Key Terms
Industrial Relations
The relationship between employer and employees in an organisation.
What is dismissal ?
Termination of employment or to be fired from a job position.
Define discrimination
Treating one person in a less favourable way than another person has been, or would be treated in a comparable situation, based on the nine grounds of discrimination.
Injunction
A court order to perform or to stop performing specific actions.
Workplace relations commission
Deals with workplace disputes, complaints and employment issues.
Trade Union
An organisation set up to protect the rights and interests of the workers it represents, especially on issues of pay and employment conditions.
3 Potential reasons for trade disputes
1. Pay claims
2. Working conditions
3. Redundancies
Define Harassment
Aggressive pressure or intimidation involving behaviour that humiliates or embarrasses a person.
Explain picketing
Involves walking up and down peacefully outside the place of employment with signs displaying the workers' issue with the employer.
State 2 functions of the WRC
- Promotes good industrial relations
- Helps solve industrial disputes.
- Encourages compliance with employment law and deals with complaints about breeches.
- provides information and advice on employment rights and obligations.
Work to rule / Overtime ban
Employees only work precisely as per their contract , the 'letter of the law', refusing to work extra hours or perform non-contractual tasks.
What is the proper procedure for dismissal
1 counselling
2. formal verbal waring
3. First written warning.
4. Appropriate Disciplinary Action
5. Dismissal.
9 grounds of discrimination
Race, Age, Gender, Disability, Member of the travelling community, Marital status, sexuality or family status.
3 Types of Official industrial action.
1. Work to rule/ overtime ban
2. Go slow
3. Token stoppage
4. Official strike
What services does the WRC offer?
- Advisory
- conciliation
- Mediation
- Adjudication
- Compliance/ inspection
Reinstatement
The employee is to be treated as if they have never been dismissed. They are entitled to full payment of earnings lost between the date of the dismissal and the date of the hearing.
Explain one impact of disputes on stake holders.
choose from the following
1. employee
2. Investor
3. Customer/ consumer
1. employee - loss of motivation, job security, wages.
2. Investor - bad press = share price drops.
3. Customer/ consumer - May switch to competing brands. May affect daily lives and prompt public anger.
Complaints under this act are heard by...?
Workplace relations commission.
Impact on trade unions of the act. (2)
1. legitimate disputes
2. secret ballots
3. official & unofficial disputes.
4. picketing
What are the functions of the labour court ?
- Investigates industrial disputes and issues recommendations.
- Interprets code of practice
- Conducts an inquiry into a trade dispute of special importance and reports on its findings.
Mediation
An interactive process where a neutral third party helps to resolve disputes using specialised communication and negotiation techniques.
Constructive dismissal
Can occur if an employee resigns from their job, with or without prior notice, due to conduct of their employer towards them
Employee feels that the employer made it impossible for the to continue. eg. Excessive workload, bullying.
Discrimination is outlawed in which employment related issues.
Recruitment, promotion, equal pay, working conditions, training/experience or dismissal and harassment.
Difference between official and unofficial disputes.
official- a union has received approval from its members in a secret ballot whereas an unofficial dispute is without the ICTU or union approval, it is illegal and workers receive no strike pay.
Evaluate the Labour Court as a means of solving industrial disputes.
- Very effective. Intervenes when WRC is unable.
- effective as it is voluntary participation.
- Recommendations are not binding but parties agree before hand to uphold the situation.