Establishing How Best to Use the Staff Discount - Assignment Example

Advising Ella Student’s Name: Course: Tutor’s Name: Date: Introduction From my understanding of the situation facing Ella, she is a temporary worker who is entitled to some benefits from her place of work. Her job also does not seem to require a lot of training, since as indicated by Carroll et al. (1999, p. 246), the hotel and catering sector does not normally suffer staff shortage because a large number of college students usually look for such type of work. It also seems as if a lot of things about the work are not clear to her. For example, it seems she did not discuss with her employer before taking up the job on whether she was entitled to overtime compensation or not. It also looks as if though she is entitled to some staff discounts, the company policy on how such discounts are to be used was not properly articulated to her. In view of the quagmire facing her, and especially considering she still needs the job because the money she earns helps her in meeting some of her schooling expenses and the job is also close to home, my advice to her would be as follows: Determine the maximum working hours in the company The International Labour Organisation defines overtime as “all hours worked in excess of the normal hours, unless they are taken into account in fixing numeration in accordance with custom” (2004, p. 1). Notably, identifying overtime depends on the company’s setting and does not always have to be linked with compensation. As noted by ILO (2004, p.1), employees like Ella need to distinguish between unpaid and paid overtime. Ella can start by establishing whether other people working overtime in the organisation are compensated for the same. This she can do by speaking to some of her co-workers. With her employer, Ella can discuss what is considered “normal working hours” in the organisation, hence establishing what is considered overtime in the company. She should then ask whether the overtime hours are entitled to any form of compensation. If she is not entitled to overtime pay, she could try negotiating for other forms of compensation that ILO (2004, p. 4) states can be considered in place of monetary compensation. Such include offsetting the overtime hours by adding Ella some days on top of her usual paid off-duty days. This however raises the question: should not Ella have a reason to fear that seeking verification regarding overtime especially considering that she has already received a disciplinary letter for another issue would jeopardise her work? Well, according to Dundon et al (2004, p. 16) employers know the value of “treating employees in a decent way”, since this usually affects the commitment and dedication that such employees portray at work. The term decent in this case refers to the employer’s ability to value the contribution that Ella accords the company, by giving her appropriate answers to her questions. According to the International Labour Organisation, the 1996 Workplace Relations Act and the 2006 Workplace Relations Regulations stipulate the responsibilities that the private sector employers have towards their Australian employees. Key among the stipulations therein are the legislations that protect employee from unfair dismissal by their employers. Although as indicated by Carroll et al. (1999, p. 246), the hospitality industry rarely suffers from staff shortage, it is notable that any newly recruited staff would require time for orientation and training. Most managers would rather handle issues that arise within the organisation’s human resource than bear the cost of recruitment and the consequent training. Even if this was not the case, it is quite clear that Ella’s employer cannot sack her for seeking answers regarding her employment. According to the ILO (2004), every employee has a right to have clearly articulated working terms. In addition to hours of work, some of the other clarifications that Ella should seek in order to avoid future confrontation with the management include the length of breaks during working hours, shift overtime rates if any and leave entitlements. According to Burgess and Watts (1999, p. 20), it does not matter whether the employee is on casual, permanent or temporary employment basis in the Australian context; rather, every employee is entitled to an award system contained in comprehensive documented which covers different matters that affect employees. Accordingly, this system protects individual employees not covered by trade unions against untamed operations of the free market players. In the 1993, industrial relations reform act, Burgess and Watts (1999, p. 6) note that individual employees have the right to negotiate their pay with their employers without the involvement of a trade union. Seeing that Ella is still in school and probably does not wish to join a trade union just as yet, especially considering that she is yet to settle in a stable career, this looks like a viable option. In my opinion, if she establishes that her employer does not pay for overtime worked hours, then she could initiate wage increase talks. Ella should especially note that the Australian Government stipulates 38 hours as the acceptable time that one should work in a week. However, it is also notable that the government has made provisions for employers to request their employees for some additional but reasonable working hours. Assuming that her love for her job and her co-workers translate to high job performance and customer satisfaction, it is highly unlikely that the management have not noticed her level of input into the job. Bringing up the subject of wage increase therefore would not be received in a negative way unless her contract stipulates that her wages are non-negotiable. Ella’s situation also raises other questions; was she issued with an employment contract, and if so, has she comprehensively read the terms of her employment? If not, does she have a right to have a formal employment contract that stipulates her working hours, her compensation and work ethics among other things? Well, according to ILO (2007), minimum employment conditions must be set by every employer and should be communicated accordingly to the employees. This means that Ella has a right to clear terms regarding overtime, work shifts as well as how to use her employee coupons. Establishing how best to use the staff discount My advice to Ella regarding using staff discount given to her would be to find out the company’s policy regarding the same in order to abide by them. Ella also needs to find out if the staff discounts can be negotiated in order to cover family members. According to the ILO (2007), some companies allow their employees to include their loved ones in some of the benefits provided by the company. However, some companies make the provisions specifically for use by the staff. If Ella’s employer falls in the latter category, then she would have no choice but to oblige to avoid further disciplinary action from the management. The fact that Ella felt like a criminal when she was issued with the disciplinary memo serves to show that she did not comprehend existing policy regarding the use of the discounts. Does it mean that the company did not have documented policies regarding the same, or was Ella just ignorant of the same? Well, if the former is the case, then I would advise her to stick by what the management had told her verbally. However, if there are existing documented policies regarding the discount use, I would encourage Ella to read not only the sections addressing discount use, but other company policies in order to make her stay in the company better. Conclusion The subject of employee rights especially in the private sector is always a thorny issue. Often times, employees suffer needlessly because they lack knowledge regarding existing laws that grant them right to fair treatment at the work place by their employers. Just like in the case of Ella, many casual and temporary employees have a vague awareness that the employment and labour laws have provisions for them, but they lack the required knowledge necessary to seek explanations from their employers. When such is the case, a continuous cycle of exploitation or unfair treatment by some employers persists. Ella’s case also brings to the fore the ignorance nature that most young employees adopt towards workplace policies. To some, the reality of how serious the employer regards workplace policies and ethics dawns on them when a drastic action is taken against them. For Ella, it was the disciplinary letter that quite literally, “made her feel like a criminal”. Had she taken the time to read or inquire about company policy regarding the use of staff discounts, maybe she would have avoided the situation all together. My final advice to Ella would be to read and understand her rights as an employee. She should also know that contracts signed before commencing the job are legally binding. As such, it is only wise for a person, to sign the employment contract only after reading, understanding and counterchecking if any of the provisions therein contravene his/her rights as an employee. Reference List Burgess, J & Watts, M 1999, ‘Labour Market Reform: The end of the Standard Employment Model and Workforce Polarisation in Australia,’21st conference of the International working Party on labour Market Segmentation, pp. 1-25. Carroll, M., Marchington, M. & Earnshaw, J 1999, ‘Recruitment in Small Firms: Processes, Methods and Problems,’ Employee Relations, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 236-250. Dundon, D., Wilkinson, A., Marchington, M. & Ackers, P 2004, ‘The meanings and purpose of employee voice,’ International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 15, No. 6 ILO 2004, ‘what is overtime?’ Information Sheet, No. WT, accessed 11 April 2010 http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/condtrav/pdf/infosheets/wt-2.pdf ILO 2007, Industrial and employment relations department: Australia, Viewed 11 April 2010, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/info/termination/countries/australia.htm. Read More