Journal of Industrial Relations recent issues

Rethinking Globalization and Employment Relations: Introduction to the Symposium

Wailes, N. — 2008-10-29

The Diffusion of Employment Practices in Multinationals: `Americanness' within US MNCs in Spain?

Quintanilla, J., Susaeta, L., Sanchez-Mangas, R. — 2008-10-29

Drawing on several theoretical perspectives, including institutionalism and strategic choice, this article examines the impact of home and host country national business systems on the diffusion of human resource management practices by American multinational corporations to their subsidiaries in Spain. Our evidence suggests that the tight control that American multinational corporations usually exert over their subsidiaries has recently increased. In most of the case studies, successful implementation of corporate human resource policies has mainly been achieved due to the degree of malleability and openness that characterized the Spanish business system. However, increased control also reflects the legitimacy given to managerial human resource practices originating in the USA and the willingness of host country managers to implement corporate policy. To this extent, it can be argued that subsidiary management plays a critical role in the configuration and implementation of human resource management and industrial relations policies and practices in multinational corporations.

Transnational Company Industrial Relations: The Role of European Works Councils and the Implications for International Human Resource Management

Gilson, C., Weiler, A. — 2008-10-29

The general study of institutional arrangements that are designed to impact on managerial prerogatives is typically cast in the genre of forms of industrial democracy. While the last few decades have seen a decline in interest in this area of study, developments in the European Union have enabled an ongoing dialogue specifically on the topic of consultation. Although consultation is generally seen by scholars as a modest form of industrial democracy, formal European Directives have provided the opportunity to assess the representative strength or otherwise of initiatives such as European Works Councils that are explicitly designed to address social policy and inequality in the workplace. Drawing on 41 case studies, we examine the determinants of European Works Councils morphology, activities undertaken and general outcomes. We note that it is important to presumptively inquire as to what is being theorized rather than simply take the implicit position that European Works Councils are the prime institution of influence. This leads us to establish the primacy of management and in particular, the vector of management decision-making as the primary independent variable that predicts much about the operation and robustness of European Works Councils. Accordingly, we find that strong centralized management, rather than the usual suspects of differing national industrial relations systems and cultural differences, typically account for much of what we understand in terms of the role that European Works Councils play.

Gender, Non-standard Work and Development Regimes: A Comparison of the USA and Indonesia

de Ruyter, A., Warnecke, T. — 2008-10-29

This article explores the changing labour market participation of women in the USA and Indonesia, specifically examining trends in `atypical' or `nonstandard' employment. We are interested in exploring how globalization pressures have contributed to changing employment patterns, and the policy approaches adopted in both countries. Three types of atypical employment are examined: part-time, temporary and self-employment. In this article we compare the evolution of development and welfare mechanisms in both countries in shaping female participation. It is argued that the dominant neo-liberal model serves to entrench existing inequalities, leading to women being peripheralized into precarious, non-standard jobs.

The New Benchmarking and Advisory State: The Role of the British Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in Facilitating Labour--Management Consultation in Public Sector Transformation

Stuart, M., Martinez Lucio, M. — 2008-10-29

The aim of this article is to examine the changing role of the state in a more market-driven system of industrial relations, specifically in terms of the new roles that are being developed with regard to mediation, advisory and arbitration services. It focuses empirically on the role played by the British Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in facilitating the modernization of public sector employment relations. We show how the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has played a `benchmarking' role that assists the development of more strategic forms of decision-making and cooperation in employment relations change, and identify the challenges of developing such an approach in the context of the shift towards a more decentralized and market-oriented system of public service delivery. In conclusion we assert that there is a new `advisory and benchmarking' state evolving based on a soft-market view of industrial relations, and that this mitigates (but is also in tension with) the harder market view within the state concerned with transforming the public sector.

