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The continued stasis in the now much reduced aggregate levels of union membership in Britain and elsewhere has such portent for widening inequalities in wealth and power under the neo-liberal variant of late capitalism that a union default requires introduction. In all countries around the world, the de facto system is a non-union default. Under a union default, all workers would be defaulted into membership of the appropriate union. This is not a proposal for compulsory membership, a contravention of individual liberty nor the return of the closed shop by the backdoor because workers will have the right to opt out of membership. The right to be the appropriate default union to which workers would be defaulted into in any workplace would be gained by the union passing a low minimum support threshold. This would bring with it the right to bargain over pay and conditions.

Although profit-sharing is mostly associated with an economics perspective, its utilization as an employee incentive involves a psychological dimension, embedded in a broader socio-economic framework and reflected in organizational practices and management characteristics. The authors identify a list of conditions for profit-sharing’s effectiveness as an incentive scheme, informed by three theories, expectancy theory, reinforcement theory and goal-setting theory, and supported by substantial evidence from the literature on profit-sharing. Thus, this paper provides critical information for profit-sharing’s design and implementation, as well as offers some new practical insights into the contingencies and limitations of this incentive plan. Overall, it contributes to both theory and practice, integrating the three motivational frameworks regarding profit-sharing, and seeking to understand the insights such approaches afford to a socio-economic understanding.

With the ever‐increasing popularity of social media, whistle‐blowing, which generally refers to the disclosure of organisational wrongdoing, has entered a new era. Whistle‐blowing via virtual platforms has transformed not just the channel of disclosure, but also the associated motives, processes and outcomes. The impact on the whistle‐blower, the organisation and the public can often be accelerated and is seen as being more significant than traditional whistle‐blowing through internal means or external dedicated authorities or journalists. Yet systematic research on this changing phenomenon is just emerging, and regulation (e.g. for rewards, safeguards or protection) is lagging behind. In this paper, we specifically examine the impetus, as well as the benefits and drawbacks, of using online channels such as social media, blogging or websites, for whistle‐blowing by both employees and non‐employees, taking into consideration recent case law and development. A number of recommendations are proposed for virtual whistle‐blowers, organisations and governments.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to use the theoretical and empirical pension literatures to question whether employers are likely to gain any competitive advantage from degrading or eliminating their employees’ defined benefit (DB) pensions.Design/methodology/approach– Critical literature review, bringing together and synthesizing the industrial relations, economics, social policy, and applied pensions literature.Findings– DB pension plans do deliver a number of potential performance benefits, most notably a decrease in turnover and establishment of longer-term employment relationships. However, benefits are more pronounced in some conditions than others, which are identified.Research limitations/implications– Most of the analysis of pension effects to date focuses primarily on DB plans. Yet, these are declining in significance. In the years ahead, more attention needs to be paid to the potential consequences of defined contribution plans and other types of pension.Practical implications– In re-evaluating DB pensions, firms have tended to focus on savings made through cost cutting. Yet, this approach tends to view a firm's people as an expense rather a potential asset. Attempts to abandon, modify, or otherwise reduce such schemes has the potential to save money in the short term, but the negative long-term consequences may be considerable, even if they are not yet obvious.Originality/value– This paper is topical in that it consolidates existing research evidence from a number of different bodies of literature to make a case for the retention of DB pension plans, when, in many contexts, they are being scaled back or discarded. It raises a number of important issues for reflection by practitioners, and highlights key agendas for future scholarly research.

Purpose – The increased popularity in using online social networks by recruiters has received much positive attention, particularly in the popular press. Using social network theory this paper aims to examine how the structure and governance mechanisms of these networks can assist this process. The authors ask: how do recruiters use online social networks to effectively attract and screen prospective job applicants?Design/methodology/approach – The semi‐structured interview approach is used to gather data from 25 recruitment specialists.Findings – The connector role is identified as a specific attraction mechanism recruiters use to create numerous weak ties, where some are so weak they barely constitute ties at all. The authors then identify branding, transparency and data specificity as three mechanisms recruiters use to strengthen these ties when performing the attracting and screening functions.Originality/value – This is the first paper to analyse online recruitment, using social network theory, and h...

