Workshop on Labour Laws and Industrial Relations Management in the Public Sector

Program Overview

Industrial relations management in the public sector has become one of the most delicate and complex problems of modern industrial societies. Industrial progress is impossible without cooperation of governments and their employees forging harmonious relationships in order to deliver good services to their citizens. Therefore, it is in the interest of all to create and maintain good relations between government and her employees.

For whom:

Employee Relations Officers and Executives, Human Resources Personnel and Executives, Administrative Officers and Executives, Trade Union Officers and Executives in ministries, departments, agencies, and Local Government Councils

Learning objectives:

At the end of the program, you will be able to:

* analyze the ILO conventions as it applies to labour and employment laws in government establishments;

* appraise the concepts and theories of labour relations;

* identify the causes of conflicts in organizations;

* develop effective collective bargaining skills;

* develop effective ways of handling employees' grievances; and

* develop strategies for addressing employees' welfare

Course outline:

Day 1: The concept of the public service

· Labour relations and the public sector

· ILO standards and principles

Day 2: Recognition of the right to organize workers in the public sector: Convention No. 87

· Promotion of collective bargaining and applicability of Convention No. 98

· The public sector Collective agreements: 

Recommendation No. 91

· Settlement of disputes (conciliation and arbitration): 

Recommendation No. 92

· Determination of terms and conditions of employment in the public service

· Convention No. 151 and Recommendation No. 159

Day 3: Collective bargaining: Convention No. 154

Recommendation No. 163

· Principles on Freedom of Association collective bargaining in the public sector

· Legal basis of the right to collective bargaining   

· Workers covered by the right to collective bargaining

· Representation of workers in the collective bargaining process

· Subjects covered by collective bargaining

· Intervention by the public authorities in collective bargaining

· Legislative follow-up of the outcome of collective bargaining

Day 4: The right to strike: Position of the Committee of Experts and principles of the Committee on Freedom of Association

· Categories of public servants who may be denied the right to strike

· Workers in essential services

· Compensatory guarantees in the event of the prohibition of strikes

· Requisitioning orders and the hiring of workers during a strike

· Other international standards

Day 5: Standards adopted in the context of the United Nations

· National situations:

(Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, etc. Case Studies)

· Legal Framework (Industrial Relations Act)

· Parties to public service collective bargaining:

- Workers' organizations, Employers'

associations

· Structure and levels of collective bargaining

· Contents of collective bargaining agreements

· Labour dispute resolution

- The National Labour Commission

· Changing trends in labour relations in Sub Sahara Africa

Training Methodology

Lectures, discussions, exercises, case studies, audio-visual aids will be used to reinforce these teaching/learning methods.