Contemporary Employment Relations: A Critical Introduction

Contemporary Employment Relations: A Critical Introduction offers an original, accessible, and critical approach to understanding employment relations. Based on up-to-date research studies, it considers recent developments in employment relations, defined as the way in which employment relationships are regulated, experienced and contested. A thematic approach to the subject helps to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of employment relations, enabling student to develop an appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of this key area of economic, social and political life. Among the topics covered by the book are:
-The implications of globalization for employment relations;
-The role of the European Union;
The significance of 'family-friendly' and 'work-life balance' policies;
The nature of employment relations in non-union firms;
The dynamics of workplace partnership;
The impact of minimum wage and working time legislation;
The causes and effects of work intensification.
Companion Website
A companion web site will include PowerPoint slides and answers to end-of-chapter cases and discussion questions for lecturers and annotated weblinks, legislation updates, additional case studies, and a glossary of key terms for students.

Steve Williams is a Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations at the University of Portsmouth Business School. He has researched and written about workplace partnership, vocational qualifications policy, the National Minimum Wage, employment relations in further education colleges, and trade unionism.

Derek Adam-Smith is Head of the Department of Human Resource and Marketing Management at the University of Portsmouth Business School. He was formerly a Principal Lecturer in Employment Relations in the same institution. He has researched and published articles about HIV and AIDS at work, the National Minimum Wage, and the effects of the Working Time Regulations.