Employee and Labour Relations
Actors and institutions
Industrial relations involves employers, employees and their representatives, and the state. Candidates must know the pluralist, unitarist and radical frames of reference, collective bargaining structures, recognition procedures, and the role of conciliation, mediation and arbitration. Understand employee voice mechanisms: works councils, joint consultative committees, staff surveys and whistleblowing channels.
Conflict and dispute resolution
Know the difference between individual and collective disputes, and between rights disputes (existing entitlements) and interest disputes (new terms). Understand industrial action types, ballots, immunities and essential-services restrictions. Grievance and disciplinary procedures should reflect natural justice: right to know the case, right to be heard, right to representation, and impartial decision-makers.
Traps in questions
Beware options that treat unitarism as the only legitimate frame, or that confuse mediation (facilitated, non-binding) with arbitration (adjudicated, often binding). Questions may mislabel a rights dispute as an interest dispute. Do not assume unions are always adversarial or that consultation equals negotiation. Watch for procedures that skip investigation or appeal.
Worked example
An employee is accused of repeated lateness. A fair process: written notice of allegations, an investigation, a meeting with the right to be accompanied, a decision with reasons, and an appeal route. Rule of thumb: procedural fairness is assessed separately from the substantive merits - a justified outcome can still be unfair if the process was flawed.