Employment Relation Comparative Issues - Assignment Example

Heading: Employment Relation Comparative Questions Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Part A Question 1 Employment relations primarily cover work related regulation while taking consideration of the economic and social role with respect to the labour and capital power. It thus includes the interactions of different factors such as workers, employers and the collective organizational functions and also the country as a whole. The distinctive features of employment relations thus ought to take into consideration as number of fields that in general covers the industrial relations and human resource management. Industrial relations involve job regulations actions like arbitration and combined bargain of job related issues. On the other hand the human resource management involves all actions related to the optimization of the organization’s most imperative resource. To be more specific, an interdisciplinary view includes fields such as economics, law, history, sociology, management and psychology. Question 2 In the study of comparative employment relation, one ought to use both description and explanation as analytical processes. To describe specifically means to account for something precisely and specifically. As an example using description as a tool requires that the description be as specific as possible, this can be used in describing the national systems of ER in different regions. Describing thus focuses on how the system is and how it works in a given country. On the other hand, explaining means to make known the reason for why a phenomena is the way it is, it thus requires a combination of agency and context in order to appreciate the explanation of a phenomena. In ER perspective a combination of agency and context is thus required. Question 3 The benefits of studying comparative employment relations are to comprehend employment relations in different countries, to enhance policy development and development of better policies to handle human resource issues in future. Understanding employment relations is a key factor that facilitates any other positive development needed in research and improvement of the employment relations. After understanding employment relations in different countries, policies can then be developed in order to account for human resource related issues. Policy development is thus based on the understanding of the history of employment relations and different systems in different countries, a model policy platform can be developed based on this (Katz, 2011). Making better policies for the future human resource in organizations can only be fostered through understanding and developed platform of policies related to employment relations. In this case, better policies can only be achieved by studying comparative employment relations. Part B Question 4 Introduction Different countries have different provisions of minimum national wages that a worker can get per month. This difference is because of the different in the policies that are instituted to govern the amount of wages in private and public sectors that a worker can be paid. The rationale for setting minimum wage is to mitigate employee exploitation, increase their purchasing power as well as enhancing social justice. This essay primarily focuses on the circumstances in which national minimum wage can be effective in protecting employees from possible exploitation with consideration of the USA and Saudi Arabia. Discussion of different circumstances The first circumstance that will foster the effectiveness of the minimum national wage in the protection of the employee exploitation is setting a considerable minimum wage that a worker can be paid as well as instituting rules and laws that will ensure that the regulation is fully adhered in both the private and the public sector. As evident in Saudi Arabia, there is no official set minimum wage; the unofficial minimum wage is Saudi Riyals1500. This lack of a minimum wage gives a wide room to private companies to exploit their workers and thus perpetrating social injustice in a country that is known to discriminate its workers and especially the women because of their religious and cultural attachments. More so, according to Kaufman (2010) the USA has a minimum wage set by the federal government but its minimum wage varies with states. Like Saudi Arabia, different is minimum wage is also a window for exploitation of workers especially in the private sector. An official statement and promulgation of strict laws that govern the minimum wage is thus an important step in eliminating employee exploitation. Another imperative circumstance that can promote employee protection from exploitation as a result of a low minimum national wage is constant revision and awareness promoted by trade unions and industrial relations. The rationale why the minimum wage is not officially set in Saudi Arabia can be attributed to the suppressed voices of the trade unions and ineffective industrial relations management. It is only through the recent awareness campaign that has set the pace for the institution of the minimum wage. In the USA, the circumstances are different but the same initiative will promote the fight against employee exploitation (Katz, 2011). The USA is known for its poor policies of employee’s protection despite the laws governing the minimum wage. Making revisions and promoting awareness will be critical in ensuring that workers exploitation is further mitigated or completely eliminated. Conclusion This essay discussion has focused on setting an official minimum wage law and setting laws that govern the institution of the law as one of the circumstances that will foster mitigation of employee exploitation. Ensuring constant revision and awareness through trade unions and industrial relation as a whole will ensure mitigation or complete elimination of employee related issues. These circumstances are used with consideration of the USA and Saudi Arabia, despite the different circumstances affecting these two distinct regions, the same policies can work to mitigate employee exploitation. Question 5 Introduction Gender based discrimination in workplace is a factor that has affected or still affecting the globe even in the modern world. Traditionally, most countries in the pre-colonial period discriminated women in workplace and only perceived them as home managers taking care of their husbands and children instead of participating in the capital labour market. This essay therefore tries to bring out the circumstances in which gender-based discrimination can be eliminated in the workplace by effective institution of laws that govern them. The USA and Saudi Arabia are used to substantiate the assertion. Discussion of different circumstances Increasing penalties and remedies of gender-based discrimination is one of the circumstances that can effectively eliminate this kind of discrimination in workplace. The USA federal government instituted an Equal Opportunity Commission; EEOC in early 70’s and strictly enforced the rules during those early days (Godard, 2009). The situation however changed with time and less enforcement led to increased gender-based discrimination. On the other hand, despite the slow progress in modernization in Saudi Arabia, cultural practise and priorities is seen as a major obstacle in the free implementation of gender-based discrimination policy. The number of educated women in Saudi Arabia has significantly increased over the past decades and thus making about 55 % of the total educated population while only 4.8% of this number constitutes the workforce (Mellahi, 2006). Setting a policy governs gender-based discrimination will thus be a good foundation of eliminating employment inequality in Saudi Arabia. In the United States, increasing remedies of gender-based discrimination will be an effective measure of dealing with gender based discrimination. Increasing awareness and creating policies that demands that a percentage of the entire workforce within a company should be balanced with respect to gender. This will play an important role especially in Saudi Arabia where most women are educated but are the least employed as compared to their male counterpart. The awareness will create a positive circumstance for women to take more part in the labour market instead of being focused to family care and other home related duties. Instituting policies that requires more participation because of a balanced gender involvement will also force companies to increase their gender equality in order to comply with the regulations and at the same time eliminating gender-based discrimination. In the United States, the policies and frameworks set should be maintained while increasing awareness on the need to ensure that the workplace is balanced with both genders. This circumstance will be imperative in the elimination of gender based discrimination in workplace. Conclusion This essay has focused on the circumstances necessary for the mitigation of gender-based discrimination in workplace. One of the circumstances considered is increase of remedies and penalties on any issue related to gender discrimination; this will be an effective way of shunning related cases in the all countries including the United States and Saudi Arabia. Creating new policies that forces companies to balance their gender is also another way that will especially work in Saudi Arabia where many women are educated while few of them are employed. Increasing gender based discrimination awareness is also another effective way of ensuring elimination of gender inequality in workplace. This discussion has focused on the USA and Saudi Arabia as the countries where the circumstances will work effectively. References Godard, J. (2009) ‘The Exceptional Decline of the American Labor Movement’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 63 (1), pp. 82-108. Katz, H. & Colvin, J. (2011) ‘Employment Relations in the USA’ in Bamber et al. (eds), International and Comparative Employment Relations, Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Kaufman, B. (2010) ‘Institutional theory and the minimum wage: Broadening the Theoretical and Policy Debate’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 63 (3), pp. 427- 53. Mellahi, K. (2006). ‘Human Resource Management in Saudi Arabia,’ Managing Human Reosurce in the Middle East, 6(2), pp. 97-120. Read More