This module analyses key issues in employment relations. These include new management approaches, the decline of unions, the increase in workforce diversity, migration, part-time and temporary work, and the role of management and labour law in shaping employment relations. The module principally focuses on the impact of these issues in the UK, but also examines the role of these issues in shaping ER in other EU countries, the US and Asia.

By the end of the module students should be able to:

• develop a sophisticated understanding of the main changes in employment relations over the last 20 years and the nature and degree of these changes which vary according to national context;
• critically analyse the main conceptual issues underlying employment relations, including issues of worker participation and industrial disputes.
• critically evaluate channels of management-worker interaction, including decentralised collective bargaining and developments in ‘employee voice'.
• demonstrate advanced skills in collecting and analysing data and presenting information.