Transforming New Zealand Employment Relations: At the Intersection of Institutional Dispute Resolution and Workplace Conflict Management

In New Zealand, the contemporary shift from highly regulated, collectivist employment rights to individual employment relationships included statutory direction to mediation. Good faith negotiation in the workplace and state provision of mediation were to be the primary mechanisms for resolution of ‘employment relationship problems’ (ERP). This paper investigates the intersection between workplace conflict management and institutional provision of mediation. We investigated ERP resolution by drawing on empirical evidence from 38 narrative interviews where participants recounted experiences of employment relationship problem (ERP) resolution. We analysed 243 ERP by comparing settlements to end employment relationships with resolution of ERP where relationships endured. We sought to understand why some ERP remained unresolved and/or escalated. We found that collaborative reflective sense-making had a positive impact on early workplace problem resolution while investigation and confidential settlement negotiations risked injustice. We present, therefore, some suggestions for embedding collaborative conflict management in the workplace

Flexibility and Choice Through Leave Entitilements: Implications of the Danish Experience

Work pressure has increased for many people in New Zealand in the I990s. Around a third of the workforce work more than 40 hours a week, the pressure to continuously up skill or res kill is growing, more women have joined the workforce, job and career insecurity has increased, and the eligibility age for receiving superannuation has risen. At the same time, 'underemployment' exists in terms of part-time workers wanting more hours and with unemployment stagnant at around six per cent. Innovative Danish Leave schemes introduced in the I990s offer one way of addressing the problems of work pressure and under-employment simultaneously. The paper describes the leave schemes, the reaction of the workforce and outlines the associated social and economic costs and benefits. In particular, the analysis will focus on the trade-off between more employee flexibility, increased ups killing and improved family relationships on one hand, and, on the other hand, minimising both the fiscal implications and costs on individual employers. Finally, a possible application of similar leave schemes in New Zealand is discussed

Competent, Connected and Confident: Female Career Success in Call Centres?

This paper reports on the employment experience of women in New Zealand call centres. It seeks to determine whether women can develop satisfactory career progress and links the findings to the employment relations context in New Zealand. The study, initiated in 2003, reports on six case studies. Contra1y to the prevailing negative portrayal of call centre employment and career paths, our findings demonstrate women are achieving career success in call centres. Management practices can accommodate the different labour market needs of women, and many respondents reported feeling passionate about their jobs. Those working at entry level said they enjoyed meeting people and being part of a workplace, which enhanced their career prospects. Most respondents mentioned the development of skills and confidence, rather than deskilling, call centre processes have enabled many respondents to become competent, connected and confident

In Support of a 'Living Wage': Research on International and Danish Trends and Issues of 'Working Poor'.

In May 2012, a campaign started in support of a New Zealand ‘living wage’. This happened in light of many New Zealand workers receiving wages at or just above the statutory minimum wage and that several fast-growing sectors continue to establish many low paid jobs. While the paper’s starting point is the New Zealand ‘living wage’ debate, the issues discussed have been part of international debates about the existence and consequences of low paid work. These debates have highlighted that some countries have been better at containing low paid work. On this background, this paper focuses on the trends and issues surrounding ‘working poor’ in Denmark. As detailed, the Danish labour market has succeeded in having a relatively low level of ‘working poor’. This has even happened in several service sector industries renowned for their propensity to create low paying jobs. However, the paper also questions the stability of the so-called Danish Model based on an open labour market with large in- and outflows of migrants and with a reliance on collective bargaining/agreements, with limit state regulation and, in particular, no statutory minimum wage

In support of a 'living wage':Research on international and Danish trends and issues of 'working poor'

In May 2012, a campaign started in support of a New Zealand ‘living wage’. This happened in light of many New Zealand workers receiving wages at or just above the statutory minimum wage and that several fast-growing sectors continue to establish many low paid jobs. While the paper’s starting point is the New Zealand ‘living wage’ debate, the issues discussed have been part of international debates about the existence and consequences of low paid work. These debates have highlighted that some countries have been better at containing low paid work. On this background, this paper focuses on the trends and issues surrounding ‘working poor’ in Denmark. As detailed, the Danish labour market has succeeded in having a relatively low level of ‘working poor’. This has even happened in several service sector industries renowned for their propensity to create low paying jobs. However, the paper also questions the stability of the so-called Danish Model based on an open labour market with large in- and outflows of migrants and with a reliance on collective bargaining/agreements, with limit state regulation and, in particular, no statutory minimum wage

Productivity Implications of Changing Employer Attitudes and Strategies

The paper discusses two debates; the rise of individualism in employment relations and the role of employers attidudes and strategies in this shift. Secondly the affect this is having on achieving a high­wage high skills economy. The methodology for this paper used three surveys providing a national coverage of private sector organisations employing ten or more staff. These were undertaken using a cross­sectional design where the surveys matched the sample demographics used by previous New Zealand studies. Semi­structured interviews were also carried out. The main findings are that the New Zealand ’experiment’ in employment relations that has been carried out over the last 2­3 decades has not produced the high productivity growth that was intended by its designers

Diverging Paths? Employment Relations in New Zealand and Denmark in the 1990's

This paper discusses two interlinked topics: the shifts in the employment relations system and the role of unions in the two countries. An initial impression is that there is a growing divergence between the employment relations systems in the two countries over the last fifteen years. The implementation of free-market policies in New Zealand can be contrasted with a more mixed philosophical basis of the Danish reforms. However, the paper tries to demonstrate through an analysis of key employment relations regulations that a more complex pattern of divergence and convergence exists. When it comes to the role of unions, the paper presents a clear-cut divergence pattern. This raises two questions. Why have the Danish unions avoided the widespread decline in unionism? Why has the decline in union presence been so marked in New Zealand, and will the unions rebound from this decline