The central aim of this article is to evaluate, compare, and contrast the perceptions of key stakeholders with regard to the likely effects of anti-discrimination legislation on employment relations practice in a liberal market economy, that of the United Kingdom. It is based on a series of in-depth interviews conducted around the time of the implementation of the legislation, compared and contrasted with a similar panel of interviews conducted in New Zealand. In that country, which has similar legal traditions to the United Kingdom and many similarities in terms of employment relations, anti-age discrimination legislation has been in place for some years, so the comparison provides useful insights.

This review highlights some of the principal issues and debates surrounding age discrimination at the workplace. Essentially, the existing research in this area can be divided into three broad, although somewhat overlapping, categories. The first explores the underlying causes and consequences of age discrimination at the workplace from one or other theoretical tradition. The second broad body of literature encompasses empirical studies which document the nature and extent of age discrimination, based on the use of official statistics, and/or firm-level survey evidence. The third explores the effects of various governmental initiatives to reduce the incidence of age discrimination and policy options in this area. Even though age discrimination is widely accepted to be prevalent, its causes are rather more contentious. Age discrimination has variously been ascribed to market imperfections, the product of rational choices and the effects of long-term changes in the nature of the economy. Policy interventions may be prompted by economic pressure, demographic changes or cultural shifts, and have involved voluntary codes as well as legislation. Although voluntary codes have generally proved ineffective, the literature indicates that more formal regulations may still have only limited efficacy, underscoring the deeply rooted nature of age discrimination in society.

The present union certification system has many faults, the most important of which is its failure to deliver employee representation to all but a small and declining minority of workers. As an alternative, compulsory proportional representation (CPR) would have many advantages, particularly when compared with other reform proposals, most of which are designed to only reinvigorate, modify, or supplement the existing system. Would CPR have any disadvantages? We identify four potential concerns: reduced freedom to contract, increased interunion competition and raiding, depleted union strength, and compromised union independence. However, we argue that some of these problems would be more imagined than real, some less serious than expected, and some would have secondary effects to compensate any shortcomings.

This research identifies the essential factors which influence employees' fairness perceptions of their performance appraisals, and determines the applicability of these factors to the experiences of employees in a Saint Lucian public service organization. Fairness perceptions are of three main types. First, distributive justice refers to the perceived fairness of an actual appraisal rating. Second, procedural justice refers to the perceived fairness of procedures used to determine the appraisal rating. Third, interactional justice refers to the perceived fairness of the rater's interpersonal treatment of the ratee during the appraisal process. A qualitative case study method was used to gain a rich understanding of employee perceptions of the fairness of their performance appraisals. Data were obtained from both completed appraisal forms and interviews with 20 knowledgeable employees. All interviews were transcribed and assessed using a thematic analysis. Overall, results show that distributive, procedur...

There has been a long debate concerning whether unions are exclusive or inclusive with respect to immigrants and ethnic minorities. In the exclusive view of unions, unionization is expected to increase the likelihood of employers asking questions that discriminate against immigrants and ethnic minorities and decrease the likelihood of employers asking Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) questions related to immigrant or ethnic minority status. The contrary is expected for the inclusive view. Our analysis, using New Zealand data for job applications, provides some support for the inclusive view of unions, as the higher the unionization rate, the more likely EEO information is sought, but no relationship is found between unionization rate and discriminatory questioning. This suggests that unions are probably helpful in promoting diversity but not yet in combating discrimination against immigrants and ethnic minorities in hiring.

The North American union certification system has not met the representation needs of most workers. In this essay, certification's effectiveness is critically examined. The exclusive representation and winner-take-all approach satisfies only two out of seven categories of union and nonunion workers with different representational preferences. The “winners” are those who successfully exercise their choice to be either unrepresented or represented by their most preferred union. All others are “losers.” A compulsory proportional representation alternative is proposed which allows for both union and nonunion forms of representation, representative election based on proportional votes, and mandatory workplace representation. The merits of this alternative in balancing the needs of both voting majorities and minorities and protecting worker rights from management encroachment are discussed. Some preliminary suggestions on its implementation are offered.

