Improving Employee Relations: Strategies for British Airways

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EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 2
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................ 3
P1 Explain the value and importance of employee relations in application to specific
organisational examples............................................................................................................3
P2 Explain the fundamentals of employment law that apply to specific organisational
examples.................................................................................................................................... 5
M1 Make valid suggestions on how an organisation can improve and respond effectively to
employee relations.................................................................................................................... 7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................ 9
P3 Explain the different types of rights, duties and obligations an employer and employee has
within the workplace.................................................................................................................9
P4 Determine appropriate advice relating to rights, duties and obligations of the employment
relationship for a range of given organisational examples......................................................11
M2 Evaluate the psychological contract and support for employee work-life balance in
relation to rights, duties and obligations of the employment relationship..............................12
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 13
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
The HR department is one of the most important functions of any business organizations as this
department handles and manages the employees who are the assets of the organization and
also deals with the customers on its behalf. Employee relations are among the crucial aspects
within every organization that supports in maintaining effective and calm work environment
with fewer conflicts (Supanti et al., 2015). This assignment represented the case scenario of a
junior manager in the HR department of a large multinational organization that is British
Airways. This report demonstrates and reviews the extent of the impact of employee relations
on their behaviour within the workplace. It includes an explanation to understand the
importance, value and impact of employee relations on the success and performance of the
organization using organizational examples.
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TASK 1
P1 Explain the value and importance of employee relations in application to
specific organisational examples
Employee relations are generally referred to as the efforts of the organization in managing the
relationships among the employers and the employees. The success and performance of the
organization largely depend on the engagement and productivity of its workforces. One of the
best examples is of Intel that offers a wide range of generous benefits to the employees
(Karanges et al., 2015). Also in order to maintain the interest level of the employees, the
workers are routinely rotated from their positions to a new position in every 18 to 24 months
enabling them to learn new things. Intel also offers flexible options for work including
compressed workweeks, telecommuting, and flexitime and so on.
Employee relation is the concept that focuses on dealing with avoiding or resolving issues
relating to the employees, which might have arisen out of or impact the work scenario (Yu et
al., 2018). Employee relations’ purpose is to strengthen the relationship between employer and
employee by identifying and resolving any issue if arisen within the workplace and also
measuring the satisfaction level and morale of employee along with providing input and
support to the performance management system of the company.
Any organization requires groups of individuals to collaborate and coordinate with each other
to fulfil its purpose. Therefore it is essential for the employees to maintain and share healthy
relations at the workplace (Massingham and Tam, 2015). The importance of employee relation
is further given:
1. It is difficult for the individual to make effective decisions regarding several issues at the
workplace. Effective employee relations ensure the effective development, execution
and evaluation of the plan and make effective decisions to accomplish business
objectives (Massingham and Tam, 2015).
2. Healthy employee relations help in sharing the workload and increase their productivity.
Equal responsibilities are divided among the team members in order to accomplish the
assigned tasks within a predefined time period.
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3. A good employee relation improves the work environment and in turn makes them feel
motivated, secured and confident to perform their activities efficiently.
4. Healthy employee relation minimises the absenteeism and also discourages conflicts
and fights among themselves (Massingham and Tam, 2015).
Another example is of FedEx Corporation is that they can direct on recording the business
success starting from delivery of the services to the customer. The philosophy of the company
is People-Service-Profit and has a foundation belief that excellent employee care ensures
excellent services (Massingham and Tam, 2015). Also, it is necessary to meet the subjective
action program are offered to track employee relations for particular feedback and survey
position. This has also maintained a balance in a community by providing opportunity to the
business.
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P2 Explain the fundamentals of employment law that apply to specific
organisational examples
Employment law in the UK helps in regulating and maintaining the relationship between
employers and employees. It governs the expectation of both employer and employees
towards each other. The employment law in the UK differs in several respects from the labour
law regime in a different part of the world (Malik et al., 2015). Some of the fundamentals of UK
employment law are given below:
DISCRIMINATION: the employees are protected against any type of discrimination on the
ground of disability, age, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation gender reassignment,
maternity and pregnancy or marital status. There is no capping on the compensation for
discrimination however it is largely based on actual financial loss. For example, a disability
discrimination case won by a woman with dyslexia, Meseret Kumulchew, against her employer
Starbucks as she was accused of fabricating the documents (Coleman, 2016).
