...will define collective and individual agreements, analyse the differences between them, examine the role of employee voice, trade union involvement and the role of the State and regulation of the industrial relations system. It will consider the impact of the agreements upon both employees and outcomes achieved by businesses and will make the argument that the most efficient and productive form of workplace arrangements for business are collective agreements. Collective Agreements Collective agreements are formal contracts that are negotiated between an employer and a group of employees that stipulate the terms and conditions of employment. This type of agreement exists in a more centralised industrial relations system, and this system is based upon compulsory conciliation and arbitration, a system that has been established since the Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1904. Collective agreements exist in a pluralist work relations environment. The pluralist theory identifies that there are different sources of authority and loyalty within organisations and that these sources may have differences of interest. Some interests may be in common between the employer and employees, but where there is a perception of inequality conflict can inevitably arise (Loudoun, et al., 2009). Collective Agreements recognise employee representation (trade unions) in collective bargaining which...
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... REG.NO BRIGHT HUNGWE R122385G QUESTION INDENTIFY AND DISCUSS THE CHALLENGES OF THE INVOLVEMENT OF IMPLOYEES IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN TRADITIONALLY CONSIDERD THE SOLE PREROGATIVE OF MANAGERS MANAGERIAL PREROGATIVES Managerial prerogatives are the discretionary powers left at any moment in the hands of managers. Every act which a manager or his subordinates can lawfully do, without the consent of the worker organization, is done by virtue of this prerogative. Essentially, it is an area of managerial decision-making where managers believe they have exclusive rights to make decisions, and therefore resist any interference with that control. The right that to manage relating generally to those prerogatives or areas of enterprise decision making which management consider being exclusively theirs alone and hence are not subject to joint negotiation/ collective bargaining with trade union representatives. Such rights have traditionally been taken to include hiring and firing of employees, promotions, disciplinary matters, production control and overtime allocation. The notion of managerial prerogative carries with it, the implication that there are actions or areas for action so essential to management that these remain unilaterally the property of management, if management each self is to continue to exist. EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT Any set of social /institutional devices...
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...The aim of this essay is to discuss whether it is appropriate to consider the employment relationship as a contract, in the sense of voluntary between the two equal parties. Fox (1974:183) argues that it is inappropriate to consider the employment contract is equal and the employment relationship is merely a ‘brute facts of power’. With reference to Fox’s statement, this essay will discuss the nature of employment relationship, the influence of key institutions and their impact for employers and employees, and the three main perspectives at work. This essay will support Fox’s statement as inequality between the employers and employees is often an issue at the workplace. The basis of employment relationship is the relationship that exists between the employer and employee. The employment relationship is the context within which indicate interactions between employees, who may be unionised, and employers are conducted, both collectively and individually (Kelly, 1998). The employment contract is apparently central to the employment relationship. By the middle of the nineteenth century, with the development of Capitalism in Britain, based on the contractual relationship between an employer and employee, wage labour system had largely displaced traditional forms of work relations that are based on status. The role of the employment contract in the employment relationship is that it captures the way in which the employment relationship is an economic transaction, concerning the...
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...Managerial challenges in implementing changes and management skills required for dealing with such issues Implementing change is rarely a simple task. In order for managers to be able to enforce change with efficiency and efficacy they must consider and utilise a plethora of managerial skills to deal with the issues that arise. It is not necessarily a management perspective that is the main proponent of change; rather, it is the prerogative of a leader who is more focussed on dealing with change in relation to the rapid fluctuations in markets. The main managerial skills to undertake as a manager or leader attempting to implement change focus mainly on the ability to overcome the resistance to change. This requires a manager to utilize more inspirational and motivational skills to be able to either convince employees that the change is necessary or to help them deal with the new issues that may arise by boosting morale and overall motivation. Another key aspect that the manager must be aware of is the possible reduction in both junior and senior level staff if the change is perceived to have too negative an effect on them. Managers are therefore required to be able to negotiate the terms of the change to be implemented alongside such employees that wish to leave which should allow minor adjustments to be made to the change that will leave every level of the business satisfied. Perhaps the key issue that managers face when implementing change is the occasional need to...
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...global market, business has to look at ways to increase productivity and profitability in order to stay competitive, and this requires greater levels of flexibility in the workforce. The key components of this argument are direct and indirect employee voice, and which is better for both the employee and employer. Are Trade Unions relevant as their bargaining position has been weakened by both a more global market, changes to more atypical labour types and Government legislation that emphasised individualism over collectivism (Hayter 2010). Collective agreements are agreements between employers and employees which regulate workplace terms and conditions as a collective. This is generally instigated as a result of collective bargaining by a third party, primarily Trade Unions. Individual agreements, however, are between an employer and an individual employee, and can be instituted outside of any existing collective agreement. Collective agreements, are by nature, a more Pluralist approach to workplace management, whereas Individual agreements are aligned with a more Unitarist approach. Both of these management theories bring in to consideration managerial prerogative and employee voice in the workplace. Employee...
