Assessment Overview
This assessment requires you to write an essay that identifies and assesses problems in a case study scenario | . The problems may be: legal or of poo
employment or management practice.
You are then required to provide recommended solutions for these problems.
You can use reliable New Zealand based websites for the majority of your sources. However, you may find that other academic references such as book
chapters or academic journal articles are also useful.
This assessment refers to the topics on employment rights and responsibilities and stakeholder interests. However, you could potentially refer to ideas
around later topics in the semester such as ‘Decent work’.
You are expected to look up employment law and advice on employment in New Zealand to help you identify what problems there are in the scenario before
providing recommendations to resolve the problems.
EMPL601 Assessment 2 Scenario
Your cousin, Jamie, is 16 and just got their first paid job in a cafe. Jamie heard about the job through their best friend who works there and who told the café managers that Jamie was looking for a job. Jamie has now been employed as a kitchen hand and is excited because without any experience it can be hard to get a job.
Jamie is still at high school and does not need to contribute to their family’s income. This means that this job is just to gain work experience and to save up money for university or a big purchase like a PlayStation.
Week 1 on the jo
In the first week Jamie was invited to do a trial shift from 5pm to 10pm on a Friday night. They were given no training before the trial shift. Jamie wasn’t told if they will get paid for the trial shift, or what the pay rate is.
After the trial shift they are told that they can continue to work for the café and that they will get a written agreement soon. They are told to expect one or two 5 hour shifts a week.
Week 2 on the jo
By the second week Jamie still didn’t have an employment agreement and had worked 4 shifts (of 5-hours each) over the last seven days. Jamie clocks in and out at work and has provided their bank account details to the employer. Although the employer has Jamie’s contact details and cellphone number, communication with Jamie is only through Jamie’s best friend. In other words, Jamie’s employer does not directly tell them their next shifts. The employer tells Jamie’s friend, who then has to tell Jamie when their shifts are. Jamie’s best friend is just another kitchen hand, not a supervisor.
Jamie enjoys having a job, but working in the hot small kitchen on busy nights is really difficult and Jamie struggles to keep up with all the dishes, and has to help out with some food preparation as well.
Week 3 on the jo
It is the third week in the job and Jamie still hasn’t been paid, however has finally received a copy of their employment agreement. The agreement specifies that work is on a ‘Casual’ basis. Jamie doesn’t have any guaranteed hours each week, but at the same time the agreement says that Jamie can turn down a shift they can’t do without needing to provide a reason. Jamie thinks that is ok, overall. The contract does specify that Jamie will be on the youth training rate. It doesn’t mention if Jamie will ever move off the youth training rate, which Jamie thinks is odd.
Week 4 on the jo
It is now Jamie’s fourth week in the job and the café is very short-staffed. Jamie keeps getting told at the last minute to do extra shifts and is working 15-20 hours this week. On Sunday Jamie was told that they had to work two shifts: 10am to 2pm and then 5pm to 10pm. When Jamie was finishing up at 10pm the older employees and manager had closed the café and were all drinking beer while Jamie finished cleaning the kitchen.
The employer still only communicates to Jamie through their friend. Jamie messages the employer from their mobile phone, but never hears back. Jamie does get paid. Jamie tries to turn down one of the shifts but is put under a lot of pressure and the manager rings Jamie for the first time on their mobile phone to tell them that they have to work and can’t say no. So, Jamie says yes to the extra shift.
Assessment Requirements
The essay should be 1500 words (+/- 10%) excluding references.
You are required to use the case scenario provided here | :
Identify and explain what the problems or issues are in the scenario.
Explain why it is a problem. e.g. it is against the employment law; it is bad practice.
Give 4-6 total recommendations for how to improve this situation. You should give recommendations for the employee and recommendations for the
employer.
Explain why you have suggested these recommendations and discuss the benefits and disadvantages for the employee and the employer. You should
also link to the information you gave earlier that explains if they are legal problems or just not good practice.
Conclude the assessment by choosing the top 1-3 recommendations from the total recommendations that you gave. Explain why you have chosen these
particular 1-3 solutions.
Referencing
You will need to:
look up information to support your answers.
use reliable sources of information, such as government websites with employment advice and academic journal articles about best practice.
eference any ideas that are not your own.
use in-text references and include a reference list at the end of the essay.
eference appropriately for paraphrasing (when you rewrite ideas or information in your own words) and direct quotes (when you use the exact quotes
from a source of information).
o adhere to APA 7th style of referencing.
Suggested format
You should use 15 line spacing and 12 point font.
You may wish to structure your essay like this (using the ITAC method):
Briefly introduce what the essay is about. State the structure of the essay.
Identify what the issues are.
Explain why these are problems/issues. For example, are they illegal? Or are the legal, but employment practices that are not so good.
Present all the possible recommendations that could solve the issues that you identified AND why you are making these recommendations, including
the benefits and disadvantages.
eo Conclusion: Present the final 1-3 recommendations