Analyzing Employee Relations and HRM in Japan, UK, Philippines

This essay provides a comparative analysis of employee relations and human resource management (HRM) practices in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. It examines the legal frameworks, trade union roles, and cultural influences shaping employee-employer dynamics in each country. The analysis covers key aspects such as working conditions, compensation, training, and dispute resolution mechanisms. Furthermore, the essay highlights the importance of HRM in fostering employee well-being and organizational productivity, while also addressing challenges related to cultural differences and labor market dynamics. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Employee Relations
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1INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Employee Relations in Japan...........................................................................................................3
Human resource management in Japan...........................................................................................3
Employee relation in United Kingdom............................................................................................4
Human resource management in United Kingdom.........................................................................4
Employee relations in Philippines...................................................................................................5
Human resource management in Philippines..................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Reference.........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
In the recent times, employee relations can be described as the efforts of the company
employed to manage the employer and the employee relation (Luo, Wieseke and Homburg
2012). A good company always employs positive strategies that help the employees to remain
committed to their work and remains productive throughout their work shifts. On the other hand,
the strategies of human resource management involve looking after the employees so that their
productive work can give a competitive edge to the concerned company. Human resource
management looks after the employee safety, health, training and development. Rewards and
remuneration are an appraisal system which provides rewards to the hard working employees. In
Japanese MNCs the working hours exceed the 9 to 5 timings, the worker or the employees shows
respect to their seniors no matter in which ever sector it is, taking time off from the work is
encouraged, the companies are more generous towards the errors and the companies provide on
job training to the new employees. In the MNCs of UK the communication style presents some
initial challenges, the company is open to try out new things and if in the process an employee
makes mistake, it is not a big issue for the company. While the working environment is friendly
and the communication is sometimes poses difficulty. In the Philippine MNCs warmth,
hospitality and friendliness are the important workplace values. The work culture and
environment is always controlled by the top managers; the co-workers receive family like
treatments (Björkman, Fey and Park 2007).

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Figure 1. Hofstede model comparison of Japan, Philippines and UK
[Source: Hofstede Insights, 2017]
Employee Relations in Japan
Japan being the third largest economy remains dedicated to the work in business in a
consistent, safe, profitable and enjoyable way. Japan has established a labor law which has labor
law standards that regulates the workplace hygiene and safety and looks after the working
conditions. The trade union law ensures that the employee possess the right to bargain and
organize collectively. The labor relation adjustment law specifically speaks about the dispute
settlement and management adjustments. These laws are applicable to the employee of the
private sector, and also the foreign workers that possess the work permit and the work visa
(Wilks and Wright 2016). Laws in Japanese constitution guarantees that the employees can form

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trade unions as per the trade union law. Strikes can be performed by the workers expect the
prison guards, firemen, and the police. The constitution guarantees that the employees can
collectively act. When disputes arise the workers are treated respectfully as long as they perform
all the operations legally, and during the strikes no wages are paid to the employees. Grievance
are sure to arise in a work environment and the grievance procedures are simple to perform and
they deal with the day to day problems that arise due to working issues. The employees
participate in the management and the real motive of such participation is to address issues that
are related to working conditions and corporate management (Hanami 2013)
Human resource management in Japan
Japan has the longest life expectancy among all the other countries and Japanese is the
language spoken 99% of the population. The main pillars of Japanese human resource
management are the compensation and promotion based on the seniority, employment for longer
terms, employee training programs organized by company, and formation of labor unions and
trade unions. The pay or the wage is dependent on the on the age and experience of the employee
and the unions relations are passive and cooperative (Jiang et al. 2012). The recruitment is done
from the universities, and the hiring advertisements are given in newspaper, employment
agencies and web sites. The training provided to the after the recruitment are on the job training
and off the job training, job multitasking and job rotation. The training programs are directed to
make the employees as generalists rather than specialists and the training authorities also provide
support and knowledge to improve the technical skills and acquire the necessary qualifications.
There are retirement benefits and the bonuses are linked with the gross company profits. The
business ethics is linked equally with the Japanese religion and culture (Bratton and Gold 2012).
In Japan the rewards and remunerations to the employees are provided based on the personal

