Traditional Concepts of Employment Relations and Australian Workplace - Research Paper Example

To what extent, and in what ways, do the traditional theories of employment relations help us to understand the modern Australian workplace? Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 3 Justification for Choosing the Issues 4 Theories on Employment Relations and Australian Workplace 6 Conclusions 9 References 10 Abstract The paper on employee relations discuses the different emerging and existing concepts of employee relations in the light of the Australian workplace. It focuses on key employment issues generating in the Australian soil pertaining to unfair trade practices at the workplace and the reduction of the power of trade unions. To this end, several theories of employment relations are analysed to understand the potential of the subject in regards to the emerging business situation in the region of Australia. The theories are discussed based on mainly three grounds viz. unitarist, pluralist and also on Marx’s radical approaches. On the basis of such theories the industrial practices of the employers and the government’s role in such is analysed. This analysis is conducted to reflect on the reasons for the decline of the trade unions power and also on the needs for the changing business and industrial structures in the Australian framework. Introduction The government of Australia is taking potential steps to protect the plight of workers from undue practices of the employers in dismissing the employees from their work. Thus large number of employees in Australia is on an advantageous point in fighting against the event of them being unfairly dismissed of their work tenure. Further it is observed that small business outlets in Australia have more advantage in firing employees more often than larger ones. The employees in small business firms in the region need to work for tenure of one year whereas for larger firms it is six months to fight back against unfair dismissal. (Schneiders, 2010). The Australian employers are also endeavouring to compensate the employees adequately against taking the basic rights of better living and work conditions from them. The employees are over compensated in turn of sacrificing their rights to getting better meal and laundry services. (Johnson, 2010). Employees of a computer packing company located in New South Wales are also found to largely complain of not being rendered their basic rights owing to better living and working standards. The employees stated that the payment rendered to them often fails to meet the travelling and living cost. (Bibby, 2010). However the government of Australia is endeavouring to take special care of the employees involved in construction and building industry especially in providing legal protection. (AAP, 2010). The Australian employers are also reflecting a strong recognition of the existence of large number of trade union bodies in the region. Australia has shown a huge rise of trade unionism in several industries like education and other public utility services. (Bibby, 2010; Hannan, 2010). Justification for Choosing the Issues The two issues chosen regarding employment relation conditions in respect to the Australian region pertain to two aspects. Firstly the issue regarding fair employment practices is dealt with in regards to the Australian industries. Secondly the issue of promoting trade unions is also surveyed in respect of the industrial environmental standards of Australia. The fair work practices in respect of the Australian industries reflect important issues in regards to employment relation conditions. The issues hover around important aspects relating to working conditions of the industries, delay in rendering financial compensation to the workers and also for gaining flexibility in relation to work timings. Further the minimum pay standards rendered to the workers are also dealt with in regards to the fair work practices in the Australian industries. The concept of fair work practices in regards to Australian industries is further extended to encourage the entry of large number of trade unions in the workplaces. Fair work practices in regards to Australian industries encourage the growth of collective bargaining in the region diminishing the potency of singular unions. The issues regarding rendering the amount of minimum financial compensation to the employees along with the rights of the employer to dismiss the employees from their work are also dealt in the Fair Work systems in Australia. (CCH Editors, 2009, pp.1-2; Forsyth & Stewart, 2009, p.125). Special legislative frameworks also exist in Australia regarding generation of protection to the workers from unfair practices. The employers in this regard are desired to abide by such regulations to help in cultivating an amicable workplace relationship. (CCH Editors, 2009, p.532). The second major issue highlights on the potential of trade unions in regards to the Australian landscape. It is mainly observed that the region holds one major union body which was constructed to govern the actions of all other union bodies. However in recent times it is found that the major trade union body failed to render considerable power in managing the actions of the small trade unions. (Singh, n.d., p.5). Further interest on the issue of trade unionism in Australia rose from the sudden decline of such during the period ranging from 1990 to 1995. It is studied that the decline of unionism in Australia was mainly due to the increase in demand for arbitration policies in the country. Moreover large amount of changes brought about in the organisational structure of the Australian industries along with a new legislative environment