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...Introduction What is a trade union? The definition of a trade union varies in different countries. A commonly used definition of a trade union is by Webbs (1984), which states that a trade union is “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”. Trade unions were well-received by the workers during the age of the industrial revolution. During that period of time, workers are in a weaker position as they do not have the power to choose their job, as opposed to their employers choosing their workers (Williams and Adam-Smith 2006). Labours are mainly made up of unskilled or semi-skilled workers. Unskilled workers do not possess any skills thus having the weakest power in employee relations. Semi-skilled workers on the other hand possess some firm-specific skill which gives them some power like in wage settings (Grosfeld and Nivet 1999). Since the goal of the employer is to employ workers at the lowest cost and workers have weak power, they are unable to secure a good wage or benefits. There is also managerial prerogative in which managers have “the right to manage” because they are the “legitimate agent of the employer” and have the possession of certain skills (William and Adam-Smith 2006) resulting in workers having no voice in decision-making. As a result of the difference in power between workers and employers and the lack of voice in decision making, this entices workers to join a trade union. The main roles...
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...tribunal containing the minimum terms and conditions of employment that an employer in industry must provide. It grants all employees in one industry or employer have the same conditions of employment and wages. Awards are introduced to protect employees' wages and conditions. Awards cover things such as pay, overtime rates and conditions, special leave arrangements, special allowances and hours of work. Awards are issued by Fair Work Australia, which is the tribunal set up by government to perform this function. Fair Work Australia has responsibility for making and varying awards in the national workplace relations system. A representative union can negotiates an employee’s award on their behalf. This negotiation is funded by the members of the union, even though it applies to all employees. Employees can get their award from their union if you're a member or from Fair Work Australia. 2. What is workers’ compensation and who is covered by it? Workers compensation is insurance policy will be covered under WorkCover Queensland to protect all employees from injury, illness or disease. The compensation can be monetary and non-monetary compensation such as medical care that related to the injury. The objective of this insurance are to Provide medical treatment and income security to injured workers, Ensure employers meet the costs associated with injuries and disease arising at workplaces under their control and Ensure earliest possible return to work. The payment of worker...
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... employers, trade unions and government on a regular basis. At the same time, there are three perspectives which are unitarism, pluralist and radical, each offers a special perception of workplace relations and explain the actions, statements and employers behaviours and trade unionists, such as workplace conflict, role of unions and job regulation vary differently. Based on the UK employment relations structure, the essay will analysis which perspectives appropriate for employee relations in the UK. Unitarist pespective The unitaty perspective is based upon the assumption that the organisation is, at the same time, the unitary perspective organisation can be as an integrated and harmonious whole with the ideal of "one happy family", where management and other members of the staff are all share a common purpose, emphasizing mutual cooperation(Naukrihub, 2007) and they have a set of common values, interests and objectives. Furthermore, unitarism has a paternalistic approach where it demands on all employees loyalty, being predominantly managerial in its emphasis and application. For unitary perspective, there are two important implications stemming from this. The first one is that conflict as the expression of employee dissatisfaction and differences with management is perceived as an irrational activity. Here, the conflict is regard as ‘ bad’ for the organisation and should be suppressed through coercive means( Rose, 2004). The second is that trade unions are regarded as unnecessary...
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...The implications of the diminution in union forms of representation for the efficiency of employee voice within the workplace In the first decade of the 21st century, HR has been set a large significant number of issues and many subjects such as employee relationship, strategic HR approaches, employee rewarding, people resourcing, management ethics and so forth have attracted great deal of attention, concern and study to analysis their role, effect and contributions in organizations. Even though there are wide ranges of subjects playing different roles in human resource practices, an appreciation of operating the relationship between employees and employers has become an essential position of business and management recently. Traditionally, employers in employee relationship tried to maintain the control of the workforce with the goal of enhancing business performance. Clearly, if workers are treated fairly and respectively, in addition, they have appropriate influence on managerial decision-making, it could better for them perform improvably. Managers prefer grater work outcomes, nevertheless, it could bring employees’ requirements being disregarded or undermined (Budd, 2004). Therefore, employees bond to express their voice appropriately and their interests should be respected. The main way in which workers tend to voice their interests and representations in the workplace is to participate in collective unions so that they could in a position of greater strength; trade unionism...
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...Sharing the Pie: Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations in Multinationals in Bangladesh Monowar Hossain Mahmood East West University Bangladesh Abstract Using the ‘convergence-divergence’ thesis as the baseline for the study of industrial relations and trade union activities in multinational subsidiaries, the present study tried to investigate extent of the trade union activities and IR practices of MNCs in a developing country context, i.e. Bangladesh, as well as influence of the MNCs on trade unions and IR activities within the existing social and economic contexts. The study revealed that comparative power dominance of multinationals over the host country industrial relations actors emerge as the vital factor in employer-union bargaining process, as well as their capacity to manipulate the existing bargaining process also helped them to implement their desired practices in Bangladesh. However, multinationals were not in confronting mode at all the circumstances, but their potential lobbying power created difficulties for the employees and the trade unions to develop countervailing power in the collective bargaining process and IR activities. Keywords: Convergence-Divergence, Bangladesh, Multinationals, Trade Unions Introduction Empirical studies of international human resource management (IHRM) often reveal that industrial relations practices of multinational subsidiaries face a ‘challenge from established home country labour and IR institutions’ to comply with the local...
