Employee Relation Environment in Australia

This article provides an overview of the roles of key entities in the current Australian Industrial Relations system and discusses the legislative framework, industrial instruments, and regulatory authorities. It also explores the concepts of industrial relations and employee relations, and describes the enterprise and workplace bargaining processes in the Australian Federal IR system.

Running Head: Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note

1HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Task 1
Employee Relation Environment in Australia
Question 1.1 Identify and briefly describe the roles of the key entities in the current Australian
Industrial Relations system.
The Australian Industrial Relation System aim to access and significantly improve the
relationship in Australia1. Few inherent conflicts take place between the employee and the
employer. The relation focuses to shape the employment relationship so that the interest of both
the parties are considered. There are three major elements based on the Australian industrial
relation: regulatory framework, legislative framework and industrial instrument.
Legislative framework: to ensure fair relation within the industrial framework the organisation
needs to comply with the legislative framework. Fair Work Act 2009 defines the guideline
regarding the various issues one of which is right to entry, adverse actions, unfair dismissal,
general protection and agreement making2. Safety and legislation is defined to create the
difference in commonwealth and state level to ensure safety in workplace safety and health.
Industrial Instrument: the elements of industrial instruments are important for Australian
Industrial Relations. The aims of the national employment standards are to secure the fair
practice. This includes the approval of public holidays, parental leave, annual leave, statement of
1 McPhail, Ruth, et al. "Development and initial validation of a hospitality employees’ job satisfaction index:
Evidence from Australia." International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 27.8 (2015): 1814-1838.
2 Townsend, Keith, Adrian Wilkinson, and John Burgess. "Routes to partial success: collaborative employment
relations and employee engagement." The International Journal of Human Resource Management 25.6 (2014): 915-
930.

2HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
the employer, and many more. The additional service of requesting to arrange the flexible shift
according to the convenience of the employee.
Regulatory Authorities: the regulatory authorities are responsible for the legislative framework
and ensure to implement them properly. Fair Work Commission had established under its Act the
major aims and fairness towards the issues of the employment3. The commission emphasizes to
deal with major disputes in the workplace. Another important role assisted by Fair Work
Commission is to approve with the agreements.
Question 1.2
Industrial
Relations
Workplace
Health & Safety
Equal
Employment
Opportunity
Anti-
discrimination
Federal Fair Work Act
2009
Work Health and
Safety
Regulations 2011
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
Disability
Discrimination
Act 1992,
QLD Fair Work Act
2009
Work health and
Safety Act 2011
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
Queensland Anti
Discrimination
Act 1991
NSW Fair Work Act
2009
Work health and
Safety Act 2011
Equal
Employment
New South
Wales Anti
3 D'Cruz, Premilla, et al. "Target experiences of workplace bullying: insights from Australia, India and
Turkey." Employee Relations 38.5 (2016): 805-823.

3HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Opportunity Act
1987
Discrimination
Act 1977
VIC Fair Work Act
2009
Occupational
health and Safety
Act 2004
Victoria Equal
Opportunity Act
1995
Victoria Equal
Opportunity Act
1995
SA Fair Work Act
2009
Work health and
Safety Act 2011
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
South Australia
Anti
Discrimination
Act 1984
WA Fair Work Act
2009
Occupational
Safety and
Health Act 1984,
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
Western
Australia Anti
Discrimination
Act 1984
TAS Fair Work Act
2009
Tasmanian Work
health and Safety
Act 2012
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
Tasmanian Anti
Discrimination
Act 1998
ACT Fair Work Act
2009
Work health and
Safety Act 2011
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
Australian
Capital Territory
Anti
Discrimination
Act 1991
NT Fair Work Act
2009
Work health and
Safety Act 2011
Equal
Employment
Opportunity Act
1987
Northern
Territory Anti
Discrimination
Act 1977

4HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Question 1.3 overview of current Australian Industrial Relation system
Australian industrial relation system is introduced in the year 2009 and was developed by
Fair Work Act 2009. This facilitates the Australian to create a fair workplace relation with the
employers and the employees4. The pillars of the organization for fair work system are Fair
Work Ombudsman, the Federal Court of Australia, Fair Work Commission, and The Fair Work
Division of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The Fair Work Act 2009 is included in the
legislative framework, Safety legislation, Anti Discrimination legislation, Fair Work Building
Industry Act 2010, and income Tax Assessment Act 1997. The Fair Work Act aims to supervise
the workplace relations throughout Australia. It is also considered as the industrial tribunal. It
facilitates to assist the people working in the organisation and the employers to understand their
employees better5. Fair Work Australia has the authority to make wages orders, approve
agreements and vary awards. In addition to that the agreement determines the unfair dismissal
claims and assist the employees to resolve the dispute at the organisation.
The Fair Work Commission holds the responsibility of setting safety standards with
concern to minimum wage rate as per the employment conditions. It is responsible to deal and
protect the unprotected industrial actions and help in resolving the mishap at the workplace. The
Commission of Australia is responsible to ensure the bargaining process of the organisation and
undertake the following fair process. On the other hand, it also deals with the termination of the
4 Poole, Michael. Industrial relations: origins and patterns of national diversity. Routledge, 2013.
5 McInnes, Judith A., et al. "Working in hot weather: a review of policies and guidelines to minimise the risk of
harm to Australian workers." Injury prevention 23.5 (2017): 334-339.

5HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
employees and employers, which can also lead to unfair dismissal6. The Fair Work Ombudsman
is organisations that rectifies the wage rate and assist the employers to make certain calculation
and make payment for packages for its employee. Application regarding the termination of the
employment, contravention of the general protection and unfair dismissal are significantly
initiated by conciliated by Fair Work Commission.
Question 1.4 Briefly outlines the difference in the concepts of INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS and
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS.
Industrial relation is considered as the relationship between the workers, the
management, and the characteristics that regulates the system to solve any industrial disputes.
The regulatory body assists to settle the industrial dispute and generalize the study of
relationships between the employers and the employees7. The significant factor that plays vital
role in shaping the relation within the organisation is the government, employers and workers.
Trade unions are associated with industrial relations that have been aliened with the collective
bargaining and it is extensively focused in manufacturing the labour intensive. On the other
6 Shields, John, et al. Managing employee performance & reward: Concepts, practices, strategies. Cambridge
University Press, 2015.
7 Herriot, Peter. The employment relationship: A psychological perspective. Routledge, 2013.

6HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
hand, the employee relation refer to the study of building a positive relation with the employers
of the management and the workers. This particular concept has been used to resolve the
conflicts in the working environment8. It is extensively focused on creating the manufacturing
sector with the labour sector in managing their intensive structure. The relation of the employees
are referred to create concept that will assist to resolve the conflict in a working space motivate
the employees to carry out task and increase in the productivity of the organisation.
Question 1.5 Describe the enterprise and workplace bargaining processes in the current
Australian Federal IR system.
The enterprise bargaining process can be explained as the process where more than one
employee and employer can negotiate the terms and condition before entering into an
agreement9. The process of bargaining can be briefly explained in this section.
 There are few criteria which are used for selection of the bargaining concept. The
bargaining representative of the employer and the union are the one who will covered by
the agreement.
8 Rousseau, Denise. I-deals: Idiosyncratic Deals Employees Bargain for Themselves: Idiosyncratic Deals Employees
Bargain for Themselves. Routledge, 2015.
9 Bray, Mark, and Andrew Stewart. "From the arbitration system to the Fair Work Act: the changing approach in
Australia to voice and representation at work." Adel. L. Rev. 34 (2013): 21.

7HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
 The bargaining on a proposed organisation is the agreement that initiates the employers
upon it. There are times when majority of the support determination comes with an
operation and bargaining process begins10. This can be referred to as the notification time.
 In an instant the fair work commission can grant the determination of the employer which
can bargain with the employees for making a new agreement.
 The representative participate in the process of bargaining to refrain themselves from the
unfair misconduct that undermines the freedom of the collective bargaining.
 It is mandatory that all the bargaining process needs to be responded for the proposal
regularly in a genuine manner that provides justification for each response.

10 Van Gramberg, Bernadine, et al. "Conflict management in Australia." The Oxford handbook of conflict
management in organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 425-448.

8HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Task 2
Analysis and Application
Question 2.1 summary of STAR’s existing employee relation performance
The reviewing of the relevant document of Star Industry can be analyzed that the existing
employee relation in the industry is comprised of adequate relationship in the workplace
objectives. However the company is focusing on the reconstruction and expansion activities on
the other hand, it requires extensive support for the employees of the organisation. The industry
has emphasized on managing with great amount of termination and redeployment issues which is
ethical and legal as well. The company is planning for expansion while it is recruiting more
number of employees11. The policies that drive the development of new recruiters and induction
process should be aware of the procedure and regulation of the company. Hence, the company is
yet to come up with the budget of induction training and recruitment process. Employee
production is essential for maintenance of the desired goal of reaching the revenue. The human
resource should be managed well as the organisation will encounter customer dissatisfaction and
loss.
Question 2.2 Critical actions.
11 Bish, Adelle J., and Boris Kabanoff. "Star performers: task and contextual performance are components, but are
they enough?." Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 52.1 (2014): 110-127.

9HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Therefore the existing employee relation performance have been found to be adequate by
the company that can make recommendation for improving the employee relations at Star
Industry12. Following are certain recommendations listed:
i. Star industry needs to develop a policy that is designed to ensure the confidential
documents for each employee.
ii. The industry needs to create a policy that addresses the discrimination issues in the
company. The policy that addresses the anti-discrimination must ensure that the
organisation recruits irrespective of gender biasness, religion and ethnicity.
12 Collings, David G. "Toward mature talent management: Beyond shareholder value." Human Resource
Development Quarterly 25.3 (2014): 301-319.

10HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Reference
Bish, Adelle J., and Boris Kabanoff. "Star performers: task and contextual performance are
components, but are they enough?." Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 52.1 (2014): 110-
127.
Bray, Mark, and Andrew Stewart. "From the arbitration system to the Fair Work Act: the
changing approach in Australia to voice and representation at work." Adel. L. Rev. 34 (2013): 21.
Collings, David G. "Toward mature talent management: Beyond shareholder value." Human
Resource Development Quarterly 25.3 (2014): 301-319.
D'Cruz, Premilla, et al. "Target experiences of workplace bullying: insights from Australia, India
and Turkey." Employee Relations 38.5 (2016): 805-823.
Herriot, Peter. The employment relationship: A psychological perspective. Routledge, 2013.
McInnes, Judith A., et al. "Working in hot weather: a review of policies and guidelines to
minimise the risk of harm to Australian workers." Injury prevention 23.5 (2017): 334-339.
McPhail, Ruth, et al. "Development and initial validation of a hospitality employees’ job
satisfaction index: Evidence from Australia." International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management 27.8 (2015): 1814-1838.
Poole, Michael. Industrial relations: origins and patterns of national diversity. Routledge, 2013.
Rousseau, Denise. I-deals: Idiosyncratic Deals Employees Bargain for Themselves: Idiosyncratic
Deals Employees Bargain for Themselves. Routledge, 2015.

11HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Shields, John, et al. Managing employee performance & reward: Concepts, practices, strategies.
Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Townsend, Keith, Adrian Wilkinson, and John Burgess. "Routes to partial success: collaborative
employment relations and employee engagement." The International Journal of Human
Resource Management 25.6 (2014): 915-930.
Van Gramberg, Bernadine, et al. "Conflict management in Australia." The Oxford handbook of
conflict management in organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 425-448.