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1. UNIVERSITYOF RWANDA
COLLEGE OF BUSINESSAND ECONOMICS
MBA Batch 12
Course: Negotiation and Conflict Management
TOPIC 4: The Role of the Rwandan Labor Relations Act in Preventing or Resolving Disputes
Presented by:HARORIMANA Aimable MBA-REG No: 219014315
Lecturer: Professor, RAMA RAO
Submission date: 23rd April 2021

2. Abstract
In every organization in managers have to create a very favorable environment
where employees and employers can carry out their duties effectively without
any negative influence that could hinder the achievement of individual and
organizational goals. Hence, organizational effectiveness which includes
customer satisfaction, as well as quality of work life, is essential to every
institution.
However, disputes in organization has become unavoidable because employees
and employers should have misunderstanding based on contracts and work
related. This work examines The Role of the Rwandan labor relations act in
preventing or resolving disputes in organization. Related Journals, other online
publications in resolving disputes were reviewed.

3. Introduction
Definition of keys concepts
Labor relations: By definition labor relation is collective labor relation between the management
of an organization and its employee’s representatives. It can be a set of such relations in a wider
context, such as in an industry, or in a national economy. Labor relations plays an important role
in investigation of unfair labor practice, process representations and bargaining unit clarifications
cases, it also prevents and investigate strike by public employees.

4. Cont…
Employment contract: Employees and employers daily enter into employment
contract with each other. These employment contracts may be oral or written,
indefinite or for specified term, detailed or simple. In many instances
employment contract is referred to as “relational contracts’’ which means
agreements that establish what the parties usually expect to be an ongoing
relationship.
Employment contract are formed when one party is the offeror extends an offer
that is accepted by the other party who is the offeree. The offer must contain
the employment ‘s essential terms and conditions. To form the contract, the
offeror and offeree must agree to the same terms and conditions at the same
time, this means ‘’mutual assent’’ must occur.

5. Cont…
After the offer has been made, the offeree has the power to create a
binding employment contract by accepting it. Depending on what
sort of response the offer calls for acceptance may be either a
promise to work or actual performance of the requested duties. For
the offer and acceptance to become final employment contract
consideration must be present, which means something of value
must be provided for it. The employees work or promise to work will
generally be adequate consideration for an employer’s promise to
pay a certain wage, bonus, pension plan, fringe benefits …

6. Labor disputes
One cannot define labor disputes without defining the term disputes its self , the
term disputes has also been defined by different writers ,by describing it as
arguments,disagreements,debates,conflicts,quarrels,lawsuits ,fights, altercations,
controversies, feuds, wrongs, combat, and war. He also argued that a detailed
analysis of the differences in these term and the specific instances in which one
may evolve into another provides some understanding regarding the nature of
the conflict. The term labor dispute includes any controversy concerning terms,
tenure or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or
representation of person in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or seeking
to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether the
disputants stand in the proximate relation of the employer and employee

7. Literature review on prevention or resolving disputes
As the employment is indispensable in our daily life, preventing and resolving disputes related to
it has developed all over the world, the employers and employees have tried to seek for the
different means of preventing or resolving disputes in organization by using formal ways like
courts or searching for other ways which are inexpensive and well –timed for them so as their
activities do not be interrupted by formal judicial process which is frequently characterized by
time consuming process. The concept of arbitration, as a method of alternative dispute
resolution came as a response in as far as the employment law related disputes are concerned.

8. Cont…
As definition arbitration is one of the methods of resolving disputes, in which a
disagreement between two or more parties is resolved disputes, in which a disagreement
between two or more parties is resolved by impartial individuals, called arbitrators is
mandatory and binding to the parties. One cannot define arbitration without defining
‘alternative dispute resolution” in as far as arbitration is one of the method of resolving
disputes. Therefore, Alternative dispute resolution is referred to any means of settling
disputes outside of the courtroom. Alternative dispute resolution typically includes early
neutral evaluation, negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration. Arbitration other
than conciliation, mediation and other methods of alternative dispute resolution has been
a popular method of resolving disputes, particularly in the employment, construction and
engineering sectors… Arbitration is a frequently used in matters relating to the
employment law disputes and commercial matters whether on national or international
level. It is better to mention that the use of arbitration does not prevent the exclusive
jurisdiction over employment disputes. (from dissertation written by Come
NDEMEZO, 2015).

