Human resources

Table of Contents

1. Topic pack - introduction
2. 2.1 Human Resource Planning - Notes
   1. Human resource planning
   2. Supply of human resources
   3. Workforce Planning
   4. Recruitment and selection
   5. Appraisal
   6. Training and development
   7. Internal and external training
   8. Benefits of good training
   9. Dismissal and redundancy/lay-off
   10. Legal employment rights
   11. Legislation on employment rights
   12. Achieving workforce planning targets
   13. Changing employment patterns and practices
   14. Analysing changes
   15. Handy's Shamrock
3. 2.1 Human resource planning - questions
4. 2.2 Organisational structure - notes
5. 2.2 Organisational structure - questions
6. 2.3 Communication - notes
7. 2.3 Communication - questions
8. 2.4 Leadership and management - notes
9. 2.4 Leadership and management - questions
10. 2.5 Motivation - notes
11. 2.5 Motivation - questions
12. 2.5 Motivation - simulations and activities
13. 2.6 Organisational and corporate cultures - notes (HL only)
14. 2.6 Organisational and corporate cultures - questions
15. 2.7 Employer and employee relations - notes (HL only)
16. 2.7 Employer and employee relations - questions
17. 2.8 Crisis management and contingency planning - notes
18. 2.8 Crisis management and contingency planning - questions
19. Printable version

Legal employment rights

The Impact on firms of legal employment rights

Employment rights vary significantly from region to region and country to country. In an IB context it is difficult to be specific about what rules should, or do apply. In some countries, the state itself supports, or promotes, quotas on the ethnic or religious backgrounds of owners and senior managers of businesses, discriminating in favour of certain groups over others. In other countries employment rights are flouted, but the government turns a 'blind eye'.

It would not be correct to say that developed countries always get it right; there are plenty of examples of major firms facing accusations of discrimination and abuses of human rights. Nonetheless, it is true to say that legal protection of employers rights are more extensive in developed economies and employees have greater access to employment protection.

If a country is a member of a trading bloc, it may be subject to the laws and regulations imposed by that bloc. The European Union, for instance, has extensive European wide legislation to which member states must comply. These laws are applied through the use of 'Directives' which direct national governments to change domestic laws to meet new European requirements. All firms operating within the EU are then subject to the same legal framework.