The Role of Governments in the Australian System of Employment Relations - Essay Example

? Discuss the role that governments have played in the development of the Australian system of employment relations since 1980 Introduction Employment relations systems are a set of bodies that deal with the maintenance of a suitable employer-employee relationship and among employees that are essential in boosting productivity, motivation, morale, and job satisfaction (Gardner, 1997, p. 3). The main objective of employment relations systems is to resolve and prevent problems that may arise or affect the working environment. Management of employment relations is achieved through both conflict and cooperation. Employment relations system becomes effective when it harmonizes the relationship between the management and its employees, linking the two to the state government bodies without creating any conflict. Therefore, a sound employment relations system should create a favourable environment that is ideal for achieving maximum economic efficiency, motivation, productivity, employee development, and enhancing employee loyalty (Lewis, et al., 2003, p. 7). There are three main parties that make up the employment relations systems: employers, employees and the government. Employers have certain rights that are provided by their state labour laws. The main employer right is the ability to hire and fire employees. They also have a right to relocate, close or enter into collaboration with their company of choice. Moreover, employers have the right to introduce new technologies within the work place. Rights exercised by the employer may to some extent affect the employees adversely (Gardner, 1997, p. 6). Employees always aim at getting the best terms and conditions of employment from their employers. This process involves sharing their opinions with the management and also airing their grievances. Employees also use trade unions to fight for the right to take part in decision making at their workplace. Workers unions serve the purpose of presenting concerns of workers to the management, and they are as a result of workers uniting together against their employers (Gardner, 1997, p. 7). State and central government are particularly crucial in influencing and regulating employment relations through rules, laws, memorandums, and issuance of awards. Government includes tribunal courts, third parties and labour institution within the government (Gardner, 1997, p. 9). The three main parties in the employment system have their own representative bodies, which work on behalf of the entire party. Employers are represented by employers associations, employees by trade unions while the government is represented by the courts and tribunals such as Fair Work Australia (Forsyth and Stewart 2009, p. 4). The scope of employment relations is extremely wide, and there are five main issues covered under the employment relations scope. These issues include collective bargaining, mechanisms for settling employment disputes, standing orders, involvement of workers in decision making process, and unfair labour practices (Rose, 2008, p. 11). Employers should be in the forefront in ensuring that there is a strong and healthy relationship between them and their employees. These excellent relationships can only be achieved through employment relations programs that are vital in the development of a motivated, competent, and loyal team of employees. This team can only be achieved through a well structured employment relations program that focuses on employee training, employee surveys, employee reward and recognition, and employee appraisal. Moreover, the program should focus on proper conflict resolution mechanism and hiring of most suitable workers (Lewis, et al., 2003, p. 27). Employment relations systems from various countries around the world operate in different styles, but the main aim is to maintain a healthy relationship between all the parties involved. Governments have contributed immensely in the creation of ideal working environments for the citizens. The Australian government is one such state government that has immensely contributed in the development of effective employment relations systems. This is evident from the numerous courts and tribunals that have been formed for the last three decades. The government has also introduced new laws through acts of parliament in favour of fair employment relations systems (Deery and Mitchell, 1999, p. 16). Australian courts and tribunal The Australian government has put in place a tribunal court that acts as its representative in the Australian employment relations system. This tribunal court, which is known as Fair Work Australia, came into being through an act of parliament in 2009 (Forsyth and Stewart, 2009, p. 6). The tribunal took over from what was known as Australian Industrial Relations Commission, which was introduced by the Australian government through an act of parliament in 1993. Its establishment occurred through the industrial relations reforms carried out in 1993 with an aim of amending the industrial relations act of 1988. The workplace relations and several other legislation amendments made in 1996 transferred the court’s jurisdiction to the Federal Court of Australia. New laws that continued to be introduced on a continuous basis changed the court’s roles; it continued losing some of its powers such as setting of wages, which went to the Australian Fair Pay Commission. The Rudd