Chapter 10 Employment Relations copy
10
Employment
Relations
Chapter Objectives v To outline alternative perspectives on power and authority in the employment relationship v To outline the relationship between HRM and employment relations v To discuss key trends in employment relations, particularly trade union decline and the rise of non-unionism v To outline the notions of employee ‘voice’, employee involvement and participation v To discuss the various means by which employees can be given a voice in organisational decision-making and the rationale for doing so v To introduce ‘partnership’ approaches to employment relations.
Introduction
In broad terms, employment relations is concerned with the theory and practice associated with the management and regulation of the employment relationship. In particular, it is concerned with the socio-political dimension of the employment relationship and the distribution of power between management and employees, the incidence and expression of conflict and the social and legislative regulatory framework within which the employment relationship exists.
Employment relations is the contemporary term used to refer to what has traditionally been called ‘industrial relations’. As both an academic area of study and a set of organisational activities, industrial relations has traditionally
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referred to the management of the relationship between trade unions and management and associated processes including collective bargaining, negotiation and consultation and industrial conflict. The use of the term ‘employment relations’, rather than industrial relations, reflects a range of developments in the political, economic, social and legal context of the employment relationship that have taken place over the last three decades. The advent of new forms of employee management, such as HRM, alongside shifting industrial structures to a service-dominated economy, declining trade union power and influence, political
Employment
Relations
Chapter Objectives v To outline alternative perspectives on power and authority in the employment relationship v To outline the relationship between HRM and employment relations v To discuss key trends in employment relations, particularly trade union decline and the rise of non-unionism v To outline the notions of employee ‘voice’, employee involvement and participation v To discuss the various means by which employees can be given a voice in organisational decision-making and the rationale for doing so v To introduce ‘partnership’ approaches to employment relations.
Introduction
In broad terms, employment relations is concerned with the theory and practice associated with the management and regulation of the employment relationship. In particular, it is concerned with the socio-political dimension of the employment relationship and the distribution of power between management and employees, the incidence and expression of conflict and the social and legislative regulatory framework within which the employment relationship exists.
Employment relations is the contemporary term used to refer to what has traditionally been called ‘industrial relations’. As both an academic area of study and a set of organisational activities, industrial relations has traditionally
10-Wilton-4081-CH-10.indd 275
25/08/2010 3:15:22 PM
referred to the management of the relationship between trade unions and management and associated processes including collective bargaining, negotiation and consultation and industrial conflict. The use of the term ‘employment relations’, rather than industrial relations, reflects a range of developments in the political, economic, social and legal context of the employment relationship that have taken place over the last three decades. The advent of new forms of employee management, such as HRM, alongside shifting industrial structures to a service-dominated economy, declining trade union power and influence, political