1) Employment. Models of employer-worker relationship. Types of employment: indenturing, part-time employment, temps, freelancers.

Employment. Job hunting.

1) Employment. Models of employer-worker relationship. Types of employment: indenturing, part-time employment, temps, freelancers.

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee.

There are four common models of employment:

1. Mainstream economics: employment is seen as a mutually advantageous transaction in a free market between self-interested legal and economic equals

2. Human resource management (unitarism): employment is a long-term partnership of employees and employers with common interests

3. Pluralist industrial relations: employment is a bargained exchange between stakeholders with some common and some competing economic interests and unequal bargaining power due to imperfect labor markets

4. Critical industrial relations: employment is an unequal power relation between competing groups that is embedded in and inseparable from systemic inequalities throughout the socio-politico-economic system.

These models are important because they help reveal why individuals hold differing perspectives on human resource management policies, labor unions, and employment regulation.

Indenturing – A contract which obligates a person to work for another, under specified conditions, for a specified time

Part-time employment A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are considered to be part-time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week. There are many reasons for working part-time, including the desire to do so, having one's hours cut back by an employer and being unable to find a full-time job. "Part-time" can also be used in reference to a student who takes only a few courses, rather than a full load of coursework each semester.

Temps = temporary employe Temporary work or temporary employment refers to a situation where the employee is expected to leave the employer within a certain period of time. Temporary workers may work full-time or part-time, depending on the individual case. An employment situation where an employee is expected to remain in a position only for a certain period of time. Temporary employees may have the opportunity to achieve permanent employment status after the time period has lapsed, Temporary workers may also be referred to as seasonal employees or temps

Freelancers freelancer is a person who is self employed. Freelance work is used in many different professions, but most commonly a freelancer works in the fields of writing and editing, photography, web design, graphic arts, or computer programming. In any given profession, freelancers sell or contract their work to a client rather than being employed by a business. There are also many advantages for a freelancer. A person who is self employed can usually choose their own work schedule. Income may be greater than when working for an employer. A freelancer is his or her own boss and has the freedom to work independently, usually from the comfort of home. Freelancers also have the opportunity to pick and choose which jobs are of interest.

2) Ending employment. At-will employment.

Usually, either an employee or employer may end the relationship at any time. This is called as at-will employment. There is a contract between the two parties which describes the responsibilities of each when ending the relationship and may include requirements such as notice periods, severance pay, and security measures.

There are many fair reasons to terminate an employee's contract may be poor performance, misconduct, dangerous behaviour, refusing to follow instructions, or no need for the position (retrenchment or redundancy). Also There are different rights and obligations that come as a result of ending employment.

These depend on the way in which the employee exits:

Resignation

An employee has a right to resign without providing you notice of the decision. However modern awards, enterprise agreements and employment contracts all stipulate minimum notice periods.

Redundancy

A job becomes redundant when the work performed by an employee is no longer necessary as the job has been replaced by technology or the work has been restructured.

Employees may be entitled to redundancy benefits, depending on the award or the agreement they were employed under.

Dismissal

In order to dismiss an employee you must have a valid reason. This reason must be based on poor performance, conduct or changes to your operational requirements.

3) Flexible & rigid labour market. Globalization and employment relations.

Nowadays in addition to outsourcing some functions to freelancers, many companies are looking for ways of having more flexible working, for example:

· temporary workers who works only for a short period when they are needed, either on a temporary contract or through temp agency (season worker)

· part-time worker who works less than full working week

· job sharing where 2 people share a particular job, each of them working part-time

The government tries to encourage this kind of job flexibility and allows to hire and fire workers easily. When letting people go, companies only have to give them 2 week’s notice and redundancy payment. Also government pays unemployment benefits to people without jobs. On the one hand it may lead to job insecurity and higher unemployment when employers are able to get rid of employees too easily. But on the other hand these measures encourage job creation, competitiveness and these are the features of flexible job market. Also the government support job protection through trade unions which are fighting for employees rights. The idea of flexibility is that people should be ready to change jobs more often, be prepared to work part-time and so on. The message is that the era of lifetime employment is over and that people should acquire and develop skills to maintain their employability.

However, employers have to pay the different social charges (sick pay, parental leave – when they have time-off following the birth of children, maternity/paternity leave) which are rather high. They say that this contributes to rigid labour market with too much job protection. This sort of inflexibility discourage job creation and leads to higher unemployment and slower economic growth. In result, companies may look for cheaper workforce abroad.

Speaking about globalization. the key issue in the field of employment relations is the balance of economic efficiency and social equity. So it is possible to outline some major points of concern that affect employment relations: international competition, economic liberalization and involvement into worldwide production. Globalization may cause unemployment growth, wage inequality and reduces the autonomy of the nation.

4) Job hunting. Methods of job hunting.

Job hunting, job seeking, or job searching is the act of looking foremployment, due to unemployment or discontent with a current position. The immediate goal of job seeking is usually to obtain a job interview with an employer which may lead to getting hired.

Common methods of job hunting are:

· Finding a job through a friend or an extended business network, personal network, or online social network service. Contacting as many people as possible is a highly effective way to find a job. Job recruiters and decision makers are using online social networking sites to gather information about job applicants. Job seekers need to pay more attention to what employers find when they do their pre-interview information, because it is the first contact between employer and an employee.

