Non-Union Employee Representation (NER)

This assignment delves into the concept of Non-Union Employee Representation (NER), examining various sponsored bodies that advocate for employee concerns. It highlights NER's significance as a crucial HR strategy in fostering a positive work environment. The text emphasizes the advantages of organic structures within organizations, promoting fluid communication and employee participation in addressing workplace issues through discussions and deliberations.

STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Studies in Industrial Relations
Name of the student
Name of the University
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1STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Non-union forms of employee representation in resolving problem...........................................2
Changes in the bargaining structure of retail industry.................................................................3
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

2STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Introduction
7 Eleven faced a major scandal in the year 2008 when rumours regarding ill-treatment of
its workers were made clear in the year 2008. The Fair Work Ombudsman made the verdict that
the company was involving in fraudulent practices and were responsible for under payment of
workers and the rules mentioned in the Employment Relationship was being violated. The
company was not properly maintaining the office records and the migrated employees were not
getting the right remuneration. The company was not adhering to the rules framed by the
International Labour Organisation. The company was gaining huge amount of profit by cheating
the migrated workers and no extra benefits were being enjoyed by the employees who were
working in the night shift or for those who were working on over-time basis. The poor pay scale
also added to the contention factor and the company was not abiding by the norms of the payroll.
This report will throw light on the steps that can be taken by non-union forms of employee
representation to resolve this issue. It will focus on the changes that can be brought about in the
retail industry to solve this issue.
Non-union forms of employee representation in resolving problem
Trade Unions serve as a channel of representation that highlights the interests of the
workers. The increasing marginalization and decline in membership tends to obstruct the
representation system. The density of trade unions has become very low in Australia and hence
the effective representation of employees is not achieved. Non-union form of employee
representation (NER), are various sponsored bodies that have employee voice that has been
organized formally. They have thus also emerged to be an essential part of HR stratagem that
helps in delivering the voice of employees which ultimately helps in building a work
environment from which everyone will be able to gain. It will help in building a high-trust
environment that is free of unions (Kaufman & Taras, 2016).
Some NER’s have an accumulation of union along with non-union representatives
whereas there are others that boast of a pure autonomy where unions are completely excluded.
NER helps in supplanting the role played by the union and it serves as a fixture strategy that is
often deployed by employers to combat union organizing campaign (Cathcart, 2014). The
Worker’s Council can be formed and they will be responsible for amending the annual plans of

3STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
the enterprise. They will play a major role in approving and amending the balance sheet of the
employees. They will take the lead in approving the changes in a particular direction that will
help in developing the enterprise. They can decide on the work regulations of the enterprise. The
members of the supervisory board should be selected by the people working in the company.
Business owners will be able to enjoy more freedom in the process of dismissal as compared to
that of the union workplaces. Non-union workplaces do not have to go through dismissal
proceedings that are lengthy and they can very easily dismiss the employees on account of any
contract violation. They can very easily remove the non-productive and employees that are
disruptive for the effective functioning of the organization (Marchington & Suter, 2013).
Employees tend to group together whenever the conditions are bad and so the demands of the
workers should be recognized and the organization should pay wage that is appropriate.
The non-union representatives mainly work in the arena of consultation and it has been
reported that lack of autonomy often reduces the role played by the non-union bodies. They
should be completely independent of the patronage exercised by the management so that the
policies framed are effective and is line with the interests of the employees working in the
organization. Emphasis is laid on a sound relationship between the employers and that of the
workers and discussions are carried out which helps in highlighting the plight of the workers and
address their grievances (Barry & Wilkinson, 2016). Survey has shown that union
representatives have a tendency to spend more time on personal cases like problems regarding
individual grievances or particular cases of disciplinary matters. The non-union representatives
can engage in consultation and discuss about a wide range of issues. They can involve in talks
regarding minimum wages, migrants not being treated fairly, depriving the benefits of extra
benefits and bring about a solution to these problems. The activities of union representatives are
often dictated by their respective ideals and political patronage whereas the non-union
representatives are impartial and take into account all the aspects before arriving at a decision
(Benassi & Dorigatti, 2015).
Changes in the bargaining structure of retail industry
Retail is a very important sector that employs a lot of workforce. There is a large number
of young along with poorly-qualified workers who work for a very low sum. Safeguarding their
interest should be the main motto of the different unions. There are a large number of workers

4STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
who work at night shifts and due care should be taken to track their record with the help of
CCTV. The young people working in the industry should be paid adequately and effort should be
made to stop the discrimination against the migrated employees (Appelbaum, 2013). All these
can be attained by bringing a change in the bargaining structure and in the industrial relations.
The industry is going through a lot of structural changes and there is the pressure of de-
regulation and reduction in relation to employment. Large companies take the lead in the market
and they tend to dominate over micro business that was once popular. There has been a
significant decrease in terms of number of self-employed people. There has been a surge in the
number of part-time workers along with that of non-permanent contracts. All these changes have
deeply affected the career pattern and have introduced risks in regard to the mental health of the
employees (Moatti, et al. 2015). In a centralized organization, the decision making is mainly
concentrated around the higher levels whereas companies that are decentralized have problems
that are solved by employees who are much closer to the problem. They will thus be able to
identify the severity of the crisis and work accordingly (Haucap et al.,2013).
Decentralized companies give power of authority to employees who are working at a
lower level and it emboldens them with a sense of empowerment. The decisions can be carried
out very quickly and it ensures fairness to all employees. The hierarchical level of an
organization is also crucial for the perfect running of an organization (Skedinger, 2015). Those
that have tall structures are endowed with many management layers whereas those with flat
structures have less number of layers. In a flat structure, a large number of employees will be
able to communicate directly their problems to the managers thus reducing confusion to a great
extent. Research has shown that organizations that have the flat hierarchical structure will be
able to satisfy their employees and self-actualization can be obtained in this kind of
organizational structure (Jin,Wang & Hu, 2015).
The mechanistic structure bears close resemblance to that of the bureaucracy and the
organization of these structures are highly formalized. The communication is based on formal
channel and the employees are provided with specific job descriptions. They are thus rigid and
resist any kind of change. Organic structures, on the other hand, are more flexible and the
employees have a say in the procedures and they can involve themselves in deliberations and
discussions with the people who are working at the higher level in the organization.

5STUDIES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Communication is hence more fluid and the workers can talk about their problem. The organic
structure provides the employees with more job satisfaction since the employees work not only
in accordance to the needs of the organization but also on the basis of their expertise. The
organic structure leads to innovations in an organization (Wrigley & Lowe, 2014). The
employee attitude at work is determined to a great extent by the hierarchy of the organization and
the problems of the employees can be redreesed more effectively in the case of an organized
structure.
A learning organization is one that is gaining new knowledge and changing its behavior
on that basis. They are interested in experimenting and they have a tendency to reflect on their
newly acquired knowledge. Learning is facilitated in this kind of an organization. They lay
emphasis on experimentation and they test operational methods so that they can lead to better
outcome. They learn from experience as well as from their competitors. They can adopt the rules
and policies of other organizations that may lead to the growth of their organization and
satisfaction of their employees (Chen, Wang & Jiang, 2016). The facilities and pay scale
provided to employees in other organizations can be studied effectively in order to bring about a
change in one’s organization so that the problems can be addressed in a better manner in this
case.
Conclusion:
Non-union form of employee representation (NER) stand for various sponsored bodies
that voice the concern of the employees. They have evolved to be an essential HR stratagem that
is of immense help in building a healthy environment at the workplace. Organic structures within
the framework of an organization should be encouraged as they are more flexible and the
employees have a say in the system. Communication is more fluid and the workers through
deliberations and discussions can talk about their individual problems at length.

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References:
Appelbaum, E. (2013). The impact of new forms of work organization on workers. Work and
Employment in the High Performance Workplace, 120.
Barry, M., & Wilkinson, A. (2016). Pro‐social or pro‐management? A critique of the conception
of employee voice as a pro‐social behaviour within organizational behaviour. British
Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(2), 261-284.
Benassi, C., & Dorigatti, L. (2015). Straight to the core—Explaining union responses to the
casualization of work: The IG Metall campaign for agency workers. British Journal of
Industrial Relations, 53(3), 533-555.
Cathcart, A. (2014). Paradoxes of participation: non-union workplace partnership in John
Lewis. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(6), 762-780.
Chen, X., Wang, X., & Jiang, X. (2016). The impact of power structure on the retail service
supply chain with an O2O mixed channel. Journal of the Operational Research
Society, 67(2), 294-301.
Haucap, J., Heimeshoff, U., Klein, G. J., Rickert, D., & Wey, C. (2013). Bargaining power in
manufacturer-retailer relationships(No. 107). DICE Discussion Paper.
Jin, Y., Wang, S., & Hu, Q. (2015). Contract type and decision right of sales promotion in supply
chain management with a capital constrained retailer. European Journal of Operational
Research, 240(2), 415-424.
Kaufman, B. E., & Taras, D. G. (2016). Nonunion employee representation: history,
contemporary practice and policy. Routledge.
Marchington, M., & Suter, J. (2013). Where Informality Really Matters: Patterns of Employee
Involvement and Participation (EIP) in a Non‐Union Firm. Industrial Relations: A
Journal of Economy and Society, 52(s1), 284-313.

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Moatti, V., Ren, C. R., Anand, J., & Dussauge, P. (2015). Disentangling the performance effects
of efficiency and bargaining power in horizontal growth strategies: An empirical
investigation in the global retail industry. Strategic Management Journal, 36(5), 745-757.
Skedinger, P. (2015). Employment effects of union-bargained minimum wages: Evidence from
Sweden’s retail sector. International Journal of Manpower, 36(5), 694-710.
Wrigley, N., & Lowe, M. (2014). Reading retail: A geographical perspective on retailing and
consumption spaces. Routledge.