admin March 19, 2019An admonition has gone out to HR Practitioners and Managers in the country to endeavour to go beyond recruitment of personnel to promoting and nurturing employment relations in organizations, in line with Industrial Relations Practice as enshrined in the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
Buttressing the need for employment relations, Mrs. Bernice Welbeck, the Director of Human Resources and Administration of the National Labour Commission, Ghana, revealed that ‘’this is where thousand and one issues are coming from.’’ In the quest to promote the required harmonious industrial relationship, Mrs Welbeck reminded the HR Practitioners of the need to remember that:
‘’HR has moved away from the era of servitude, master – servant relationship to the era of social partnership.’’
Mrs. Bernice Welbeck making her presentations at the HR Forum
Challenging the HR Practitioners, Mrs. Welbeck asked them to do an introspection as she asked: ‘’Do you really have an employment relationship with the person that you have engaged?’’ and ‘’what type of contract is that?’’
Further in relations to the employment relationship Mrs. Welbeck pointed out that, ‘’it is a relationship that exist between the worker who is willing and available to work and an employer who is ready to give work, provide the necessary tools, the needed environment and has capacity to offer incentives.’’
She added that unlike contract for service, the employment relationship is a contract of service, where there must be an offer and acceptance, written or implied. Pursuant to this, Mrs. Welbeck pointed out among others that it is important and critical that HR Practitioners know how to write appointment letters in line with the provisions of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
The Event
Mrs. Bernice Welbeck made these admonitions at an evening Interactive HR Forum of the Accra Branch of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Ghana last Thursday. March 14, 2019. The event, held at the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Ghana was on the theme, ‘’Managing and Regulating the Employment Relationship under the Labour Act 2003, Act 651 – the HR Practitioner’s Role’’, was part of the planned continuous professional development programmes of the Executives of the Accra Branch aimed at updating the knowledge of their members to enhance their work.
A cross section of the HR Practitioners at the HR Forum
The Forum afforded the HR Practitioners the opportunity to be updated on salient issues bordering on the under-listed and in the process enhanced their HR literacy levels in line with contemporary HR Practise and compliant with the provisions of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651):
- Contract of employment and/or the appointment letter
- Records management in managing employment relations
- Grievance – the dispute settlement procedure
- Termination, Dismissals and Redundancy
In attendance to the highly patronised programme was Mr. Ebenezer Agbettor, Executive Director of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Ghana and over seventy HR Practitioners and Managers from sectors including banking, hospitality, hospitals, universities and some private and public service institutions.
A cross section of the HR Practitioners at the HR Forum
By Yen Sapark
