What Are the Key Elements of Industrial Relations - Coursework Example

Insert your name here Subject: Business Title: Industrial relations 23rd March 2011 Define the term industrial relations Industrial relations study is seen as the study that is used to deal with the human management and resources of an organization. The correct definition of industrial relations is that it is seen as a multifaceted and multi-disciplinary field that is seen to encompass every part of the human relations in an organization. The other names usually given for industrial relations are either human relations or employment relations. The reason for this definition is that industrial relations as multi-disciplinary field because industrial relations deal with all the faces of studies concerning human relations and human interactions. Industrial relations has mainly three faces mainly science building, problem solving and ethical. In the science face it deals with issues concerning social sciences which seek to understand the relations concerning the employees and their wellbeing at work. In the problem solving face industrial relations seeks to design policies that are able to help an institution work better with its employment relationship which includes the rejection of treating their workers in a bad and inhumane way and more so in a good humanly way which are in line with human right issues and labour laws. This also is a part of the ethical issue because with industrial relations the issues of doing the things which are morally right as opposed to doing things which only are in the interest of the organization. An organization with a good industrial relationship will always be doing something which is moral and ethical not only to the people working their but also take into consideration the moral and ethical integrity of the organization surrounding and its environ. Dictionary of American history defines Industrial relations as “The term "industrial relations" has developed both a broad and a narrow meaning. Originally, industrial relations were broadly defined to include the totality of relationships and interactions between employers and employees. From this perspective, industrial relations cover all aspects of the employment relationship, including human resource (or personnel) management, employee relations, and union-management (or labour) relations” scribd also quotes Lester as explaining industrial relations as “In the words of Lester, "Industrial relations involve attempts at arriving at solutions between the conflicting objectives and values; between the profit motive and social gain; between discipline and freedom, between authority and industrial democracy; between bargaining and co-operation; and between conflicting interests of the individual, the group and the community”. Reason for studying industrial relations The study of industrial relations is important in the case that it is used to settle grievance against the employers and the employees. Industrial relations always have the assumption that there are grievances which needs solving in a working environment. According to Scribd and online reading resource, industrial relations are a study used to denote the collective relationship between management and workers. Traditionally industrial relations were used to cover such aspects of industrial life as trade unionism, collective bargaining, workers participation in management issues, discipline and grievance handling. In a nut shell the study of industrial relations is important in a sense that it enables a better working environment for the workers of a certain organization. It also comes as a go between the workers and the management and also enables the workers to be a part of the management process of a certain industrial matter pertaining to the said organization. Industrial relations is the study which influences different factors and behaviour of people at work. The study include a few important factors such as governmental issues, employment, trade union, federation of unions and or associations, government bodies, labour courts, tribunals among other issues which has direct or indirect impact on the human resources and industrial relations. According to Scribd the aim of the industrial relations study is to study the role of the workers union and employers’ federations which includes officials, shop stewards, industrial relations officers and managers, mediations conciliation and arbitrations, judges of labour courts and tribunals etc. this should be the main character of the study of industrial relations. The study should also include methods used in bargaining for the collective good of an organization between workers and the management or vice versa. These methods should be able to address equally the grievances of the parties involved. Another important issue of the study of industrial law should study matters which are involved with the employment conditions such as payment, hours of working, leave with wages and health issue or absence due sickness and medical concerns. This also studies issues pertaining to disciplinary action taken against the workers which include safety, dismissal, retirement, layoffs and regulations which needs to be followed with regards to the mentioned issues Main features of a system of industrial relations Different industrial relations have different system and features for instance the industrial relations system of the European level. According to the article EU system of industrial relations a system of industrial relations at a European level has specific features which are related to the current economic political and social development of the European Union. These features include the European social dialogue, the European employment strategy, the charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, transnational coordination of collective bargaining, the macroeconomic dialogue and the European works council. Each and every process and system mentioned contributes towards the collective industrial relations of the European Union. In the early 90s there was significant changes made in the Australian work place relations law. According to Australian Government department of foreign affairs and trade the reforms were put in place to seek and maintain a strong net for employees while at the same time providing greater flexibility and choice for the employer and employees at the work place level. Introduction of transitional measures was put in place these were supposed to phase out the existing work place relations laws the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 and the Workplace Relations Amendment (A Stronger Safety Net) Act 2007). Notable among these reforms is the phasing out of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). The changes contained in the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008 reflect undertakings made by the Government in its policy statements: Forward with Fairness; and Forward with Fairness Implementation Policy Plan. According to the government website these laws were meant to: prevent the making of new Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) allow employers using AWAs as at 1 December 2007 to offer Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs) to new employees and employers already on AWAs, for a two year transitional period Introduces a ‘no-disadvantage test’ for new collective agreements and ITEAs A new workplace relations bill will be introduced into parliament later this year to ensure the Government’s proposed new workplace relations system will be fully operational by 1 January 2010. The main features of Australian industrial relations systems