Enterprise Bargaining (Case Study Sample)

Enterprise Bargaining
Author name
Institution nameEnterprise bargaining and its use
Enterprise bargaining is a formal process. It usually happens where the employer and the employees with their representatives negotiate for terms and conditions of employment. The result is usually an enterprise agreement. The agreement sets the employees terms and conditions which the agreement covers. This process offers an opportunity of increase in productivity and flexibility. The Fair Work (FW) act gives a set of obligations and rules on the process. These include rules of bargaining, content of the agreement and how it’s made and approved (Traxler, 2000).
For a company to have the best enterprise bargaining, it must understand good faith bargaining obligations. It must also know what must be included in the agreement and what cannot (Peetz, 2005, pp. 1-24). The employees must understand the terms used in the proposed agreement. This can be done by accessing information and translating where it’s necessary. The agreement must also focus on equity. An enterprise bargaining should also focus on cooperation, fairness and mutual benefit.
Bargaining should be done in a process. Companies should be guided on how it is done to avoid negotiation disputes. They should also be guided on how to concentrate on an effective collective bargaining. Companies should, therefore, identify the management right that is being exercised. The bargaining scope should be a management right exercise. The company should also identify the adverse effects of the bargaining enterprise. The affected employees should also be adversely identified during the bargaining process. Finally, a meaningful proposal should be developed.
With regard to what should be considered, bargaining in our company was done in a certain process. First the employer decided to have a bargaining enterprise agreement with employees. We evaluated what conditions needed change as well as the needs of the business. Some of the discussion involved workforce benefits. We also wanted to discuss about employees working conditions as well employment terms.
We worked together with the employer and the union who represented us to come up with an agreement. The agreement was good for efficiency and productivity of the business. The agreement included all the workforce benefits employees wanted. The working conditions and employment terms were also included in the agreement (Gollan, and Davis, 1999).
A lot of meetings and discussions were involved to come up with the proposal. Employees were well explained of the agreement and its terms and conditions. After coming up with the proposal, each was given a copy to read through. The voting date was set .Voting was then done and approved because most employees voted. The Fair Work Commission approved our agreement since it complied with the legal requirements.
Enterprise bargaining practiced in the best way meets the need of both the employer and employees. The main objective of bargaining enterprise is to maintain a cordial relationship between employees and the employer. It is also used to safe guard the interest of employees and the employer and to promote democracy in the employment sector.
Our enterprise bargaining practice resulted in some outcomes. It facilitated speedy implementation of decisions we arrived at. Both the employer and the employee benefited from the agreement. For example, more flexible rosters and hours were implemented immediately. This was due to the fact that both the employer and employee accepted the conditions. The employees worked with a lot of enthusiasm since job classifications were made broader and specific.
Individual benefits were a strong priority in the agreement. This resulted in wage increment and health insurance for the workers. Education packages were offered as well as vacation time and pensions. Working conditions were improved. Safe conditions for workers were implemented as well as risk reduction. Workers were protected from unfair exploitation by the seniors.
Agreements of achieving new targets were incorporated and waste reduction. Service delivery was improved to enhance satisfaction of clients. New procedures were introduced to handle grievances of employees. Procedures of consulting issues in the work place were also improved.
Levels, agents, scope, age limit and status of bargaining
Bargaining structure describes an arrangement by which employees and employers determine terms and conditions of employment. A bargaining structure can be described in five dimensions. These are levels of bargaining, bargaining agents, scope of bargaining, status of bargaining and cover age of bargaining.
Levels of bargaining refer to the locations of bargaining. It also constitutes the parties involved in the bargaining. This is done at all levels of the entire industry and enterprise. It is carried out between multiple or single employer. It operates at three levels. The levels include; national level, sector or industry level and company or enterprise level.
National bargaining aims at providing a lower lever bargaining floor on employment terms. It is negotiation between government agencies, union federation and central employer associations (Ishikawa and Lawrence, 2005). Industry level aims at standardizing employment terms in one industry. The company level bargaining emphasizes that bargaining levels should not be mutually exclusive.
Bargaining agents are the organizations or individuals that represent either employees or employers in the process of bargaining. Generally, employees bargaining power is very poor compared to their employers. So they organize the unions to bargain on their behalf. Bargaining agents are linked closely to the level of bargaining.
Bargaining agents have their duties and rights. They have the right to nominate workmen representatives on the provident fund or board of trustee. The agents also have the right to declare a strike or issue a strike notice. They have a right to appoint an auditor to audit accounts from the workers point of view. Most importantly, they have a right to undertake the collective bargaining. This is in respect to matters concerning the employment (Ishikawa and Lawrence, 2005).
Scope of bargaining refers to issues or matters being bargained over. The only matters that are bargained over are those that involve conditions of employment. These issues refer to personnel practices and policies. Other issues are also discussed whether established by regulation or by rule that affect working conditions. The scope of bargaining does not change regardless of what triggered the bargain duty. For example, a scope of bargaining contract for 10 employees is the same with for 1000 employees.
Status of bargaining is mainly concerned with legal status of bargaining outcomes and procedures. It is decided by courts and governments. Issues that arise here are whether employers are permitted by law to bargain with the unions (Briggs, 2001). The extent by which the law protect prerogative management is also discussed. Other issues that arise are whether the agreement concluded legally binds the two parties.
Coverage of bargaining refers to workforce of an industry, enterprise or a nation. This is where employment terms and conditions or pay is determined by one or more bargaining agreements. It is usually determined by the union. The higher the density of the union the higher the coverage of bargaining. It indicates the rate at which the wages and employment conditions are regulated by different bargaining types.
Coverage of bargaining is also a function of an industrial relation system. For example, a bargaining that is centralised is associated with a higher coverage rate. It is also high to areas where terms of collective agreement are extended to workers who are not parties of the agreement. The coverage bargaining, therefore, does not reflect the outcomes of negotiation directly. It should, therefore, be analysed with the context of national level. It should also be interpreted according to specific institutions and legal framework.
Objectives of enterprise bargaining compared to the centralized system of the past
The process of enterprise bargaining began in the late 1980s. It was started to decentralise employment system relations (Katz, 1993). The language of employment relations have changed since the beginning of enterprise bargaining. Terms like high involvement, high commitment and high performance has been in the employment. Management have also come up with new approaches that emphasizes on team work. Approaches of employees’ involvement have also been achieved (Traxler, 2000).
Work practices are redesigned through enterprise bargaining. The centralized organization had its chain command in one way communication. This limited openness to new ideas and creativity. The enterprise bargaining has introduced best alternatives and practices to issues. It has also offered a high economic advantage. Improvement of job satisfaction has led to absenteeism and less turnover. This is a huge advantage to the employer.
Corporation has increased due to enterprise bargaining. This is through the negotiations between employees and employers of an organization (Gollan, and Davis, 1999). The two parties work together in a cooperation spirit to sustain the enterprise. A positive change in the workplace is realised and internal conflicts are reduced. The system is more decentralised promoting employees’ reward...