Employee Relations

HRM Guide publishes articles and news releases about HR surveys, employment law, human resource research, HR books and careers that bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Human Resource Management in a Business Context, 3rd edition
by Alan Price
Human Resource Management in a Business Context provides an international focus on the theory and practice of people management. A thorough and comprehensive overview of all the key aspects of HRM, including articles from HRM Guide and other sources, key concepts, review questions and case studies for discussion and analysis.
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Employee relations - UK and Europe

Employee relations in the UK
(...) the British were once notorious for industrial disputes and walkouts. In fact, they were daily occurrences in the 1960s and 1970s, such that industrial relations was perceived as a 'problem' which brought down governments. Weak management and intransigent unions produced industrial chaos, manifested by low productivity, hostility towards change and highly publicized disputes, fundamentally weakening the UK as an economic power.
The reputation of British personnel managers was not enhanced during this period. When HRM came on the scene in the 1980s, personnel management had become bogged down in a form of industrial relations characterized by 'firefighting' - undermining any claim to being strategic or proactive (Hendry, 1995:12).

(...) The situation changed dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s. Recessions, New Right politics, restrictive legislation on industrial action and massive restructuring in many organizations considerably reduced the power and role of unions.

The Employment Relations Act (1999) revised trade union recognition and a number of other rights.

Review finds that Employment Relations Act is 'working well'
Union Recognition Still Rising

Employee relations in mainland Europe
(...) in different ways and at varying speeds, since the Second World War democratic states have developed institutional systems to govern employee relations. Since the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1958 there have been several attempts to develop community-wide initiatives on employee participation and corporate industrial relations. Progress in harmonzing this area has been slow but there has been a considerable convergence of employment conditions. (...) The Mastricht Treaty has extended employee consultation throughout Europe including the UK since the Labour Government came into power.
Text of the Directive
The European Works Councils by Philip M. Berkowitz..
See AEEU for a list of some of the companies involved..
Read a brief Case Study.

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