Forum 5. Instructions: International laws and regulations must be followed in international hiring practices. Describe at least two major international laws or regulations that must be complied with prior to hiring employees in a foreign country.
Labor laws has always been one of the main ways, in which modern states have tried to promote the use and identification of those principles and rights at work, which are established in the ILO Declaration of 1998. ILO Declaration “On Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work” indicates that all ILO member States, even if they have not ratified the Convention, are recognized as fundamental both within the organization and outside it.
The Declaration sets out the principles concerning the fundamental rights enshrined in the ILO Conventions, namely (International Labour Organization, 2014):
a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
c) the effective abolition of child labour;
d) elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
In 1967, US Congress adopted an Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which banned the consideration of the age for employment and mandatory retirement. This requirement applies to all public institutions and private employers with more than 20 employees, employment agencies and labor unions with the number of members in more than 25. The law prohibits the placement of ads on the hiring, which indicated a preference of the employer about the age of the candidate. The law protects workers aged 40 to 65 years. In subsequent years, the age limit was raised to 69 years inclusive (Nesbitt, 2010). Thus, in accordance with the US anti-discrimination legislation the termination of employment contract with the employee cannot be made if it would lead to discrimination against workers on the grounds specified in these laws. Such measures are certain limitations with the will of the employer dismissing an employee in the case of “employment at will” (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , 2003).
Forum 6. Instructions: Describe the job related factors as a former expatriate re-enters his/her own country. What are things you can do to improve the persons chance of success when they come back.
For HR-manager of an international company the management of expatriates is one of the most difficult tasks. Statistics show that 20 to 40% of expatriates return home, or get another job without completing the initial project. This means that all investments will be lost for the company. There are six main factors that determine the success of expatriates in the organization, namely cross-cultural orientation; selection of candidates for international destinations; training; evaluation; remuneration; and repatriation / termination of the project. In recruiting employees, an application form and CV are used in the hiring process. In great extent, applicants go through planned interviews (all candidates should be asked the same job related questions) before being hired. Also, the relevant experience is required before an employment test is used in assessing expatriates. The following categories of employment tests are used: personality tests and job-related knowledge/skill test (e.g. work sample test; moreover, the job classification itself (Schuler and Jackson, 2007).
Recommendations as to how HR-managers can train their employees to work with those from diverse cultures concern the program, which should include:
- cross-cultural and regional workshops, where information about the country is available (particularly accommodation, communication, culture , etc.);
- training for family members;
- intensive training of language of the host country (even if the person is fluent in the language , he/she should be provided with additional knowledge, professional vocabulary);
- preassignment visits;
- detailed information about the project goals and objectives, expected results and the timing of corporate policies on the movement of personnel, etc.
Forum 7. Describe the labor environment for unions that companies have to deal with. What has been successful for these companies? What hasn’t worked as well?
The influence of trade unions, which are fighting for the rights of workers, thereby establishing a balance of relations between owners and hired workers, is well-known. Trade union organizations can have a drastic effect on the activities of not only the individual enterprise, but also the entire industry. The history of the trade union movement is replete with examples of successful solutions on reducing working hours, higher wages, better working conditions, and others. The strikes organized by trade unions, for example, can lead to a complete halt production. For a negative assessment of the impact of trade unions on economic efficiency, the following can be considered: costs of strikes; restrictions on mobility, increase the cost of the search; restrictions on mobility and wage rigidity, contributing to a rise in unemployment; decline in profits and, accordingly, reduced investment, restricting economic growth; and loss effect release of the allocation of resources (Shen, 2011).
An alternative positive assessment of the impact of trade unions on economic efficiency is based on the fact that trade unions are seen as the institution of “collective voice” on the domestic labor market. Their role is to connect directly to the preferences of employees with the interests of management and participating in the definition of rules for determining salaries and career advancement, reduce competition in the domestic labor market. According to this view, such actions of a trade union lead to the reduction of the flow of workers and, consequently, to a decrease in the cost of strength; consolidation of rules to ensure the promotion of workers with experience, eliminating competition in the domestic labor market and creating incentives for older workers to share the experience with younger (informal training in the workplace); lessons learned and innovations; improvement of the discipline and reduction of costs of opportunistic behavior of employees; and decrease in transaction costs, employment contracts, replacing individual employment contracts collective agreements. All this contributes to increased productivity and economic efficiency.
References:
International Labour Organization (2014). About the Declaration. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/declaration/thedeclaration/lang--en/index.htm
Nesbitt, J. (2010). American Employment Law Applies in Foreign Countries. Retrieved June 14, 2010, from http://www.fordyceletter.com/2010/06/14/american-employment-law-applies-in-foreign-countries/
Schuler, R. S. and Jackson, S. E. (2007). Strategic Human Resource Management. Wiley.
Shen, J. (2011). Developing the concept of socially responsible international human resource management. International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 22(6), 1351-1363. doi:10.1080/09585192.2011.559104
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2003). Employee Rights When Working for Multinational Employers. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/multi-employees.html
