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Purpose: The paper examines the approach of United Kingdom (UK) Trade Unions to the use of institutional power resources (IPR) in the second half of the twentieth century. Design/methodology/approach: Using secondary material, it examines the unions' approach to IPR in three cases; collective bargaining; worker representation and trade union structure. Findings: The paper concludes that unions did not appreciate the importance of, and lacked a strategic approach to, IPR. Although employer and government action were largely responsible for the decline of industrial relations institutions, the failure of the unions to engage with IPR contributed to this process. It explains the failure of the unions to engage with IPR by reference to their lack of strategic capabilities and skills in relation to power resources (PRs) in general and IPR in particular. Research limitations/implications: It would have been interesting to collect primary data via interviews with union actors from the period examined to test the interpretation of secondary data contained in the article. Practical implications: The paper has identified the kind of strategic decision-making which is necessary for unions to engage effectively with IPR. It is has also indicated the key skills which unions need to develop to be able to manage their engagement with IPR. Social implications: The paper has implications for the role of trade unions in society, showing the need for them to develop narratives to convince society of the importance of their role and action and to develop the skills which enable them to connect with other social groups, e.g. intermediation, engagement with coalitional resources. Originality/value: Analysis of the decline of industrial relations institutions in this period has emphasized the role of employers and the state. This paper contributes to a more balanced perspective on this decline by drawing attention to the lack of a union strategy towards IPR and the importance of the detail of the management and employment of power resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing passenger information during disruption (PIDD) is a significant factor in running effective and quick-to-recover rail operations. Disruptions are unpredictable, and their timely resolution is ultimately dependent on the expert knowledge of experienced frontline staff. The development of frontline employees by their employers usually takes the form of practice reviews and 'on-the-job' learning, while academic education majors on theoretical approaches and classroom-based teaching. This paper reports on a novel industry-funded project that has developed a serious game (the 'Rail Disruption Game') that combines theory and practice to better manage PIDD for frontline staff in a UK train operating company (TOC). It defines challenges and the development method for the Rail Disruption Game; it also incorporates developer and user feedback. This paper provides insight into how to design, make and deploy a serious game as part of a gamified management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of market power on income disparities when firm‐specific parameters are considered to test how they shape the gap between capital and labor earnings through their pricing decisions. The dataset consists of 2895 UK manufacturing and services firms over 2010–2019. The results provide the following insights: (a) There is a strong positive association between market power and income disparities across the market, (b) liquidity constraints exert a positive effect on the asset‐based disparities ratio, but a negative effect on the profit‐based ratio. The robustness of the results is also checked when market‐specific characteristics are included in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is an urgent need to address high levels of work-related violence (WRV) in Britain to improve the workplace experience of both employers and employees. Aims This study specifically explores prevalence rates of work-related violence assaults (WRVAs) for staff at high risk that have supervisor responsibilities and work full-time. Methods Five years of data were used for analysis from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW). Data were filtered for victims of crime from a working population in Britain. Results Forty-four per cent of respondents who are supervisors and have full-time jobs report that they had been victims of WRVAs. This figure is higher than other previous studies of WRV. Conclusions The current study provides further alternative evidence to support high prevalence rates of WRV by selecting for analysis specific work characteristics data that are strongly associated with WRV (supervisor responsibilities and full-time work). It is therefore recommended that future work explores different means of intervention for organizations to implement within the workplace to reduce WRV and protect workers from harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People affected by rarer forms of dementia often have a long and difficult experience obtaining a diagnosis and appropriate support, impacting family, employment and social relationships, quality of life and wellbeing. For this population progressive cognitive symptoms affect skills other than memory and disproportionately occur under the age of 65 years, often resulting in misdiagnosis and lack of appropriate care pathways. The objective of this study will be to better understand the subjective experience of the time period from first noticing symptoms to obtaining a formal diagnosis, through to accessing support, and onward to the present time. Through the concurrent use of line drawings and video-recorded interviews we will collect the stories of people living with different rarer dementias and/or family members who are care partners in Canada and the United Kingdom. Narrative and visual analysis will be used in parallel to methodologically explore how line drawing and verbal discourse interact and inform each other to construct knowledge, and how the use of drawing lines might enrich research interviews and increase accessibility of research participation. This novel research approach may also have implications for clinical interviewing, support services, and public engagement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to retrospectively explore over time the experiences of people affected by rarer forms of dementia from initial symptoms—to diagnosis—to accessing support—to the present, using visual and verbal methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Given the sharp rise in the adoption of digital onboarding in employment relations and human resource management practices, largely caused by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores the impact of digital onboarding on employees' wellbeing, engagement level, performance, and overall outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses an interpretive qualitative research methodology, undertaking semi-structured interviews with 28 participants working in the UK services industry. Findings: The study finds that digital onboarding has a significant impact on employee outcomes, following the perceptions of "dwindling social connectedness and personal wellbeing", "meaningful and meaningless work", and "poor employee relations" among employees and their employers in the workplace. Practical implications: Due to the increased adoption of digital onboarding, human resources teams must focus on having considerable human interaction with new hires, even if this means adopting a hybrid approach to onboarding. Human resources teams must ensure that they work together with