led to the downfall of the trade union movements in the country. Further the employers of the new generation industries also endeavoured to reform the human resource policy guidelines in such fashion as to divert the interest of employees from forming trade unions. The change in policy guidelines regarding human resources functions in the Australian industries focused on strategising on the development of the relations between the employer and the employees. Employers mainly focused on encouraging the employees to gain ground through which they can easily communicate with their employers. Moreover like other foreign concerns the Australian companies started generating in house circulars and memorandums to help in the sharing of potential information with the employees. All these made the employees feel that their employers are quite cooperative and friendly which made them to shift their focus from organising trade unions. Thus the strategic functions of the Australian employers led to the shift from the policies of collective bargaining which demands the existence of trade unions to bargaining systems within the company framework which mainly works through the policies of arbitration. Surveys made along different industries reflect that newer employment relationships generated in the Australian workplace help in enhancing the productivity and performance parameter of the employees involved. (Campling, Gollan, Australia Department of Housing and Regional Development, University of Sydney, Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, 1999, pp.5-7,19-21; Branine, 2011,pp.162-164). Theories on Employment Relations and Australian Workplace The theory propounded by Paul Edwards on employment relations focus on the unitarist model which reflects a harmonious relationship between the management and the employees. This theory essentially focuses on the sharing of potential information by the upper management level with the people at the floor level. This theory thus states that the growth of the cooperative business environment helps in the reduction of the emergence of conflicts in the industrial environment. However such ideal phenomenon is often contested with the existence of growing diversity in the nature of employees and managers at the workplace. Growing diversity in the nature of employees and management teams in the industries leads to conflict over the decisions regarding utilisation of the organisational resources. Further the emergence of the plurality concept also leads to complexity of decision making among the several employee groups present in the organization on the optimal utilisation of key human resource potentials. Again the theory of unitarism can also be understood on the basis of individualism where the employees are able to share a one to one relationship with the employer. Thus this scenario rightly focuses on less dependence on collective bargaining systems. On the contrary the pluralist objective reflects on the need of collective bargaining systems where the employees can collectively bargain with the employer in gaining better access to life and working standards. (Edwards, 2007, p.315; Armstrong, 2009,p.10). With the development of industrial standards the pattern of employee relation theories had also undergone some amount of changes. It is understood that the unitarist theory of employment relations mainly signify the existence of a capitalist society where the employer reflected potential power in governing the workforce. The rise of employee sentiments triggered by revolutions among the employees led to the rise of the pluralist theory. However the pluralist principle also signified the clash of sentiments among the different groups of employees and managerial workforce. This fact encouraged the development of trade union circles to help in reduction of potential differences among the organisational groups. Finally the theory of Marxism goes beyond the concept of pluralism to reflect conflict among the different classes in the organisational framework. This theory rendered by Karl Marx does not accept the differences exposed by the pluralist principle for it held that the emergence of pluralist principle happened owing to the impact of capitalist domain. (Dainty, Green & Bagihole, 2007, p.266). The Marxian theory relating to employee relations is observed to reflect a radical or pragmatic approach to industrial relations. This theory is considered to reflect a radical approach for it studies the industrial relations in regards to change in the social structure and not depending on a capitalistic outlook. Karl Marx identifies that the key reason for the emergence of social conflicts is due to the conflicts between different economic classes. In respect to the industrial structure the concept of class conflicts gains stand in the conflict of interests between the owners of the company who has potential capital power and the labour groups which sell their work for wages. Henceforth, the radical theory rendered by Karl Marx first generalises on the emergence of conflict of classes in respect to the society and then streamlines the event in regards to industrial environment. Thus radical theory of Karl Marx indirectly reflects on the capitalist ideology where the employer uses the organisational resources for his own personal interests. Further Marx also states that the rise in trade union bodies in the industrial framework targeted to resolve the conflicts between the owner and the employee population. However the conflict between the capitalist and poor working societies is observed as a spontaneous phenomenon which had its emergence from the society at large and then percolates to the industrial structure. Thus the