The widespread adoption of experience-rating has been a major trend in workers’ compensation systems for over a decade (O’Grady 1999). Under this approach, a firm’s insurance premium rate for its industry or class is adjusted upwards or downwards to reflect the costs of the insuranc e claims made by that firm’s workers. Firms that have higher-than-normal claims levels are punished with a penalty, paid on top of their base premium. In contrast, firms that have lower-than-normal claims levels are rewarded with a partial rebate (discount) of their base premium. Many workers’ compensation authorities across the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand adopted experience-rating as a pricing mechanism to encourage employer investment in hazard prevention measures. Although earlier research (e.g., Chelius and Smith 1983) indicated that experience-rating was not associated with improved health and safety performance in the United States, the evidence from more recent studies suggests that experience-rating reduces fatalities in Canada (Bruce and Atkins 1993), lowers the reported accident rate in Canada (Thomason and Pozzebon 2002) and the United States (Worrall and Butler 1988), shortens claim duration in the United States (Krueger 1990), and encourages better safety practices in Canada (Kralj 1994). However, most researchers have been cautious about crediting experience-rating for lowering overall actual injury rates, because experience-rating provides incentives for injury under-reporting (McClintock 1994; Samaras 2001) and undesirable employer activities, such as the contracting out of hazardous activities and excessive claims management (Kralj 1994). Before experience-rating becomes further entrenched in the workers’ compensation system, understanding any other unintended, negative side effects remains important.

During the heyday of neoliberalism, employment protection was widely believed to be one of the main causes of Europe's poor economic performance and high unemployment. We challenge this view and instead argue that employment protection is crucial to preserving Europe's export success in higher value-added industries. In particular, we explore the relationship between employment protection and skills development.

The debate over union security arrangements is often presented as involving irreconcilable goals and values. Supporters of union security typically stress their importance to the union’s organizational strength and workers’ welfare. Right-to-work supporters, who favor banning such arrangements, typically emphasize employee freedom and choice. Our approach involves a unique comparison of both perspectives, which shows that neither perspective is completely compatible with safeguarding freedom. We therefore advocate reconciliation based on compulsory worker representation, which preserves the best freedom-enhancing properties of each perspective.

A number of research studies have analysed the causes, conditions and consequences of discrimination. Most of these have focused on either gender or racial discrimination. Studies of discrimination on other grounds, including disability, have been relatively less common. This study attempts to theoretically and empirically explore the nature of discrimination against disabled job applicants from the rational economic, as well as institutional theory, perspectives. The rational economic perspective emphasizes individual self-interest, conscious decision-making, and economic optimization. Institutional theory focuses on organizational actions taken to gain legitimacy rather than for monetary or utility optimization. Legitimacy is important to secure stakeholders' trust and recognition, and translates into favourable outcomes, such as resource support, customer loyalty, and ease in attracting qualified personnel. We test these two theories, using data drawn from 227 New Zealand organizations, which collectiv...

This study examines the effects of unions on employer compliance with antidiscrimination legislation in New Zealand, using a sample of 227 employers. The results do indicate that unions do reduce discriminatory practices. More specifically, higher levels of unionization do increase the level of employer compliance. However, other union characteristics, such as union size and strike propensity, appeared to have no influence on employer practice.

Over the last thirty years, collective rights to organize into unions, bargain collectively and strike have been weakened in both New Zealand and the UK. At the same time, individual rights to due process and to protection from discriminatory or unjust management decisions have been strengthened, leading some to conclude that collective and individual rights are unrelated, incompatible or mutually exclusive. On the contrary, we use evidence of employer compliance with anti-age provisions in the New Zealand Human Rights Act to show that the two sets of rights can be highly complementary: the presence of unions strengthens individual protection from discriminatory treatment.

This article explores the effects of the legal prohibition of age discrimination in New Zealand, based on a survey of the recruiting practices of individual organisations. Its findings indicate that many firms continue to breach the law through a continued emphasis on age during the recruitment process. Age-related information is directly or indirectly requested from a sizeable percentage of job applicants. The findings highlight the importance of the socio-economic context in which legislation is enacted. As with unwritten rules, the impact of law in a specific context is inevitably circumscribed by the deeply embedded nature of practice, especially if enforcement is lax.