line managers to promote a welcoming culture for new hires and facilitate organisation-driven socialisation tactics and the "quality" information necessary for supporting new employees. For new employees, besides acquiring the digital skills that are essential in the workplace, they must accept the changing digital landscape in order to practice effective communication and align their goals and values with those of their organisation. Originality/value: Qualitative research on the influence of digital onboarding on employee outcomes is limited, with much of the research yet to substantially consider the impact of digitalisation on the human resources function of onboarding employees as full members of an organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with employees' right to freedom of association and their protection against victimisation when exercising this right in the workplace. First it explains the concepts of "freedom of association" and "victimisation". It then considers the protection of employees against victimisation for exercising the right to freedom of association internationally and domestically, however, only in the employment context. It considers the protection of the right to freedom of association in South Africa in terms of the Constitution and its regulation under various sections of the LRA. It also looks at limitations on the right to freedom of association and the remedies available to employees who experience victimisation because of exercising this right. It further considers the regulation of the right to freedom of association in the UK. It argues that although this right is well protected internationally and domestically, employees still experience victimisation as a result of exercising it. It further argues that the protection of this right and its exercise by employees is necessary to bring a balance to an uneven relationship between employers and employees in the workplace. It concludes that trade unions together with employers have a responsibility to ensure that employees exercise their constitutional right to freedom of association with no fear of victimisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The central aim of this research is to deepen the analysis of the influence that crises have on employee relations by using the stakeholder relationship management model (SRM) to analyze organizational employee relationship management (OERM). Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a questionnaire distributed in two organizations (UK-based public sector and private sector) that were experiencing a crisis at the time of data collection. Respondents identified whether they believed the organization was in crisis, if they defined it as in crisis classified what type of crisis it was, and then responded to questions about their relationship to the organization, the organization's post crisis stability and their own behavioral intentions. Findings: The findings verify the applicability of the SRM in employee relations with three critical findings: (1) employees with higher income in the private sector were significantly less likely to believe their organization was in crisis; (2) the more ambiguous the blame for the crisis, the greater the damage on the relationship between organizations and employees; and (3) collective sensemaking in organizations is essential, but less likely when a crisis has damaged the relationship between employees and organizations. Originality/value: In the last 40 years of Employee Relations, the role of crisis in influencing OERM has not been meaningfully explored in the journal. Therefore, the piece makes an original contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A substantial amount of previous literature has investigated recruitment and retention of workers in paid jobs in the for-profit sector. Additionally, some of this work has developed differentiated recruitment and retention strategies for different groups of workers based upon their age. However, in the voluntary sector, potential for this type of tailoring remains an under-researched area. Design/methodology/approach: The authors analyse data from a national survey from the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 16,966) using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square to investigate motivations to volunteer amongst younger and older volunteers and compare these to a core age group. Findings: The authors find differences across different age cohorts in both motivations to volunteer and also in rewards sought from volunteering. By analysing these differences, the authors then develop a framework of tailored recruitment and retention strategies to maximise the potential pool of volunteers for organisations in the not-for-profit sector, whilst also optimising rewards for those who volunteer. Originality/value: Although recruitment and retention are both core research themes in Employee Relations, a recent special issue on the not-for-profit sector noted that these processes were under-researched outside of a for-profit setting. Literature from the fields of human resource management (HRM) and not-for-profit management is synthesised and integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study intends to examine employee relations with a changing workforce resulting from the business-like transformation in the charity sector. The authors investigated sector-specific employment practices that can alleviate job stress (as a given and which has been made worse by the transformation). Developed from the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation framework, the findings can inform human resource management practices in its new efficiency-seeking business model. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected both quantitative (through a staff survey and administrative records of sick leave in the previous 12 months) and qualitative data (through interviews and focus groups) from one branch of an internationally well-established and UK-based religious charity between 2017 and 2018. Findings: The quantitative results support a strong mediating effect of job satisfaction between job stress and staff sick leave. The negative correlation shown between job stress and job satisfaction is subject to paid staff perception of meaningful work and their level of involvement in decision-making, with the latter having a stronger moderating effect. The qualitative data provides further contextualized evidence on the findings. Practical implications: It is important for charities to uphold and reflect their charitable mission towards beneficiaries and paid staff during the shift to an efficiency-seeking business model. Charities should involve their new professional workforce in strategic decision-making to better shape a context-based operational model. Originality/value: The study examined employee relations in the non-profit charity sector with a changing workforce during the transition to a more business-oriented model. In particular, the authors revealed sector-specific factors that can moderate the association between job stress and absenteeism, and thereby contribute to the understanding of human resource management practices in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the rising concern over industrial relations in the United Kingdom, with a focus on recent strike actions due to the cost of living crisis and weakening employment rights. It discusses a 16-point plan proposed by the government, led by Business Secretary Grant Shapps, to restrict trade union power and the ability of workers to fight back, including raising strike ballot support thresholds, limiting strike mandates, and imposing restrictions on picketing.