Next: Diversity and inclusion
Creating inclusive cultures where individuals can thrive
Specialist knowledge
Employee relations
Ensuring the relationship between an organisation and its people is managed through transparent practices and relevant law
Employee relations is about aligning the values of your organisation with the experience of your people. It’s about creating and delivering people practices which develop and maintain a positive working relationship between an organisation and its people.
People practices will be fairer and more transparent if developed in partnership with unions and employee representative bodies, so the standards encourage knowledge of how to work with employee bodies, and how to ensure that practices represent and are in line with an organisation’s brand.
This area is also about employment law – specialists in this area need a deep understanding of how employment law is created, and ensuring they are up to date with legislative developments in order to advise the business and line managers on how to be compliant and protect the organisation’s reputation.
It’s also important to understand what to do when the employment relationship breaks down and how to implement proactive approaches to prevent issues occurring in the future.
'The success of any business starts and ends with your people. People practitioners bring management practice to managing people especially in professional areas such as employee relations.'
Alan Price, CEO, Bright HR
Employee relations standards
Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?
Fundamental level
At this level you'll understand:
- How employment law is created and used to build people practices
- What collective employment law and collective bargaining is (specific to your region / country)
- What people policies are in place in your organisation
- What workplace mediation is
- What tribunals are (eg employment / industrial / labour tribunals / courts)
- What alternative dispute resolution techniques are (eg mediation, conciliation, negotiation, settlement agreements)
- Your organisation’s recognised employee bodies and the role they play
Associate level
At this level you'll understand:
- How employment law (eg labour law) is created and how to advise others on application of law
- Collective employment law and how collective bargaining works (specific to your region / country)
- What people policies are in place and how to advise managers and workers on them
- When to use workplace mediation to resolve disputes
- How tribunals work (eg employment / industrial / labour tribunals / courts) and the evidence needed to support cases
- Alternative dispute resolution techniques and how to advise on which ones to use
- How employee bodies work and how to work with representatives on individual cases
Chartered Member level
At this level you'll understand:
- How employment law (eg statute, case law) is created and how to interpret it into people practices
- Collective employment law and how to manage collective bargaining relationships (specific to your region / country)
- How to create people policies to enhance the employer brand and how to apply them
- The role of mediation in the wider employee relations agenda
- How the employment legal system works, the impact of employment law (eg labour law), and how to prepare for cases
- How to assess the value of alternative dispute resolutions vs legal remedy
- Different types of employee body relationships (eg radical, unitarist, pluralist) and how they impact organisations
Chartered Fellow level
At this level you'll understand:
- How to assess and manage the organisation impact of changes in employment law
- Collective employment law and how to lead negotiations in collective bargaining relationships (specific to your region / country)
- How to assess the value of people policies and their impact on organisation culture, performance and reputation
- How to create an approach to mediation that supports the wider employee relations strategy
- How to assess the organisation impact of employment legal decisions in shaping employee relations strategy
- How to integrate alternative dispute resolution into the employee relations strategy
- How to shape strategic employee body relationships (eg social contract, pluralist approach)
Things to start thinking about
Use these prompts to reflect on your understanding of Employee relations and uncover areas for future professional development.
- Do your people policies reflect the core values of your organisation?
- When did you last work with unions and employee representative bodies to develop your people practices?
- Do you understand how employment law is created and developed?
- What proactive resolution processes do you regularly use and what alternative options could be used?
Resources to guide your work, career planning and development, available on the CIPD's main site.
CIPD Advanced Award in Employment Law
For more experienced HR professionals who are required to offer advice and guidance across a range of employment law issues within the organisation.
Continue to Diversity and inclusion