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 - international aspects

German employee relations

By comparison with many other countries, the management of people in Germany is tightly controlled by legal processes. (...) As a result of the various codetermination laws since 1945, Germany has evolved a system which focuses on industrial democracy and harmony. But there have been significant problems since the reunification of East and West Germany and subsequent economic difficulties..

Supervisory Boards

Companies in Germany employing more than 2000 workers are obliged to have a supervisory board. This in addition to the management board, which continues to have final authority. The supervisory board consists of 50 per cent shareholder representatives and 50 per cent worker representatives.

Works councils

Works councils with employee representation have been a further longstanding feature of the German industrial relations scene. Works councils have a series of rights:

Codetermination right - ability to give or refuse consent on a number of issues including appointments and transfers

Consultation right - over planning matters

Information right - to be advised about company performnce and prospects

Japanese employee relations

Japanese employee relations methods have relevance in two contexts: Japan itself and transplant factories in the Pacific area, North America and Europe. Nissan, for example, has been particularly active in overseas expansion and - in common with many other Japanese corporations - has a specific attitude attitude towards trade unions. Effectively, independent unions and multiple union representation are resisted in favour of 'staff association' and tame single-union representation

Visit the Japanese Trade Union Confederation: JTUC-Rengo
Trade union density rates& from Ministry of Labour site
The Origins and Destinations of Japan's Union Leaders by Hiroyuki Fujimura (Japan Labor Bulletin site)
The Increasing Number of Unified Industrial Labor Organizations - Ongoing Unification to Strengthen the Organizational Base of the Union Movement Japan Labor Bulletin
The Managerial Workers' Union is a Legitimate Labor Union," Central Labour Relations Commission Says Japan Labor Bulletin
Corporations without Unions Decide on Working Conditions: JIL Survey Japan Labor Bulletin