Labour Government later abolished the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and transferred all of its functions to the Fair Work Australia (Forsyth and Stewart, 2009, p. 8). Today, Fair Work Australia is the recognised national employment relations in Australia. It functions as an independent body that has powers and authority to carry out a number of functions independently. Functions performed by Fair Work Australia include those initially carried out by Workplace Authority and the Australian Fair Pay Commission. Fair Work represents the Australian government’s commitment in ensuring that employers and employees clearly understand where they belong, especially within the new employment relations system. Fair Work is made up of national tribunal, Fair Work Australia, and the office of Fair Work Ombudsman (Forsyth and Stewart, 2009, p. 10). Fair Work Australia has powers that enable it to set minimum wages and other employment issues, settle disputes that may arise between employers and employees, pass any agreements, carry out collective bargaining, and look into claims of unfair dismissal. The key role of Fair Work is to ensure that employers and the employees settle their disputes in the most appropriate manner (Forsyth and Stewart, 2009, p. 14). Establishment of the office for Fair Work Ombudsman has further promoted the harmonisation and cooperation between employers and employees at the workplace. In addition to this, majority of companies in Australia are now able to comply with the new workplace regulations introduced by the government (Forsyth and Stewart, 2009, p. 33). Employer Associations This is the other party that makes up the employment relations system. In any capitalist economy, employer associations are regarded as natural counterparts of the trade unions. Emergence of trade unions is catalysed by the employee’s needs, a fact that has made employers realise the need to unite together in order to gain support and protection (Lewis, et al., 2003, p. 52). Employer associations apply in business organisations that have a direct interest in employment relations. Employer associations work to represent their members in addressing various issues related to employment relations systems. Their roles range from educating their members, conducting statistical surveys on various issues, organising trade conferences, engaging with politicians, generating trade journals, and organising awareness campaigns(Lewis, et al., 2003, p. 54). They are also highly instrumental in representing their members in tribunal courts, resisting workers demands, creating a balance of power between them and employees, and supporting the government in making of policies that relate to labour and business (Wooden, 2000, p. 44). The emergence of employer associations was necessitated by the increasing number of trade unions that exerted a lot of pressure on the employers (Wooden, 2000, p. 51). In the final half of the industrial revolution in Australia, conflicts that ensued between employers and workers’ unions that were already in place set the pace for the introduction of employer associations. These developments aimed at strengthening the employers to deal with the increasing demands from their employees. As the number of businesses continued to emerge, the number of employer associations increased r and their roles and functions expanded. Conflicts of interest started to crop up when individual employers’ associations started to fight for their own personal interests at the expense of other associations that were not of similar interest (Wooden, 2000, p. 54). In Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Council of Australia are examples of employer associations. However, in Australia, employer associations can be broadly grouped into two; those that have their main focus on employment relations and those that mainly act solely as industry associations. The latter has little or no contribution towards employment relations and mainly focuses on protecting common trade interests (Deery and Mitchell, 1999, p. 22). The structure of any employer association depends on the number of employer members, services offered by the association, and the association. Employer members in any association enjoy two main benefits. Firstly, the associations represent the interests of its members at various levels, which include federal, national and regional levels. Secondly, the combined contribution of all the members within the association highly influences the development of key policies within the association to reflect management philosophy. Therefore, any conflict of interest within the association automatically leads to internal association dissension (Rose, 2008, p. 18). In Australia, existing employer associations have undergone a series of policy changes, which to some extent was influenced by the government through the introduction of new laws. The associations are now organised effectively and are always ready to take part in bringing new changes in the employment relations of their nation. Changes in the structure and level of collective bargaining by the associations have already taken place (Wooden, 2000, p. 63). The government’s introduction of the Workplace Relations Act of 1996 forced the parties which form part of the Australian employment relations system to change on how they conducted their operations. The employers’ associations responded to these changes by forming mergers in order to