Employment relations
What employment relations covers
- Employment relations is the relationship between an employer and its employees: how the terms of work are agreed, how problems are raised and resolved, and how the two sides deal with each other over time.
- It is examined here because most complex human resource issues eventually become relationship issues — about trust, fairness, communication and whether people believe they have been dealt with honestly.
Employment agreements
- Every employee in New Zealand must have a written employment agreement, and it must be provided before work starts.
- Individual employment agreements are between one employer and one employee.
- Collective agreements are negotiated between an employer and a union, and cover the union members it applies to.
- What an agreement sets out: the parties, the role, the place and hours of work, the wages or salary and how they are paid, holidays and leave, and how employment problems will be resolved.
- Good faith is the principle underneath the whole system: employers and employees must be active and constructive in the relationship, must not mislead each other, and must provide relevant information when a decision may affect someone's employment. It is why consultation before a decision matters, not after.
Unions and collective bargaining
- A union is an organisation of employees that represents them collectively — in bargaining, in disputes and in individual problems.
- Why employees join: one employee negotiating alone has far less bargaining power than a group; the union brings expertise and support to a process most people go through rarely.
- Collective bargaining is negotiation between the union and the employer over the terms that will apply.
- Industrial action — a strike by employees or a lockout by an employer — is the pressure available if bargaining fails, and it is subject to legal requirements about notice and lawfulness.
- For an employer, dealing with a union is not automatically adversarial: a single negotiation covering many employees is more efficient than many individual ones, and a union can be an effective channel for consultation.
Resolving problems
- Employment relationship problems include personal grievances (for example dismissal the employee says was unjustified, or discrimination), disputes about what an agreement means, and disagreements about how someone has been treated.
- The system is designed to resolve things at the lowest level possible:
- Talk directly — most problems are resolvable in the workplace.
- Mediation — a free, independent mediator helps the parties reach their own agreement. Most problems that get this far end here.
- The Employment Relations Authority — investigates and determines the matter if mediation does not resolve it.
- The Employment Court, for appeals and significant questions.
- Why the process matters to a business: a dismissal that was justified in substance can still be found unjustified because the process was unfair. Employers are required to act in a way a fair and reasonable employer could have acted, which means investigating properly, telling the employee the concerns, hearing their explanation and genuinely considering it before deciding.
What makes employment relations work
- Communicate before deciding, not after. Consultation after a decision is an announcement.
- Be consistent. Treating similar situations differently is what generates most grievances.
- Write things down — agreements, changes, warnings, decisions and their reasons.
- Train supervisors. Most employment problems begin with a first-line manager who did not know what they were required to do.
- Fix problems early. Almost every expensive employment dispute began as a small issue somebody hoped would resolve itself.