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The Employment Contract: From Collective Procedures To Individual Rights

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Listed:
  • William Brown
  • Simon Deakin
  • David Nash
  • Sarah Oxenbridge

Abstract

The article analyses the institutional basis and form of the employment contract in Britain using the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey. It assesses the extent to which collective bargaining still regulates pay and non-pay aspects of employment. The paper shows that while collective procedures have declined in importance, there has been an increase in legal governance of the employment relationship. Logistic regression analysis establishes that both contractual formalisation and legal compliance are greater in larger organisations and where trade unions are present. Trade union activity is also associated with superior fringe benefits. Collective bargaining thus appears to facilitate both access to and improvement on statutory rights.

Suggested Citation

  • William Brown & Simon Deakin & David Nash & Sarah Oxenbridge, 2000. "The Employment Contract: From Collective Procedures To Individual Rights," Working Papers wp171, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp171
    Note: PRO-2
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    1. Jeremy Waddington & Colin Whitston, 1997. "Why Do People Join Unions in a Period of Membership Decline?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 515-546, December.
    2. Paul Marginson, 1998. "The Survey Tradition in British Industrial Relations Research: an Assessment of the Contribution of Large-Scale Workplace and Enterprise Surveys," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 361-388, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. S Oxenbridge & S Deakin & W Brown & C Pratten, 2001. "Collective Employee Representation and the Impact of Law: Initial Response to the Employment Relations Act 1999," Working Papers wp206, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    2. Stephen Drinkwater & Peter Ingram, 2005. "Have Industrial Relations in the UK Really Improved?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 19(2), pages 373-398, June.
    3. Chikako Oka, 2016. "Improving Working Conditions in Garment Supply Chains: The Role of Unions in Cambodia," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 647-672, September.
    4. Stephen Clibborn & Chris F Wright, 2018. "Employer theft of temporary migrant workers’ wages in Australia: Why has the state failed to act?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 29(2), pages 207-227, June.
    5. Brown, W & Hudson, M & Deakin, S & Pratten, C, 2001. "The Limits of Statutory Trade Union Recognition," Working Papers wp199, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    6. Mark Harcourt & Helen Lam & Richard Croucher, 2015. "The right-to-manage default rule," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 222-235, May.
    7. William Brown & Paul Ryan, 2003. "The Irrelevance of Trade Union Recognition? A Comparison of Two Matched Companies," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 6(3), pages 383-408, September.
    8. W Brown & P Marginson & J Welsh, 2001. "The Management of Pay as the Influence of Collective Bargaining Diminishes," Working Papers wp213, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    9. Weidenstedt, Linda, 2017. "It Takes Two to Empower: The Communicative Context of Empowerment Change in the Workplace," Ratio Working Papers 300, The Ratio Institute.
    10. Willman, Paul & Bryson, Alex, 2007. "Union organization in Great Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19762, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Seppo Honkapohja & Frank Westermann, 2009. "Pay-setting Systems in Europe: Ongoing Developments and Possible Reforms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Seppo Honkapohja & Frank Westermann (ed.), Designing the European Model, chapter 3, pages 82-121, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Mark Hall & John Purcell & Michael Terry & Sue Hutchinson & Jane Parker, 2015. "Trade Union Approaches towards the ICE Regulations: Defensive Realism or Missed Opportunity?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(2), pages 350-375, June.
    13. Addison, John T. & Siebert, W. Stanley, 2002. "Changes in Collective Bargaining in the U.K," IZA Discussion Papers 562, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Anna Pollert & Andy Charlwood, 2009. "The vulnerable worker in Britain and problems at work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(2), pages 343-362, June.
    15. John Forth, 2008. "Workplace Employee Representatives, 1980-2004," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 317, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    16. Aristea Koukiadaki, 2010. "The establishment and operation of information and consultation of employees’ arrangements in a capability-based framework," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 31(3), pages 365-388, August.
    17. Alex J. Wood, 2015. "Networks of injustice and worker mobilisation at Walmart," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 259-274, July.
    18. Peter Urwin & Franz Buscha & Paul L. Latreille, 2014. "Representation in UK Employment Tribunals: Analysis of the 2003 and 2008 Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications (SETA)," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 158-184, March.
    19. James Arrowsmith & Paul Marginson, 2011. "Variable Pay and Collective Bargaining in British Retail Banking," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 54-79, March.
    20. Zagelmeyer, Stefan, 2003. "Die Entwicklung kollektiver Verhandlungen in Großbritannien: ein historischer Überblick," Discussion Papers 17, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    21. Chikako Oka, 2016. "Improving working conditions in garment supply chains: The role of unions in Cambodia," Post-Print hal-02952169, HAL.
    22. Stephen Clibborn & Sally Hanna‐Osborne, 2023. "The employer perspective on wage law non‐compliance: State of the field and a framework for new understanding," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 411-438, October.
    23. Gobbo, Simone Cristina de Oliveira & Mariano, Enzo Barberio & Gobbo Jr., José Alcides, 2021. "Combining social network and data envelopment analysis: A proposal for a Selection Employment Contracts Effectiveness index in healthcare network applications," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    employment contract; labour law; collective bargaining;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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