Frances Key Industrial Relations Elements in Processes - Case Study Example

Country's Key Industrial Relations Element – A Report This paper is a report, describing and analyzing a country’s; in this case France’s key industrial relations elements in processes. Three main processes will be addressed in this report, namely, Collective bargaining, Dispute Resolution and Human Resource Management. The first key element is collective bargaining. The International Labour Organization Convention No. 98 (1949) relating to the Right to Organize and to Bargain Collectively, defines collective bargaining as the, “Voluntary negotiation between employers or employers' organizations and workers' organizations, with a view to the regulation of conditions and terms of employment by collective agreements” (De Silve, 1998, p. 17). Collective bargaining can occur both nationally or at the level of industry or enterprise. Responsibilities of collective bargaining Employees and trade unions are responsible for collective bargaining. It is said to be a plain descriptive statement, however, it is a planned and stratified system held together by both verbal and written agreements between the unions and the management or between the unions themselves (Jenkins & Sherman, 1977). It is termed as collective as both the employer and employee act as a group rather than as individuals. Collective bargaining involves form and workers’ representatives in order to lay down mutually agreeable terms and conditions of employment. It is a continuous process, which endeavors to establish stable relationships between parties involved. Apart from involving the bargaining agreement it also involves the implementation of the agreement. Collective bargaining aims to achieve discipline in the industry and is said to be a flexible approach because the parties involved in such an agreement assume a flexible attitude towards negotiations (Industrial Relations, 2007). Role of Matignon Agreement by the Popular Front government Matignon Agreement passed by the Popular Front government in 1936 led collectiuve bargaining attain a legal status in France. The Matignon Agreement was signed between CGT trade union, the CGPF employers trade union confederation, and the French State. Collective bargaining in France has expanded in France as a result of many government initiatives. It has expanded into a well developed three-tier negotiation system despite the low trade union membership. Economy-wide, multi industry collective bargain in France was revived through the conclusion of the national “orientation agreements” in the late 1980s. This was done to promote negotiation on topics such as modernization, technological change and advancement and flexible working hours (Traxler & Visser, 2002). Most important type of negotiation In France, sectoral bargaining in part at national level and in part at regional level has been the most important type of negotiation. The importance of this type of negotiation increased with the Auroux laws in 1982. A collective bargain between an employer association and one recognized union will bind all the members of the association with respect to all the emplpoyees whether these employees are members of that union or not. Moreover, half the sectoral agreements in France are extended by government decree. The Auroux laws also governs company level bargaining by making annual negotiations on pay and working time in firms with union representations. Hence since 1981 in France, the number of collective agreements and bargaining has increased five fold. However, they continue to encompass a much lower number of employees than branch level agreements. Collective bargaining in France is also based on the Collective Agreement Act of 1950 (Jackson, 1991). Dispute resolution – Courts and Tribunals The simplest definition of dispute resolution is that it is the process of resolving disputes or issues between two parties. In France the Tribunal de Grande Instance specializes in commercial matters important to business such as trademarks and patents. With regard to commercial matters the Commercial Courts in France have general jurisdiction and are primarily formed by people from the business community. The Employment tribunals are made of representatives of employers as well as employees. Litigation in France is most often a two-stage process and the right to appeal is usually exercised by parties. The Courts of appeal in France are decentralized. Appeals are rehearings as opposed to a review of previous decision. Hence during the appeal parties can submit evidence and propose arguments although there some restrictions on bringing in new claims and arguments. “An appeal will but naturally come into force of the first instance decision.” (Bertrand & Ryde, 2008, p. 3). An appeal judge can stay the enforcement or issue further orders. General rule in France The general rule in France is that successful parties will be awarded costs, although the costs awarded will not cover the entire cost of litigation. There are two orders for cost. The first order is known as the dépens and this covers the court and service fees and a small amount of taxed fees of the lawyers. The amounts of money rewarded to the successful party at the first instance can vary widely, however the amounts rewarded on appeal are more generous. Oral vs. documental evidence One important factor to consider when preparing the case by gathering evidence in case of a dispute is that the court system in France court system gives no credence to oral evidence. Oral argument also has a reduced role in the French courts. Except in certain exceptional cases oral witness evidence is not accepted in French courts and hence most cases are decided primarily based on written evidence that is contemporaneous in nature. Hence it is very important to ensure that all contractual documents and correspondence between the parties in dispute are maintained and presented correctly during the case. Parties are allowed to submit written witness statements at court, although these statements may not be cross examined during court. All parties are however disposed to decide which document they will or will not produce at court. They may also make a disclosure request for the desired and specific documents and can apply to court to