About employee relations

Employee relations means the relationship between employers and employees. It can mean individual relationships, or collective relationships through things like trade unions and staff forums.

While employee relations may have historically focussed on collective bargaining with trade unions, there is now an emphasis on helping line managers to establish trust-based relationships with employees. This can reflect the need for an organisation to manage its people through transparent practice and relevant law, but can also focus on workplace culture.

Employee relations can cover areas like:

• Collective bargaining
• Staff consultation
• Managing conflict
• Dealing with workplace concerns or issues
• Skills and learning for managers

The UK legal position

There’s a wide range of legal provisions in the UK which apply in managing employee relations and dealing with problems which may arise. These can broadly be subdivided into those concerning the relationship between employers and individual employees, and those which concern collective relationships.

Individuals

Contract law and the terms of the contract of employment are at the heart of individual employee relations. In addition, employers’ handbooks or staff manuals, which as a minimum comply with the ACAS Code of Practice on grievance and disciplinary procedures, are important. Handbooks vary but will govern many aspects of employment rights including for example holiday, sickness, parental and other forms of leave, whistleblowing, communications and equal opportunities.

In addition, certain mandatory statutory employment rights apply to supplement the law of contract. These rights affect matters such as dismissal, conciliation, mediation, and other forms of dispute and discipline handling. Key examples of employment legislation affecting employee relations are the Employment Rights Act 1996 (dealing with the circumstances in which employees can be fairly dismissed) and the Equality Act 2010 (dealing with discrimination and equal pay). In addition, the law of misdeed governs matters such as an employer’s liability for the acts of its employees and some liability for accidents.

Collective relationships

The collective dimension includes collective bargaining, information and consultation, arbitration and industrial action. Employers may work with recognised unions to negotiate pay and conditions, or to inform and consult over changes such as redundancies or health and safety. Examples are:

• The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 concerning collective bargaining and redundancy consultation
• The Trade Union Act 2016 which contains provisions about ballots, industrial action, and the functions of the Certification Officer responsible for statutory matters relating to trade unions and employers’ associations such as registration and recognition.