Employer matters in 2004

n 2004, employers were active in arguing their cases in a number of important hearings of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. However, despite a united position among employer ranks and the federal government, employers were generally disappointed with the Commission’s safety net review decision. Both the Australian industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry found some common ground with the Australian Council of Trade Unions, in a consent position on extending carers leave, but overall employers presented a detailed argument opposing any extension of employee rights in the Commission’s work and family test case. Employers in some sectors were able to reach collective agreements with unions with little industrial disruption, whereas others, such as banking, found the going tougher. Overall, employers, like unions, faced a great deal of uncertainty over what were or were not ‘matters pertaining’, as a number of decisions after the Electrolux case clarified or clouded the issue. Understandably, the year ended on a positive note for most employers, with the Howard Government re-elected with a majority in the Senate, enabling it to pass a further round of radical labour market reforms in 2005.

Employer matters in 2005

By any reckoning, the year 2005 will long be remembered as a watershed year for Australian industrial relations. While there were the usual types of industrial disputes, on-going enterprise bargaining and another round of arguments over the Australian Industrial Relations Commission’s (AIRC’s) annual safety-net review, the year was dominated by the looming re-writing of Australia’s industrial relations regulatory regime, made possible by the Government’s surprise majority in the Senate, granted to them in late 2004. Viewed as a looming dark cloud by some or a shining light by others, most of 2005 was spent in anxious anticipation of the Howard government’s impending ‘WorkChoices’ legislation. Employer groups spent much of the year lobbying the Howard government for the types of reforms long cherished, but only dreamed of by employers, for arguably 100 years. A once in a lifetime opportunity had presented itself and employer groups were determined to take full advantage of the situation, by ensuring that the government did not lose its nerve. Perhaps more importantly, however, in addition to lobbying the government, major employer organizations devoted significant resources to building the case for industrial relations reform and attempting to sell that message to the electorate. By year’s end, employers had succeeded in the first objective, but had seemingly failed in the second.

The dimensionality of self-rated employee performance : an integrated view

This study addresses the debate in the literature regarding the dimensionality of the job performance construct. The sample comprised 647 public servants from a state-based law enforcement organisation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses delineate a four:factor structure, consisting of in-role behaviour, organisational citizenship behaviour directed towards (1) individuals or (2) the organisation, and a distinct latent variable deemed counter-productive work behaviour (CWB). The pattern of correlations among the four performance dimensions and between the performance dimensions and attitudes support the construct and discriminant validity of the four performance dimensions. Further, the .findings propose that CWB is a core, not discretionary, dimension of performance.

A step toward a common measure of organizational fairness

The paper examines dimensions of organizational justice construct in a public sector context, utilizing an organizational justice measure developed and validated by Colquitt (2001). The present study substantiates the existing claims about the independence of interactional justice and the division of interactional justice into interpersonal and informational justice. The present investigation also contributes to the justice literature by providing evidence of a new factor, which is called procedural voice justice to reflect the possible association with the concept of voice effect. Although voice has been examined extensively in the justice research as an antecedent of procedural justice, little is known about if and how voice might integrate into procedural justice construct. The study proposes that future justice research further investigate dimensionality of organisational justice and aspire to developing a common measure of the justice construct.

Promoting health at work : the relevance of organizational justice

Research focusing on the relationship between organizational justice and health suggests that perceptions of fairness can make significant contributions to employee wellbeing. However studies examining the justice health relationship are only just emerging and there are several areas where further research is required, in particular, the uniqueness of the contributions made by justice and the extent to which the health effects can be explained by linear, non-linear and/or interactional models. The primary aim of the current study was to determine the main, curvilinear and interactive effects of job characteristics and organizational justice perceptions on psychological wellbeing and job satisfaction. Job characteristics were measured using the Demand-Control Support (DCS) model (Karasek & Theorell, 1990), while Colquitt's (2001) four justice dimensions (distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational) were used to assess organizational justice. Hierarchical regression analyses found that in relation to psychological wellbeing, perceptions of justice did not add to the explanatory power of the DCS model. In contrast, organizational justice did account for unique variance in job satisfaction, the second measure of employee wellbeing. The results supported direct linear relationships between the psychosocial working conditions and the outcome measures. The implications of the results of this study, especially in terms of how working conditions should be managed in order to promote health, are discussed. Notably, the findings from the current study indicate that in addition to traditional job stressors, health promotion strategies should focus on perceptions of organizational justice and their relationships with health.

Predicting in-role and extra-role performance by gender

Men and women are said to perceive justice differently, with women proposed to be more concerned with relational issues and men focused more on material issues. In this study, the potential for differential effects of justice on performance by gender was analyzed across the four contemporary types of justice. Respondents were 265 male and 113 female occupationally diverse employees in a single organization. The results show significant differences in how men and women respond to the four justice types with only one - informational justice - acting similarly by gender. Women were more interested in maintaining social harmony than men. The results appear to strongly support the use of the justice judgment model over the group-value model as a means of explaining the gender differences. Implications for management include the importance of informational justice both generally and within the performance appraisal process

Organisational and national culture : a study of overlap and interaction in the Literature

Terms such as Globalisation and cross-cultural management are widely used by both organisational managers and academics. While it is the intention of academics and industry analysts to explain the phenomena and discover principles to guide the practitioners, human resource managers are dealing with the workplace changes implicit in these terms on an increasingly frequent basis. These managers are facing increasingly diverse workforces, and must cope with all the challenges and opportunities inherent in such diversity. This article presents a new approach to examining the key literature on organisational and national culture in three main areas. Firstly, areas of convergence between various theories on culture are identified. Secondly, the article illustrates and discusses where these theories diverge from each other. Thirdly, drawing on the principles discussed in the article, a framework of national culture is developed from existing literature that highlights the convergence found in existing models.

Work differences by sector for medical specialists : evidence of a public sector ethos

Work-related characteristics representative of the ethos for medical specialists have been relatively unexplored, particularly compared to the array of research on primary care physicians. Analyses of 4,166 specialists, from the first wave of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) study, revealed that specialists have a choice between either challenging work in the public sector or straightforward yet well-paid work in the private sector. Despite more challenging conditions, health and intent to leave were not key issues for specialists in the public sector, with specialists in private rooms more likely to leave the profession despite more positive work conditions. This result may be due to the public sector ethos suggested in other studies. Ultimately this study provides evidence that suggests differences in the ethos between medical specialists in the public and private sectors.

A reassessment of non-union employee representation in the UK: developments since the 'ICE' age

In light of new legislation pertaining to information and consultation in the UK, the need to reassess the realms of employee involvement and participation, especially non-union forms, is critically apparent. This article explores the character of non-union employee representation arrangements established in the context of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004, drawing on case study evidence from two UK-based manufacturing organisations. The findings highlight some important dynamics concerning the use of non-union employee representation; not least that the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations have impacted in very different ways from those anticipated by the legislation.