What Are The Role Of Legislation, In Context Of European Law

TASK 1

1) Legal risks at Newcastle Office.

Carling UK Ltd is operating numerous care homes across the world and started their business twenty years ago. It is established in Birmingham and they have largest care home in the area. From the last five years, they are experiencing rapid growth due to effective marketing practices, good staff and satisfied customers. Annabel Handy is the director of Carling UK Ltd and is very efficient in her work. She is also known as ' a very hand on' director and is capable of handling things in good manner. Organisation is employing more than 500 employees worldwide. They have two care homes in North West (Liverpool and Manchester) and one in Newcastle. Following were some issues faced by Annabel Handy at Newcastle Office:

In first problem, Colin Tate is a member of administrative team and is working for Newcastle care home for over six years (Png, 2017). He wrote negative comments about the company on Facebook account. On examination, Randeep (HR manager) discovers that comment as highly damageable for company's reputation, but Colin protested that his comment were made in private time and are not anyone's business.

Case: Horizon Group vs Amanda Bonnen over Twitter

In this case, Horizon Group sued Amanda Bonnen because they tweet about the one of the division of respective organisation which is damaging their reputation in market. Thus, in such situation organisation have right to sue such employees who are tweeting related to the enterprise in social media. Malicious Communications Act 1988, given by the government which states that there is penalties and offense in relation to the communication which take place by using online social media. By implementing this act in the company they can punish for such comment which is made by them on social media.

In the Second Problem, Julie Tate is the care worker and she look after needs of resident. By the HR manager it was told to Julie that she should not wear necklace while working because this can occur health and safety issues for the people who live their (Sharp, Moorman and Claussen, 2014). Julie refuse to do this because she said that this necklace belong to their religion and strong follower of the Catholic faith because of that she refuses to follow and obey any rule which to remove her necklace.

Dismissal could be unfair if your employer doesn’t:

• have a good reason for dismissing employee
• follow the company’s formal disciplinary or dismissal process (or the statutory minimum dismissal procedure in Northern Ireland)

Situations when your dismissal is likely to be unfair include if you:

• asked for flexible working
• refused to give up your working time rights - eg to take rest breaks
• resigned and gave the correctnotice period
• joined atrade union
• took part in legal industrial action that lasted 12 weeks or less
• needed time off for jury service
• applied for maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• were on any maternity, paternity and adoption leave you’re entitled to
• tried to enforce your right to receive Working Tax Credits
• exposed wrongdoing in the workplace (whistleblowing)
• were forced to retire (known as ‘compulsory retirement’)

In this case Human Resource manager is right because in care home their should be decent dress up the care taker and they should not to wear any necklace. Because this is not safe for the people who are living in that care home it can harm them. Juile is the lady who assist old age people in standing and sitting at that time their necklace can harm them. Thus, in the working hours Julie should not to wear necklace for safety of the person who are living their.

In third case, last issue in care home is related to the Ex-employees named as Ali Khan, who work in maintenance department. After the service of nine month he was terminated three months ago. His concern is related to some maintenance of electric within care home. Because this can be major issue which is danger for the resident and other staff member. Apart from this, Ali was not paid up to the date of termination.

In this case, it is the duty of care home to resolve that electricity issues because health and safety is right of every employees. Because related to the this there is an law given by government is Health and safety in work act, 1974. this act related to the health of employees in the organisation and it is the responsibility of enterprise to take care of the people who are living and doing job in care home. It states that every employee and resident of care home have right for their health and safety (Ginzberg, 2017). Apart from this, another case is of wages which is not paid to the Ali regarding to this also legislation is given such as payment wages act, 1936. it is an act related to the wages of employees that company have to pay salary of their staff member till the date of their working. this states that Care home have to pay salary of the Ali up to the date of Termination.

TASK 2

2) Critical evaluation of relative strengths of each case.

In Carling UK Ltd, there are mainly three cases which occur and every of them have their strength in relation to the respective care home. Description of these is mention below :-

First Case – In this case, Colin is wrote related to the organisation on social media comments stated “How do employers get away with it, another challenging day at work! Had enough now can’t bear to see residents treated this way. Call themselves a “Care Home” - joke???”. This mistake is find out by the HR manager Randeep and he said that it is damaging reputation of the company. In such situation Carling UK Ltd have to take major step in relation to this (Posner, 2014).

• Strength : Major strength is that owner of the company Annabel have right to Sue their employee Colin because no one have right to write something related to the enterprise which is damaging their image in market area. Such comments give negative image in respect of the firm and in such situation it is the right of care home to raise their voice against it.
• Defence – As per the Malicious Communications Act 1988, company can defence themselves in court. Because no one have authority to write anything about company on social media. In such situation Colin is punishable in the eyes of law.

