Contemporary Developments in Employment Relations - Coursework Example

Labour demand on the other hand, consists of the employers who have a need for work to be done, and who offer compensation for this work to employees who undertake it (ONS 2014). In normal market operations, the market wage in this case would be determined by the intersection between labour demand and labour supply or the equilibrium. However, the government intervenes to control wages thus setting minimum wages below which they are not legally acceptable. The employed are those who are actively engaged in work and comprised 72.

7% of the labour force in March 2014 while the unemployed are those not actively engaged in work but are willing and able to work and are actively engaged in search for a job and are of the required age and the unemployment rate for the same period was 6.8% (ONS, 2014). By December 2013, there were 5.5 million people working in the public sector comprising 18.2% of those in employment representing a fall of 159, 000million workers between September and December 2013. The top three employers included National Health Services (NHS), education and public administration.

In order to function properly, the labour market needs to be regulated and this is done through the employment law. These regulations include: national minimum wage; working time; maternity/paternity leave; health and safety; race and/or sex discrimination; information and consultation but for the sake of this paper we will discuss the national minimum wage and working time. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rankings, the UK has the least regulated labour market just next to U.

S and Canada. However, the industry is more regulated than in the 1960s when collective employment rights ad use of trade unions in bargaining terms and conditions was the norm. Employment contracts were unheard of, working time was deregulated, minimum wage restricted to a limited number of