Employment Relations in New Zealand

Running head: EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND
Employment Relations in New Zealand
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Author Note

1EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND
Introduction
Collective bargaining is the system which is applied in the case of negotiation
regarding joint employment agreements. It has meant stated that any successful collective
bargaining could help in improving workplace productivity by establishing a healthy
relationship between employee and the employer through the union members. However, in
New Zealand, though the majority of the people including the Government and the
stakeholders support collective bargaining in the workplace, the collective agreement has not
been able to increase in New Zealand (Grimshaw, Bosch & Rubery, 2014). Though the
majority of the people of New Zealand supports collective bargaining in the workplace, but
still with the changes in the public policies individual business tends to increase. Although
many legislation and rules are in support of the collective Government under the
Employment Relations Act 2000, still current Government could not be able to rise in New
Zealand. The thesis statement is that for several years the legislation and the Government are
in support of the collective Government in New Zealand, but still, it has not increased in New
Zealand.
Discussion
In the present days, the gradual shift from the collectivism bargaining to individual
bargaining in New Zealand has led to incremental changes in the relationship between the
employer and the employee. Though the majority of the people of New Zealand supports
collective bargaining in the workplace, but still with the changes in the public policies
individual bargaining tends to increase. As a result, there has been a rise in the personal
business to improve the own right of the employee. The New Zealand Employment Relation

2EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND
Act, 2000 (ERA), provides a clear structure and system for negotiation between the
employee and the unions, so that by joining hands together and through talks they can enter
into collective agreements (Rasmussen & Greenwood, 2014). Whereas, individual, collective
bargaining also comes under within this act, where employees can directly negotiate with
their employers and enter into cooperative agreements. With much support from the
legislation and Government, collective bargaining in New Zealand could not be able to
increase much because of specific reasons. First, the individual employee and the employer
rights have become profound that means employee does not want to include any third party
such as the labour unions to address their grievances to the employer. In the opinion of
McCrystal (2016), employees think the best way to solve their problems is through direct
communication with the employer through individual bargaining. This had put influence on
the perception of employee and the employer, which has resulted in shifting from
collectivism bargaining to individual bargaining. As opined by Visser (2016), the
comprehensive rights of the employees cut across the New-Zealand experiment during the
year 1984, when the Government and the Labour Union encouraged the free market model
and deregulation within the country. In that case, employees were not provided with their
fundamental rights, and thus this had lead to the individualistic bargaining in New Zealand.
One of the primary reasons that have not lead to the increase of collective agreement in New
Zealand is that although the Employment Relation Act 2000 supports the collective
bargaining and unionism. But then in the recent days, the coverage and benefits of the
collective bargaining had declined that lead to the increase in individual bargaining in the
modern days.
It is important to be noted that most of the private sector organizations in New
Zealand do not support collective bargaining, as the private sector industries have a negative
perception and confusion regarding collective bargaining. Moreover, the inability and the