9. Methodology:
This assignment, I will employ a minimum of three recent journal articles on the topic published
after 2016 which must be viewed and use to collect secondary data for this assignment. Since
these organizations employ the largest numbers of employees, we believe that the role of the
Rwandan Labor Relations Act in Preventing or Resolving Disputes in organizations are
uncountable.

10. The role of the Rwandan Labor Relations Act in Preventing or Resolving
Disputes
According to the Rwandan labor law, dispute is any disagreement relating to
legal or factual matters between an employer or an organization of employers
on one hand, and a worker or trade union on another hand, relating to labor
relations. When on talk of labor disputes, it is understood as disputes that took
place at work place, and which arise specifically between the employer and the
employee. As it is said above, labor dispute means a controversy between an
employer and its employees concerning the terms or conditions of employment,
or concerning the association or representation of those who negotiate or seek
to negotiate the terms or conditions of employment.

11. TYPES OF LABOR DISPUTES
Basically, under Rwanda labor law, it is very important to mention that there are two types of
labor disputes, namely Individual labor disputes and collective labor disputes. Below, it is
demonstrated how those two concepts are different.
Individual labor dispute
According to the Rwandan labor law, in article one paragraph 11, individual labor dispute is
defined as disagreement between one or more employee and an employer as result of breach
employment contract concluded between them.

12. Collective labor dispute
According to the Rwandan labor law, in article one paragraph 10, Collective labor
dispute is defined as disagreement between one or more employers on the one
hand and some or all employees on the other hand, which arises from collective
convention or working conditions.

13. MEANS OF RESOLVING LABOUR DISPUTES
In resolving labor disputes, there are means by which has been established by the governments
in order to deal with the resolution of disputes by maintaining the good relationship of employer
and employee. Regarding those methods, one can distinguish extra –judicial means of settling
labor disputes from judicial means or court procedure as well means of force like strike. Actually
the articles stating the disputes settlement in labor Law are from articles 102;103;104 as
follows:

14. Labor Law, Article 102: Amicable settlement of individual labor
disputes
The employees ‘representatives amicably settle individual labor disputes
between employers and employees. If employees ‘s representatives fail to settle
the disputes amicably, the concerned party refers the matter to the labor
inspector of the area where enterprise is located. If the labor inspector of the
area where an enterprise is located fails to settle the dispute due to the nature
of the case or the conflict of interests, he or she refers the dispute to the Labor
inspector at the national level stating grounds to refer such a dispute. If
amicable settlement fails before a labor inspector of the area where enterprise
is located or before the Labor inspector at national level, the case is referred to
the competent court. However, the court can decide not to receive the case
after determining that steps for amicable settlement provided for in this article
have not been followed.

15. Labor Law, Article 103: Amicable settlement of collective labor disputes
Collective labor disputes arising in the area of a labor inspector are notified to a labor inspector,
collective disputes extending beyond an area of a labor inspector not settled by the labor
inspector at the national level or not settled due to the nature or the conflict of interests, are
brought before the minister in charge of labor. An order of the minister in charge of labor
determines the organization functioning of labor inspection and procedure for labor disputes
settlement.

16. Labor Law, Article 104: Prescription for the claim arising from the
work
A claim arising from work lapses after two years starting from the date of the birth of the dispute
giving rise to the claim, the period referred to in paragraph one of this article is interrupted if:
A party to the dispute is requested in writing to settle such a dispute,
An employee or employer has referred the dispute to the employees’ representatives, labor
inspector or court.

17. Recommendation
We, therefore recommend that organizations should retrain their employees on labor law to be
aware how to prevent or resolve disputes, creating sociability among staff which enhancing good
working environment toward constructive and development of organization. Managers also
should adopt strategies based on the nature and the type of disputes between employees.