Employee Relations in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Employee Relations in UK - Essay Example It will be useful for management to conduct seminars and training sessions wherein the see the applicability of employee right in real-case scenarios In the United Kingdom, the Employment Relations Act (1999) was adopted by the government to provide better working standards for employees. It is intended to improve relations between an organization and its employees by fostering a new climate of co-operation between the worker and the employer. This act lays down the need to implement a statutory procedure for trade unions to be recognized as organizations which speak or put forth the interests of the organization's employees ( Such a procedure needs to be adopted by any organizations where the employees exceeds 20). The Employment Relations Act (1999), states that any independent public body such as the Central Arbitration Committee should be given due recognition in cases where a majority members of the workforce of an organization are union members. This law empowers employees by bringing out provisions that protect their rights and also strengthens their rights to belong to unions. Through this law workers have the right to be accompanied by a trade union official at disciplinary and grievance hearings. As a result of this law, it is not possible for employers to dismiss employees who are taking official, lawfully-organized industrial action. One of the hall-marks of this law is that it promotes ideas for a friendly working atmosphere and reforms tribunal awards for unfair dismissal. After the implementation of this act, it effectiveness was reviewed by government authorities. The review reveals that the act has been well-implemented and has succeeded in its purpose to improve employee relations. Through this act the procedure for recognition of trade unions has been carried out smoothly and efficiently. In the case of any issues of employee grievances, these issues are resolved very quickly, say within less than half the time. After this law came into effect, what was noticed was that inter-union disputes and legal challenges have drastically come down. The Act has encouraged voluntary settlement of recognition claims since its implementation and as a result, there have been about over 1,000 voluntary recognition agreements in the United Kingdom. Speaking on the effect of the implementation of the Employment Act, the Employment Relations Minister, Alan Johnson, said that there was evidence which showed that the law was doing what it proposed to do. As a result of the law, the number of strikes have comes down and the number of people who were employed was increasing. There is a real change in the attitude of employers towards employees and this has fostered an atmosphere wherein employers and employee are not just working together, but working together really well. Employee relations and handling disputes The Employment Act in 2002, made more improvements in the handling of employee relations. It lays down a set of procedures for managing disputes at the workplace. As per the new provisions, all employers must by October 2004, follow a procedure to deal with disputes. This procedure is a three-step process which ensures that disputes are discussed at work. As per this procedure, the dispute or grievance which an employee has against the employer must be set out in writing. All details must be