Reference no: EM132981739

Employer-Employee Relations: Challenges during and post Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has already been declared as a 'notified disaster'. All pervasive medical conclusions concur that Covid-19 is here to stay. The scare will continue along with the employer-employee challenges. Losing jobs and salary deductions are the grave consequences faced by employees. Employers are grappling with restricted cash flows and will continue to do so till the economy recovers. The obligations passed on to employers by various government orders passed and/or to be passed would pose new challenges. The relationship between an employer and employees is governed by the contract of service. In the wake of the Covid-19, employers may resort to the deduction of salaries in mutual agreement with their employees. In case an employee is refusing to work at a reduced salary, employers may choose to terminate employment by complying with the terms of the contract like paying notice of termination. But even paying a few months' salary would be a challenge any employer would face. Employees always have the option of approaching a court of law for seeking damages but they do not have the right to seek reinstatement in their organization. Under present circumstances, even the claim of damages would be a questionable issue, but the challenge for employees would be to have recourse to legal means in the absence of regular income. While we cannot expect things to be like what they were in the pre-covid-19 phase, normalcy is expected to return in a gradual manner. Employer and employee are two sides of the same coin and must sail together during this difficult storm of Covid-19.

a. Appraise the important roles of an employee trade union to overcome the challenges during covid-19, which may influence the Human Resource Department.