Introduction to the Themed collection: Public sector employment relations in turbulent times

We introduce a themed collection of articles examining how the public sector has responded to, and been impacted by, the COVID-19 crisis. Although the pandemic has affected the roles, functions, economies, governance and structures of public sectors, this themed collection focuses on public sector employment relations. Authors examine significant areas which have been subject to accelerated change stemming from the pandemic. Building on decades of public sector reform, these changes impact public sector enterprise bargaining, terms and conditions of employment, working arrangements and practices, and the relationship between public servants and their employer. The articles in this collection provide important insights into the longer-term influences of the COVID-19 pandemic for public sector workforces. The collection also raises questions around whether the positive lessons from this crisis can be sustained to help manage serious crises in the future, or whether the public sector will slip back into a state of unpreparedness. JEL Codes: J45, J5, J81

Influence of Labor Management Relationship on Employee’s Performance

This article theoretically examined the effect of employment relations on employees in multinational corporations with a special focus on Dangote Cement. The article observed that labour-management relations also known as industrial relations play an imperative role in improving and sustaining employees' performance. It serves as the nerves of industrial harmony. The target population of this study, which isfinite (being defined), isthe total number ofDangote Cement Plantin Ibese, Ogun State, Nigeria. The population comprises staff whose population is two hundred and sixty (260). The use of a questionnaire was adopted to elicit information from the cross-section of the selected population. The correlation coefficient value ranges from 0 – 1 and has an acceptable value of 0.88, which indicates higher reliability of the measurement instrument and low error variance, implying that the instrument is reliable. While the analysis was done using regression analysis. The findings revealed that there is a significant influence of employee’s participation, trade union, and industrial harmony on employee performance. Organizations should encourage mutual relationships among employees, as well as provide conducive working conditions/ environment for employees, like organizational learning, effective communication among employees, which will enhance their productivity and employee's performance.

PERSONAL DATA IN THE CONTEXT OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

For the purposes of the employment relationship under the law, employers collect, process and store a certain amount of personal data of job candidates and employees. This creates for them respective obligations and responsibilities in their capacity as controllers of personal data. The report examines the grounds for the collection and processing of personal data for the purposes of employment and sets out the necessary measures to ensure the confidentiality of personal data of staff.

Pandemic effects on public service employment in Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic is sending shockwaves through communities and economies, and public servants have risen to the novel policy challenges in uncharted waters. This crisis comes on top of considerable turmoil for public services in recent decades, with public management reforms followed by the global financial crisis (GFC) leading to considerable change to public sector employment relations and a deprivileging of public servants. The research adopts the lens of the ‘public service bargain’ to examine the effects of the pandemic across Australian public services. How did Australian public service jurisdictions approach public employment in 2020, across senior and other cohorts of employees? How did this pandemic response compare to each jurisdictions’ response to the GFC a decade earlier? The research also reflects more broadly of the impact on public sector employment relations and to what extent pandemic responses have altered concepts of the diminished public service bargain or the notion of governments as model employers? JEL Codes J45

The Improvement of Total Rewards and Working Condition for Taekwondo Instructor in the COVID-19 Era

The purpose of this study is to identify the overall difficulties of the Taekwondo industry due to the COVID-19 situation and to find ways to improve the total rewards and working condition so that Taekwondo instructors can play their roles while maintaining their self-esteem. The method of this study was a comparative study of the U.S. and Korea, which is the home country of Taekwondo. For this study, 12 American and Korean instructors were interviewed and additional surveys were conducted. As a result, both American and Korean Taekwondo instructors were playing their roles with high self-esteem. However, there were differences in job classification, allowances pay, incentives, and self-development opportunities. In U.S., Taekwondo instructors are clearly defined their tasks based on the job classification system and are applied well-designed overtime pay, incentive system and vacation plans. On the other hand, Korean instructors were working overtime and overworking without additional compensation to maintain long-term vision and employment relations. Comparative studies show that both countries have improvements to learn from each other. Taekwondo instructors in the U.S. need to increase their self-esteem in taekwondo while providing instructors with a vision for long-term careers. Taekwondo instructors in Korea need to improve total rewards and develop new skills such as mental training, counseling, and online lessons. The study will contribute to the overall improvement of total rewards, working condition and career development of taekwondo instructors in the U.S. and Korea.

The effect of computerisation on the wage share in United Kingdom workplaces

This historical paper analyses the distributional consequences of computerisation on the wage share of income in United Kingdom (UK) workplaces in the first decade of this century. The reasons why computerisation might increase a firm’s income but reduce the share assigned to wages are still not well understood. The uniquely rich Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) 2004–2011 includes firm-level measures of the main production inputs and outputs, and thus allows an analysis of the main mechanisms through which increased computer usage influenced the wage share of income in UK workplaces over this period. This analysis shows that the proportion of employees using computers impacted the wage share in ways that were at odds with two mainstream views: that computers complement capital, and that labour can be easily replaced by capital. The results show that the proportion of employees using computers reduced the wage share by disproportionally increasing the productivity of the least skilled employees, who were not proportionally compensated for their increase in productivity. The stability of the wage share, over the period of interest, is explained by the rise in a workplace’s share of professional employees and by a rise in work effort. This positive contribution to the wage share was counteracted by an increased share of employees using computers and by a reduction in the share of employees whose pay was negotiated by unions, thereby contributing to a decline in the wage share of firm income. JELcode J31

The Impacts of Good Faith on Collective Bargaining: a New Zealand Case Study

<p>This paper explores the protective strength of the good faith reforms as enacted under the Employment Relations Act 2000 and subsequent legislation on the collective bargaining rights of workers. Interviews were conducted with numerous unions and employers in New Zealand to discover how the good faith reforms have impacted their dealings with one another with regards to collective bargaining.</p>

The Impacts of Good Faith on Collective Bargaining: a New Zealand Case Study

<p>This paper explores the protective strength of the good faith reforms as enacted under the Employment Relations Act 2000 and subsequent legislation on the collective bargaining rights of workers. Interviews were conducted with numerous unions and employers in New Zealand to discover how the good faith reforms have impacted their dealings with one another with regards to collective bargaining.</p>