Labour Relations in Public Sector Employment Training Course

Course overview

Public-sector labour relations require decisions that balance service continuity, statutory obligations, collective agreements, political scrutiny and employee trust. HR and labour relations professionals must handle grievances, bargaining demands, disciplinary disputes and industrial action risks without treating public-sector employment as a private-sector template. Poorly prepared case files, inconsistent consultation and weak records can lead to arbitration losses, service disruption, reputational damage and avoidable costs.

This five-day course develops practical capability in managing unionised public-sector workplaces. Participants examine the public-sector labour relations framework; interpret collective agreement clauses; prepare for bargaining; run consultation and joint committee meetings; investigate grievances; manage discipline and performance disputes; and plan lawful responses to industrial action. They use tools including issue logs, grievance investigation plans, bargaining mandates, costing models, stakeholder maps and dispute-resolution preparation packs.

Instructor-led briefings are combined with public-sector case studies involving essential services, restructuring, absenteeism, pay disputes and union consultation. Participants work through role-play negotiations, analyse agreement wording, test decisions against procedural requirements and receive structured feedback. Each participant leaves with a tailored Public Sector Labour Relations Action Pack containing a workplace issue map, consultation plan, grievance case template, bargaining preparation checklist and 90-day implementation plan.

The course is suited to practitioners who already work with employee relations matters and need stronger confidence in the distinct legal, operational and political conditions of public-sector employment. It also equips managers responsible for approving labour relations decisions with a clearer basis for managing risk and maintaining constructive union relationships.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Interpret collective agreement clauses against public-sector policies, statutory duties and service-delivery requirements
• Prepare a bargaining mandate using interest analysis, costing assumptions and negotiation priorities
• Conduct union consultation meetings using agendas, issue logs, action registers and documented commitments
• Investigate grievances using a fact-finding plan, evidence matrix and procedurally fair interview structure
• Assess disciplinary and performance disputes using just-cause principles, proportionality tests and case records
• Develop an industrial action contingency plan that protects essential services and preserves bargaining options
• Calculate the operational and financial implications of proposed pay, allowance and roster changes in Excel
• Produce a Public Sector Labour Relations Action Pack for an active or anticipated workplace issue

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Labour Relations Managers — who lead union engagement, dispute resolution and collective bargaining activity
• HR Business Partners — who advise operational leaders on workforce disputes and consultation obligations
• Employee Relations Specialists — who prepare grievance, discipline and arbitration cases
• Public Sector HR Managers — who need consistent labour relations processes across departments or agencies
• Operations and Service Delivery Managers — who must sustain public services while managing workforce conflict
• Union Liaison or Industrial Relations Officers — who coordinate formal engagement with recognised unions

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to HR, employee relations, supervision or workforce administration in a public-sector body, agency, local authority, public utility or similar institution. They should understand basic employment concepts such as contracts of employment, workplace policies, disciplinary procedures, grievances and collective agreements. Familiarity with their organisation’s union recognition arrangements and delegation-of-authority rules is helpful. Participants should bring, where permitted, a redacted policy, collective agreement or current labour relations scenario. No law degree, prior bargaining experience, specialist case-management system or advanced spreadsheet skills are required.

Training methodology

The course uses instructor-led analysis of public-sector labour relations scenarios, followed by structured application exercises. Participants interpret collective agreement excerpts, build a bargaining mandate in Excel, conduct a simulated union consultation meeting and prepare evidence for a grievance hearing. Small groups test options against service continuity, procedural fairness and stakeholder consequences. Facilitators use case feedback to identify weak documentation, unclear authority and avoidable escalation points. On day five, each participant converts course tools into a workplace-specific action plan for review with their manager.

Course outline

Day 1: Public-sector labour relations framework

• Distinctive features of public-sector employment and accountability
• Sources of labour relations authority and policy hierarchy
• Freedom of association and collective bargaining principles
• ILO Convention 87 and ILO Convention 98 applications
• Union recognition, representation and facility arrangements
• Collective agreement architecture and clause interpretation
• Stakeholder mapping for politically visible workforce issues

Workshop: Participants map a current or simulated public-sector labour relations issue, identifying authorities, unions, operational stakeholders and escalation risks.

Day 2: Consultation and collective bargaining

• Consultation versus negotiation versus information sharing
• Bargaining mandate design and delegated authority limits
• Interest-based bargaining and positional bargaining tactics
• Agenda construction and negotiation issue sequencing
• Microsoft Excel costing for pay and allowance proposals
• Recording tentative agreements and without-prejudice discussions
• Joint consultative committee action registers

Workshop: Teams prepare a bargaining mandate and negotiate a pay-and-roster proposal, producing a costing sheet, issue log and draft settlement record.

Day 3: Grievances, discipline and dispute resolution

• Grievance intake, triage and informal resolution options
• Fact-finding plans and evidence matrix construction
• Procedurally fair investigation interviews
• Just-cause analysis and proportionality in discipline
• Performance management disputes and accommodation considerations
• Mediation, conciliation and arbitration preparation
• Microsoft Word case-file templates and decision records

Workshop: Participants build a grievance investigation pack from a public-sector absenteeism case, including allegations, interview questions, evidence matrix and recommendation.

Day 4: Industrial action and service continuity

• Industrial action indicators and escalation pathways
• Essential-service and minimum-service considerations
• Lawful contingency planning and management communications
• Strike, work-to-rule and overtime-ban operational impacts
• Workforce redeployment and roster contingency options
• Union communications during high-conflict periods
• Post-dispute review and relationship repair

Workshop: Groups develop an industrial action contingency plan for a public service disruption scenario, producing service priorities, decision triggers and communication lines.

Day 5: Strategic labour relations implementation

• Labour relations risk registers and early-warning indicators
• Trend analysis for grievances, absenteeism and disputes
• Manager capability gaps and escalation protocols
• Governance reporting for executives and oversight bodies
• Measuring consultation quality and agreement compliance
• Ninety-day labour relations improvement planning
• Public Sector Labour Relations Action Pack assembly

Workshop: Participants complete and present a workplace action pack containing a risk map, consultation plan, case-management template, bargaining checklist and 90-day priorities.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, ILO Convention 87, ILO Convention 98

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions