The framework of employee
relations
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a review of the complex subject of employee
relations. It starts with a summary of the elements of employee relations and then
deals with the following industrial and employee relations concepts:
● the systems theory of industrial relations, which sees the subject as a system of
regulations and rules;
● the types of regulations and rules contained in the system;
● the nature of collective bargaining and bargaining power;
● the unitarist and pluralist views about the basis of the relationship between
management and trade unions in particular or employees in general;
● the reconciliation of interests;
● individualism and collectivism as approaches to employee relations;
● the voluntarist approach to industrial relations and its decline;
● human resource management (HRM) as a new paradigm for employee relations;
● the role of the employee relations function.
The chapter continues with a summary of developments in industrial relations
and a review of the current industrial relations scene. The chapter concludes with a
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