The Impact of the Workplace Relations Act on Regional Patterns of Industrial Relations: The Illawarra Region of Australia, 1996-- 2004

Markey, R., Hodgkinson, A. — 2008-10-29

Work Choices fundamentally restructured the Australian industrial relations system in 2005, by marginalizing the role of awards and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, privileging individual contracts and restricting industrial action by trade unions. The Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WRA) represented a significant first step in this direction prior to the Liberal National coalition gaining control of the Senate in 2005. However, there has been no extensive workplace data of the kind produced by the Australian Workplace Relations Survey to take stock of the impact of the WRA. This study undertakes a stocktake of the impact of the WRA for the Illawarra region. It compares data for trade unions, employer associations, forms of employee participation, workplace reductions, industrial disputes and payment systems from the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey 1996 with a further survey in 2004. It concludes that while the WRA did impact on the region, the Illawarra nevertheless maintained a distinctive pattern of industrial relations in which the New South Wales State system was more influential. If this provides any indication of the wider impact of the WRA, it offers strong reasons as to why the government proceeded with Work Choices.

Three Transformations of Industrial Relations in Laos

Fry, S. — 2008-10-29

This article provides an account of industrial relations in Laos, in light of the transformation theory from the industrial relations literature. The scope of the article is limited to employment in the formal, wage-earning sector of the civilian economy. The article argues that the history of industrial relations in Laos can be divided into four eras: the French colonial era (1890s to 1947); the Royal Lao Government era (1947—1975); the first decade or so of the Lao People's Democratic Republic following the communist revolution in 1975; and the contemporary reform era under the New Economic Mechanism (1986 to the present). Following the transformation literature, the article argues that these four eras were divided by three transformations: the first of these, from the colonial to Royal Lao Government regime, was incremental or gradual; the second and third were cases of discontinuous change. The first and third of the transformations, to some extent, are `controversial'.

Acknowledgement of Referees 2007-8

2008-10-29

Public Service Dispute Management -- Pertinence of Comparative Study

Dickens, L., Bordogna, L. — 2008-09-08

Regulating and Resolving Public Sector Disputes in Canada

Rose, J. B. — 2008-09-08

This article discusses three broad approaches that have been adopted for the regulation and resolution of public sector strikes in Canada and provides a review of empirical and other research findings on public sector disputes procedures. This is followed by an assessment of the effectiveness of these approaches based on their ability to: (1) provide for the continuance of essential services; (2) achieve timely settlements (e.g. collective bargaining efficiency); (3) foster voluntary and peaceful settlements; and (4) promote acceptable outcomes. The article concludes that the reality is public sector strikes are inevitable, strike bans do not eliminate strikes and no dispute resolution model is totally effective.

Collective Dispute Resolution in the Public Sector: The Nordic Countries Compared

Stokke, T. A., Seip, A. A. — 2008-09-08

Collective bargaining in the public sector in the Nordic countries is conducted both at the central and the local level. Dispute resolution at the central level aims at avoiding open conflict, and takes the form of mediation. In addition, a variety of self-imposed or legal regulations address who is entitled to take part in industrial action and how the bargaining structure is designed. Legal intervention plays a role in two countries, while the other two adhere to a principle of self-regulation. When it comes to the protection of essential services, legal intervention has tendencies towards overprotection while self-regulation has sparked most discussion in the direction of underprotection. Still, there are signs of convergence. Dispute resolution at the local level aims at concluding a wage disagreement, and usually takes the form of arbitration. The arbitration rate is low, two to five percent per bargaining unit per year. A decentralization of bargaining would only solve the problem of protecting essential services if all groups benefited from decentralization. Since this is not likely, decentralization is likely to either remain partial or trigger recentralization. The problem of protecting essential services will therefore remain at the core of public sector bargaining.

Management of Disputes in the Public Service in Southern Africa

Fashoyin, T. — 2008-09-08

The article analyses the evolving approaches to the management of disputes in the public service in southern African countries. The article notes that while the thrust of public policy and the institutional frameworks for dispute resolution are generally in support of the organizational rights of workers to freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, there exists considerable incoherence in public policy, particularly with respect to the role of collective bargaining, the treatment of essential services and the right to strike in the public service. A dilemma exists, however: despite the lack of clear definition as to what constitutes an essential service, and various encumbrances on the right to strike, public services strikes have occurred regularly in the region. After identifying a number of notable differences in dispute management with respect to the distinction between `non-essential' and `essential' services, the article questions whether employers in the public service are truly committed to engaging workers in constructive negotiations over labour disputes.