· Using an employment website, where employers place their free vacancies

· Looking through the classifieds in newspapers

· Using employment agency or recruiter

· Looking on a company's web site for open jobs, typically in its applicant tracking system where can be presented all the information about employees needed

· Going to a job fair

· Using professional guidance such as outplacement services that give training in writing a résumé, applying for jobs and how to be successful at interview.

· Another recommended method of job hunting is cold calling or emailing companies that one desires to work for and inquire to whether there are any job vacancies.

5) The procedure of getting a job (market leader audio scripts, p. 162, 8.1). Applying for a job. Onboarding.

The hiring process, from the job applicant perspective, includes several steps. From the time you apply for a job until the time you accept a job offer, you will go through a series of steps as you progress through the hiring process from completing a job application to coming on board as a new employee.

Many job seekers research the employers to which they are applying, and some employers see evidence of this as a positive sign of enthusiasm for the position or the company, or as a mark of thoroughness.

The first step in the hiring process is, of course, to apply for jobs and to get your application into contention for the jobs you are interested in. After finding a desirable job, they would then apply for the job by responding to the advertisement. This may mean applying through a website, emailing or mailing in a hard copy of your résumé to a prospective employer. It is generally recommended that résumés be brief, organized, concise, and targeted to the position being sought. Once an employer has received your résumé, they will make a list of potential employees to be interviewed based on the résumé and any other information contributed. During the interview process, interviewers generally look for persons who they believe will be best for the job and work environment. The interview may occur in several rounds until the interviewer is satisfied and offers the job to the applicant.

New employees begin their onboarding into new organizations even before their first contact with potential employers. While the best employers will invest in accommodating, assimilating and accelerating new employees^[5], those joining firms that don't should take charge of their own onboarding, doing their best to get a head start before their start, manage their messages, and help others deliver results after they start^[6].

6) Pay and benefits (Emmerson, p.72).

Pay is often referred to as salary or wages.

In order to decide what level of pay is appropriate, you should find out what employers are paying for. The best way to get this information is networking – ask your colleagues, counterparts from other companies, etc. You may also look at the job ad in newspapers and agencies.

The salary may be fixed or open to discussion at interview. The key role there has the bargaining power – strong position in negotiation or ability to persuade that you are the right person for a particular job.

Also there is performance-related pay when money paid depends on the quality of fulfilled work. It provides a strong motivation to work well.

Benefits are the second area of compensation. Many of them have a minimum level that is required by law, but it’s up to the company to offer more.

There are time-off benefits (annual leave, sick leave, time-off for pregnancy), insurance benefits (life, health, disability insurance), pension plan, workers’ compensation – protection against loss of income due to work-related injury or accident. Also there are fringe benefits – additional payments like company’s car, laptop, and membership of heath club.

All these extra benefits offer great flexibility, motivation and eagerness for employees to work well.

7) Issues in the workplace.

HR managers have to deal with a great variety of workplace issues. There are often problems with working hours and overtime, leave and absence, work-life balance, etc.

HR often deals with disciplinary and dismissal procedures. Some types of behavior – called ‘gross misconduct’ – are so serious that they’re likely to lead to dismissal without notice. These might include fighting, fraud, theft, etc. For other less serious types of behavior, there may be a series of warnings given to the employee before dismissal is an issue.

What concerns health and safety, there are statutory rules in this area, and every company has to maintain minimum levels of hygiene and comfort. All factory workers should know the health and safety regulations, all the procedures should be followed. If some people start to cut corners and pay less attention it can cause a serious workplace accident, and an employee affected might have a major claim against the company. Even like in case with harassment and bullying when it can lead to a large compensation award against the company if not dealt with properly.

Usually there is a protection under the law from discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age and marital status. If a company is actively promoting equal opportunities and diversity, HR will have to implement such a policy. But it can be divisive in the workforce and groups that are currently favoured will feel threatened.

If an employee has concerns or complaints about their work, employment terms, working conditions or relationships with colleagues, they may discuss them with HR during grievance procedures. Or sometimes whistle-blowing is possible and the task of HR is to let employees report confidentially and protect them.

8) HR department and its functions.

Human Resources (HR) is company department. HR directors act as facilitators for other departments: they deal with recruitment, payment systems, they may be responsible for providing training, in industrial relations they are involved in complaints and disputes procedures, and they often have to break the news when people are dismissed.

Human Resources Management specialists may be involved in:

• empowerment, where employees and managers are given authority to make decisions previously made at higher levels.

• employee training and coaching: individual advice to employees on improving their career prospects, and mentoring: when senior managers help and advise more junior ones in their organisation.

• actions to eliminate racial and sexual discrimination and to fight harassment in the workplace: bullying and sexual harassment.

• incentive schemes to increase motivation

Their services may also be required when organisations downsize and delayer, reducing levels of management to produce a lean or flat organization and arranging severance packages for employees who are made redundant, sometimes offering outplacement services, for example putting them in touch with potential employers. Professional people who are made redundant may be able to make a living as freelancers, or portfolio workers, working for a number of clients.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04