Scenario
The public sector organisation that you work for has recently undergone a merger with another similar public sector organisation that has had significant staff changes across key departments.
The incoming leadership, management and people practice teams are relatively new to their posts and have limited awareness of managing employee relations in the public sector as many of them have been recruited from the private sector.
There are concerns that this could affect commitment to existing employee relations practices. With this in mind, your people practice director has asked you to write a briefing paper. You need to provide the teams with knowledge and understanding about:
a) the various forms of representation that can be employed at work and how these are used to support workplace harmony, and
b) the different forms of conflict and dispute resolution and how to manage performance, disciplinary and grievance matters lawfully.
To complete the Briefing paper, you should include written responses to each of the 10 points below, making appropriate use of academic literature, case and statutory law, codes of practice, research, and good practical examples to substantiate your response and illustrate key points. Please ensure that you use reputable sources as indicated on the unit reading list and that all cited sources are correctly acknowledged and presented in full Reference List (and Bibliography where appropriate) at the end of your Briefing paper.
Briefing paper
Referring to the above scenario:
1) Differentiate between employee involvement and employee participation and how they build relationships. (AC 1.1)
2) Compare forms of union and non-union employee representation. (AC 1.2)
3) Evaluate the relationship between employee voice and organisational performance. (AC 1.3)
4) Explain the concept of better working lives and how this can be designed. (AC 1.4)
5) Distinguish between organisational conflict and misbehaviour. (AC 2.1)
6) Assess emerging trends in the types of conflict and industrial sanctions. (AC 2.2)
7) Distinguish between third-party conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. (AC 2.3)
8) Explain the principles of legislation relating to unfair dismissal in respect of capability and misconduct issues. (AC 3.1)
9) Analyse three key causes of employee grievances. (AC 3.2)
10) Advise on the importance of handling grievances effectively. (AC 3.3)
Your evidence must consist of:
• A Briefing paper setting out written responses to each of the 10 Instructions.
• Assessment Criteria numbers as headings for each answer.
• Professionally presented answers, with in-text Harvard Referencing to support them.
• End Reference List.
• Approximately 3,900 words, refer to CIPD wordcount policy (+/-10%).
Assessment Criteria Evidence Checklist
You may find the following checklist helpful to make sure that you have included the required evidence to meet the task. This is not a mandatory requirement as long as it is clear in your submission where the assessment criteria have been met.
Assessment Criteria marking descriptors.
Assessors will mark in line with the following assessment criteria (AC) marking descriptors, and will indicate where the learner sits within the marking band range for each AC.
Assessors must provide a mark from 1 to 4 for each assessment criteria within the unit. Assessors should use the mark descriptor grid as guidance so they can provide comprehensive feedback that is developmental for learners. Please be aware that not all the mark descriptors will be present in every assessment criterion, so assessors must use their discretion in making grading decisions.
The grid below shows the range for each unit assessment result based on total number of marks awarded across all assessment criteria.
To pass the unit assessment learners must achieve a 2 (Low Pass) or above for each of the assessment criteria.
The overall result achieved will dictate the outcome the learner receives for the unit, provided NONE of the assessment criteria have been failed or referred.
Please note that learners will receive a Pass or Fail result from the CIPD at unit level. Referral grades can be used internally by the centre.
Overall mark Unit result
0 to 19 Fail
20 to 25 Low Pass
26 to 32 Pass
33 to 40 High Pass
Marking Descriptors
Mark Range Descriptor
1 Fail The response DOES NOT demonstrate sufficient knowledge, understanding or skill (as appropriate) to meet the AC.
Insufficient examples included, where required to support answer. Insufficient or no evidence of the use of wider reading to help inform answer.
Presentation or structure of response is not appropriate and does not meet the requirement of the question/assessment brief.
2 Low Pass The response demonstrates an acceptable level of knowledge, understanding or skill (as appropriate) to meet the AC.
Sufficient acceptable examples included, where required to support answer.
Sufficient evidence of appropriate wider reading to help inform answer.
Satisfactory in-text referencing.
Answer is acceptable but could be clearer in responding to the question/task and presented in a more coherent way.
Required format adopted but some improvement required to the structure and presentation of the response.
3 Pass
The response demonstrates a good level of knowledge, understanding or skill (as appropriate) to meet the AC.
Includes confident use of examples, where required to support the answer.
Good evidence of appropriate wider reading to help inform answer.
A good standard of in-text referencing.
Answer responds clearly to the question/task and is well-expressed. Presentation and structure of response is appropriate for the question/task.
4 High Pass The response demonstrates a wide and confident level of knowledge, understanding or skill (as appropriate) to meet the AC. Includes strong examples that illustrate the points being made and support the answer.
Considerable evidence of appropriate wider reading to inform answer.
An excellent standard of in-text referencing.
Answer responds clearly to the question/task and is particularly well-expressed or argued.
Presentation and structure of response is clear, coherent, and responds directly to the requirements of the que