ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY IN UGANDA

KAMPALA CAMPUS
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

NAME : MARWA OSUMAN

REG. NO : 221-033161-21800

COURSE : HRM

QUARTER : TWO

COURSE UNIT : EMPLOYEE RELATION

YEAR : TWO

LECTURER : MS. NABAYINDA HASANAT

QUESTION
Discuss the parties involved in employee relations and their roles

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Employee relations refer to the interactions between an employer and employees in an
organization, and how they are managed. This includes issues such as workplace culture,
communication, employee engagement, motivation, and conflict resolution. Effective employee
relations policies and practices can help to create a positive and productive work environment,
foster trust and respect between employees and management, and reduce the likelihood of
disputes and grievances. Employee relations also involve ensuring compliance with employment
laws and regulations, and addressing employee concerns and complaints in a fair and consistent
manner.

The definition of employee relations refers to an organization’s efforts to create and maintain a
positive relationship with its employees. By maintaining positive, constructive employee
relations, organizations hope to keep employees loyal and more engaged in their work.

Typically, an organization’s human resources department manages employee relations efforts;

however, some organizations may have a dedicated employee relations manager role. Typical
responsibilities of an employee relations manager include acting as a liaison or intermediary
between employees and managers, and either creating or advising on the creation of policies
around employee issues like fair compensation, useful benefits, proper work-life balance,
reasonable working hours, and others.

When it comes to employee relations, an HR department has two primary functions. First, HR
helps prevent and resolve problems or disputes between employees and management. Second,
they assist in creating and enforcing policies that are fair and consistent for everyone in the
workplace.

Employee relations involve various parties who play a critical role in the management of
the employment relationship. These parties include:

Employees: Employees are individuals who work for an organization in exchange for payment.
They play a vital role in the employment relationship by providing their skills, time, and effort to
achieve the organization's goals. Employees are the major assets of an organization; effective
employee relationship management is essential in ensuring employees perform together as a
collective unit and contribute equally towards the realization of a common goal. No task can be

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accomplished if the individuals are engaged in constant conflicts and misunderstandings;
employee relations management ensures workplace issues are handled effectively and
expediently in order to remove barriers to successful job performance and foster a positive work
environment. It has been observed that targets are achieved at a much faster rate if the employees
work together and share a warm relationship with each other.

Employers: Employers are individuals or organizations that hire employees to perform work in
exchange for payment. They are responsible for providing a safe and healthy working
environment, fair compensation, and benefits, and managing the employment relationship.
Employee is a person or business that employs one or more people, especially for wages or
salary. They are responsible for: Providing a good work environment for the employees and
taking strategic decisions such as mergers, acquisitions, or shutting down of the organization,
etc, Motivating the employees to give their best and gaining their trust and commitment,
Improving the overall efficiency and ensuring effective communication among the employees.

Unions: Unions are organizations that represent groups of employees in collective bargaining
negotiations with employers. They work to ensure that employees receive fair wages, benefits,
and working conditions and advocate for the rights of their members. Trade unions have had
some impacts on both government and private organizations the reason for their formation and
development is to fight for the rights and welfare of workers in these two types of organizations.
They have always pressurized governments to make 3 worker-friendly laws concerning
minimum wages and other trade laws (Griswold, 2010) in most cases they have been at
loggerheads with governments. In their history, trade unions have had their demands met through
industrial actions; strikes have been the most favorable tool for the trade unions. These strikes
have often led to work stoppages and discontinuity in the production process this in turn has led
to loss of revenues whenever it occurs.

Government: The government plays a critical role in employee relations by regulating the
employment relationship through labor laws and regulations. These laws protect the rights of
employees and employers and ensure that workplace practices are fair and equitable.
Government has come to play an increasing role in employer- employee relations to protect the
interests of both employers and employees. It also provides a conducive environment for

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employee relations. The State can be difficult to define because it encompasses more than a
single actor, and many different institutions and government departments can influence
employment relations outcomes in various ways. s. In addition, the government also confers
extensive powers on some of its institutions.

Human resources (HR) professionals: HR professionals are responsible for managing the
employment relationship between employees and employers. They provide support to employees
in areas such as recruitment, compensation, benefits, and training and development. They also
work with employers to ensure compliance with labor laws and regulations. Human Resource
Management is a function within an organization which focuses mainly on the recruitment of,
management of, and providing guidelines to the manpower in a company. It is a function of the
company or organization which deals with concerns that are related to the staff of the company
in terms of hiring, compensation, performance, safety, wellness, benefits, motivation and
training. Human Resource Management functions can be of three types like Operative,
Managerial, and advisory. The human resource department or team acts as a mediator between
the organization and its employees for dealing with personnel issues and conflicts. HR
professionals address the disputes at the initial level, act as a change agent by bringing a mental
revolution and perform the role of an administration expert and a strategic partner

Employee representatives: Employee representatives, such as employee councils, work

councils, or employee committees, are groups of employees that represent their colleagues'
interests in discussions with management. They can provide valuable feedback to management
on issues such as working conditions, compensation, and employee morale.

Employers Association. The main functions of an employers’ association is to support and

represent its members. It does this in a number of ways: first, it offers advice on trade,
professional and employment matters; second, it acts as a pressure group, lobbying governments
and making representation on behalf of its members; third, it takes part in national negotiations
setting terms and conditions; and fourth, it may advise about (and possibly become involved in)
industrial disputes. In terms of employee relations, those associations concerned purely with
trade matters are not relevant here. Employers’ associations may be based internationally,

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nationally or tied to a local region and membership composition and participation will, in part, be
dictated by the culture and size of company concerned.

The Courts and Tribunals. The judiciary includes the ‘courts’ to resolve the legitimate
conflicts and the ‘judicial review’ to administer the justice of the constitution. A court is a body
of people presided over by a judge, judges, or magistrate, and acting as a tribunal in civil and
criminal cases. Tribunal is defined as a body established to settle certain types of dispute. These
courts and tribunals play an essential role in the settlement of industrial disputes by eliminating
the possibilities of Judicial flaws, conflicting judgment, poor evaluation of penalty,
and Confusing terms and conditions.

International Labor Organization (ILO). The International Labor Organization (ILO) is

devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights,
pursuing its founding mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity. Today, the ILO helps
advance the creation of decent work and the economic and working conditions that give working
people and business people a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress. It was created in
1919.

International Labor Organization aimed to look into matters like Worker’s compensation,
employee’s work duration and days, women employment, employee’s safety, security, and
medical facilities with maternity protection.

CONCLUSION

These parties work together to create a positive employment relationship that benefits both
employees and employers. By collaborating and communicating effectively, they can build a
workplace that promotes productivity, engagement, and job satisfaction. Employee relations are
concerned with generally managing the employment relationship and developing a positive
psychological contract. Companies with good employee relationships enjoy many benefits. In
general, it is easier for them to engage, motivate, understand, keep their employees, increasing
productivity, handling grievances.

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REFERENCES

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Bacon, S. and Storey, M. (1996). UK: Routledge. Beardwell, J. and Claydon, T. (2007). Human
resource management: a contemporary approach. New York, NY: Pearson Education

Bryson, A., Forth, J., & Kirby, S. (2005), High-Involvement management practices, trade union
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