a single employee face any kind of issue
or problem. The Human resource management in the NHS communicate or interact with
the employee dirtectly which helps them to understand the employee perspective and the
problem he or she is facing. The Management needs to understand the situation to
provide a proper solution to the problem. The employee is provided effective solutions to
issue which helps in ressolving the problem.
 Conflict between various employees – Sometimes twoemployees working in a same
organisation have a conflict among themselves. This conflicts can be harmfull for the
employees as well as the organisation. The Human resource management interact with
both the parties and tries to understand the perspective of both the sides. This helps to
identify the cause of the issue which can be solved by taking proper actions against the
issue or conflict.
 Conflicts with group – An organisation such as NHS has various teams or groups of
employees who have sepecific skills and knowledge. Sometimes these groups or teams
develops issues among themselves. Different groups have their own working style and
skills which causes problems within them. The HR need to interact with each and every
employee to understand the exact situation. The management after understanding the
conflict and cause provide a effective solution to ressolve these group conflicts.
 Employee and manager – These conflict is a critical situation which can lead to
operational dissfunctioning within an organisation. The manager and employees often
faces issue such as lack in understanding, disagreement etc. The Management needs to
take effective discisions to develop a healthy relationship between the managers and
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employees to increase the effectiveness and efficiency within an organisation(Richard
and Johnson,2013).
2.2 Key element of employee relations in a selected conflict situation.
According to the given scenario, There is a critical and serious conflict among the British
Medical Association, NHS employees and the government. Various types of solutions and
contracts were introduced to ressolve the issue but due to the disagreement by any of the group
the conflict continued. This is a result of improper employee relation within the three groups.
There are different feature or elements of employment relations in this conflict which are as
follows -
 Ideological Framework – Accroding to the ideological framework there are three
different kinds of theories or approaches which are needed to be considered . The first
one is the Psychological approach which determines the management perception which
states that the decision made by the mamnagement of an organisation must be effective
and does not have any errors. The next approach is the Sociological approach which
states that the change of perception that has been implemented. And the last approach is
the human relation approach whichv focus on the employees to be provided with the
opportunities to share their ideas and views(Kazlauskaite,Buciuniene and
Turauskas,2015).
 Consultation – This element states that each and employee or individual should be
involved in any discussion or decision making process. The employees should be
consulted the various aspects of a condition or situation. This may help to identify the
impact of a situation or decision from different perspectives .
 Conflict and corporation – Different individuals have various sets of perceptives. The
management of each and every organisation needs to ensure that all the parties or groups
are showing proper involvement in the conflict ressolving process. It helps the
management to identify the cause of the conflicts and issues. Considering the various
aspects and perception of all the parties the management can effectively provide a
solution to ressolve the issues.
 Negotiation - Various parties involved in a conflict have different problems and issues.
In order to ressolve the conflict it is essential to have proper negotiation so that the
conflict can come to an end in a effective manner. This negotiation technique helps the
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management to develop a strategy or decision which will be in favour of each of the
parties or groups involved in the conflict.
These are the various features of employee relation involved in the conflict between the
BMA( British medical association), NHS employees and the Government.
2.3 Effectiveness of the process followed in resolving the conflict.
According to the given situation its is clearly identified that there were negotiations
between the NHS employees, British medical association and the government took place with
regards to the new junior doctor's contract and it was supposed to start in October 2013. But the
BMA was not in favour of these negotiation due to which the contract was rejected. This was a
result of lack in employees relations. In order resolve any conflict or issue the perceptions of
each and every group must be considered. There must be common team or representative who
can interact with each and every group in a effective manner with equality to get the proper
information and idea of the conflict. This can help to formation of a well defined decision and
negotiation procedure which can satisfy each and every group involved in a conflict. Need to
develop proper coordination and cooperation among then various departments of an organisation
or industry which can help in understanding and developing the employee relations and reduce
the rate of conflicts. The conflict between the BMA, NHS and government had a great negative
impact on the quality of products and services by the NHS. There should be a specific goal or
objective which should be prior to an organisation. And Employee relations should be
effectively managed by each and every organisation to get the support from the higher level and
legal structure that can affect the functionality of the organisation.