Second case – In second situation, Julie is the lady who take care of the resident who lives in the care home. She help residents in sitting up, get into bed and assist in their personal hygiene also. But the issue rise in this is that Julie wear necklace which may be the reason of any accident related to people living in care home. Thus, HR Randeep told her not to wear such kind of jewellery but she refuse because that necklace present to their religion and it is strongly follower of the Catholic faith. Because of that she refuse to remove it and obey the order given by HR manager.

• Strength : In this case, respective company can give orders to Julie strictly that not to wear such jewellery because it can be the reason of any accident in care home. Their is an act in relation to it, Health and safety act 1974 which is given by government for taking care of the employees and people who are living in care home (Lin, B., Law, K.S. and Zhou, 2017). While working in the enterprise every staff member have to follow their rules and regulation because these are designed after keeping in mind health and safety of everyone.
• Defence : According to the Health and Safety act 1974, Company can defence themselves because such practices are not allowed in the care home which can harm life of any resident or employees.

Third case – In this Ali khan is the employee who is working in care home in maintenance department. Thus, it is duty of Ali to take care of overall organisation in relation to the maintenance. After service of nine month employment was terminated three weeks ago (Stout and Blair, 2017). But he was continuing because of the concern related to the electricity within care home. Apart from this, there is an another issue also that is company is not paying salary to the Ali Khan up to the date of termination.

• Strength : In this strength is that, because of Ali Khan company find out major issue which should be resolved so that their will be no harm to the people living their. It is the responsibility of the enterprise to take care of the residents and their staff members also. Apart from this there is an law related to wages i.e., Payment wages act, 1936. According to this act company have to pay salary of Ali Khan till the date to their termination. so they have to pay salary of Ali Khan up to the date of termination.
• Defence : In the case of Ali Khan company can defend themselves in court because he is terminated by the care home. So he can't claim for salary.

It is against the law to discriminate against you because of your religion or belief. This applies: when you buy or use goods and services

• at work
• in education
• In housing.

It is discrimination to treat unfairly compared to someone else, because of religion or belief. This is called direct discrimination and is illegal. Examples include:

• refusing a bank loan because an individual is Jewish
• refusing to allow an individual into a restaurant because that person is Muslim

TASK 3

3) Steps to be taken in order to ensure equality.

As a owner of Carling UK Ltd., it is necessary for Annabel Handy to take steps towards implementation of equality practices which ensure equal treatment with every worker and employees working in the organisation. In order to avoid violation and discrimination, Annabelle can implement good HRM Practices to good and smooth working within organisation. She can also implement Equality Act, which can prevent discrimination of any employee on the grounds of age, sex, religion, case, belief, gender, sexual orientation, etc (Odhong and Omolo, 2014). HR department and managers are responsible for ensuring better work culture and people are treated in right manner. No rights of any employee is violated by anyone and if any person found in to be discriminating a person, then he will be liable for the penalty stated under the law.

Some HRM practices that can be implemented by Annabel such as training and development, recruitment and selection, compensation and benefits in order to motivate better performance and improve their skills and knowledge area in specific resgion. Under Equality Act, any person cannot be violated on above mentioned characteristics and everyone should be given equal chances and opportunities. With this act, everyone will be equally and fairly treated and this will ultimately develops healthy work atmosphere within organisation. Annabelle can also implement various HR theories and concepts within organisation in order to ensure proper working and management of work. She can also provide equality and human rights training to staff members so that they can understand the meaning and sensitivity of equality and achieve all these standards.

She can also implement equality policies within company so that every employees can follow the policies strictly (Kraakman and Armour, 2017). She can also implement different HR models and theories like feedback systems, employee selections, Maslow's theory of needs, etc. If any person is a victim of inequality then, they might approach to Annabelle personally and she can take necessary actions in that matter. For this, they can implement feedback or suggestion systems where people can send letters or notices against discrimination and strict actions can be taken against that person (Reb, Narayanan and Chaturvedi, 2014).

As in the case study, Ali was not treated properly and was dismissed. He complained related to maintenance of electrics to senior authority, James Magpie. He advised them, there was a clear danger for residents and staff. On this topic, James and Ali got into heated argument and Ali was dismissed on the spot.