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT: the right is given to the employees in the UK not be unfairly
dismissed, the employee can be dismissed after they have completed at least 2 full years of
services but must get statutory minimum notice of dismissal. It is essential for the employers to
have fair reason along with the following a fair process in order to fairly dismiss an employee.
Around US$115,000 is the amount capped for compensation for unfair dismissal. F example
almost £7,000 was awarded to Catriona Daly, from Douglas in compensation after HMRC unfair
sacked her before to criminal proceeding taking place (Simpson, 2019).
CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS: TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of
Employment) Regulations which is employment transfer legislation in the UK. Employees
working in an organization, which is sold as going concern or provides outsourcing services,
could be automatically transferred with the business to the buyer or suppliers in outsourcing
conditions. The employees being transferred are protected from any contractual changes. For
example, the recent case of Hare Wines Ltd v. Kaur is the best example of TUPE protection
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where MS Kaur was dismissed on the proximity of TUPE transfer for her strained work
relationship with Mr Chatha and so was automatically unfair (Pattison et al., 2019).
WHISTLEBLOWING: The employees who blow a whistle or informs about the wrongdoings of
the employers are protected from any detriment or dismissal. Uncapped compensation can be
claimed in this case. For example, Alexander Osipov was sacked on the grounds of lack of trust
as well as confidence. £2 million was awarded to him for unfair dismissal, injury to feelings and
unpaid salary under whistleblowing legislation making liable to Frank Timis, the majority
shareholder, and Anthony Sage, IPL’s chairman (McCulloch, 2018).
RESTRUCTURING AND REDUNDANCIES: an organization is obligated to consult on a collective
basis when it dismisses more than 20 employees as a part of restructuring as well as
redundancy. It is a very crucial and complex process for collective redundancy consultation
(Melián-González et al., 2015). Any small error in the process may lead to noteworthy liability
including any potential criminal liability. The example is the case of the university college union
v University of Stirling.
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M1 Make valid suggestions on how an organisation can improve and respond
effectively to employee relations
It is imperative for British Airways to have a strong interrelationship with the employees in
order to create a strong organizational culture. It helps in improving the morale of the staff and
reducing the conflicts and issues at the workplace thus ultimately increasing productivity.
Below are some of the suggestions that help in improving and respond to effectively managing
the employee relation as British airways:
PROMOTE OPEN COMMUNICATION: employee relations can be improved by promoting open
and clear communication in the workplace. It helps in clearing all the confusion and
unnecessary stress among the employee thus decreasing friction (Countouris, 2016). It provides
the employees with the chance to express their grievance and resolve any conflicts if arises. The
queries and questions of the employees must be clarified effectively. Also, transparency must
be maintained in communication to ensure openness, honesty and trustworthiness at the
workplace.
PROVIDE REWARDS AND RECOGNITION: the organization must inspire their employees to
create their own goals rather than just simply handing them. The employee can be encouraged
to stretch their goals to difficult level but achievable (Malik et al., 2015). For example, the
employees at Google set their quarterly goals which must be difficult but measurable. Google
tools such as the new search engine and Gmail are the ideas brought by its employees through
goal settings of employees changing the face of Google.
PROVIDE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: the majority of the employee feels proud of their
discipline as well as results irrespective of the actual quality of their work. It is suggested to
focus on positive aspects along with the negative aspect of the performance. According to
experts, 3-4 positive points of feedback must be provided for every 1 point of negative criticism.
OFFER CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES: career development path is to be framed by
the organization considering the skills and unusual talents perceived by the employees. The
skills and abilities of the employees must be developed by offering mentorship programs (Fahy
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et al., 2017). For examples ASPIRE is the internal development program offered by Travelodge
Hotels to its employees to build their skills and experiences for career progression.