system of collective bargaining system which leads to the emergence of trade union is considered as one of the means in providing a solution to industrial conflicts but is not held as an end to such. (Singh, n.d., pp.17-19). The theories of unitarism, pluralism and radicalism as discussed above can also be extended in respect of state government’s role in industrial activities. It is observed that the state government of a region may render considerable influence on the industries through the enactment of special legislations pertaining to compensation schemes, generation of amicable working conditions in the industries and similar other employment relation issues. Thus the state government through the above approach takes resort of bureaucratic power to render control over the separate industries. Again the state government can take hold of entering into dialogues with the union bodies present in the existing industries and happen to make potential discussions with the union leaders to help in the reduction of operational and environmental hurdles. In the pluralist approach the state thus works as an arbitrator which endeavours to enter into productive bargaining with the union groups to resolve industrial conflicts. (Edwards, 2007, p.10; Howell, 2007,p.13). Furthermore the concept of employer associations reflects the growth of association of different employers in terms of three separate systems. Firstly the group of employers acting on the pluralist ideology have to render significant control over both the external and industrial business environment. They have to control both the market forces for labour and also the internal union bodies. On the other hand the employers can help in the promotion of industries and generate further production activities in the economy. (Gardner & Palmer, 1997, p.126). Conclusions The observation made on the basis of the above theories show that the industrial system of Australia has countered a major shift from the pluralist mode to the unitarist mode. It is because in the previous days the employer along with the state encouraged the system of entering into dialogues with the union and trade regulation bodies for helping to gain better control of the industrial environment. They focused on the system of conflict resolution through generating an environment of dialogues. However with the advent of the industrial world and entry of foreign firms from developed nations like United States the industries of the Australian region countered major shifts in the organisational framework and strategic forces came into action to form new policy regulations that helped the employees to enter into direct confrontation with the employers. The employers focused on sharing potential information with the different employees through memorandums and other notices. Thus the employers shifted to the unitarist mode where they could have potential control of the employees and reduce the need for resorting to formation of unions. The employees though enjoy working in a collaborative atmosphere however gradually suffer from decrease in the power to manipulate the policy structures regarding wages and other work benefits. References Armstrong, M. (2009). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Schneiders, B. (2010). Workers get great job protection. The Age. [Online]. Available At: http://www.theage.com.au/national/workers-get-greater-job-protection-20101230-19b5g.html. [Accessed on April 26, 2011]. Bibby, P. (2010). Workers united will never be misspelt. The Sydney Morning Herald. [Online]. Available At: http://www.smh.com.au/national/workers-united-will-never-be-misspelt-20101122-1848s.html. [Accessed on April 26, 2011]. Hannan, E. (2010). Union membership on rise. The Australian. [Online]. Available At: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/union-membership-on-rise/story-e6frg6nf-1225865737717. [Accessed on April 26, 2011]. Howell, C. (2007).Trade Unions and the State: The Construction of Industrial Relations Institutions in Britain, 1890-2000. Princeton University Press. Johnson, S. (2010). Fair Work annoys employer group. The Sydney Morning Herald. Available At: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/fair-work-annoys-employer-group-20100601-wv2p.html. [Accessed on April 26, 2011]. AAP. (2010). ABCC chief sympathizes with workers. The Sydney Morning Herald. Available At: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abcc-chief-sympathises-with-workers-20101124-186oy.html. [Accessed on April 26, 2011]. Bibby, P. (2010). The Return of the Hungry Mile. The Sydney Morning Herald. Available At: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-return-of-the-hungry-mile-20101108-17kiu.html. [Accessed on April 26, 2011]. CCH Editors. (2009). Australian Fair Work ACT: With Regulations and Rules. CCH Australia Limited. Forsyth, A. & A. Stewart. (2009). Fair Work: The New Workplace Laws and the Work Choices Legacy. Federation Press. CCH Editors. (2009). Australian master workplace relations guide. CCH Australia Limited. Singh, P. (No date). Employee Relations Management. Pearson Education India. Campling, J., Gollan, P., Australia Department of Housing and Regional Development, University of Sydney, Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training. 1999. Bargained out: negotiations without Unions in Australia. Federation Press. Branine, M. (2011). Managing Across Cultures: Concepts, Policies and Practices. SAGE Publications Ltd. Edwards, P. (2007). Industrial relations: theory and practice. Wiley-Blackwell. Dainty, A., Green, S., & B. Bagihole. People and culture in construction: a reader. Routledge. Gardner & G. Palmer. (1997). Employment Relations. Palgrave Macmillan Australia. Read More