Forms Of Employee Representation Research Articles

PROCEDURE FOR EMERGENCY RELATIONS WITH THE HEAD OF THE ENTERPRISE OF THE INSTITUTION OR ORGANIZATION

The relevance of the article is that newer forms of employee representation and participation add an additional dimension to the picture of labor relations in some countries. The system of labor relations establishes formal or informal basic rules for determining the nature of collective industrial relations, as well as the framework of individual labor relations between the employee and his employer. Complicating the situation at the end of management is additional players, such as temporary employment agencies, contractors and contractors, who may be accountable to employees without control over the physical environment in which the work is performed or the ability to conduct safety training. In addition, public and private sector employers in most countries are governed by separate legislation, and the rights and protections of workers in the two sectors often differ significantly. Moreover, the private sector is affected by international competition forces that do not directly affect public sector labor relations. The author explores approaches to understanding the concept of manager as a subject of organizational and managerial relations in labor law. It is established that the peculiarity of the emergence of legal relations with the head of the enterprise, institution or organization is that their emergence is based on a complex legal structure consisting of several legal facts. It is established that the head is endowed with limits of responsibility and also clear limits of action. It is concluded that in the framework of professional activity the head of the organization, enterprise or institution performs various generalized labor functions that have a very diverse nature, results and working conditions. In a particular organization, enterprise or institution, the head faces different tasks, which allows us to talk about the existence of a process of continuous improvement of its labor function, because there is a high organizational independence. However, in the performance of the job function, the manager should not expand the limits of his competence, as another feature is the increased limits of his responsibility.

Tarifbindung und betriebliche Interessenvertretung: Ergebnisse aus dem IAB-Betriebspanel 2018

Der Beitrag schreibt die jährliche Berichterstattung des IAB in den WSI-Mitteilungen zur Tarifbindung und betrieblichen Interessenvertretung mit Daten für 2018 fort. Zunächst wird die Tarifbindung der Betriebe nach Branche, Betriebsgröße und Bundesland dargestellt. Dabei wird auf die nach wie vor vorherrschenden Unterschiede zwischen West- und Ostdeutschland abgestellt. Seit 1996 hat die Flächentarifbindung in beiden Landesteilen eine deutlich rückläufige Tendenz, auch wenn die Entwicklung in jüngster Zeit weniger eindeutig verläuft. Ergänzt werden die Ergebnisse zur Tarifbindung durch Informationen zum Betriebsrat und zu alternativen Formen der betrieblichen Mitarbeitervertretung. Auch für den Betriebsrat ist in der langen Sicht ein abnehmender Deckungsgrad zu konstatieren. Allerdings scheint dieser Trend 2018 gebrochen. Die verschiedenen nicht gesetzlich legitimierten Vertretungsformen zeichnen sich in erster Linie durch ihre geringe Stabilität aus. Abschließend werden in einer gemeinsamen Betrachtung der betrieblichen und sektoralen Ebene der Interessenvertretung die ausgedehnten betrieblichen Vertretungslücken so wie die „weißen Flecken“ in der Tarif- und Mitbestimmungslandschaft ausgewiesen.

The failure of a new form of employee representation: Polish works councils in comparative perspective

Works councils were introduced in Poland in 2006, changing the system of employee representation from a single-channel model to a dual-channel model. However, they have not succeeded in promoting social dialogue and creating a strong institution for employee participation. I draw on a quantitative study to analyse why their role in Polish industrial relations is so marginal. I focus on the relationship between trade unions and the new ‘democratic’ councils and information and consultation process itself.

Employee collective voice and short-term sickness absence in Europe

This article analyses the relationship between employee collective voice, measured by union density and institutionalized forms of employee representation at enterprise level, and short-term sickness absence rates in 24 European countries over the period 1996–2010. It relies on individual-level data on sickness absence from the European Labour Force Survey combined with country-level data on employee collective voice. There is a small but significant and non-trivial, negative relationship between employee collective voice and short-term sickness absence. Regression analysis suggests that if union density had remained at the 1996 level, short-term sickness absence would have been, on average, 2.5 hours lower per year than in 2010.

Non‐union employee representation: exploring the efficacy of the voice process

Purpose – Recent years have witnessed a growing academic preoccupation with the theme of employee voice. This article seeks to examine the efficacy of non‐union forms of employee representation (NERs).Design/methodology/approach – Further to an exploration of the above theme, case study research was carried out in an organisation possessing a relatively mature representative structure.Findings – The findings broadly support the extant literature in exposing key deficiencies with respect to this mode of voice. The body under review is seen to represent a largely unavailing vehicle for the furtherance of employee interests – particularly within the arena of pay determination.Research limitations/implications – In the light of the above findings the policy implications are briefly explored. Reservations are expressed regarding the ability of the Information and Consultation Directive to extend voice into the non‐union sector.Originality/value – In contrast with the earlier, predominantly descriptive studies ...

New employee representation

Legislative protections supporting New Zealand's compulsory arbitration system made unions a vital part of industrial relations from 1894 to 1991. Following a dramatic shift to a more deregulated labour market, the union movement suffered a sharp decline in influence and membership during the 1990s. In October 2000 the Labour‐Alliance Coalition that formed government in 1999 introduced its Employment Relations Act that includes new protections for registered trade unions. The early impact of the legislation has been to promote the registration of a plethora of new unions. However, the new unions formed since the introduction of the Act represent very few workers and have narrow interests. Although they exist formally as unions, these organisations are more accurately alternative forms of employee representation that exist to facilitate enterprise bargaining and, in some instances, to allow employers to frustrate the activities of larger, established unions.