Dispute Regulation in Essential Public Services in Italy: Strengths and Weaknesses of a `Pluralist Approach'

Bordogna, L. — 2008-09-08

This article analyses the system of dispute regulation in essential public services in Italy as an example of the strengths and weaknesses of a pluralist approach to the issue under examination. That is, an approach which, in one of the few EU countries where the right to strike is constitutionally protected, assigns important regulatory responsibilities to the parties — trade unions and employers — under the supervision of a newly created authority, the Guarantee Commission. The article stresses how such an approach has proved on the whole to be rather effective, capable of reconciling the employees' right to strike with the citizens' rights equally protected by the constitution. However, discussing the case of a massive wildcat dispute in the local transport system, it also underlines how this approach is doomed to fail whenever a dissociation between the actors involved in the regulation and those promoting the conflict occurs. The article suggests that an effective system of dispute regulation in essential public services, especially if based on a pluralist approach, cannot operate in isolation but requires coherent rules in the labour relations system as a whole, namely regarding the collective bargaining procedures and even more the rules of the representation system.

Dispute Resolution and the Modernization of the Public Services in Britain: The Case of the Local Government Pay Commission

Kessler, I., Dickens, L. — 2008-09-08

This article focuses on an ad hoc body, the UK Local Government Pay Commission, as a means of developing a broader argument on the relationship between collective dispute resolution and the nature of public service reform. It suggests that the character of disputes in this sector and the `fitness for purpose' of those institutions designed to resolve them are critically related to an industrial relations agenda, which is in turn shaped by changing forms of public service provision. An extended period of public service `modernization' in local government led to a restructuring of collective bargaining with substantive and procedural consequences: new issues emerged and related tensions arose that could not be managed by the traditional bargaining machinery or by the use of existing third-party conciliation or arbitration mechanisms. It required relatively novel arrangements in the form of the LGPC whose nature and operation and lessons are discussed.

Retrospect and Prospects for Collective Regulation in the Australian Public Service

O'Brien, J., O'Donnell, M. — 2008-09-08

The article examines changes in the collective regulation of employment relations in the Australian Public Service over the last three decades. While federal Labor Governments in the 1990s briefly experimented with agency bargaining before returning to a service-wide approach to wage bargaining, the Howard Coalition Government encouraged federal public sector managers to individualize employment relations through the widespread offer of Australian Workplace Agreements and non-union collective agreements. This agenda was reinforced by policy parameters overseen by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, which placed constraints on the flexibility available to managers to negotiate agency-specific employment arrangements. Despite concerted efforts to marginalize the role of the Community and Public Sector Union since 1996, the union has maintained approximately 70 percent collective bargaining coverage within the Australian Public Service. Nevertheless, the 2005 amendments to the Workplace Relations Act (1996) imposed further restrictions on unions' right of entry to public sector workplaces, made the taking of industrial action more difficult, and sent a clear signal to the Government's managerial agents to adopt a more hostile approach to public sector unions. This hostile environment has brought to the fore issues of union organization and effectiveness and the concomitant need to maintain union democracy and an active voice for members in union decision-making processes.

Closing the Gap? The Role of Wage, Welfare and Industry Policy in Promoting Social Inclusion

Smyth, P. — 2008-09-08

Australia's social policy regime has been described as `social protection by other means' (SPM). Its foundation is attributed to the Harvester Judgment's minimum wage decision and is said to have persisted more or less successfully from 1907 to 2005 when the Howard Government passed industrial relations reforms known as the Work Choices legislation. This proposed that wage minima should be determined more by what the market can afford than previous welfare criteria. In 2008 the new Labor Government will need to revisit the role of the minimum wage in relation to social policy. Many see SPM as a failed model in the context of economic globalization and propose that Australia must reckon with creating a new European-style welfare state system of `flexicurity'. This article proposes that the perception of a crisis in SPM is fundamentally mistaken. Australian welfare has been far less reliant on wage determination than has been supposed and points towards a socially inclusive policy framework that is readily attainable.