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...and opportunity to perform effectively” (Wilton, 2013). This course-work will look closer what is an employment relationship, how it affects individuals in the workplace and company in total. It will also cover the elements of employment relationship, terms and conditions that affect both employer and employee, what are duties both parties need to comply. It will be explained what is contract of employment and psychological contract and why it affect individual attitude. After that, the three key perspectives are outlined on employment that are unitarism, pluralism and radical(Marxist). Each approach to employment relationships is different in the ideology, who holds real power, how conflicts are resolved, decisions are made and how trade unions can influence the organisation. How can HRM be understood? HRM plays significant role in the way how people relationships should be managed in the workplace. We can see HRM purpose as a “management of individual worker performance to maximise its contribution to the achievement of organisational...
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...industrial relations depends on which theory you find more persuasive: unitarism, radicalism, or pluralism. Unitarism is perceived as an integrated and harmonious system where the management, staff and all the members of the organization share the same objectives, interests, purposes and are viewed as one happy family. This single entity with a single authority has a loyalty structure which is considered paternalistic approaches were trade unions are deemed unnecessary and conflict is perceived as disruptive. Here management rights to manage are seen as legitimate and rational; and any opposition to management right to manage is seen as irrational. How long would the step ford wives syndrome last before it begins to crumble and fall apart? On the other hand radicalism objects to the capitalistic source of power where the ownership and control extends beyond the corporate limits and into the labour market itself. This allows for certain fundamental rights as in the right to associate where the workers possibly can form trade unions and assert a degree of power through the process of collective bargaining; having compared to the unionism capitalistic system that has no intention to take over management. They learned to bargain within an institutional...
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...COURSE: Employee Relations UNIT CODE: F/601/1271 LECTURE DAYS: Thursday 9:00am -12:00pm VENUE: School of Business & Computer Science, San Fernando DURATION July 24, 2014- November 20, 2014 LECTURER: Roger Samaroo DATE OF ISSUE: July 23, 2014 HAND IN DATE: 1A Oct 9, 2014 1B Oct 30, 2014 ------------------------------------------------- NO.: 1 2 3 RESUBMISSION Student Name: _______________________________ Edexcel No.: _______________ Criteria reference | To achieve the criteria the evidence must show that the student is able to: | | Task no. | | Evidence | 1.1 | Explain the unitary and pluralistic frames of reference | | | | | 1.2 | Assess how changes in trade unionism have affected employee relations | | | | | 1.3 | Explain the role of the main players in employee relations | | | | | 4.1 | Assess the influence of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK | | | | | 4.2 | Compare methods used to gain employeeparticipation and involvement in the decisionmaking process in organisations | | | | | 4.3 | Assess the impact of human resource management on Employee Relations | | | | | Criteria reference | To achieve the MERIT criteria the evidence must additionally show that the student is able to: | | Task no. | | Evidence | M1 | Effective approach to study and research and has been applied to understanding partnership in UK | | | | | M2 | Research of relevant sources for information and noting...
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...resolution, these arrangcments are shaped by specific national legislation and labour market conditions, and by each country’s prevailing attitudes towards work, conflict and co-operation. There are many ways to analyse systems of labour relations in OECD countries. For example, Chapter 4 of the 1991 Employment Outlook examined trade union density (the proportion of workers who are union members), and noted widely differing rates of unionisation across countries, ranging from around 10 per cent in France to over 80 per cent in Sweden. Union density is just one indicator of the character of a country’s industrial relations system. The extent to which employees are covered by collectivc agrccments concluded at various levels - national, regional, sectoral or company - is another important feature of the system by which wages and other employment conditions are set. In many countriec, workers who are not union members are in fact - through extension and enlargement provisions both within and outside the bargaining unit covered by the terms and conditions of union contracts. In addition, strong unionisation in a sector or geographic area may induce non-union employers to offer terms and conditions similar to those found in collective agreements. Key features of collective bargaining arrangements are outlined in Section B. Irrespective of the level...
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...industrial relations climate will become increasingly adversarial”(Business Guardian, 2011). This type of conflict and balance of power issues in the long-term can have adverse economic consequences as well as a negative effect on international competitiveness. The term ‘Industrial Relations’, in a broad sense, covers the employment relationship between employers and employees either directly or through their representatives. An explanation of Industrial Relations which clearly identifies the principal actors is:- “the relationships between employees and employers within the organisational settings. The field of industrial relations looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a union. Industrial relations are basically the interactions between employers, employees and the government, and the institutions and associations through which such interactions are mediated” (Naukrihub.com). Actors and their roles A key actor identified in the definition is the employer. The employer according to Burchill, 2008 may be from the Public or Private Sector, and the employer can exercise his contractual rights over the employee directly or through a manager. Burchill, 2008 therefore defines the role of mangers as exerting ‘power and line authority’ on the owners’ behalf. Associated with the employers are...
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