non-legislative methods Resolving conflict
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Transcript non-legislative methods Resolving conflict
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
2
Resolving conflict:
non-legislative methods
What is a conflict?
Conflict resolution
Non-legislative methods for resolving industrial conflict
The law of contract
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
What is conflict?
Conflict is:
Disagreements between people
• Between directors, management and unions, and business and its
customers
Causes of conflict:
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Directors and management have different goals (e.g. profitability)
Business and customers disagree on selling price, quality and service
Leadership style of managers can cause conflict with staff
Industrial relations issues (e.g. wages, working conditions and productivity)
Business and suppliers disagree about delivery dates, quality, discounts
and credit terms
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
Conflict Resolution
Conflicts should be resolved to avoid businesses and employees losing out
Consequences of ignoring conflict
Company can lose sales
Employees lose wages
Customers shop elsewhere
Two methods of resolving conflict
Legislative
Non-legislative
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
Non-legislative methods of resolving conflict (part 1)
Negotiate a solution
Aim is to resolve the dispute quickly
Involves direct discussion between parties
(e.g. employer–employee or employer–union)
Both sides might have to compromise
Conciliation
Third party (conciliator – often an Industrial Relations Officer (IRO) provided by
Labour Relations Commission (LRC) http://www.lrc.ie/) hears both sides of the
dispute and suggests a solution
Commonly used in industrial disputes
Weakness is that the conciliator’s recommendations are not binding
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
Non-legislative methods of resolving conflict (part 2)
Mediation
Mediator must be agreed to by both parties in dispute
Mediator (provided by LRC
http://www.lrc.ie/documents/multilingualpdfs/5english.pdf)
intervenes when dispute is dead-locked and neither side wants to
continue
Mediator suggests ways to ‘move things on’ to reach a solution
Arbitration
Both sides ask for an arbitrator to be appointed
Both sides agree the decision of the arbitrator is binding
Not used often in industrial disputes
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
The Law of Contract
A contract is a legally binding agreement that is
enforced in law
Example: buying a house or obtaining a loan
Two parties involved in a contract:
offerer and offeree
Offerer makes the offer
Offeree receives the offer
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
Elements of a valid contract
All these must be present for a contract to be valid
Agreement: the offer and acceptance
Consideration: the money value of contract
Intention: both parties want the contract for it to exist
Capacity: parties must be of legal age (18 or over) to enter into
contract
Consent: both parties must consent to contract’s terms without
pressure
Legality of form: if a contract is not legal, it’s not binding
Writing: contract may need to be in writing to be valid
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
Termination of Contract
Can be terminated by either party
By performance: obligations not carried out
By agreement: mutual consent of offerer and offeree
By breach of contract: one party didn’t fulfil obligation
By frustration: unforeseen events (e.g. death, theft or, bankruptcy)
Remedies for a breach of contract
Damages: financial compensation
Specific performance: court orders that terms must be fulfilled
Rescind the contract: contract cancelled by court order
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods
Chapter 2: Resolving conflict: non-legislative methods