Paid Annual Leave and Working Hours: Evidence from the HILDA Survey

Wooden, M., Warren, D. — 2008-09-08

Using data from wave 5 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, this study examines: (1) the extent to which Australian employees use their annual leave entitlements; and (2) the association between annual leave taking and weekly hours of work. After restricting attention to employees likely to have entitlement to at least 4 weeks of paid annual leave, it is found that the mean number of days of leave taken per year is around 16 and that the majority of employees (63%) take less than 20. The incidence of annual leave taking is found to vary positively with the number of usual weekly hours of work, but the size of this effect is small and weak.

The Politics of Industrial Relations in Australia in 2007

Hall, R. — 2008-05-16

Industrial Relations proved to be one of the dominant issues in the 2007 federal election campaign with the Government at first defending, and then moderating, their Work Choices legislation. The Labor Opposition benefited greatly from the successful Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) campaign against Work Choices and established a significant electoral advantage on the issue. Labor introduced its own IR policy alternative under the banner `Forward with Fairness' and then spent a good deal of 2007 trying to sell its policy to business. The final policy adopted by Labor, and set to become law over the next few years, represents something of a calculated political compromise. When the detail of the policy is considered the influence of the Work Choices laws is still very much apparent.

The Australian Labour Market in 2007

O'Brien, M., Valadkhani, A., Townsend, K. — 2008-05-16

Both global and domestic economic growth remained robust in 2007 resulting in historically low unemployment and high labour force participation in Australia. However, these favourable labour force statistics were overshadowed for much of the year by a number of other issues such as the continuing drought, high oil and petrol prices and associated inflation and interest rate pressures, a November federal election, and the first full year of the operation of the Work Choices legislation. This article will address each of these issues by presenting an analysis of the macroeconomy and labour market, and reviewing the labour market implications of the Work Choices legislation in Australia.

Wages and Wage Determination in 2007

Watts, M. J., Mitchell, W. — 2008-05-16

In 2007 money wages rose marginally faster than in 2006 but there was no evidence of generalized wage pressures arising from skill shortages. The Reserve Bank raised interest rates twice during the year, further reducing housing affordability. The Fair Pay Commission decision in July temporarily restored the real wages of the lowest paid, but there was further compression of the lower deciles of the wage distribution. With petrol prices continuing to rise, household living standards are under threat, particularly those of workers reliant on the wage adjustment through the Commission whose next decision will not be operational until October 2008. The election of the Labor Government in November led to speculation as to extent to which the Work Choices legislation would be amended.

Industrial Legislation in 2007

Sutherland, C., Riley, J. — 2008-05-16

The Howard government's draconian Work Choices laws will soon be history. A change of government at the 2007 federal election means that Australian industrial relations legislation will continue to be a turbulent field, for some time yet. This review provides an account of the last piece of industrial legislation passed by the Howard government, to introduce a `Fairness Test' in an attempt to ameliorate public concern about the patent unfairness of some aspects of the Work Choices laws. The same Act made some changes to the way in which `prohibited content' is regulated in workplace agreements. We also provide a brief summary of some of the more significant State manoeuvres in what remains to them of the field of industrial relations law.

Major Tribunal Decisions in 2007

Catanzariti, J., Brown, S. — 2008-05-16

Despite relatively low levels of industrial disputation in 2007, the AIRC delivered some significant decisions in relation to the `genuine operational reasons' exclusion to the unfair dismissal jurisdiction, and secret ballots for protected industrial action. However, arguably the most significant decisions in 2007 came from the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Federal Court of Australia. These decisions illustrate that the common law contract of employment provides (increasingly) robust protections to employees from workplace injustices. This article examines recent developments in relation to the implied duties of good faith and of mutual trust and confidence. It also considers the prevalence of workplace policies in modern workplace relations and the circumstances in which workplace polices might give rise to enforceable contractual obligations and common law remedies for breach.

