Australian Labour Market and Workplace - Assignment Example

Discuss the main features of the Australian labour market in 2014. How do these features impact on the employment relationship?

The Australian labour market underwent a tremendous change in the year 2014 compared to 2013. The unemployment rate decreased while the employment rate increased. The signs of improvement on the labor market denote some economic growth as revealed by the statistics of 2014. This part of the essay is based on the statistical features and then the explanation of their impact on employment relationship.

The employment increased to 11, 725,000 while the unemployment decreased to 767,500. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1% at 2014. This was due to increase in full time employment.

The participation rate stagnated at 64.8%. The aggregate monthly hours worked in Australia increased by 6.9 million hours. Generally, the unemployment rate is still high in Australia. The participation rate is stagnant as has been in the past 8 years. Additionally, the ratio of the working age population’s employment has declined significantly.

The wage growth has also declined and as per the 2014 statistics it was below average. There has been an increase in the demand of labor supply in the non-mining economy. The supply of labor also decreased a result of the ageing population and the discouraged worker effect. The rate of wage growth has stagnated at 4% due to inflation.

Based on Gender women, comprised of 45.9% of all the employees with slightly higher percentage of this working fulltime and slightly lower percentage working part time. Of all the part time employees, women constitute a two third and the rest are men. The fulltime employees are mainly men with women only accounting for a third percentage. The rate of participation for men is 71.1% whereas that of women 58.4%. 31.8% of all the men in the workforce had attained a bachelor degree and above compared to 39.2% of women. 55.7% of the aged individuals receiving pension were women. The other major distinctive feature of the Australian labour market is a much higher prevalence of part-time employment for both sexes as shown statistically.

These features impact employment relationships in that as the rate of participation increases the rate of labor demand increases. The demand of labor is increased thus leading to the decrease in the rate of unemployment throughout the 19 industries in Australia. Most women who were employed as part time workers in 2014 compared to men who were more based in full time jobs.

Generally, the Australian labour market undergone some changes in 2014 that led to the increase in supply and demand of labour. Even though gender parity is evident in the labor market, the discrepancy is not as much as it was compared to the past years. There is a relationship between the rate of wage growth and unemployment rate as well as the rate of participation of the workers. The rates presented above are positive if maintained or positively altered for future employment relationships.

Discuss the main functions of trade unions in the contemporary Australian workplace. What are the main obstacles currently facing Australian unions?

In Australia all the trade unions are under the umbrella of The Australian Council of Trade Unions which is the peak body that is made up of 46 trade unions that collectively represent 1.8 million workers together with their families. This part discusses the roles of the Australian trade unions and the constraints to their functionality in the contemporary Australian workplace.

The trade unions have for a long time now played an integral role in monitoring as well as enforcement of minimum labor standards in Australia. The most important aspect of the unions is the regulatory function, it has continuously supported the industrial framework with. The unions have been in the forefront in solving industrial disputes such as strikes that have relevance on part of the employees. The unions also champion for the establishment of a universal superannuation system for the benefit of the employees. The unions also ensure that the workers operate in safe and healthy environments.

The unions have also fought for equal representation of women in the workforce, improvement of the working hours, and the entitlement of women to leaves. Additionally, the unions collectively bargain for the entitlement of employees for holidays and offs as well as better employment conditions. Most importantly, the unions have been able to convince policy makers on the minimum wage across the industries. The unions have also been fighting for job security, employees’ rights at work as well as fairness in the workplace. The unions also represent workers at governmental and non-governmental forums across Australia as well as overseas.

The Union density in Australia has decreased over the past decade following the structural changes in the economy and the labor market in general. The employer strategies have also changed with most employers turning to diversity as the only way. The attitude of the workers to trade unions has also changed significantly. The recession that was experienced hit hard every sector of the economy and the unions were no exception they therefore lack resources both human and capital for their operations. Most workplaces do not have union representation such that the unions cannot monitor the compliance of such workplaces. Additionally, there has also been a shift of the system of regulation of labor based on arbitration, rewards, and conciliation to the one that is based on bargaining. This has reduced the regulatory roles of these labors.

