Employment Relations (MOD003059) Lecture 2: Some basic theoretical frameworks: ER perspectives and job regulation.

Transcription

1 Employment Relations (MOD003059) Lecture 2: Some basic theoretical frameworks: ER perspectives and job regulation.

2 Lecture outline Employee relations perspectives Theoretical approaches to the study of Employment Relations Job regulation The employment contract and nature of the employment relationship

3 Employment Relations perspectives Three views of the employment relationship: Unitarism: organisation as a coherent team united by a common purpose. Pluralism: organisation as an amalgamation of separate homogeneous groups within some kind of dynamic equilibrium. Radical perspective is based on class analysis and class conflict in society. (Fox, 1966; Hyman, 1975 in Dundon & Rollinson; and Rose, 2008)

4 Theoretical approaches to understanding the ER (1) Mobilisation Theory: Emphasises collective action as way redress perceived and actual workplace inequalities Liberal Collectivism: collective laissez faire (Limited government role in ER but acceptance of legitimate right to organise collectively) Liberal Individualism: Little/no Labour market intervention by the state, deregulation and no private sector collective bargaining

5 Theoretical approaches to understanding the ER (2) State Corporatism: Active government intervention directly or through public sector enterprises (pre- 1980s) Systems Approach: employment relations as a system of institutions and actors influenced by external and internal environments

6 job regulation: making the rules about ER Job regulation is important because, according to Dunlop (1958, p.13): network or web of rules consists of procedures for establishing rules, and the procedures for deciding their application to particular situations. The establishment of these procedures and rules the procedures are themselves rules is the center of attention in an industrial-relations system Cited in: Rose, 2008; Blyton and Turnbull, 2004; Dundon and Rollinson, 2011

7 Who makes the rules (1)? As Managerial prerogative: unilateral Regulation: In a market economy, [managers ] principal aim, in theory, is to manage the employment relationship efficiently in order to realize profitability, and this maximise returns to shareholders. Thus control over employees the terms and conditions of their employment, and their behaviour is an essential feature of management activity (Adam-Smith & Williams 2006: 6). (Read chapter 4 Dundon and Rollinson)

8 Who makes the rules? (2) Some employees have enough power to make individual bargains with employers this is either minor, or rare Workers could also unilaterally make the rules through their unions if they have sufficient power Joint Regulation: often involving collective of employees negotiating with employers, the terms of their employment relations

9 Who makes the rules? (3) Or else: The state, mainly through legislation, and sometimes through the courts or example Custom and Practice informal rules developed through day-to-day practice and tacitly accepted None of these sources of rule making and rules exists in isolation from the others

10 Where are rules made? There is internal and external job regulation Internal regulation refers to the making and changing, if necessary, of ER rules by the organisation and its members, without the consent of an external authority (e.g. government) External regulation is made by forces at least partially outside the enterprise, spatially or temporally

11 Internal Job Regulation (1) Unilateral Management imposes rules without consultation A union committee or branch imposes rules (closed shop) A worker or workgroup imposes rules (custom) Bilateral Management negotiates and agrees rules with Elected union officers (eg, shop stewards) Works councillors mixed union and nonunion Other workgroup delegates Individuals

12 Internal Job Regulation cont d Combined Management imposes rules after joint consultation Custom and practice rules are not openly negotiated but jointly accepted Internal job regulation takes place within the constraints of external regulation

13 External Job Regulation Unilateral Union rules at national, district of branch level Employers Association rules at national or regional level Trade or customary practices at national and or district level Bilateral Multi-employer bargaining at EU, national or regional level, in one industry or several Single-employer bargaining at EU, national company, divisional or factory level

14 External regulation cont d Third Party Arbitration, voluntary or compulsory Customary Rules determined by tradition or custom Legal Statute law or the courts, substantive or procedural Trilateral Three parties involved, e.g. social partnership International ILO and WTO conventions and voluntary codes of conduct, EU regulations etc.

15 The Case for joint regulation Effective employee dialogue can help staff feel more involved and valued by their employer, make them better aware of the business climate in which the organisation is operating and help them be more responsive to and better prepared for change. This in turn can benefit the business through better staff retention and lower absenteeism, increased innovation and adaptability to change. This should allow a greater ability to react rapidly to opportunities and threats, thereby ultimately enhancing a company s productivity. DTI 2003:5 High Performance Workplaces Informing and Consulting employees

16 The place of the contract in the employment relationship Framework for managing the economic and sociological components of the relationship Also legitimises managerial prerogative Contract of personal service between employer & an employee Based on the theory of market individualism? Expresses the implied and statutory terms and conditions Establishes patterns of work organisation and working time

17 The nature & limit employment contract with respect to ER Generally open ended Indeterminate A process of economic, but also social exchange Involving a degree of power relationships: between a bearer of power and one who is not a bearer of power. In its inception it is an act of submission, in its operation it is a condition of subordination, however much the submission and subordination may be concealed by that indispensable figment of the legal mind known as the contract of employment (Kahn-Freund, 1977, P. 13 in Dundon and Rollinson)