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Q5 Write a brief note on workplace policies and practices?

ANS:Safe, dignified, and respectful work environment is not only

mandated by the law, but also increases motivation and productivity of

the employees. An example of review of business practices used to deal

with allegations of harassment safe working environments should be

considered especially for the females in the offices so as to make them

feel confident and concentrate on work is shown as under:

Review of business Practices used to deal with allegations of harassment

Method of review Area of Review

Walk through referring to the HR audit report: Are there posters visible

throughout the company especially prohibiting such behaviour

Review of new employee:does each employee receive a copy of the

policy upon package hire? Review of Hr files does the company

redistribute a copy of the policy with a cover memo from a senior

manager clearly stating the companys expecting of appropriate and

respectful behaviours? Does the memo contain information regarding to

whom/where to report violations of the policy?

Review of policy manual: Does the company have a clearly published

and posted employee handbook (both) non-retaliation policy

Review of HR files:is there documentation representing suchinvestigations with the results?

Review of HR files/ interviews: Are managers trained on how to

handle reports of harassment

Are employees advised of their rights and informed on how and where to

make a report of inappropriate behaviour

Do employees indicate a thorough understanding of the companys

beliefs regarding safe and respectful workplace behaviours

By Joan Curtice:Read the following example at the end to observe how

in practical world organisations pursue safe working environment for

their employees.

1. Ethical trading initiative:promotingconflict resolution in union

negotiations Cambodia (Source: http://www.ethicaltrade.org) In

November 2005 the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) was alerted to

allegations of serious interference in union rights in a Cambodian factory.

In response, the organisation brought member companies sourcing from

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the Fortune Garments factory to meet with workers, intermediary

suppliers, factory management and International Textile, Garment and

Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) representatives, in order to seek a

solution to the conflict. After negotiations, in May 2006 an agreement was

reached by all parties resulting in: payment of compensation to unfairly

dismissed workers; entry of the Coalition of Cambodian DemocraticApparel Workers Union into the factory; and acceptance of trade union

demands over pay and conditions.

2. Nike, Adidas, Umbro and more:working group with trade unions to

promote trade unionism Global (Source: http://www.ituc-csi.org) The

International Trade Union Confederation reported in the lead up to the

2008 Beijing Olympics that sporting apparel companies including Nike,

Adidas, New Balance, Umbro and Speedo had formed a joint working

group with trade unions and NGOs to explore, amongst other issues, how

to promote trade unionism and collective bargaining across the sector.

3. Agreement with UNI property services to ensure rights of

workers Global:(Source: http://www.g4s.com/) In 2008, G4S, one of

the worlds largest international security firms, signed a global agreement

with UNI Property Services, a global union, to ensure that all of G4Ss

570,000 employees (spread across more than 110 countries) have the

right to organise in a free and fair atmosphere. This is in addition to

complying with international standards and national law in its relations

with workers.

4. Training internal monitors on freedom of associationGlobal:(Source: http://www.gapinc.com) In 2006 Gap Inc. partnered

with the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation

(ITGLWF), the global union federation for the apparel and textiles sector,

to train its internal monitoring team on freedom of association and

collective bargaining issues. In the same year, the ITGLWF provided Gap

Inc. with a detailed briefing. Gap Inc. supplemented this training by

holding workshops on the Indian subcontinent and in south East Asia with

the ITGLWF and local trade union representatives.

These workshops aimed to strengthen engagement between Gap Inc.s

Vendor Compliance Officers (responsible for inspecting factories anddocumenting violations) and key worker rights representatives at regional

and local levels.

5. General Electric: expanding supplier due diligence to include freedom

of association Global (Source: http://www.ge.com) In 2008, General

Electric (GE) expanded its supplier due diligence programme to cover

freedom of association, discrimination and harassment/retaliation. To do

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this it engaged in benchmarking activities with other companies to

determine how they monitored and audited their suppliers in relation to

the ILO principles. In addition, it reviewed its on-siteassessment

tools and guidance materials and developed new training materials. As a

result, over 150 suppliers were asked to change their policies with respect

to freedom of association. In addition, around 400 suppliers were askedto adopt an employee dispute resolution process.

6. Mod-Style: offering worker empowerment and training to suppliers

China (Source: http://www.bsl.org.au) Mod-Style, a business sourcing

optical frames from Asia, has the majority of its factories in China, where

the only government-affiliated All-China Federation of Trade Unions is

recognised and trade union rights are severely restricted. In 2000, Mod-

Style joined with the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL), an Australian

based charity, to implement business standards based on the conventions

of the ILO and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In the

absence of independent trade unions, BSL and Mod-Style have offered

worker empowerment training and capacity building in supplier factories

to ensure that workers rights can still be adequately voiced and heard.

Nonetheless, to date no factories have agreed to this training, with BSL

and Mod-Style instead focusing on developing long-term, direct and

stable relationships with factory owners and managers.

Workplace behaviours that supportlegal compliance:A safe,

dignified, and respectful work environment is not only mandated by the

law, but also increases motivation and productivity of the employees.

An example of review of business practices used to deal with allegationsof harassment safe working environments should be considered especially

for the females in the offices so as to make them feel confident and

concentrate on work.