get the request taken care of. However, these orders for the disclosure of documents are not granted by routine. Mediation of disputes Mediation of disputes is very rare in France although there is growing support in France among judges and practitioners for the same. The Civil Procedure Code contains contemporary provisions making the use of mediation possible and many recent case laws also support enforcement of agreements to mediate. Additionally there are several professional mediation organizations that have mediator panels who undertake active mediation in case of disputes. Arbitration French law has a sound policy in place, favouring arbitration. Parties in dispute may want to resolve the dispute outside national courts although accompanied by a strict procedure like that of national courts. French law recognizes that parties have a right to refer their disputes for resolution to a third party who is known as the arbitrator and who is not a judge of a national court. The final purpose is to resolve the dispute and obtain a decision which despite not being passed by a traditional court, is equally binding. Arbitration must essentially have three basic elements, namely, an agreement for arbitration among parties in dispute, reference of a dispute which covered by the agreement to a third party who is not a national court judge and the result must be a decision which is as binding upon the parties as a normal court judgment (Delvolvé, Rouche, & Pointon, 2003). An arbitral tribunal has primary jurisdiction to rule and decide on the validity of an arbitration agreement. The jurisdiction is not obstructed by a court of law. The only situation when a French court will presume jurisdiction over a dispute is when arbitration is illegal or inapplicable. French courts will not interfere with the conduct of arbitral proceedings. Pay and Working Conditions in France In France the maximum legal working time is 10 hours a day and a total of 48 hours in the same week. All employees are entitled to 26 days of annual leave and in addition there are approximately 11 days of public or local holidays per year. The minimum wage in France, per hour has been 8.71 euros since July 1st 2008. This amounts to a monthly minimum wage of 1321.02 euros for a 35 hour working week. In addition to basic salary or wages, employees in France are entitled to a family allowance if the employee has two or more dependent children, an expatriation allowance for employees recruited outside France under certain conditions of stay, an education allowance for non-French employees receiving an expatriation allowance, who send their dependent children to school in their home country. However, the total remuneration with salary and allowances put together are subject to French income tax and payments towards the French Social Security and other compulsory schemes. Income tax depends on salary and on the employees’ family situation. Other benefits of the French employees include health insurance, a supplementary pension scheme and death and disability insurance. Human Resource Management French culture as well as history has done a lot in given a shape to the nature and development of HRM as it is currently in vogue in France today. HRM in France emerged from asset of tasks comprising of both accounting and administration. The two main responsibilities of HRM are primarily that of issuing a command to garner resources and then motivating and using these resources towards getting positive results in the best possible manner (Brunstein, 1995). Following an elated period of time wherein many employees thought that lower working hours and increased wages were possible people became aware of some new perspectives where they understood that measures must be taken to improve and enhance employee qualification and training, making room for a more even distribution of wealth. During this period employees were viewed by both themselves as well as their superiors as a resource to the company worth of being developed. This led to the creation of the title Directeur des Relations Humaines (DRH) and a new function Gestion des Ressources Humaines (GRH) which is equivalent to the function of Human Resource Management in other countries. Gestion des Ressources Humaines The Gestion des Ressources Humaines is predominantly a functional activity of the company, namely transverse which is horizontal versus hierarchical which is vertical. The Gestion des Ressources Humaines is divided into two branches which included the administration of human resources including payroll, legal contracts etc., which is considered to be a more vertical activity and human resource development including career management, recruitment, training etc., and is shared with line managers and hence a more horizontal activity (Brunstein, 1995). The qualitative strategy of Gestion des Ressources Humaines is to use human resources to advantage in order to achieve optimal performance. It primarily functions from a resource-based perspective and concentrates willingly on human resource development within an organization. Directeur des Relations Humaines The Directeur des Relations Humaines, translated is the Director of Human Relations. The Directeur des Relations Humaines is responsible for the supervision of social relations, administration, personnel management, training, internal communication and social management (Brunstein, 1995). The Directeur des Relations Humaines is placed directly under the Director General and is responsible for proposing a policy for managing human resources and defining the general requirements and aspects of this policy. He or she has an advisory committee under him, made up of staff representatives who negotiate with him. He or she is also responsible for coordinating the activities of chiefs of staff within the organization. The duties and role of the The Directeur des Relations Humaines depends largely on the size and structure of the organization. HRM is France has largely been influenced by culture and educational system. The impact of Descartes and his analytical thinking and the French revolution are reflected in French management thinking. The education system which neglects certain competencies and reinforces certain others has also had a major influence on HRM in France. . Read More