Employee Relations: An International Journal

George Sayers Bain

1999 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459910252966

The Government appointed a Low Pay Commission to advise on the level of the initial rate, and subsequently accepted all the Commission’s recommendations in principle, while taking a more cautious line on young workers. The National Minimum Wage will make a real difference to around two million low‐paid workers, but without significant extra cost to businesses – an addition of around 0.6 per cent to the UK wage bill. Some critics have argued for a higher initial rate, based on a mechanistic formula. But a rate which takes no account of prevailing economic circumstances or the dynamic nature of the labour market will not help low‐paid workers. It is also important to listen to employees and employers, the low paid and the low paying and reflect their views. The Low Pay Commission, which embodies the principles of social partnership, played a key role in this process.

Thomas Murakami

1999 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459910252975

The paper contributes to the discussion on works councils and teamwork in the German auto industry. General Motors’ Opel plant in Germany has been chosen to study works councils’ participation in the process of introducing teamwork, and the effects of teamwork on workers’ representation on the shopfloor. The paper discusses the “dual structure” of works councils and union representatives, and will examine their role during the introduction of teamwork and relationship to their elected team spokespersons. The two key findings are: first, both levels of workers’ representation have contributed to the successful introduction of workplace changes and second, team spokespersons can be seen as a third level of workers’ representation.

Chris Wright; Malcolm Spaven

1999 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459910252984

Notes the debate concerning the maintenance of trade union influence in employee participation schemes. Explains why unions have been prevented from significantly affecting the safety representative system in the UK offshore oil and gas industry. It is shown how representative training in particular prevents unions influencing the definition of the representative role. Categorises representatives by their motivation and the source of their role definition noting also the unintended consequences of their role performance. Concludes that structural conditions favour that representative role performance which is oriented to the goals of safety management.

Uco J. Wiersma; Peter T. van den Berg

1999 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459910252993

The Netherlands, although a small country with few natural resources, is a major industrial power in the West, and operates some of the world’s largest multinationals. To understand more about human resource management (HRM) practices in this country we used a structured interview format containing questions about selection techniques, equal employment opportunity, performance appraisal, motivational techniques, and participative decision making, and we interviewed 30 HRM professionals. Results show that creative research‐based HRM practices are helping organizations to adapt to global economic challenges, but it has not been easy to balance the needs of employers with those of employees in a country with a history of workers’ rights.

Jerry Hallier and Stewart Butts

1999 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459910253000

Explores recent expressions of support by employers for the importance of training in creating business success. Argues that this change in posture cannot be explained in terms of a growing recognition of the weaknesses of the labour force in intermediate‐level skills, because the new focus is on personal development, self‐management and “correct” attitudes rather than technical skills. Shows that while the changes in the valuation of training are consistent with Anglo‐Saxon notions of business management, they are more reflective of attempts to reshape the employer‐employee relationship. Observes that competitive pressures on organizations over the last 20 years have undermined traditional expectations of career opportunity and job security. This context has created the conditions under which this emphasis on normative training helps in the development of a new kind of psychological contract based on a rhetoric of partnership. Concludes that employers’ discovery of training is more about finding ways to secure employee commitment in uncertain times than about transforming skill levels.