W150

Employee Relations in Australia-Have they Improved?
M Cully & A VandenHeuvel, July 99

This paper makes use of nationally representative data to examine inter-industry differences in employee relations in Australia in the late 1990s. As well, change over time in employee relations is considered. Indicators of management-staff relations that are examined include: earnings, hours of work, industrial disputes, absenteeism, labour turnover, work-related injuries, training and job satisfaction. Results indicate that across most industries, working hours have remained fairly constant while real earnings have increased for full-time adult workers. Industrial disputes are at a record low. Further, labour mobility and work-related injuries stand at comparatively low levels. On the other hand, absenteeism rates have risen slightly, at least for women, while training provision has fallen. No uniform inter-industry patterns were found in the results, with some industries performing well on some of the measures, but not on others.

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