The Structure of Bargaining under the Employment Contracts Act

Abstract

Under the Employment Contracts Act 1991, the stucture of contracting is left for negotiation beteeen the parties, rhetorically so that the parties can fashion mutually satisfactory arrangements attuned to their particular ne,eds and circumstances. This paper presents survey data that dernonstrates thatJ while the extent of employee concessions differs benveen individual and collective contracts patterns of contract structures are developing by workforce size and pre-Act union strength and show no relationship to the market circunzstances or cost pr,essures under "which firms operate. "Decisions on bargaining structure are at the hean of the management of industrial relations" (Kinnie, 1987:463). The purpose of this paper is to report, through the presentation of research data, on the structure of bargaining, and associated contract structures, emerging under New Zealand's Employment Contracts Act of 1991.