Cases for EM4050
A global software company with operations in South Asia, Australia, USA and Europe has given one week’s notice to its UK team of risk assessors that they will be relocated to Germany. Their contract says they are required to work anywhere that the organisation is based. What advice would you give the risk assessors? What reasoning lay behind you offering this advice?
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Following redundancies and a difficult trading period a company making bespoke stained glass windows for luxury hotels has told its remaining employees that, for the foreseeable future, they will no longer be offered overtime. In the past irregular overtime has boosted wages but never before has the company said it would no longer be offered. What do you think the employees’ contractual position is, and why did you reach this conclusion?
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Employees at a large retail outlet have, for the last eleven years been able to finish work at lunchtime on Christmas Eve. The HR manager has sent them all a letter saying that this custom is ending and that they will be expected to work a full day on Christmas Eve in the future. Do you think there is a contractual right for these employees to leave work at lunch time? Give reasons for your answer. What impact do you think the letter will have on the employment relationship at the outlet?
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Is it ethical to dismiss an employee for an activity that they undertake outside of work? Give reasons for your answer.
TIPS:
- Try to engage with notions of fairness and what is, and what is not, ethically acceptable behaviour.
- Is your answer culturally dependent?
- Does your answer depend on what the activity is and whether it brings the company into disrepute or not?
- Does it depend on publicity?
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What is the difference between a contract of service and a contract for service?
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Critically evaluate the following statement:
When an organisation employs a number of people who are on a variety of different terms and conditions, yet ostensibly undertaking the same tasks, it may lead to perceptions of organisational injustice and discontent amongst the employees resulting in poorly motivated staff and lower levels of productivity.
Tips:
- I am expecting you to explore how a range of contracts in the same organisation might create difficulties and then link these to the notions of distributional procedural and perhaps informational justice.
- You should also be able to discuss the notion that employees compare themselves to one another and how this can lead to perceptions of unfairness
- You might bring in possible inequity of treatment link to the psychological contract which my colleague Karen will discuss in detail
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Pimlico Plumbers has hit the headlines following an announcement that it will refuse to offer opportunities to workers who are required to visit customer premises unless they can show they have been vaccinated. Employers in many businesses will be considering their own response to employee concerns about vaccination, and we consider below some of the issues that arise.
Tips:
- What are the consequences of refusal?
- If an employer imposes a condition of vaccination for continued employment or access to work, what challenge can it expect? Clearly, if dismissal results, unfair dismissal claims may be expected.
- Do employers have to permit working at home for an employee who chooses not to have the vaccine?
- What about employees asserting rights to freedom of expression and belief?
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