Foreign experience suggests that strong unions with close connections to the state can use political exchanges to mould social and economic policies to more readily reflect the needs of labour. South African unions could conceivably form a similar pact with the African National Congress by agreeing to moderate their demands for wage increases and to cooperate in the restructuring of the economy in exchange for pro-labour policies. Given persistent inequality and a rich tradition of social protest, it could be argued that neo-corporatism represents an unnecessary compromise in the South African situation. Nonetheless, neo-corporatism's track record underscores the role institutions can play in redressing social inequality, yet creating the conditions for economic growth. However, the key actors—labour, capital and government—may be neither able nor willing to strike a comprehensive deal.

The evidence suggests that employers discriminate against ex-offenders in the labour market. The problem is potentially serious as it involves a substantial proportion of the population, especially the male population. Since research has shown that most people with prior convictions stop offending by their late 20s or early 30s, the validity of selection based on criminal record remains questionable. This paper examines the need for legal protection of ex-offenders by limiting employers' access to, and use of, information on criminal background. The rights and interests of the various parties involved, employers, ex-offenders, and the general public, are discussed. Approaches to the legal protection of ex-offenders in Australia are reviewed and legislative changes proposed.

Seeks to highlight the range of potential benefits flowing from neo‐corporatism. Profiles some of the principle critiques of the neo‐liberal orthodoxy followed by a more detailed review of the benefits in terms of limiting inflation, generating employment, promoting greater social equity, reducing the incidence of industrial conflict and providing the basis for a more stable growth trajectory. Considers the area where evidence is lacking and uses previous research for its evidence.

This paper examines 272 Canadian arbitration and labor relations board decisions involving employees who, when they refused work on the grounds that the work was unsafe, were disciplined by their employers. The authors' hypothesis is that boards treat the right to refuse unsafe work as secondary to management's right to manage. The results of the study confirm that the right to refuse was very restricted. Employees had to satisfy many rigid conditions to qualify for protection from discipline. These conditions appear to have been based on the notions that health and safety are properly management's prerogative and that obedience to management authority is essential to efficient production.

Few studies have investigated the effects of either attorney representation or attorney adjudication on arbitration board decisions, and none has investigated these effects on labor relations board decisions. I examine the effects of lawyers, as both representatives and adjudicators, on arbitration and labor relations board decisions in an analysis of 272 Canadian discipline cases involving the right to refuse unsafe work. My results show that the employee is more likely to have management’s discipline overturned if she uses a lawyer when the employer does not. However, the employer gains no comparable advantage by hiring a lawyer when the employee does not. In addition, neither side benefits by hiring a lawyer when both do so. Attorneys are also no more or less likely than non-attorneys to overturn or reduce management’s discipline.

Justifications for either increasing or decreasing public and private expenditure on occupational health and safety are increasingly focused on the costs of work injuries and diseases and their pre...

New Zealand reformed its approach to occupational health and safety in 1992, with the passage of the Health and Safety in Employment Act and the Accident, Rehabilitation, Compensation, and Insurance Act. These legislative changes were not, for the most part, informed by a thorough review of the variaus policy options. This paper provides part of such a review by assessing the effectiveness of four different approaches to occupational health and safety. The first three approaches examined are found to have major deficiencies. The market approach of compen sating dangerous work with wage premiums is criticized, because workers nor mally lack the bargaining power to secure pay concessions or hazard prevention measures. The regulatory approach of setting startdards to limit hazard levels or to prescribe safe production methods is faulted for being difficult to errforce and difficult to apply to most hazards. The accident compensation approach of experi ence-rating employer levies to employee claims is also faulted for failing to tightly link employer costs to unsafe conditions. In contrast, the fourth approach of giving workers the right to refuse unsafe work is lauded for its advantages in both detecting hazards and providing incentives for their prevention and rectification. However, improvements on the North American variants of the right to refuse unsafe work are suggested to allow workers to refuse to work in a greater variety of unsafe circumstances without fear of being disciplined.