includes the Australian fair pay and conditions standard, minimum wages, awards and awards modernizations, workplace agreements, freedom of associations, right of entry, industrial actions, unfair dismissal and unlawful terminations and compliance. These are the feature of the system governing the current industrial relations law in Australia which is set to change with the onset of a new constitution. The main players in an industrial relation system include the employer who is the person with the right to hire and sack the workers or the employees. They are also able to locate and relocate workers by exercising the management right; they are also able to merge, close or to introduce new technological changes to the work environment. The second player are the employees these are the workers who seek to improve the terms and condition of their employment by joining unions as a platform which enables them to air their grievances and also to share in the decision which the management are supposed to make concerning the working environment. The third major player is the government whose main influence is to regulate the industrial relations through introduction and passing of laws which will be seen as beneficial to both the employees and the employers. Explain and identify features of Theories developed to assist in understanding industrial relations There are three main theories that were developed to help in understanding of the industrial relations these were: The unitary perspective which deals with the assumption that an organization is supposed to be run as a single entity. Where the employers and employees all share a common purpose and that is the success of the organization. The pluralism perspective which is seen as the tool of devolution in an organization. This type of theory states that there are different entities in an organization with different interest and different goals which they push to achieve The Marxist which is the far extreme of all the theories of industrial relations and is linked to the capitalist phenomenon. The capitalist view is where there is divergent interest between the main goals of an organization which is the labour and the capital. Key elements of industrial relations The major elements in Australian law concerning industrial relations are: Fair and comprehensive safety net of minimum employment conditions this means that there has to be fairness in handling all issues relating to employment and work conditions System that has at its heart bargaining in good faith at the enterprise level which means a system that is looking after the interest of the people concerned Protections from unfair dismissal for all employees which means employees have a right to fair hearing before being dismissed and has to have a chance to prove that they are not to blame Protection for the low-paid A balance between work and family life, and The right to be represented in the workplace by a union or an employer body Importance of studying Australian industrial relation system The Australian industrial relations have changed over the past decades in what seems to be a monumental effort by the government to open the country to the global market place and economy. This is seen to have happened mostly with the phasing out of the tribunal based system of arbitration and conciliation that has been seen to shape the labour management relationship in this country for centuries now.(Hawkes et,al, 1998) According to Hawke et al. The tribunal-based systems of conciliation and arbitration that have shaped labour-management relationships since the turn of the century now play a less pivotal role, and the systems of awards that continue to be administered by the various tribunals are less central to the determination of wages and conditions. The Australian industrial relations have seen changes in the bargaining power which has taken place in the work place according to Hawkes et al(1998). There is a hybrid system which places much greater emphasis on the enterprise and work places. Before these changes the conditions of employment of Australia were much more dependent on highly prescriptive multi-employer awards which were usually determined by a third person on behalf of the employee. This third person was far removed from the work place environment. The new laws have put into place a situation where the award system is just used as bench mark while there is much more bargaining power among the employee and dialogue to the employer and the work place. The Australian industrial relations is of great importance to study since it has seen several changes which have rapidly cumulated to Australia being at par with the global market and the industrial relations governing such situation and organization. The past two decades have seen major and immense changes in the Australian industrial relations than in the past century with Australian moving much more from the Marxist theory to the Define industrial relations in a way that encompasses the changes which occurred in the past two decades in Australia Industrial relations is a term used to encompass a system where there is an amicable relationship between the employees and the management which is linked directly or indirectly to the union. Industrial relations look into the relationship between the management and the employees. The Australian government passed an amendment to the Howards workplace relations act of 1996 in 2005 which replaced the previous labour government industrial relations act of 1988. The work choices proved to bring them most comprehensive changes to the industrial relations by dispensing with the unfair dismissal laws which allowed companies which were under a certain size to enact. They also removed the no disadvantage test which had sought to ensure that workers were not left disadvantaged in case of changes in the legislations. The new changes did away with the requirement that workers were supposed to submit certified agreements to the work place authority which severely compromised the ability of the workers to go on strike and required workers to only bargain on previous conditions rather than on collective ability. In general the Australian industrial relations law has been able to place itself in a situation where an employee is able to join a labour organization and be able to collectively bargain and air out their grievances as a body other than as an individual or based on previous contracts. Bibliography 1. Australian library and information association, work place legislation retrieved on 28th March 2011 from http://www.alia.org.au/employment/workplace.html 2. Industrial relations system retrieved on 28th March 2011 from http://industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/industrial-relation-system.html 3. Gahan. P, et al, Australian Labour Market Institutions, ‘Deregulation’ and the Open Economy 4. Scribd Industrial relations retrieved on 28th March 2011 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/18961201/Industrial-Relations 5. Dictionary of American definition, industrial relations (2003) 6. Wikipedia , industrial relations retrieved on 28th of March from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_relations 7. Australian government department of foreign affairs and trade, industrial relations, retrieved on 28th March 2011 from http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/workplace_relations.html 8. Eurofold, E U system of industrial relations, ( 2007) 9. P.W.Wiljoy, theories of industrial relations,(2009) Articles base. 10. Hawkes A, et. Al. The changing face of Australian industrial relations: a survey.(1998) vol 74, economic records. Read More