achieve economies of scale, increase compensation, increase work based flexibility, create accessible and user friendly structures, offer services for members affected by globalisation, and offer a fee for any service organised by members (Wooden, 2000, p. 65). Despite having adverse effects on the employer associations, the Work Relations Act recognised the employer associations and their roles within the employment relations system. Some of the benefits of the Work Relations Act include the freedom of employers and employees to join any association of their choice. The Act also ensured that employer and employee organisations were accountable and represented their members properly (Forsyth and Stewart 2009, p. 41). In 2005, the Australian government made another contribution in the employment relations system by introducing the Work Choices Act (Rose, 2008, p. 72). Employers who were not in any association strongly supported the government’s move; they claimed that the new law will bring a balance of power in the workplace. Employer associations have come up with new moves that allow them to get used to the new changes introduced by the Work Choice Act. One such a move is the introduction of competitive and suitable services to their members, particularly those who do not use a centralized system to determine the employee’s wages and other working conditions (Rose, 2008, p. 73). Trade Unions Trade unions are responsible for fighting for the employee’s rights at the workplace. Their main objectives are to protect, improve worker’s pay, and ensure that there are proper employment conditions. Their roles extend further to the campaign for laws and policies that will be of benefit to employees. The existence of trade unions becomes possible because individual employees have no power to influence the decision making process within the work place. Joining together of workers make their voice be easily heard by the management. In most work places, trade unions work to fight the management, and without proper intervention, the relationship between employers and employees can never be in clear terms. The government, being one of the components of the employment relations systems, has to come with clear guidelines that will ensure that a strong and healthy relationship exists between employers and employees (Deery and Mitchell, 1999, p. 84). The Australian government, through the many amendments on its labour laws, has ensured that there is a fair deal between employers and employees. The clearly recognizes the trade unions, and it allows all workers to join any trade union of their choice. Employer associations have criticized the government for introducing laws that are empowering the workers trade unions at their expense, but this has not stopped the government from providing its citizens with the appropriate work environments (Wooden, 2000, p. 95). The trade unions play several key roles in the employment relations system, which include assisting in the recruitment of suitable workers, maintenance of discipline among employees, and finding solutions for work disputes in a rational way. In addition, they assist each other to adjust to new social changes, and create awareness on the importance of corporate social responsibility to their fellow workmates (Wooden, 2000, p. 97). However, over the last three decades, trade unions have faced several serious challenges that have threatened their stability in Australia. The main causes of these challenges include changes in the jobs people are doing, changes on the way people are working, and the introduction of new laws that offer less protection and reduced workers’ rights. The latter has been as a result of the spirited fight that the employer associations have fought in an attempt to oppose the lack of balance in powers between employers and employees (Forsyth and Stewart, 2009, p. 127). Conclusion The Australian employment relations system is comprised of a number of key players. This paper has looked into the three main parties: the government, employers associations, and trade unions in an attempt to find out how the government has contributed towards its development since 1980. Although trade unions and employer associations have been in existence since mid XIX century, much of the government’s efforts in the development of employment relations systems became significant in the 1980s. The Australian government has indeed played a vital role in introducing laws through acts of parliament that have strengthened the relationship between employers and employees. The overall outcome is an employment relations system that looks into the interests of all parties involved in a free and fair manner. Reference List Forsyth, A. and Stewart, A. (2009). Fair Work: The New Workplace Laws and the Work Choices Legacy. Annandale, Federation Press. pp. 5- 150. Deery, S. and Mitchell, R. (1999). Employment Relations: Individualisation and Union Exclusion : an International Study. Annandale, Federation Press. pp.15-92. Gardner, G. P. (1997). Employment Relations. Norwood, Macmillan Education AU. pp.2-85. Lewis, P., Thornhill, A. and Saunders, M. (2003). Employee Relations: Understanding The Employment Relationship. New Jersey, Financial Times Prentice Hall. pp. 12-110. Rose, E. (2008). Employment Relations. New Jersey, Financial Times Prentice Hall. pp.3-98. Wooden, M. (2000). The Transformation of Australian Industrial Relations. Annandale, Federation Press. pp. 2-100. Read More