Employee Relations at Work Conditions

Executive summary

In today’s contemporary world, employees are facing various problems at work. Employers are taking advantage of their employees; they do not follow the law or regulatory acts to help improve the lives of employees at work. In addition, according to the scenario, the employer, Mr Chan, does not know that employees have rights, so he makes decisions that are not only illegal but also impact the lives of his employees. Employee relations are the backbone of an organization's success. Without proper coordination from the employer and employees within the organization, the production of the company is likely to decrease. The report has also given some advice in-form of recommendations on the best practices or procedures Mr Chan should consider introducing to improve his working relationship with his employees.

1.0 Introduction

Organic Health Foods (OHF) needs to employ and implement employment relationships to grow and thrive in their business. Employees are the backbone of any organization for that reason the management should look on ways to avoid direct discrimination at work. Works both male and Female should be accorded the necessary protection and a conducive working environment.. To resolve the issues within OHF organisation the owner Mr Chan should encourage communications and encourage trade unions in the organisation also he should not deny his employees there basic rights. It is also important to consider his decision on making some employees redundant in the organisation because at the moment there is no polices that governs the organisation on the right procedures to take to make an employee redundant. Companies that invest in employees are more likely to improve employee productivity at work. Also there are issues with the employment Act of 1st April 2021; he should consider the regulations to avoid being sued by his employees.

2.0 Key employment relations issues facing the company Organic Health Foods

2.1 Employees’ wages

The government introduced the National Minimum Wages (NMW) 2021 to make sure that no employee is underpaid by their employers. The UK government introduced the NMW act in 1998 to iron out the issues that were affecting employees at work. Furthermore, this act was introduced to remind employers of their obligations to their employees. The government also reviews rates annually to make sure that any organization underpays no employee. Without these acts, employers would take advantage of employees. According to Al Mamun and Hasan, (2017), one of the factors affecting employees in most organizations is work hours and wages. Milner (2017) states that it is the work of employers and unions to make sure those employees are protected at all times. According to the NMW act, Mr Peter Chan, Director of Organic Health Foods (OHF), has gone against the NMW act and is risking losing his employees. Employee wages are a major problem at OHF because it is evident that the director is slashing everyone’s salary within the organization. According to research conducted by a management consulting firm in the United Kingdom, compensation is the number one area where employees demand improvement. Employees tend to analyze overtime and holiday compensation where they can and should and human resources should be prepared to answer any issues that arise as part of excellent employee relations. This may require manually retrieving records, backdating information, and cross-checking, which may be time-consuming. Nevertheless, according to the scenario it seems that the organisation has no HR department to help in solving wage issues.

Furthermore, the production of the company would be affected because employees work positively in a stress-free environment. In April 2021, the government implemented the National Living Wage, a minimum wage for people aged 21 to 24. The current National Living Wage was raised from £8.91 to £9.18 (that was effective from 1 April 2021) applies to all workers over the age of 21 (except those in their first year of an apprenticeship) and works in addition to the established National Minimum Wage. According to the government, the new National Living Wage was to "enforce strongly working relationships between employers and employee. Nonetheless, the OHF is attempting to circumvent the legislation by withholding its employees' salaries; according to the director, the NMW for 21–24-year-olds will be £3.90, and for 16–17-year-olds it will be £2.80. Where else in the laws state that employees over the age of 21 should be paid at least £6.83per hour and those aged 16–17 years should be paid £2.80, rather than the government-mandated minimum of £4.81 per hour, which contradicts the rules, set by the national government through the 2021 act.

Convergence theory predicted that introducing technology in most industries would increase payment rates, production, and employee relations at work. In addition, the theory states that for positive production within an organization, employers have to follow all the technological aspects and government state laws that protect workers in their various working places. In this scenario, Mr Peter Chan, Director of Organic Health Foods (OHF) does not care about the lives of his employees. No workers' union within the organization to protect and fight for the rights of employees. Also, the organization does not have an HR department that is mandated to control workers' wages and to make sure that all the employees within the organization are paid and treated fairly (Al Mamun and Hasan, 2017). Therefore, Mr Peter Chan, Director of Organic Health Foods (OHF) risks being sued and charged in the labour court. In addition, the Employment Rights Act of 1996, Section 18, covers areas such as unfair dismissal at work, protecting wages, zero-hour contracts, suspension from work, Sunday working, redundancy payments, flexible working environments, and fair termination procedures (Herten, 2021). It seems Mr Peter Chan ignores the laws that protect workers because when he goes ahead to introduce no salary for apprentices and zero-hour contracts, they will receive a flat £5 per hour rate. Where else, the Employment Rights Act of 1996's main core role is to protect zero-hour contracts at work.