In conclusion, the Australian unions have the most crucial role to play in the labor market as can be seen in the above discussion. All the roles benefit the employees. However, as have also been presented, the unions are facing some challenges such as lack of financial resources as well as the shift in the labor related legal framework. The government and policy makers should alter situations for better functionality.

Which of the parties to the employment relationship has a duty of care in regards to workplace health and safety? How does the exercise of this duty impact on the employment relationship?

The concept of duty of care must be understood by both the employee and the employer. The duty of care at the workplace is very crucial thereof and is on the employer. There are associated impacts when the duty is exercised at the workplace on employment relationship. This part examines whose role it is for the duty of care and then the impacts.

The employers have the duty of care, meaning that that must take all the necessary steps that are reasonably possible to ensure that the health, safety and wellbeing of the employees is upheld in the workplace. This is not only a legal mandate of the employer but also an essentiality for boosting the commitment of employees, productivity and engagement altogether.

The employer does this through various ways. First off, offering clear job design, job definitions and regularly undertaking risk assessments of the workplace. Secondly, the employer must provide adequate training on how to use equipment including personal protective gear as well as offer feedback on employee performance. The employer should also ensure that any form of discrimination and harassment is kept at bay at the workplace. The employer must also consult with the employees on matters that touch on them. The list is endless and the employer must adhere to it for good employment relations. Furthermore, the employer must ensure that each employee is aware of all the policies and provisions at the workplace. The duty of care is therefore legally binding to the employer and the employer must abide to the standard reasonable care.

The exercise of duty of care positively would mean that the employer becomes the employer of choice and therefore win the war of talents in the competition stiff labor market. Most employees will be engaged and committed to the organization. This promotes the employment relations between further strengthening the human resource capabilities to excellence. On the other hand, negligence reduces trust of the employees and the potential employees on the employer thus weakening the employment relations.

In conclusion, the employer has the legal binding to the duty of care. Failure to practice this duty is culpable and is equivalent to negligence by law. As have been seen, the employer must do whatever is reasonable to at the workplace so as to ensure that the employees are in a safe and healthy environment. There are implications of adherence as well as breach on employment relations as have further been seen with negligence taking lead of poor employment relations and vice versa.

What impact has globalization had on Australian managers and on the conduct of the employment relationship?

There is not a single arena that has not transformed under globalization. The wave of change has also been experienced in the management part of business as well as the conduct of employment relationship. In Australia the managers have been faced with a plethora of challenges. This part first evaluates the impacts of globalization on the Australian managers and then looks at the resulting effect this has had on employment relations.

Globalization has led to increased mobility of labor. Due to the flexible immigration rules in Australia there has been immigration of individuals who find their way into the employment arena in Australia. There has therefore been the increase on diversified workforce. The training and development of the diversified workforce in Australia has been an uphill task for the managers. Additionally, there has been cultural diversity resulting in conflicts at the workplace causing the managers to have most of their time in problem solution rather than doing constructive duties.

Most managers are faced with the task of motivating the employees well and ensuring that they are engaged because the human resources are highly on demand. The management must ensure that the recruitment process takes account of gender equality. The managers must also coordinate the needs of the customers to understand the gap and avail the necessary human resource. Additionally, the managers must ensure that the safety and health of the workplaces adheres to the set standards. Lastly, when sourcing for labour from other countries the managers are faced with the duty of ensuring that they comply with the various labour laws that differs across regions. The mangers must also ensure that appropriate coaching is offered to the employees to ensure productivity.

Globalization has also changed the conduct of employment relations. The employment of individuals have been expanded across borders with the mobility of labor being the determining factor. There has also been cross border cooperation between unions and the corresponding growth of the trend of enterprise bargaining. Additionally, there has also been an increased conciliation and arbitration of industrial disputes as well.

Generally, globalization has increased the need for diversified workforce making the Australian managers have an uphill task in conflict resolution, training and development, skills assessment, adherence to the set international standards. The same has also reshaped the conduct of employment relations. There has been the integration of unions from different countries. In sum globalization is the reason why most of the workplaces and the managements have changed in Australia.