Industrial Relations - Centralised vs Decentralised Essay

“negotiation about working conditions and terms and conditions of employment between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employer’s organisations, on the one hand, and one or more representative worker’s organisations on the other, with a view to reaching an agreement” (Farnham and Pimlott 1995).

I feel the labor relations system as currently constituted is effective for resolving disputes as long as both parties are committed to negotiating in good faith. Although, I feel the current system is effective a further explanation of the systems strengths and weaknesses will better explain the effectiveness of resolving disputes. It is in both the companies and the labor interest to negotiate with as little third party interaction to come up with an agreement. In times when there are disputes their different course of action that start from a least costly without giving up power in the decision to the possibility of becoming more costly to either party and give up the power in the decision. As discussed in the text when an organization and labor cannot come up with an agreement a third party may be asked to come in to negotiations to resolve a dispute which includes mediation, fact-finding, and interest arbitration.

More companies are turning to alternate dispute resolution (ADR) as an alterative to the judicial system for settling employee disputes. There are some clear advantages and disadvantages to ADR for both employers and employees. The best-designed ADR programs are those that are fair and impartial. A good ADR program should seek to find the best possible outcome for both parties while saving time and money and preserving relationships. The least effective ADR programs tend to be unfair and perpetuate the imbalance and bargaining power discrepancy frequently found in employer-employee relationships.

Australia has gone from a highly centralized wage determination system to a mainly decentralized one. There has been a move away from accords and awards to enterprise bargaining, through the 96 Workplace Relations Act. Recent policies include changes to unfair dismissal claims and the 2005 workplace reforms package.

These natures of employees and employers will constantly disturb the Australian labour markets causing it to be ever unresting. There are three major organisations in the labour market: trade unions, employer associations and industrial tribunal.

Figure 1 provides the detailed data behind each of these types and which of these provisions have been most and least frequently offered. The statistics behind each of these types (Figure 1) helped me to analyse which flexible working patterns have really been offered and then comparing such data with the uptake of such offerings by the employees (Figure 2Error: Reference source not found), provided a clear view on which provisions actually work.

that contemporary society exists in a post-modern era where westernised societies enjoy the benefits of higher living standards, where the rights of employees are elicited within the Australian Constitution and the rights of humans are dictated within Geneva conventions. An era where employees are entitled to government pensions, allowances, superannuation, and employees accrue sick and annual leave (McDonald & Brownlee, 2001). Furthermore employees are able to seek union representation and are legally entitled to industrial action. McDonald and Brownlee (2001) assert that Fair Work Australia, established as an institution responsible for fixating minimum wage and resolving work related disputes, perpetuates the notion that Australia is in transition to become an egalitarian society with minimal class disparity.

From early 2006, ‘WorkChoices’ legislation has claimed to invoke protection against unfair dismissal for employees and prioritized individual contracts to undercut award conditions. It also restricted union on accessing to workplaces and industrial action Overall, the main external challenges are caused by financialization which including restructured product and labour markets, antagonistic employers and legislation restriction. In addition, internal challenges contained declining in resources and memberships, which made unions realised that small unions could not survive in a neoliberal environment. Thus, a structural reform of merger wave would be embarked to respond a declining density, resulting in increased membership services and union power.

Flexibility is made up of numerous components however, within in the context of the workplace involves thinking creatively about how working lives can be better structured to match individual and business needs (Job Access, 2012). Following the review of penalty rate provisions, amendments to the flexibility clause were sought after with particular attention paid to the manufacturing industry. Greater flexibility was requested in the taking

Despite the harmonious nature of Japanese people, there are still conflicts that cannot be resolved within the enterprise union and the firm. Most of these unresolved conflicts occur because many firms are conducting restructuring and retrenchment during this period of economic uncertainty. When these conflicts happen, they can approach the local government mediation body to help conciliate and make a decision. Most decisions made are generally accepted; however, should the conflicts still exist, they can opt for arbitration in the Labour Tribunal System, or legislation in court. For arbitration, the judges involved are tripartite in nature: 1 professional judge, 1 union representative and 1 employer representative. All 3 judges must have professional knowledge and experience in labour issues, and there are no more than 3 hearings, verdict based on majority. If the verdict is rejected by either party, they may proceed to legislation (Elbo 2004).

During 2011 employer associations in Australia conducted an active lobbying campaign to introduce legislative changes with respect to industrial relations. Predominantly they were seeking to diminish the power of collective bargaining and increase managerial control under the

This essay will argue that the concept of ‘worker’ defined under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act (“ERA”) 1996 is board; however, due to the undefined scope of section 230(3) of ERA 1996, employment tribunals and the courts have adapted a rigid approach in their interpretation; that there is a ‘high degree of legal uncertainty’ as established in this area of law; that the law does not adequately deal with non-standard forms of ‘workers’; present proposals for reform by the UK Parliament on the interpretation and application of law at common; and finally provide a conclusion for the arguments put forth.

While the world has unanimously advanced and is more accepting of change, the workplace continues to be a place of discrimination, prejudice and inequality. Discrimination is broadly defined to ‘distinguish unfavourably’, isolate; and is context based (Pagura, 2012). Abrahams (1991) described the workplace as an ‘inhospitable place’ where gender disparity and wage gaps persist (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). Among other states and countries, the Australian government actively implements and passes laws to protect and maintain equal employment rights. While the objective of these laws is ‘to eliminate discrimination,’ the regulatory mechanisms in the legislation are largely ineffective at achieving this ultimate goal (Smith, 2008). However,

Be a leader is inspiring, managing and depending on the performance of the team to be promote. That is why the theories of leadership evolve form bureaucracy to post- bureaucracy. The bureaucracy style is the oldest model, created by Taylor and Ford on the begging of the industrial revolution the leadership is more related with managerialism and autocratic() On the other hand and the post bureaucracy is new model, it is more related with empower the employee and make him make de decision. In this model the company cares and development the employee (asdasd). For a leader it is necessary both characteristic to adapt to different situations. The differences between the styles affect the behavior of the followers and the performance of the company ().What most influences the leaders? Is the bureaucracy better than post bureaucracy for the employees? Is post bureaucracy behavior more manipulative?

Occasionally disagreements do occur, and in these cases the union may decide to take industrial action. If the problem cannot be resolved amicably, the matter may go to an industrial tribunal. The purpose of industrial tribunals is to make sure that employee and employers conform to employment laws. They are made up of people outside the workplace who make a judgment about the case, based on the employees and employers point of view. Cases that go to industrial tribunals are usually about pay, unfair dismissal, redundancy or discrimination at work. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) is often used to help find a solution to a dispute, which is acceptable to both sides. Its duty under the Employment Protection Act is to promote the improvement of industrial relations and in particular to encourage the extension of collective bargaining and also to develop collective bargaining machinery (Mclean, 2007). Its main functions are: advisory work, collective conciliation, individual conciliation, arbitration, and extended investigation into industrial relations problems.