norm, and with declining union density (under 17 per cent in 2104),‘direct
employer–employee bargaining became the norm and individual employ-
ment contracts covered the majority of employees’(Rasmussen and Lamm
2005, p. 484).
However, the government plays an important role in determining a range of
minimum pay and conditions. There are over twenty conditions, or‘rights’as
they are called, covering such things as leave, minimum wages, health and
safety, and union membership. Employees cannot be asked to agree to less
than the minimum rights.
Minimum wages in New Zealand are governed by the Minimum Wage Act,
which specifies that all employees aged 16 years or more must be paid the
statutory minimum wage. The statutory minimum wage applies to all types of
jobs and employees, including home workers, casual, temporary, and part-
time employees. The statutory minimum wage does not apply to those under-
taking recognized industry training, and doing at least sixty‘credits’per year;
such persons are paid the training rate/youth rate. Labour inspectors may
grant an exemption from minimum wages to a person with a recognized
disability that significantly slows his or her work and makes him or her
incapable of earning the minimum wage (MBIENZ 2015).
The 2015 rates are set at $NZ 8.20 for a person between 16 and 17 (youth rate
and training rate), and $NZ 10.25 for persons aged 18 and over (MBIENZ 2015).
7.7.3USA
The culture of the USA is largely associated with individualism and its com-
mitment to the free market, and this is reflected in its industrial relations
system. There is a much greater emphasis in the USA on individual effort,
ambition, and ability while bargaining, and differences between employees
and employers are best settled on a one-on-one basis. Collective action is
largely regarded as only resorted to when individual response resolution has
been expended (Katz and Colvin 2011). There is a three-tier structure of
industrial relations in the USA. Local unions deal with the daily interaction
with employers at the workplace level. Typically, these local unions are affili-
ated with a national union, while labour federations act as umbrella organiza-
tions for national unions and provide overall direction for the labour
movement, as well as services like training and government lobbying.
In 2014, only 11 per cent of workers were union members (down from
22 per cent in 1985), and only 6 per cent in the private sector (Unionstats
2015). The reasons for the decline in union density are similar to those
observed in Europe and Australia. Employers have also learned that using
positive human resource management practices such as installing formal
grievance systems, comprehensive benefit plans, and worker involvement
Australia’s Industrial Relations Singularity