There has been an enormous expansion of individual employment rights in Britain but their practical impact in terms of delivering fairer workplaces can be questioned. Taking as its starting point the widespread acknowledgement of problems with the major enforcement mechanism, the Employment Tribunals, this collection brings together experts from law, sociology and employment relations to explore a range of alternative regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to enforcement and to securing compliance and to consider factors affecting variation in the extent to which legal rights have meaning and impact at the workplace. Thus this book addresses issues key to contemporary policy and academic debate. Chapters discuss the growth in employment rights and their enforcement mechanisms (Gillian Morris), problems with the employment tribunal system and the current and potential role of alternative dispute resolution (Linda Dickens); reflect on the long experience of enforcement of equality rights (Bob Hepple) and agency enforcement of health and safety legislation under the 'better regulation' agenda (Steve Tombs and David Whyte); evaluate the potential of various 'reflexive law' mechanisms, including corporate governance (Simon Deakin, Colm McLaughlin and Dominic Chai), and of procurement (Christopher McCrudden) as strategies for delivering fairness at the workplace. Factors influencing how statutory rights shape workplace practice are illuminated further in chapters on trade unions and individual legal rights (Trevor Colling), the management of employment rights (John Purcell) and regulation and small firms (Paul Edwards).The opening chapter (Dickens) makes the case for addressing issues of enforcement and compliance in terms of adverse treatment at work, while the final chapter (Dickens) considers why successive governments have been reluctant to act and outlines steps which might be taken - were there sufficient political will to do so - to help make employment rights effective in promoting fairer workplaces.

Has European economic and market integration curtailed the autonomy of national industrial relations actors and institutions? Or has it reinforced their roles in securing much-needed economic adjustment? This important book offers a deeply-informed comparative perspective on these questions, drawing on empirical research on changing conditions within and beyond the EU. The book builds on papers presented at the 8th European Regional Congress of the International Industrial Relations Association, held in the UK in September 2007. The authors are leading academic authorities from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
With detailed attention to such pervasive factors as the consequences of EU enlargement, the shift from manufacturing to services, changes in the gender composition and demographic profile of the labour force, and the growing influence of multinational companies, the authors address such issues as the following:
- response of national employment regulatory traditions to globalization, privatization, outsourcing and budgetary pressures;
- emergence of new forms of competitive advantage for both employers and employees;
- impact of EU-mandated information and consultation mechanisms;
- possibility of international union action and transnational solidarity;
- 'flexicurity' and the changing demographics of the labour force;
- gender democracy in trade unions;
- trade union mergers;
- statutory minimum conditions as an alternative to collective bargaining;
- regulation or culture change to promote equality;
- treatment of posted and migrant workers within increasingly transnationallabour markets;
- growth in variable pay systems; and
- possible rebirth of vocational training systems and apprenticeships.
Offering in-depth comparative insights into the way in which national and international systems of employment relations are evolving rapidly in the face of cross-cutting pressures for change, this book illuminates a vastly complex state of affairs. In practical terms, its many insights into how current trends affect specific working conditions open the way to new initiatives in developing and maintaining a just and equitable employment relations regime for Europe and beyond.

Employment protection in Britain, once seen as resting on collective bargaining supported by public policy, has increasingly come to be framed in terms of individual legal rights, enforceable before judicial forums such as employment tribunals. This dramatic shift towards juridification of the individual employment relationship has not only contributed towards significant changes to the institutional 'landscape' of employment relations in Britain, but also carries important implications for the future of employment law and regulation in 'the home of collective bargaining'. This comprehensive evaluation of current institutional reality and trends - prepared to mark the 30th anniversary of the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) - provides a unique look inside the key institutions of British employment relations. Each contributor - leading academics and senior practitioners, all closely associated with particular institutions - locates their institution in terms of purpose, origins, and context, discusses its structure, governance and composition, and assesses its operation, considering current challenges and future direction. In the course of examining issues relating to institutional choice and roles, the presentations offer contemporary views on the impact of decentralisation and the shrinking of collective bargaining, decline in trade union membership and strength, and the political effects of increasing global competition. The influence of EU social policy initiatives upon British legislative policy is identified, while attention is drawn to the consequences of an increased feminisation of the workforce, along with an increasing incidence of 'non-standard' workers and continuing service sector growth. Set alongside the evidence of decline in manufacturing, restructuring of the public sector, and the growth of the SME sector, this volume demonstrates the remarkable pressures for change which have impacted upon the institutions of British employment relations over the past thirty years. These essays offer an especially valuable mix of expert independent discussion along with personal insights gained from direct involvement in the operation of the key bodies. As a much-needed overview and basis for evaluation of the current institutional map of British employment relations, as well as a contemporary consideration of lessons to be drawn from the changing institutional face of employment relations in Britain, this book will be of inestimable value to policy-makers and practitioners in the field, as well as to students, academics, and more generally interested observers of the British experience.