With rising unemployment, continued wage freezes and further job losses, the world of work in 2012 will be a challenging place for both employers and employees.
James Crass, South West director of employment relations organisation Acas, has pinpointed four likely workplace issues. Here he explains what is behind these potential flashpoints and gives some suggestions on how they can best be handled.
The first, he says, could come from employers struggling to maintain workforce morale and commitment when both their organisation – and Britain’s economy – are struggling. Another is that many bosses and staff will want to resolve disagreements quickly.
Thirdly, more employers will need to learn how to harness fully the marketing potential of social media websites while effectively managing any misuse. Lastly, older workers retiring later may also become an issue that will need careful handling.
Here, Mr Crass outlines these challenges in more detail.
Employment relations:
* Economic difficulties continue and tensions in the workplace in the form of larger disputes have by no means disappeared.
* While we have seen some high-profile strikes, we need to keep things in perspective. The number of disputes and days lost to industrial action remain at historically low levels. In fact, the number of work days lost to strikes is at its lowest for 20 years.
* But in 2012 we could see tensions where employees are looking to make up for pay restraint and other concessions made during the recession.
* If inflation continues to rise, the mood for industrial action over pay claims is also likely to rise. We could still be in for a bumpy 12 months, although we should remember that the partnership approach to employment relations arose out of the recession in the 1990s. We may see a similar pragmatic approach to employment relations this time around.
Resolving disputes in the workplace:
* The outcome of the Government’s resolving workplace disputes consultation announced a number of changes with a wider role for Acas to resolve disputes before they reach a formal claim to an employment tribunal.
* In the coming year, this is going to help focus minds on the principle of resolving disputes within the workplace before they can escalate, even before Acas’ wider role to achieve this comes into effect in 2014.
* We welcome the Government’s proposal to expand our pre-claim conciliation service because it will mean greater access to early intervention in workplace disputes and ultimately more long-term and positive working relations.
* The service is called pre-claim conciliation (PCC) because Acas tries to broker a solution before a worker actually lodges a claim with an employment tribunal.
* The ethos of PCC is that it is simpler, quicker, cheaper and less stressful than going to tribunal, and we know it works.
Social media:
* The rise of social media in recent years has been truly phenomenal. Facebook has more than 500m users sharing more than 30bn pieces of content each month.
* Social media throws up a number of issues for employees and employers in relatively uncharted territory for many.
* For instance should employers limit workforce access to social media sites at work? Can they regulate employee’s behaviour on sites outside of work if postings are work-related? And what types of behaviour should result in disciplinary action?
* Social media was the most popular new guidance we launched this year – employers know that it’s an area they need to tackle.
Visit www.acas.org.uk/socialnetworking for more information.
The ageing workforce:
* This is one of the most significant changes that will impact on the workplace. The Default Retirement Age has been removed and this, coupled with the announced increases in State pension age, means that the average age of the UK workforce is expected to increase.
* In these difficult economic times, the issue of the ageing workforce may not appear to be high on the agenda. However, this changing landscape will impact on the workplace and employers will undoubtedly need support and guidance to respond.
* Employers will face new challenges – for instance, handling flexible working requests fairly and providing training or support to develop the careers of older workers. Having more people working longer means that employers also need to think about job opportunities and the career progression of the rest of the workforce.
* Age issues should be embedded at the very heart of an organisation’s culture, and should not be a box-ticking exercise to meet employment legislation.