3.1 Role played by negotiation when collective bargaining as in conflicts.
The collective bargaining can be considered as a process of negotiation between the
employer and the trade union inorder to bring the common goals or objectives for both the
groups. The various important roles negotiation plays in collective bargaining are as follows -
 Maintaining the employer and employee relationship – The most essential role played
by negotiation is maintaining the relationship between the employer and the empoloyee
by setting up common objectives and goals. As the organisation wants junior doctors on
contract basis but the employees demanded to provide permanent employement. The
negotiation brought a solution to this conflict as both the parties agreed on a common
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decision. The management agreed to promote the junior doctors for permanent
employment on the basis of their performance. This help in achieving the common goal
for both the organisation and the junior doctors. This negotiation helps to maintain the
emlpoyer and employee relations(Wan and Wang,2017).
 The Implementation will be quick – The another major and important role played by
negotiation in collective bargaining is the rapid implementation of common goals and
objectives which have been determined. The negotiation helps the employer and
employee to resolve the conflict effectively it helps in implementing the negotiaton and
strategies to follow these negotiations rapidly. The organisation will resolve the conflict
and both the group will start performing their roles and responsibilites in a best way
possible. As the situation of the junior doctors it was important to solve the conflict as
soon as posible and it was done with the help of negotiation.
Therefore, its clearly understood that the negotiation played an vital role in the conflict of
collective bargaining and maitaining the employer and employee relationship.
3.2 Various negotiation strategies and their impact on conflicts
The negotiation can help in resolving the various conflicts within an organisation The
Management uses the negotiation startegies to satisfy the various groups involved in a conflict.
The various negotiation strategies and their impact which helps to resolve the organisational
conflicts are follows -
 Employees and advocate - In this negotiation strategy the advocate can play the role for
negotiation o behalf of the employees. The demands and issues faced by the employee
will be explained and described by the advocate to the management of the organisation.
In the conflict of the junior doctors the advocates played an important role for keeping
the demand of permanent employment. The advocate identifies each and every element
that can affect the negotiation or the conflict. This identification helps in keeping the
perception in front of the management effectively.
Impact of employees and advocate on conflicts – This strategy have a great impact on the
conflict situation as the junior doctors were not at all satisfied with the presentation of the
demand in front of the organisation. The presentation of the demand by the advocate may not be
as effective and the juniors doctors may be dissatisfied by the negotiation.
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 Batna – It is very important to find the best option or alternative by the negotiation. If a
agreement or Batna prepared by the negotiation failed than its not the proper Batna for
the negotiation. The negotiation for every conflict needs an proper agrrement or Batna in
order to resolve the conflict. The junior doctors prepared the agreement or Batna to be
promoted to permamanent employee on the basis of performance was a Batna made by
the negotiation.
Impact of Batna on conflicts – Batna strategies plays a important role in identifying the most
effective or the best solution for a conflict. The Batna help to develop or prepare most favourable
negotiation. The junior doctors made a effective negotiation which was favourable to them as
well as organisation. This helped in resolving the conflict easily with satisfying both the groups.
TASK 3 : EU Perspective
4.1 Assessing the impact of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK and the changes it can
make.
The Industrial Democracy can be defined as the arrangement which includes the workers
making decisions, sharing responsibilites and authorities within a workplace. There are various
countries in Europe in which the structure of industrial democracy has been placed since decades
but the approach of the industrial democracy does not suits well with the relationship which exits
between the managers and the union withing the British organisations. EU laws focus on a
prominent role for the employees in the organisational decision making
process(Addison,Portugal and Vilares,2015). The recent “Partner based relationship” in which
the management and the union works altogether to attain a common objective, is followed by the
British organisations due to the impact of EU. The Unions are now considered as a institute
existing for educating the importance involving the employees in decision making process to the
employees and management. This resulted in the employees contribution in the process of
decision making process has become functional which has a positive impact on the employee's
perfromance and also increased their contribution in the achievement of the organisational goals
and objectives.
Due to the impact of EU the work councils now are made up of representatives from
various divisions or departments within an organisation. This work councils plays a role of
discussing the long term goals of the organisation and providing effective plans and ideas to
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attain those objectives as well as improving the future operations of the organisation. The
alternative of workers partners and workers shareholders 'have been introduced who have a share
in the ownership of an organisation. The use of saving schemes and the share option encourages
the share holdings, These types of schemes have been successfull in the UK . More and more
company showed their interest in attracting workers share in the organisation(Jackson,Leopold
and Shams,2016).