2.2 Safety at work and maternity leave

According to the scenario, Mr Peter Chan seems to be having problems looking after the safety of his employees and also providing maternity leave to Zaki Khan. However, the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations of 1999 state that a worker is qualified for 18 weeks of customary maternity leave and 29 weeks of extra leave if she has been working for the business for over one year (Herten, 2021). Common leave is paid; extra leave is neglected. She should notify the company at least 15 weeks before her departure. The date that the leave starts can be changed if the worker gives 28 days' notice, recorded as a hard copy, any time before the normal seven-day stretch of birth. Leave can begin in the 11 weeks before the normal seven-day stretch of birth, yet will begin naturally if the worker is absent "entirely or somewhat because of pregnancy" in the month before the normal week. A worker should require somewhere around fourteen days of leave, or four if she works in a processing plant (Healy, Nicholson and Peaked, 2017). It might take considerably longer to get workers in different enterprises. The employee maternity leave act of 1999 gives all-female employee's rights to paid maternity leave (MacDuffie, and Pil, 2018). No employee can work without a leave of absence and proper safety precautions at work. Mr Chan is trying to cut or reduce the companies' expenses by violating the employees' rights, which is against the laws and regulations of the UK government.

The Human Rights Act of 1998 establishes the fundamental rights and liberties to which all citizens of the United Kingdom are entitled. It integrates into domestic British legislation the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This act gives all employees the right to receive health protection at work; therefore, it is not appropriate for Mr Chan to disregard some of his employees' fundamental rights by restricting their ability to protect themselves from harm at work (MacDuffie, and Pil, 2018). Accidents do happen, but they must be avoided at all costs. Promote workplace safety not just when a new employee is hired, but also quarterly. Bring in a professional to give advice and put your workers' expertise to the test. It is all about education, correct safety equipment, and safety norms (Stachová et al., 2019). When it comes to an employee's safety at work, there should not be any excuses from the employer's side. Thus, it is not right for the director to restrict Zuki Khan from wearing her headscarf. The Equality Act 2006 requires all employers to treat all workers fairly, with no discrimination at work. From the scenario, there is no other employee who has been instructed not to put on any safety gear apart from Zuki Khan; this means that the director is not treating all his employees equally.

Bennett, Saundry, Fisher, (2020) state that, employers are mandated to give employees better treatment at work and also provide engagement if at all possible. There are some policies or changes to be made within the organization. The implementation of the changes to be made should be done following the law and with the worker's regulatory acts. All the employees should adhere to all the new set rules at work (MacDuffie, and Pil, 2018). Employers have no right to impose new working conditions on their workers without following all the prescribed protocols or regulations. Organizations that protect, trust, and safeguard their employees' rights see the increased output and fewer employee complaints (Bingham, 2016). Moreover, the relationship between employers and workers is governed by employment law. It defines what employers can expect from employees, what employers can require employees to do, and employees' rights at work (Aylott, 2014). Employment laws and regulations require all organizations to have an HR department within their organization that is mandated to oversee all the workers' requirements and safety. With the HR department at work, employees’ rights would not be violated, as the HR department would be abdicating the rights of all the employees.

2.3 Sick leave pay disputes

Mr Chan has no idea that all the employees have rights and that they also have the right to receive sick pay leave. The director has refused to give Ezra Cohen sick leave because he claims pay leave or sick leave does not cutter for her condition. According to the Human Rights Act of 1998, article (5) states that all workers have freedom from torture and degrading treatment at work (MacDuffie, and Pil, 2018). Denying someone his/her rights at work is an act of degrading treatment, which deprives them of having the freedom they require in a workplace. According to the Equality Act 2006, an employee has the right to take time off for gender reassignment related issues. Therefore, it's not right and hence unlawful for any employer to treat their employees unfairly or deny them time off, on any grounds (Al Mamun and Hasan, 2017). The Equality Act 2006 was introduced to establish common grounds of equality and human rights, as well as to make discrimination at work unlawful and to create a duty on employers to promote equality and opportunity between men and women at work. Additionally, under the Equality Act 2010, any mental health condition that has long-term (12 months) or substantial effects is considered a disability. Any employee with a mental condition who needs to seek medical treatment should not be denied sick leave. While some might still think of it as a "no-no" subject, most bosses currently perceive the effect it has on the labour force. In 2017, the UK government commissioned the Thriving at Work survey (Al Mamun and Hasan, 2017). It was discovered that there are currently more people living with ongoing mental health disorders than ever before. According to research, the yearly cost of taking time off work for anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns is over £8 billion. According to this data, employees' average time away from work due to depression and other illnesses is roughly 25.8 days per year. There is still a stigma associated with mental health in the workplace. Employees who wish to call in sick to take a mental health day are frequently discouraged from doing so. Some businesses do not feel an employee may call in sick due to mental illness (Al Mamun and Hasan, 2017). A mental health problem, on the other hand, can be just as harmful, if not more so, than a physical condition. As a result, 12.8 million working days were missed in 2019 owing to stress, sadness, or anxiety.

Psychological well-being can enormously affect work execution. Businesses ought to consistently do whatever they can to help workers through this. Nonetheless, at some point, they might have to think about excusing themselves. There is no legal meaning of psychological well-being, yet it is by and large comprehended to be a passionate state where you can adapt to the typical tensions of day-to-day existence. This will incorporate your emotional well-being condition and dysfunctional behaviour. Emotional well-being can change, either because of individual conditions like a disease or family loss or as a result of work issues like being tormented while working. Frequently, a psychological well-being condition can cause pressure, tension, and wretchedness. Representatives experiencing these conditions frequently need support and, whenever left unattended, can have negative impacts on their associates. As a business, you have an obligation of care towards your representatives. Not just this, UK business law ensures workers with handicaps.