From above case, dismissal of Ali was not at all a good practice and being at such a higher level, James should have understood the dangerous situation for residents and staff, as anyone could be injured from electricals. He should listen to Ali and should take necessary steps in order to improve the condition. Better and mutual understanding should be present within employees and superior to maintain proper work environment within company (Flammer and Luo, 2017).

TASK 4

4) Legal consequences relating to employment matters.

Employment contract is a type of contract which states’ rights and responsibilities of employers and employees and is the major basis of employment relationship. Most of the contract does not need to be in written to be legally valid, but if they are then it is a better. Contract can vary by the mutual understanding of both parties. From the case study, Annabel has to go through with many problems at once and then she decided to sell her business to an old school friend. After all those problems, she questioned her own ability and her recruitment and selection decisions. From all the cases, she is willing to take early retirement and is exploring different options. Due to her business transfer, she feels responsible for their 500 employees and job security, as they will be transferred to new company and to new environment (Yang and van der Wal, 2014).

Business transfer refers to sale of business to other person and also includes merge, acquisition, take overs, etc. Following are some requirement of employer while transfer of business:

• It is necessary to notify all employees of organisation about the transfer within reasonable time so that they can prepare themselves for future transfer.
• Brief them about different conditions, terms, rules, regulations, work environment, etc. to employees for smooth functioning in other country.
• Ensure employees about job security and no breaks of employment during transfer.
• Ensure them related to terms of employment which will be favourable after the transfer.

The European Communities (Protection of employees on transfer of undertaking) Regulation 2003 protects the rights of employees where the legal owner is changes of the business in which they are employed (Pirvali, Ghadam and Asadi, 2014). This area of law is known as 'TUPE'. The main purpose of TUPE is to protect employees from consequences or dismissal at the time of business transfer. Under TUPE, employees are entitled to same terms and conditions of employment as applied before the transfer. New owner now become liable for obligations that accrued to employees before the transfer but were not discharged.

There are two types of transfers that are protected under TUPE and they are business transfers and service provision changes. So while transferring business, Annabel should ensure job security with her friend in order to provide smooth functioning of 500 employees in other company. This will satisfy them and they will feel secure with business transfers.

CONCLUSION

From the above report, it can be concluded that employment laws are necessary for any organisation as they provide proper order and ensure discipline within company. Employment relations are crucial for organisation as better relation will be beneficial for company and will will it to its desired success. From the above case study, Annabelle was a dedicated director and wants to maintain their company reputation in the market. She had faced several problems and has taken effective strategies and steps in order to resolve all problems in right manner. She has implemented different employment acts so that no one is the victim of discrimination and harassment. Better HRM practices and models have led the director to improve their current functioning and stabilizing their situations.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

As mentioned above, Employment laws are crucial for company to establish in order to maintain good and healthy relationship between employees and employers. These are necessary as they are responsible for performing all business operations of company and lead the firm to their desired success. In order to retain strong position and maintain healthy environment within organisation, it is necessary for directors and superiors to implement all employment related laws and good HRM Practices. Annabel Handy can implement better practices so that less problem arises in future and for better functioning of employees as well as employers. By working and coordinating together, staff can easily improve their functioning and can provide better services to people living in their care home.

REFERENCES

Books and journals

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• Sharp, L., Moorman, A. and Claussen, C., 2014.Sport law: A managerial approach. Taylor & Francis.
• Ginzberg, E., 2017.The institutions of private law and their social functions. Routledge.
• Posner, R.A., 2014.Economic analysis of law. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
• Lin, B., Law, K.S. and Zhou, J., 2017. Why is underemployment related to creativity and OCB? A task-crafting explanation of the curvilinear moderated relations.Academy of Management Journal.60(1). pp.156-177.
• Odhong, E. and Omolo, J., 2014. An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Employee Relations in the Flower Industry in Kenya.
• Reb, J., Narayanan, J. and Chaturvedi, S., 2014. Leading mindfully: Two studies on the influence of supervisor trait mindfulness on employee well-being and performance.Mindfulness.5(1). pp.36-45.
• Flammer, C. and Luo, J., 2017. Corporate social responsibility as an employee governance tool: Evidence from a quasi‐experiment.Strategic Management Journal.38(2). pp.163-183.
• Yang, L. and van der Wal, Z., 2014. Rule of morality vs. rule of law? An exploratory study of civil servant values in China and the Netherlands.Public Integrity.16(2). pp.187-206.
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• Stout, L.A. and Blair, M.M., 2017. A team production theory of corporate law. InCorporate Governance(pp. 169-250). Gower.
• Kraakman, R. and Armour, J., 2017.The anatomy of corporate law: A comparative and functional approach. Oxford University Press.