4.2 Comparing methods to gain workers participation and involvement in decision making
In order to make workers involve and participate in decision making, it is the
responsibility of management to understand the type of issues or problems that are faced by
them. In this context, some of the methods include consultation, suggestions schemes and
survey. All these are highly effective to make sure that employees get involved in the operations
of business in effective manner. Motivation plays vital role to make workers perform with their
full interest and willing for the roles that has to be played by them. Consultations help the
business to encourage workers in making them take part in decision making. It is a type of
opportunity that is provided by managers in which employees can share their views or ideas to
top management. When workers are provided with this opportunity, then they develop positive
perception within their mind, they develop a perception that they are important for the firm.
Further, it consists of survey in which management get to identify the issues or problems that are
faced by workers. There are different types of issues that are faced by employees but they do not
share them due to lack of trust and confidence. The rate of trust is raised, then management is
able to determine the problems that are faced by them. When management is able to develop
trust and confidence, then it becomes favourable enough for them raise involvement and
participation.
Further, it includes suggestion schemes that are helpful enough to raise the motivation
level of workers. Employees who are dissatisfied fail to contribute towards the growth of the
firm. However, raising satisfaction level is an effective form of strategy to improve performance
level and involvement towards the business activities from the side of employees.
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4.3 Impact of human resource management has on the employee relation
There are different departments that work together for common goals and that is to raise
sales and profitability. Human resource management is highly effective and had impacts
employees relation. Employees are the one who interact with customers and deliver information
about the products and services(Colombo,2013). It is the responsibility to make sure that they
develop strong relation with workers. The rate of employee’s turnover is high and this one of the
main problem that is faced by majority of companies. There are many reasons due to which
employees leave the firm. In this context, it includes lack of understanding roles and
responsibilities, lack of training, in effective working environment, etc. The problems that are
faced by management need to be considered so that they are able to perform their set of roles in
effective manner. Further, there are certain set of expectations that each worker have from the
type of roles they perform. In this context, management need to determine the expectation that
workers so that they are able to plan for the development strong relation with them. This way
firm can attain their goals and objectives in positive manner.
CONCLUSION
The above report concluded that various conflicts within an organisation negatively
affect the operations or functionality of the business. It is important develop a good and healthy
employee relations in order to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency in the employees
perfromance which directly impact the productivity of the whole organisation. This study
describes the elements of the employee relations and the role they play in a specific conflict
situation. The study includes the procedures followed inorder to resolve the conflict between the
British medical association, NHS employees and the Government. Furthermore, The study
describes the role of negotiation in collective bargaining conflicts.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Marsden, P., Caffrey, M. and McCaffery, J., 2013. Human Resources Management Assessment
Approach. Capacity Plus.
Fombrun, C., Tichy, N.M. and Devanna, M.A., 2015. Strategic Human Resource Management.
John Wiley and Sons.
Paauwe, J., 2013. HRM and Performance: Achieving Long-term Viability. Oxford University
Press.
Dizgah, M. R., Chegini, M. G. and Bisokhan, R., 2014. Relationship between job satisfaction
and employee job performance in Guilan public sector. Journal of Basic and Applied
Scientific Research. 2(2). pp.1735-1741.
Torrington, D., Taylor, S. and Hall, L., 2016. Human Resource Management, London, UK:
Prentice-Hall.
Hoobler, M. J. and Johnson, B. N., 2016. An analysis of current human resource management
publications. Personnel Review. 33(6). pp.665 – 676.
McClean, E. and Collins, C. J., 2015. High‐commitment HR practices, employee effort, and firm
performance: Investigating the effects of HR practices across employee groups within
professional services firms. Human Resource Management. 50(3). pp.341-363.
Richard, O. C. and Johnson, N. B., 2013. Strategic human resource management effectiveness
and firm performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 12
(3). pp.290-311.
Addison, J. T., Portugal, P. and Vilares, H., 2015. Unions and collective bargaining in the wake
of the great recession.
Colombo, M., 2013. Introduction. Pluralism in education and implications for analysis. Italian
Journal of sociology of education, 5(2).
Jackson, M. P., Leopold, J. W. and Shams, S. R., 2016. Decentralization of collective
bargaining: an analysis of recent experience in the UK. Springer.
Kazlauskaite, R., Buciuniene, I. and Turauskas, L., 2011. Organisational and psychological
empowerment in the HRM-performance linkage. Employee Relations. 34(2), pp.138-158.
Wan, L. and Wang, Y., 2017. Application Research of Ingroup Preference in Employee
Relationship Management. Asian Agricultural Research, 9(5), p.5.
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