Contradictory Rights and Unintended Consequences: The Early Impact of the Employment Relations Act on the New Zealand Waterfront

New Zealand’s Employment Contracts Act 1991 consigned to history almost 100 years of pervasive state regulation of collective employment relations. Many unions experienced a sharp decline in influence after the introduction of this piece of legislation. The traditional wharfies’ union, the Waterfront Workers’ Union, is a case in point. Following a decade of neo–liberal industrial relations deregulation, a centre–left Labour/Alliance Coalition repealed the Employment Contracts Act by introducing an Employment Relations Act 2000 designed to redress an ‘inherent inequality’ in power though the promotion of unionisation and collective bargaining. This article assesses whether this piece of nominally ‘union friendly’ legislation might forestall attenuation of union influence and casualisation of waterfront employment at New Zealand’s ports. We argue that the new legislation contains contradictory union rights that have produced unintended consequences, with the emergence of new forms of employee representation designed specifically to further erode the power of the waterfront industry’s established unions.

The ‘Representation Gap’ In Australia

Drawing on recent literature from overseas, this article identifies four alternative forms of employee representation, two union-based and two non-union. Using these categories, it argues that there is in Australia a significant and growing ‘representation gap’. To some degree, this gap is not new. The system of compulsory conciliation and arbitration that dominated Australian industrial relations for decades before the 1990s delivered significant support for union forms of representation, but they were less than perfect in their effect. Furthermore, nonunion forms of representation in this earlier period were poorly developed. The gap, however, widened dramatically during the 1990s. The well-known decline in union membership and contraction in the coverage and scope of collective bargaining and state regulation constitute the core of the problem. Less acknowledged, however, is the failure of new non-union forms to deliver effective representation. It is contended that the representation gap should be treated as an urgent public policy issue by Australian governments.

Supplements and Complements to the Current Employee Representation System in the United States

Employee representation is an important aspect of the employment relationship. In some countries (e.g., Germany), the government mandates employee representation. In other countries (e.g., the Commonwealth), employers voluntarily recognize employee representatives. In the United States, employees must earn their right to be represented in a certification process that results in collective bargaining. With the significant reduction of union membership in the United States, this representation model is in decline. Other forms of participation have not picked up the slack. Hence, there remains a significant representation gap. In this paper, I describe and analyze several solutions to the representation gap. Both unorganized and organized forms of employee representation are considered.

US labour law reform: a note on the Dunlop debate

Examines the deliberations, conclusions and recommendations of the US Commission on the Future of Worker‐Management Relations on the issues of employee involvement and collective bargaining. Draws on the two reports published by the Commission and testimony given by employer and union representatives. Notes the Commission′s failure to discuss non‐union forms of employee representation. Suggests that little legal change is likely to result and any that does occur is unlikely to be favourable to trade unions.

Trade unions in the European Union: a handbook

With the establishment of the Social Chapter, 1993 will mark the beginning of a much more comprehensive process of integration than was first envisaged under the rubric of the Single Market. This new economic environment has enormous implications for trade unions across Europe. Trade Unions in the European provides a guide to the different forms of employee representation in each of the twelve Community countries, to the different legal, political and economic conditions in which trade unions operate, and to the full details of EC legislation on workers' rights. The authors provide statistical and factual information as well as comparative studies, making this text a reference work both for British trade unionists and for academics in industrial relations, labour law and human resources management.

Organizing the Postindustrial Work Force: Lessons from the History of Waitress Unionism

Using previously unexamined archival material, the author reconstructs one successful historical alternative to the kind of unionism that developed in mass production industries: the “occupational unionism” practiced from the 1900s to the 1960s by waitresses organized into the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. This form of employee representation was distinguished by an emphasis on occupational identity, control over the labor supply, portable rights and benefits, and peer determination of performance standards and workplace discipline. The author discusses the implications of this research for the work of labor relations scholars and policy analysts, and speculates that some elements of occupational unionism may hold promise for organizing and representing workers today.

Employee Representation in Building Societies

White‐collar trade unionism has aroused considerable interest among students of industrial relations, but relatively little attention has been paid to staff associations, which Crompton noted perform similar functions to trade unions and to which white‐collar workers are partial. At present, white‐collar and partly white‐collar unions account for roughly half of the unions in Britain and some 35 per cent of the membership. The density of white‐collar membership has increased to 40 per cent (over 50 per cent if staff and professional associations are included), compared with 53 per cent for manual workers. White‐collar workers are traditionally thought to be less disposed to join trade unions and, as Bain et al note, “when white collar workers do unionize, they are believed to carry with them certain aspects of the status ideology which affects the behaviour of their unions”. Blackburn and Prandy offer a theoretical framework which may be used to compare the “unionateness” of white‐collar and manual forms of employee representation. Most white‐collar unions satisfy the criteria of unionateness, but a large proportion of staff associations fail on the question of independence from employers for the purposes of negotiation. In the first four years of his appointment, the Certification Officer refused certificates of independence to fifty‐one organisations, all of them staff associations.

Labor Relations in Postwar Germany

After the last war, the reconstruction of German labor organization faced great difficulties but proceeded rapidly and along partly new lines, com pared with earlier decades. Once the Republic was established in 1949, the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) was created, uniting sixteen indus dustrial or multi-industrial unions including 87 per cent of seven million organ ized workers and pledged to a nonpartisan political policy. So far attempts to split the DGB have failed, but the effort to inject a political program, in par ticular by the Social Democratic party, may yet succeed. The author discusses these and other problems, such as collective bargaining, work councils and other forms of employee representation and participation, and the settlement of labor disputes.—Ed.