Managing Employee Relations

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

3 hours per week plus a minimum of 6 hours per week in self-directed study

Please refer to Recommended Background Knowledge.

Please refer to Recommended Background Knowledge.

Please note that this is a second-year level subject. Students must have completed at least 50 points of study at first-year level to take this subject.

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements for this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Why regulate employment? Do unions have too much power? How should pay be set? How can disputes at work be resolved? Should employees share in decision-making with management? Is workplace conflict productive? These questions are central to contemporary debates over the policies and practices governing the relationship between managers and workers. This subject introduces students to the institutions, actors, and processes which shape the terms and conditions of work. An overview of key theoretical ideas provides the basis for examining major issues, trends and controversies in the regulation and management of employee relations.

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Identify and describe the key institutions, processes and actors in the regulation and management of work and employment.
• Critically evaluate competing views on the major issues influencing the regulation and management of employee relations.
• Apply subject content to devise strategies that address employee relations challenges faced by business and management.

• A 2-hour end of semester examination (50%)
• A group-based tutorial presentation (due in an allocated week throughout the semester) (10%)
• A group assignment based on tutorial presentation, totalling no more than 2000 words (due the week after the tutorial presentation) (20%)
• An individual assignment totalling no more than 2000 words due in week 7 (20%)

You will be advised of prescribed texts by your lecturer.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

• High level of development: critical thinking; problem solving; application of theory to practice; team work; collaborative learning; oral and written communication; analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of data and other information; receptiveness to alternative ideas.
• Moderate level of development: accessing data and other information from a range of sources; use of computer software.

This class was formerly called Managing Conflict in the Workplace.