Australian Unions in 2007

Oliver, D. — 2008-05-16

Australian unions will remember 2007 as the year that their `Your Rights at Work' campaign contributed to the defeat of the Coalition Government. Industrial relations dominated the election campaign and remained at the centre of public policy and media debates throughout the year. Employers used the Howard government's Work Choices legislation to refuse to bargain with unions and to prevent lawful industrial action. Union officials and members were prosecuted for unlawful industrial action. In response, unions conducted a highly resourced and professional campaign aimed at changing the government and repealing Work Choices. However, the Australian Labor Party under new leader Kevin Rudd announced it would keep certain contentious aspects of Work Choices. Notwithstanding the defeat of the Coalition, barriers remain to unions' future growth and strength.

Employer Matters in 2007

Mackinnon, B. H. — 2008-05-16

The year 2007 may well be remembered as one being short on major industrial disputation, yet one where industrial relations itself dominated public discussion and political life of the country like no other time in Australia's history. It was a year dominated by the electoral cycle, with both organized labour as well as major employers playing their cards very carefully, lest they provide political ammunition to their political and industrial opponents. Thanks largely to the effectiveness of the union movement's anti Work Choices campaign, major employer groups and their political allies the Howard government found themselves fighting a rearguard, and ultimately losing, battle, valiantly trying to defend the Work Choices regime. At year's end, the Liberal government had lost office, Prime Minister John Howard had lost his own seat in Parliament, and the Rudd Labor Government had been swept to power with a clear mandate to dismantle the Work Choices regime. Yet despite this conclusion to a year dominated by debate over industrial relations, it seems that employers had nevertheless lobbied Labor party leaders successfully enough to secure the continuation of many key components of the former Howard government's industrial relations regime.

The Impact of `Work Choices' on Women in Low Paid Employment in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis

2008-05-16

This article summarizes the effects of the Howard Government's `Work Choices' amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, based on qualitative analysis of its impact on 121 low paid women workers. The main effects of the regulatory changes are on job security, income, voice, working time and redundancy pay. The analysis draws attention to the nexus between protection from unfair dismissal and security of working time and employee voice: many of those interviewed in the study had lost access to protection from unfair dismissal and as a consequence could no longer effectively influence their working hours, or request flexibility. Employer prerogative was perceived to have strengthened in many of their workplaces, with consequences for the intensity of work. The analysis suggests that improvements in minimum standards and job security are vital if low paid workers like those included in the study are to exercise voice over working time and avoid significant deteriorations in their pay and conditions.

Why has the British National Minimum Wage had Little or No Impact on Employment?

Metcalf, D. — 2008-05-16

A century has passed since the first call for a British national minimum wage (NMW). The NMW was finally introduced in 1999. It has raised the real and relative pay of low wage workers, narrowed the gender pay gap and now covers around 1-worker-in-10. The consequences for employment have been extensively analysed using information on individuals, areas and firms. There is little or no evidence of any employment effects. The reasons for this include: an impact on hours rather than workers; employer wage setting and labour market frictions; offsets via the tax credit system; incomplete compliance; improvements in productivity; an increase in the relative price of minimum wage-produced consumer services; and a reduction in the relative profits of firms employing low paid workers.

The Danish Model of Industrial Relations: Erosion or Renewal?

Due, J., Madsen, J. S. — 2008-05-16

The Danish model represents one of the most solidly-based industrial relation (IR) systems in Europe, and is today internationally regarded as an exemplar owing to its effective combination of flexibility and security in labour-market regulation. But in an increasingly globalized world even this model has come under pressure. The pressure comes from three different directions: (1) from EU regulation; (2) from the national political system; and, (3) from the parties at enterprise level. The organized or centralized decentralization of the collective bargaining system that was seen as the answer to the increased competitive pressure of internationalization would appear to have reached its limit and to have been replaced by a trend towards multi-level regulation. Whether this trend will lead to renewal or erosion of the Danish model will be revealed over the coming years. There are signs that indicate the model's continued robustness, but there are also signs of weakening. The outcome is not only of national interest, but also has international relevance, since Denmark can be seen as the IR model par excellence. As a critical case the development of the Danish model is an indicator of the traditional IR system's future prospects in general.