Many smaller companies do not like writing certain aspects of ways of

conducting business. For such companies, it is mere formality and they do

not appreciate people-oriented culture. Though it should be avoided

because it is patently illegal because laws require that companies should

mention very clearly the policies about guaranteeing specific protections

to employees.

Safeguarding employee information:Employees personal information

should be safeguarded. Separate files should be maintained for personal

information as contrasted with employment related information.Main

objective behind it to ensure that while deciding the employees career

with the company his personal information should not be considered.

For example while deciding whether to promote employee or not, instead

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of his personal information like his religion, his work experience and

capabilities should be considered.

The employment decision needs to be made on

work/performance-related information, not the personal information.

Relevant materials in the work file include information on the employeeseducation, related work experience, andperformanceevaluations in other

positions within the company. An audit can clarify what information must

be segregated and the laws that govern employees access to and

copying of their files. Other employee information that must be

safeguarded includes any materials that contain medical information.

Employeeperformancemanagement: An audit can review companys

job descriptions for compliance (i.e., to determine whether the

descriptions list the essential functions of the job). Various legal issues

can arise due toperformance related problems of employees. Audit will

help in following improvements and reviews:

A 90-day written standard performance evaluation form,

An annual written standard performance evaluation form,

A performance management/performance improvement plan,

A description of the companys policy for both voluntary resignation and

company-initiated termination,

Wage and salary administration program,

Bonus/stock option criteria.

Safe work environment: Audit practices may also help the companies

to know about factors that contribute to a safe work environment. Acompany may choose to develop an audit sheet tailored to a particular

issue, such as the companys zero-tolerance policy for harassment. For

example, a company may wish to review and evaluate its practices of

dealing with inappropriate harassing behaviour in its workplace.

Q6 What are the areas to be concentrated on the HR audit? Prepare a

questionnaire for conducting an audit for manpower planning

ANS: Areas that should be audited include, but are not limited to:

1.Legal compliance (EEO, AA, ADA, FMLA, IRCA, etc.)

2. Record-keeping (personnel files, I-9s, applications, etc.)

3.Compensation/pay equity

4.Employee relations

5.Performance appraisal systems

6.Policies and procedures/employee handbook

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7.Terminations

8.Health, safety and security (OSHA compliance, Drug-Free Workplace,

AIDS in the workplace, etc.)

Conducting a Human Resource Audit: A human resources audit

usually involves review of all HR policies, practices, and procedures,whether or not they are formal. Audits are indispensable in various areas

of HR. For example, an organisations policies and procedures must

change with the employment laws which are constantly changing if it

hopes to avoid litigation and thrive in the market. A comprehensive policy

manual is one of the best ways to avoid lawsuits. However this is not

enough. You must regularly conduct an employment law/ human

resources audit to make sure that your policies reflect changes in

employment laws.

Methods used in the HR Audit process are:

Interviews:In order to ascertain what the top management thinks about

the future plans and opportunities available for the company, the auditors

conduct individual interviews with the members of the top management.

The top management can provide a perspective for a good HR audit. To

collect information about the effectiveness of the Human Resource

Development System, organisational culture, skills, styles, etc., auditors

conduct group interviews with different level of managers. Interviews help

the auditors in a number of ways. Some of the benefits are:

Observation:Observation method is often used by the auditors to

observe various aspects of the organisation. It helps them to evaluate thework place and work atmosphere. It also helps them to judge the extent

to which a congenial and a supportive human welfare related climate

exists in the organisation. Auditors mainly observe the physical facilities

and living conditions, meetings, discussions and other transactions,

celebrations and other events related to organisational life and culture,

training and other HRD-related facilities including the classroom, library,

training centre, etc.

Group discussions: For companies having thousands of employees, it is

not always possible to meet each one individually to get feedback. In such

circumstances, group discussions and workshops act as an effectivemechanism to collect information about the effectiveness of the current

system. In order to evaluate various aspects of HRD and for a

participative diagnosis, various diagnostic workshops and group

discussions can be conducted in large organisations. It is preferable to

have cross-functional representation of employees in the same group or

each function separately to keep a homogenous group.

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Workshops:These workshops give critical appraisal of policies and

programmes as also initiate the change process. Its a potential diagnostic

tool and can provide lots of information on HR processes and can help

plan further intervention as OD (Organisation Development) Process.

Questionnaires:Auditors use comprehensive questionnaires to garner

information about HRD systems, processes, styles, and competencies. Ithelps in benchmarking of data.

Analysis of records and documents:In order to ascertain the

strengths and weaknesses of the human resource system of the

organisation, the auditors scrutinise the published literature of the

company like annual report, performance appraisal forms, training

documents, employees' records files maintained by the HR department,

in-house, journals and periodicals.

Analysis of secondary data:Analysis of secondary data can give a lot

of insight into the assets and liabilities of the company. The analysis mayrelate to age profile of the workforce, stagnation in career progression

and analysis of training, etc.

HR audit report:HR audit as a diagnostic tool helps in improving the HR

functions, systems, competencies, culture, team, policies and practices.

HR audit report provides insights into the sources of the problem and

appropriate strategies can be taken. HR audit always keeps the business

goals in focus.