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preferences of the employees, rewards were given for specifically what part of the work was
done well, and rewards were given as soon as possible for a job done well. While it is worthy to
mention that Japanese employees do not receive cash rewards.
Employee relation in United Kingdom
In United Kingdom, the employer and the trade associations are not strong, the employers
mainly exist at the workplace, firm and organizational level. While the multinational before
engaging in to domestic business in UK deals with the European Works Council. The worker has
the provision to form consultative committees and independent trade unions. There are several
laws that the employee relations like the Employee Relations Act of 1999 and the National
Minimum Wages Act 1999. There is no positive relationship between the unemployment and
real earnings and price of the labor. The unions are recognized and have a positive effect on the
organizations. A survey conducted revealed that the unions do not have enough knowledge of the
business. Strikes are found to be effective and are found to affect both the public and private
sectors and the reasons for the strike are cited to be pay hike, pension issues and working
conditions (O’Leary 2017).
Human resource management in United Kingdom
The UK consists of 4 nations like the Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales. Union
membership within a single organization are of different types which not only bargain against the
company management but also to sort issues that arise within the sub groups. The British unions
in comparison to the other European counterparts are more pragmatic (Armstrong and Taylor
2014). These unions fight for better pay and working conditions and strives to reduce the class
struggle that exist within the work culture. Unlike the Japanese employees, the UK employees
believe in helping themselves. They do not want their superiors to interfere into their personal

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work affairs. The managers have only task oriented relationship with the other employees and
have no personal attachments. The employee is career oriented and when they get better
opportunities they leave their present company. The Britain workforce is not as productive like
the other counterparts. The employees are given the full freedom to choose task and way to
perform that task. The job satisfaction is derived from the achievement based on personal
satisfaction and also from the superior’s recognition. The workers communicate formally and
emphasize on the interpersonal relationships (Budhwar and Debrah 2013). The employees are
rewarded and remunerated in the form of cash benefits, verbal thank you from managers, night
out and meal from the company, cash benefits are paid for doing overtime, the companies also
provide training so that the employees work effectively.
Employee relations in Philippines
Employee relations in Philippines emphasize on the rights of the workers and protects the
workers from the exploitation at the hands of the employers. The state enforces laws for the
betterment of the employees. The Philippines government have framed laws which look after
safety, health, security, leave entitlements, overtime, working hours and tenure of working. The
labor unions that exist within the public sector bargains with the company management to solve
issues that arise due to regular day to day work. The several sources of the problems arise due to
the dissatisfaction in the workplace (Kelly 2013). The reasons for dissatisfaction range from
misunderstanding within the employee and the employers. The laws framed for the addressing
the dissatisfaction is solved through promoting peace within the workplace that will increase the
productivity. There are Acts like the Republic Act which looks after the issues like the lockouts
and strikes. The roles of the labor unions cannot be ignored, the labor unions are of two types;
industrial and craft union. The industrial union consists of the workers in a company or an

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organization and the craft union consists of worker that work a certain firm or a company and
associated with same work (Beerepoot and Hendriks 2013).
Human resource management in Philippines
The human resource management gained the position as a corporate entity, which
focusses on the man power development. The National Manpower and Youth Council not only
look after the manpower for the public sector but also for the private sector. In Philippines, the
management of human resource is done by an effective legal framework. There are several laws
like minimum wages law and act of industrial peace, the dental and medical treatment. It has
been found that the industrial sectors have the high number of temporary workers, contractual
workers. There are rewards for the worker that work hard and give productive outcomes, the
rewards are in the form of monetary incentives, while cash is the first preference of the
employees as rewards, celebrations, awards and travel are the other types of rewards. (Flamholtz
2012).
Conclusion
Therefore, to conclude from the above disclosure, both the Employee relations and the
human resource are an essential part for any country to effectively manage it human resource and
increase the productivity of the employees. The trade unions benefit a lot for the worker that
fight their collective needs and grievances, and trade unions are legal in all the above mentioned
countries. Also, the workers are remunerated depending on their working efficiency and work
output which differ from one country to another.

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Reference
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practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Beerepoot, N. and Hendriks, M., 2013. Employability of offshore service sector workers in the
Philippines: opportunities for upward labour mobility or dead-end jobs?. Work, employment and
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Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave
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Budhwar, P.S. and Debrah, Y.A. eds., 2013. Human resource management in developing
countries. Routledge.
Flamholtz, E.G., 2012. Human resource accounting: Advances in concepts, methods and
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Hanami, T.A., 2013. Labour law and industrial relations in Japan. Springer.
Hofstede Insights (2017). Compare countries - Hofstede Insights. [online] Hofstede Insights.
Available at: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/ [Accessed 6 Dec.
2017].

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Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management
influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating
mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.
Kelly, P.F., 2013. Production networks, place and development: Thinking through global
production networks in Cavite, Philippines. Geoforum, 44, pp.82-92.
Luo, X., Wieseke, J. and Homburg, C., 2012. Incentivizing CEOs to build customer-and
employee-firm relations for higher customer satisfaction and firm value. Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science, 40(6), pp.745-758.
O’Leary, L., 2017. Introduction. In Employment and Labour Relations Law in the Premier
League, NBA and International Rugby Union (pp. 1-18). TMC Asser Press, The Hague.
Wilks, S. and Wright, M. eds., 2016. The promotion and regulation of industry in Japan.
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