Introduction: Call Centres, the Networked Economy and the Value Chain

Rainnie, A., Barrett, R., Burgess, J., Connell, J. — 2008-03-20

Explaining Employees' Experience of Work in Outsourced Call Centres: The Influence of Clients, Owners and Temporary Work Agencies

Kinnie, N., Purcell, J., Adams, M. — 2008-03-20

Third party call centres are growing as employers respond to market pressures. However, evidence shows their employees' experience of work is inferior compared to those working for in-house call centres. Drawing on research in two organizations we argue that the differences in employees' experiences can be explained by examining external influences on HR practices. These cases reveal a complex web of relationships involving clients, owners and Temporary Work Agencies. The strategic choice of HR practices is severely constrained by these important external parties and by the labour market making it difficult to develop effective, stable, mutually beneficial employment relationships. The impact of these external influences has implications for employee representation and legal protection in third-party call centres and for future research into the constraints on HR decision-making in these organizations.

The Psychological Contract in Call Centres: An Employee Perspective

Cross, C., Barry, G., Garavan, T. N. — 2008-03-20

The call centre industry is a relatively recent phenomenon, which has changed the face of the service sector (Frenkel et al., 1998). For a comparatively new contender it has created a large share of internal human resource problems. Common issues of contention for call centres include high levels of churn, high levels of absenteeism, issues with motivation and commitment, lack of career progression opportunities and loss of agents following investment in training and development (Bain and Taylor, 2000). Many of these issues may be attributed to both a lack of understanding and violation of the psychological contract. This article specifically examines the psychological contract, through the use of a case study and analysis of interviews conducted with call centre agents. A number of interesting issues arose with regard to the formation, causes and consequences of their psychological contracts. The main finding is that two types of psychological contract coexisted. While everyone interviewed for this research was employed to perform the same role, the terms of their employment contracts differed greatly and this carried through to the type of psychological contract on offer to them. Permanent employees generally enjoyed relational psychological contract with expectations, content and consequences that reflect this model of the contract. While contract workers were subject to a transitional model with minimal mutual obligations. Implications for practice and further research are explored in light of these findings.

Learning to Control: Training and Work Organization in Australian Call Centres

Smith, A., Smith, E. — 2008-03-20

The organization of work in call centres has been the centre of study and debate for a number of years. This article explores the adoption of nationally-recognized training (based on formal qualifications) in Australian call centres, which is now becoming quite widespread, and its relationship to work organization and human resource management practices. The article draws on a national research project that explored the take up of nationally recognized training by Australian employers. A number of call centres were included in this study that forms the basis for the present article. One of the major attractions for call centre employers, apart from the financial incentives involved in adoption, is the close fit between nationally recognized training and work organization. Because of its on-job nature, such training fits the close quantitative controls that characterize almost all call centres. Because of its integration into the workplace and into work organization, nationally recognized training seems to be moving human resource management processes towards an increased emphasis on employee development.

`Teaming Up': Teams and Team Sharing in Call Centres

van den Broek, D., Barnes, A., Townsend, K. — 2008-03-20

Call centre work is highly individualistic and technologically regulated. Processes, scripts and company procedures are usually standardized. As such there is a fundamental irony in the fact that most call centre operations organize their workforce around team structures. In recent years, much of the research has identified how teams might lead to the workers shifting toward a shared firm identity and sociability, either voluntarily or through an involuntary internalization of managerial objectives. However other factors have not been fully investigated in the team literature. In this article we analyse how workers might `team up' to ameliorate the relentless conditions of work through collaboratively manoeuvring around call centre technologies as well as `teaming up' around customer relations. We provide a counter argument to both the `teams are good for business' position, and the `teams provide self imposed cages for workers to compete with each other' argument. Control and resistance remain an important factor in analysing teams in call centres, while shallow and short-lived team arrangements might provide important social mechanisms for worker support.

Call Centres and the Quality of Work Life: Towards a Research Agenda

Hannif, Z., Burgess, J., Connell, J. — 2008-03-20

Concerns about job quality have become more widespread, crossing all industries and occupations. The call centre sector in particular has risen to the forefront of discussions about job quality because of the rapid growth and development of these new forms of work organization over the past two decades. However, despite there being an extensive quality of work life literature, and emerging research on call centre job quality, there is yet to be a study that systematically links the quality of work with employment in the call centre context. This article outlines current debates, highlighting the importance of bringing together and marrying these two branches of research. A qualitative research agenda constituting case study analysis of two call centres is introduced. A framework grounded in a job characteristics approach, comprising 10 key job-quality elements is also proposed as a means of examining the quality of work life in this context.

