Employer Associations & Modern Awards Essay Example for Free

Employer Associations Modern Awards EssayThere have been substantial changes to modern awards over the old age that employer associations have historically and are currently advocating. In this regard, issues such as penalisation rates and flexibility stemming from employer association submissions have been researched and examined by (Sheldon Thornthwaite 2013) portraying present that employer associations relatively prefer cost teddy and enhanced managerial exemption as oppose to productivity. Entailed within this essay the key concepts such as penalisation rates, managerial prerogative, flexibility and productivity will be questioned with particular focus the modern award reviews combined with an overview of Sheldon and Thornthwaites argument in summary and concurrence. gibe to (Boxall Purcell, 2011) management goals are predominantly associated with cost efficiency, controllable flexibility, legitimacy and managerial power. It is these goals that evidently become the concern of relevant employer associations, as such they take on the role of combining, allocating and utilising resources in range to achieve organisational objectives. There have however been significant changes over the years regarding employer association involvement particularly seen over the lam of the 1980s. Employer associations aim to influence and negotiate with the Government of the day as well as tribunals in an effort to ensure that the mutual concerns of organisations are being met. (Sheldon Thornthwaite, 2013) discuss key system issues with regard to employer associations mainly focusing on restricting unions right of entry, penalty rates and other provisions incorporating aspects of essential and procedural rules.Modern Award reviews primarily began in 2012, it is during this time that leading associations took the opportunity to not only push for more workable provisions exactly also to campaign for more substantial changes within various awards. Employer as sociations accounted for a large number of submissions to the tribunal on a broad range of issued in particular penalty rates, public holidays and flexibility. In the technical sense, penalty rates are a form of tangible benefit within the financial background which generally refers to those payments made to workers outside normal working hours. Regulator motivations for including penalty rates in modern awards as stated by (Sloane, 2014) are ternary firstly, to compensate workers for work performed during what was historically known as unsociable hours and secondly, to dissuade employers from operating within those hours.However,as advocated by (Sheldon Thornthwaite, 2013) the modern award reviews have provided a forum for employers and their associations to escalate their campaign to the significance of penalty rates in industries operating during the traditionally unsociable hours, which is evidence that employer associations prefer to enhance managerial prerogative over produ ctivity which is predominantly concerned with the cost of resources. The push for the examination of provisions regarding penalty rates has mostly been seen to affect the tourism and retail industries. flexibility is made up of numerous components however, within in the context of the workplace involves thinking creatively about how working lives can be better incorporate to match individual and business needs (Job Access, 2012). Following the review of penalty rate provisions, amendments to the flexibility clause were sought after with particular attention give to the manufacturing industry.Greater flexibility was requested in the taking and cashing out of annual leave in a further attempt to enhance cost cutting initiatives through control measures which ultimately leads to the underlying concept of elevated managerial prerogative. Managerial prerogative may be defined as managements unqualified authority to exercise its discretion in certain areas under the belief that they ha ve exclusive rights to make decisions and therefore resist any contraceptive device with that control (Storey, 1983). Sheldon Thornthwaite make reference to managerial prerogative in the defensive context through aggressive industrial action which has historically been used as a means of strengthening managerial prerogative.The 2011 Qantas lockout serves as one of the most significant demonstrations of managerial prerogative through the organisations decision to engage in a lockout. As part of a wider push to entrench managerial prerogative employers were also seen to be engaging in aggressive bargaining strategies in order to escalate disputes with the intention of gaining access to arbitration which has an adverse affect on productivity. (Stewart, 2005) promotes the fact that there needs to be greater emphasis on productivity which forges greater efficiency and high trust work systems founded on flexible and fair employment. Productivity is the economic factor stemming from the adequate use of resources productivity is basically the measure of achievement through the amount of output that is achieved as result of the input predominantly referring to land, labour and capital as the key resources.Between penalty rates and productivity there is no association they are separated by the contexts of which they are defined. (AI Group, 2012) identify key problem areas within the Fair imprint Act Review and state that it is hampering productivity growth, workplace flexibility and warringness thus meaning that penalty rates do not influence productivity levels. (Sheldon Thornthwaite, 2013) do make it apparent that employer associations main concerns do in fact favour cost cutting and managerial prerogative quite an than focusing on the importance of productivity enhancement. (Sheldon Thornthwaite, 2013) further explored critiques from employer associations whose predominant concern was based on the fact that managerial prerogative was reduced through the chan ge magnitude weakness of employer freedom to contract. (DEEWR, 2012)Released a report referring to more productive and equitable workplaces which disappointed employer associations thus further confirming productivity enhancement to be of no concern. It is clearly demonstrated that employer associations main concerns were that of cost cutting and managerial prerogative it is however, the amalgamation of all the relevant key concepts discussed that essentially equip organisations with a competitive advantage. The core concepts behind the submissions made by employer associations clearly obscure the importance of larger issues which further represents that employer associations prioritise the ease of managements working lives over that of the worker.BibliographyAustralian attention (AI) Group (2012), Applications to Vary a Modern Award 2012 Review, Stephen Smith, Director National Workplace Relations. Boxall, P and Purcell, J (2011), The Goals of Human option Management, Strategy and Human Resource Management, 3rd Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp. 1-36. Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2012), Towards More Productive and Equitable Workplaces An Evaluation of the Fair Work Legislation, Australian Government. Job Access, tractability in the Workplace, Australian Government, Accessed 1st May 2014 Sheldon, P and Thornthwaite, L. (2013), Employer and Employer Association Matters in 2012, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 55 No. 3, pp. 386-402. Sloane, J (2014), Pay Penalty Rates, just now not Through Awards System,The Australian. Stewart, A (2005), A Simple Plan for Workplace Regulation, Industrial Law News, Issue 7. Storey, J (1983). Managerial Prerogative and the Question of Control, Routledge Kegan capital of Minnesota Publishing, London.