Comprises 29 papers grouped under four themes: What do workers want; Labour law and the new American workplace; New forms of employee organization; and Employees as owners.
Investigating the issue of employee representation in multinational companies (MNCs), this book sets out to systematically conceptualise the modes of articulation between different action fields. While previous studies have focused on forms of employee representation that have emerged throughout recent decades, rather little is known about the interaction and coordination of representational bodies and actors, such as trade unions and European or World Works Councils. Given the growing importance of transnational restructuring in MNCs, understanding the conditions under which employees are able to participate in company decision-making is a crucial issue. Based on empirical case studies and interviews with employee representatives from ten countries across Europe, the authors investigate the role of representational bodies in periods of company restructuring. Proposing a shift in perspectives in research on transnational labour relations and bringing new insights into structures and practices of employee representation in MNCs, this book will be a valuable read for both scholars and practitioners.
Employee participation encompasses the range of mechanisms used to involve the workforce in decisions at all levels of the organization - whether direct or indirect - conducted with employees or through their representatives. In its various guises, the topic of employee participation has been a recurring theme in industrial relations and human resource management. One of the problems in trying to develop any analysis of participation is that there is potentially limited overlap between these different disciplinary traditions, and scholars from diverse traditions may know relatively little of the research that has been done elsewhere. Accordingly in this book, a number of the more significant disciplinary areas are analysed in greater depth in order to ensure that readers gain a better appreciation of what participation means from these quite different contextual perspectives. Not only is there a range of different traditions contributing to the research and literature on the subject, there is also an extremely diverse sets of practices that congregate under the banner of participation. The handbook discusses various arguments and schools of thought about employee participation, analyzes the range of forms that participation can take in practice, and examines the way in which it meets objectives that are set for it, either by employers, trade unions, individual workers, or, indeed, the state. In doing so, the Handbook brings together leading scholars from around the world who present and discuss fundamental theories and approaches to participation in organization as well as their connection to broader political forces. These selections address the changing contexts of employee participation, different cultural/ institutional models, old/'new' economy models, shifting social and political patterns, and the correspondence between industrial and political democracy and participation.
"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.
Examines the history, contemporary practice, and policy issues of non-union employee representation in the USA and Canada. The text encompasses many organizational devices that are organized for the purposes of representing employees on a range of production, quality, and employment issues.
ÔWachter and Estlund have assembled a feast on the economic analysis of issues in labor and employment law for scholars and policy-makers. The volume begins with foundational discussions of the economic analysis of the individual employment relationship and collective bargaining. It then progresses to discussions of the theoretical and empirical work on a wide range of important labor and employment law topics including: union organizing and employee choice, the impact of unions on firm and economic performance, the impact of unions on the enforcement of legal rights, just cause for dismissal, covenants not to compete and employment discrimination. Anyone who wants to study what economists have to say on these topics would do well to begin with this collection.Õ Ð Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Indiana University Bloomington School of Law, US This Research Handbook assembles the original work of leading legal and economic scholars, working in a variety of traditions and methodologies, on the economic analysis of labor and employment law. In addition to surveying the current state of the art on the economics of labor markets and employment relations, the volumeÕs 16 chapters assess aspects of traditional labor law and union organizing, the law governing the employment contract and termination of employment, employment discrimination and other employer mandates, restrictions on employee mobility, and the forum and remedies for labor and employment claims. Comprising a variety of approaches, the Research Handbook on the Economics of Labor and Employment Law will appeal to legal scholars in labor and employment law, industrial relations scholars and labor economists.
The Selected Papers in this volume, written over a period of some 20 years, represent just a small part of Marco Biagi's scientific writings, and are reprinted here with a view to showing the range, depth and originality of his research work. While many of his papers dealing with labour relations issues in the Italian context were published in Italian, Marco's long association with Johns Hopkins University and Dickinson College, along with his close links with the leading scholars in comparative labour law and industrial relations not just in the member states of the European Union, but also in many other countries, including Japan, were of fundamental importance for his work, and as a result he chose to publish many of his most thought-provoking papers in English. What emerges from a reading of these papers is the integrity and consistency of his thinking: themes that appear in his early work, such as industrial democracy, employee participation, training for flexibility, the role of small and medium-sized enterprises, and innovative strategies for creating new jobs and improving the quality of work, are further developed in the later years. He always wrote with a sharp eye on changes in the labour market arising from economic, social and political developments, such as most recently the introduction of the single currency, and always with a view to extending the benefits of employment opportunities beyond the existing limits. His ideas will continue to play an influential role in thinking about employment issues for many years to come.
"Just-in-time", "total quality management", "lean manufacturing", "call centres", "team work", "empowerment" - most people in business have heard these buzz words, often offered as a panacea to all profit ills. So why don't they always work? Can you combine them anyhow? If not, why not? The New Workplace Handbook is a comprehensive guide to the evidence available on how modern working practices and technology affect the people in organizations. Within a broad psychological framework, leading experts examine how people work, their experience of work, the impact on productivity and performance and the human resource implications. Guidance is offered on a range of different methods, tools and practices that can be used to guide the design and implementation of modern working practices to ensure that pitfalls are avoided and the best possible results are obtained from new initiatives. Indispensable for consultants, this Handbook will also be useful for students and scholars in the psychology of business, human resource professionals and anyone involved in the management of new working practices.
The original hardback edition of The New Workplace examined modern business terms such as total quality management, just-in-time production, e-business, lean manufacturing and teleworking. It explored what these terms really mean and what effect they have in practice - especially their impact on productivity and performance and their social and psychological consequences. This paperback is a shorter, revised version of the original book. It will focus on working practices, especially technology orientated ones, which are the most relevant and innovative for consultants.
Headlines frequently appear that purport to highlight the differences among workers of different generations and explain how employers can manage the wants and needs of each generation. But is each new generation really that different from previous ones? Are there fundamental differences among generations that impact how they act and interact in the workplace? Or are the perceived differences among generations simply an indicator of age-related differences between older and younger workers or a reflection of all people adapting to a changing workplace? Are Generational Categories Meaningful Distinctions for Workforce Management? reviews the state and rigor of the empirical work related to generations and assesses whether generational categories are meaningful in tackling workforce management problems. This report makes recommendations for directions for future research and improvements to employment practices.