Unions in the Information Economy: Info-service Work and Organizing in Australian Call Centres

Russell, B. — 2008-03-20

Recent analyses of the labour movement in Australia have focused on declining densities and the loss of trade union influence and power. While some attention has been paid to the challenges posed for organizing in new economic sectors, less work has been done on the opportunities that such sectors may offer. This article focuses on info-service work in call centres. Although the labour processes, human resource management policies and labour market strategies of call centres have been subjected to considerable debate, little attention has been paid to the determinants of trade union representation in call centres. This article provides an analysis of worker perceptions of trade unions across 20 different centres and some of the factors that influence the decision to join or refrain from joining a trade union.

Location Matters: The Impact of Place on Call Centres

Paulet, R. — 2008-03-20

This article explores the economic geography of call centres. It argues that the technology utilized results in geographic flexibility, highlighting the importance of place in relation to call centres. Drawing on economic geography concepts of space, place and the socio-spatial dialectic the article presents the findings from research conducted in three case studies. It was found that factors unique to each place, such as community, job market and history, impact on and shape the call centres' HRM policies and practices. This article concludes that place is an important aspect in understanding HRM in call centres and advocates for increased consideration to be given to the issue of place in research on work and employment more generally.

Non-standard Employment and Promotions: A Within Genders Analysis

Zeytinoglu, I. U., Cooke, G. B. — 2008-03-20

This article examines promotion experiences of workers in nonstandard employment as compared to those in regular full-time employment. Since females dominate non-standard employment, we analyse the female and male labour forces separately. Non-standard employment refers to regular part-time, temporary full-time, and temporary part-time employment. Data comes from the Workplace and Employee Survey (1999) of Statistics Canada. Results are generalized to Canadian workers. Results show that within the female labour force, workers in all three types of non-standard employment are less likely to be promoted than workers in regular full-time employment. Within the male labour force only those in temporary part-time employment are less likely to be promoted. Working in regular part-time or temporary full-time contracts has no impact on promotion for male workers. Overall results suggest that all three types of non-standard work adversely affect females' promotion experiences but for males only those in temporary part-time jobs are adversely affected.

Commitment, Functional Flexibility, and Addiction

Cavagnoli, D. — 2008-03-20

This article provides an insight into the reasons for and the outcomes of functional flexibility, and it argues that functional flexibility increases time commitment of labour in paid-work. However, this leads to work-addiction, a byproduct of the production process in complex activities, which calls for demand as well as supply side policies.

The Australian Charter of Employment Rights: Setting the Standard for New Legislation and Good Practice

Heap, L. — 2008-03-20

This article explores how the recently developed Charter of Employment Rights can be used by legislators, employers and unions to achieve sustainable working relationships in the post Work Choices environment. It examines the themes emerging from the conversations that the Australian Institute of Employment Rights (AIER) facilitated with employers, employees, unions, academics, lawyers and politicians throughout 2007. AIER hopes its Charter of Employment Rights will inform and inspire the objects of Labor's new legislation and provide a framework for the new regulatory system. In addition to being an instrument to aid the design of a new system, this article explores the role of the Charter in providing a framework for good employer practice and as a vehicle for education and change within workplaces and the community.

The Australian Charter of Employment Rights: The Missing Dimensions

Standing, G. — 2008-03-20

Just prior to the 2007 General Election, a group of labour lawyers and economists, broadly sympathetic to the Labor Party, produced a Charter of Employment Rights. This article examines the Charter's proposals and its underlying framework, and suggests significant aspects of work and labour have been omitted. It contends that the Charter would have been improved if it had not retained an artificially stretched definition of workers as employees, in which the only relationship worthy of inclusion in a Charter is that between the direct employer and employee. The framework and language of the Charter convey a paternalistic approach and an outdated focus on industrial labour, while ignoring aspects of the emerging global system of work linked to the concept of occupation.