2.4 Discrimination and employ management conflict

It is no secret that during the pandemic period, most organisations were affected. Most organisations contained the issue, but others were not. However, before lying off an employee or making them redundant in the name of COVID-19, employers should make sure that the policies and guidelines of the organisations allow or give permission for the management to lay-off or make employees redundant in any form of crisis. In this case, there is no communication between the employer, Mr Chan, and his employees; there are no policies, and there are no clear procedures on how to govern and control the business. Mr Chan is the sole decision-maker in the organisation, and he does not care what his employees feel. He does not even pay attention to their rights as employees. Before lay-off, an organisation should prove that it can no longer give work and hence cannot afford to pay its employees (Bingham, 2016). This should also be a clause that is stated in the organisation's contract laws. It is not recommended for organisations to lay off and make some workers redundant at the same time. They should do this one at a time, but only after consulting with the employees.

Further, Mr Chan prohibits employees from joining trade unions; this means that the director wants to be the sole decision-maker in the lives of his employees. Hence, he needs no one to intervene or put suction on how he works with the employees. He does not care about the rights of the employees (Silva, 2021). That is why he does things without consolation. If the redundancy is made without following the law or the organisation procedure, the employees have the right to claim for redundancy payment according to the laws of the country. Moreover, Mr Chan was supposed to give notice and date of the lay-off and redundancy. For employees that have been made redundant are entitled to payment. All in all, it seems Mr Chan did not follow the right procedure when making some of his employees redundant, and the risks facing the law.

Additionally, the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against their employees on grounds of "religion or belief" in all aspects of employment and vocational training. Discrimination includes indirect discrimination, harassment, victimization, or not allowing employees to embrace their religion in a given workplace. Also, the Equality Act of 2006 states that it is unlawful for an organisation to discriminate against employees on the grounds of their religion. Denying workers the right to wear any religious wear or jewellery representing their religion is an act of religious discrimination (Al Mamun and Hasan, 2017). Mr Chan is violating the law and, hence, the regional rights of his employees. However, according to UK laws, organisations don't need to have handbooks, but it is required that all organisations have some set of policies and regulations that govern the corporation.

3.0 Conclusions

This report has addressed some key issues workers face at work and some of the best practices that employers should try to introduce to improve working relationships. Organizations will only achieve success if their employers maintain personal relations with employees. Also, communication is a key factor in improving an organization's wellbeing. Therefore, an organization that needs to archive success should consider putting the interests of its employees first above anything else. Finally, employers should strive very hard to follow all the set work and regulation laws by the government to achieve success.

Take a deeper dive into Employabilty Skills Report with our additional resources.

4.0 Advice and Recommendations to MR Chan

Mr Chan should encourage conversation and communication in his workplace. Employees are curious about what is going on. Maintaining open communication lines allows for better transparency. According to research, managers who are upfront and honest with their staff are considerably more likely to be less stressed and happy at work. The director should try and follow the seven communication skills given in the appendices

Establish a human resources department office within the organization to handle the basic interests and matters affecting employees. And also allows employees to join worker unions.

Mr Chan should also endeavour to promote health and a positive workplace balance. Work should never be prioritized above your workers' personal lives. If things aren't going well at work, it affects relationships at home and vice versa.

The company should use software to get error-free results and avoid redundancy.

In addition, Mr Chan should offer employee training and make all the employees feel valued for the work they do for the organization.

Mr Chan should follow all the employees' working regulations to the letter to solve all the issues faced by the organization. He should first stop interfering with the wages of the employees unless there is a proper reason to do so following the policies.

Finally, Mr Chan should stop denying employees their basic rights.

5.0 Reference List

Al Mamun, C.A. and Hasan, M.N., 2017. Factors affecting employee turnover and sound retention strategies in business organization: A conceptual view. Problems and Perspectives in Management, (15, Iss. 1), pp.63-71.

Bennett, T; Saundry, R; Fisher, V (2020) Managing Employment Relations (CIPD), Kogan Page

Bingham, C (2016) Employment Relations: Fairness & Trust in the workplace, Sage Publication

Healy, J., Nicholson, D. and Peaked, A., 2017. Should we take the gig economy seriously?. Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 27(3), pp.232-248.

Horten, R (2021) Core Statutes on Employment Law 2020-21, Red Globe Press

MacDuffie, J.P. and Pil, F.K., 2018. 2. Changes in Auto Industry Employment Practices: An International Overview. After lean production, pp.9-42.

Milner, S (2017) Comparative Employment Relations, Macmillan International

Stachová, K., Papula, J., Stacho, Z. and Kohnová, L., 2019. External partnerships in employee education and development as the key to facing industry 4.0 challenges. Sustainability, 11(2), p.345.

6.0 Appendices