PROMOTE HEALTHY WORK-LIFE BALANCE: many organizations forget that the personal life of
the employees must also be their priorities. The effective work environment is created in order
to promote balance in the work and life providing flexibility to employees. This results in
improving employee relations and creates a strong team (Fahy et al., 2017). For example, USAA
is a financial services provider that promotes work-life balance and also creates camaraderie
among staff members through regular social events.
These are some of the suggestions for British Airways and other organisations to improve and
effectively respond to employee relations.
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TASK 2
P3 Explain the different types of rights, duties and obligations an employer
and employee has within the workplace
The rights and responsibilities have been determined for employee and employer with the set
of provisions in term of meeting the conditions of employment, Equal Opportunities and rights
for minimum wage and Health and Safety.
The rights and obligations regarding duties of an employer at the workplace
The success and progress of the business depend on the satisfaction and happiness of the
workforce and their ability to attract and retain highly skilled and productive individuals (Fudge,
2017). The employers have the right to appoint or dismiss any employees according to proper
procedure and also to expect the reasonable performance form them. The employer must be:
1. Aware of the law and regulation enforced by the UK government such as notice, unfair
dismissal, holiday entitlement, maternity leave, flexible working and so on.
2. Able to sort out the contract of employment by putting every detail related to job role
and employment to avoid misunderstanding later (Alegre et al., 2016).
3. Ensure that the salary of its employees must fulfil the criteria of the National Minimum
Wage. They must also remember that the total pay includes loans, pensions, travel and
meal subsidies which is more than annual salary and weekly wages.
4. Able to effectively draft the description of the job to be performed by the candidate and
also list out the personal qualities and skills needed in order to recruit the right people.
5. Able to organize effective training and induction program to develop new entrants and
existing employees (Fahy et al., 2017).
6. Able to frame the boundaries on discipline and grievances by covering things like health
and safety, absence, performance standards and so on.
The rights and obligations of employees working in the organization along with its subjective
duties:
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The rights of the employees are to be provided with a healthy and safe work environment and
cannot be changed or removed by the employer (Fudge, 2017). The rights are:
1. To provide any protective as well as safety equipment free of charge.
2. To control the indisciplinary actions in the organization and imitating the leaves
unnecessarily
3. To provide a short term based paid holiday on the annual basis
4. To indulge the shot breaks and rest time in between high working hour (Alegre et al.,
2016)
5. To have control of any risks related to their health and safety.
The responsibilities are:
1. To indulge the staff in the health and social care practices.
2. To take reasonable care and not put other individuals within the workplace at risks.
3. To cooperate with the employer and ensure proper training and follow the company's
health and safety policies (Alegre et al., 2016).
4. To report any strains, injuries and illness suffered during the work to the employer.
5. To maintain formal attire such as avoid wearing jewellery or loose-fitting clothing and
tuck long hair and scarf (Fahy et al., 2017).
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P4 Determine appropriate advice relating to rights, duties and obligations of
the employment relationship for a range of given organisational examples
The leadership at Google is recognised around the world and is consistently ranked as the best
company to work for by its people. The philosophy of Google is that it ensures the right tools to
attract bets talent in order to develop happier as well as more productive employees. William
Hill is another organization which is recognised to have bad employee relation (Massingham
and Tam, 2015). The reason being the current and former employees of the firms claimed long
working hours and poor work-life balance. Employee relation at William Hill is also affected by
not receiving and rest breaks and unsociable work hours.
It is advised to the employees that they must carry out their work in such a way to ensure the
safety and health of others on the other hand it is expected from the employers to abide by the
different aspects of law such as conducting a regular health check-ups, provide safety
machinery as well as equipment, carry a risk assessment to asses perils and dangers at
workplace (Alegre et al., 2016). Also, the employer and employee must ensure specific
regulations to use and store potential harmful substances.
Forever21 is one of the lowest-rated companies based in the US. 5 employees of the company
file a lawsuit against the company in 2012 claiming that they were routinely detained in the
store at the time of their lunch breaks and after their shifts without overtime pay. This example
explains the rights of the employees for timely leaving the store and getting lunch breaks (Malik
et al., 2015).
Thus it is the duty and responsibilities of both the employers and employees to ensure the
healthy and calm environment in order to form effective employment relationships within the
organization.
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