Labour Law Research Paper

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The Occupational Safety and Health Act is another labour law that tries to reduce disputes at the work place. Worth noting is that this Act not only applies to employers, but to all occupiers. The law defines an occupier as a person in actual occupation of a place whether they are the owner of that place or not and also includes employers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act establishes the duties and responsibilities of the employer in the provision and maintenance of plants and systems and procedures of work that are safe and without risks to health. Through such, disputes that may arise in the event of accidents from sheer negligence from the employer’s part are reduced.

The OSHA also stipulates that the employer has to provide information, instruction, training and supervision that is necessary to ensure the safety and health at work of every employee. This ensures that all employees are well informed of the different probable risks at the work place, ways to curb them and how to handle them in the event such risks or rather hazards were to occur within the organization. It goes further to stipulate that the employer has to maintain the workplace in a condition that is safe and poses no health risks. This to some extend has let to reduction of accidents and incidents that occur at the workplace thus reduce the disputes between the employer and the employees and their representatives (trade unions).

In recognition of the freedom of association as stipulated in the Constitution of Kenya, theLabour Relations Act 2007stipulates that every employee has a right to participate in the forming of a trade union of join a trade union or leave a trade union. The world over, trade unions are associations of employees whose principal purpose is to regulate relations between employers and employees including any employer’s organization. Once the employee has joined the trade union, they have a right, subject to its constitution, to participate in its lawful activities, in the election of officials and representatives, stand for election to be an officer or official of the trade union and to seek appointment as a trade union representative. This gives the employees a forum to be heard by the employers. Through the trade unions and their representatives, the employees are able to air their grievances and make them none to the employer. This helps in reducing industrial unrests, go slows and other unfavorable occurrences/disputes within the organization.

The Labour Relations Act also stipulates that no person shall be discriminated against whether they are employees or any person seeking employment for exercising his right to join or be part of a trade union. This goes a long way in curbing discrimination at the work place and giving the employees the right to exercise their constitutional rights to associate which reduces any disputes that might arise in the event of discrimination cases at the work place.

The labor law therefore protects the employees at the work place which goes a long way in protecting them from exploitation and any form of discrimination that might occur at the workplace.

Consequently, the law then integrates the various stakeholders in the labour market in recognition that the employees don’t operate in a vacuum and thus facilitates the rules of inclusion of employees in work-life balance, involvement of employee in various operations in the organization. This reconciles the employee and the collective responsibility that the employee has at the workplace.

With the above observation, I agree that labour law plays a major role in dispute resolution at the work place and the nation at large.