Jereme Snook

Works council and trade unions: complementary or competitive? The case of SAGCo.

This longitudinal case study in a Japanese owned manufacturing company examines the relationship between union-based representation and organisation and other forms of employee voice. The study covers the period before and after the passage of the Employment Relations Act 1999. During that period the Company voluntarily agreed to the recognition of an independent trade union at the same time as abandoning a pre-existing employee works council and its replacement by a Japanese-style company advisory board. The study investigates, inter alta, how far, and to what extent the inpending EU directive establishing mechanisms for employee information and consultation could influence existing trade union representation and organisation.

Obesity and discrimination: The next 'big issue'?

A concomitant increase has been observed between the prevalence of obesity and the stigmatization and discrimination of the condition. Despite reports of such negative experiences, there appears to be little deterrence for individuals to behave in a non-discriminatory fashion towards the overweight and obese. This article focuses on an emergent academic, legal and medical debate concerning obesity and human well-being and its possible impacts in the workplace and on disability discrimination laws. The disability laws in the United Kingdom require employers and employees not to discriminate or harass their colleagues, yet the model of discrimination seen in the United Kingdom emerges from a historical basis where sex and race were accommodated by the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and the Race Relations Act (1976) respectively, and laws prohibiting disability were introduced later by the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). These laws in conjunction required UK citizens in the workplace and beyond not to subject their fellow citizens, potential workmates and current employees to less favourable treatment and to provide reasonable adjustments in the workplace where discrimination was a possible outcome of behaviours or policy arrangements.

Supporting workplace dispute resolution in smaller businesses: policy perspectives and operational realities

Following the 2007 Gibbons review and the subsequent repeal of the statutory grievance and disciplinary procedures in April 2009, the resolution of workplace conflict through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) continues to be a topical issue in the UK. Using a qualitative case study methodology, this paper examines the approaches to dispute resolution adopted by owners and managers in small businesses and the operational realities that shape their handling of individual disputes. The findings reveal a support for early and informal conflict resolution, but also a lack of knowledge about ADR and what it can offer. The conclusion is that, whilst ADR offers real benefits to small business employers and their employees, the dominant concern of these parties appears to be their ability to defend decisions they have taken in the event of litigation.

Disability Discrimination and Obesity: The Big Questions?

Obesity discrimination in employment and recruitment has become a topic of focus for research examination with increasing reports of discrimination by colleagues and managers. Whilst a limited number of legal cases have emerged, disability law is consulted in line with the expectation of anti-discriminatory practices at work. In line with disability law, whether obesity is defined as a disability or not has an impact on the outcome of a court ruling. Ambiguity when defining obesity through either the medical or social model means there are many questions that remain unanswered which might lead to inconsistency in court rulings.

Between consultation and collective bargaining? The changing role of non‐union employee representatives: a case study from the finance sector

This article reviews the roles and activities of non-union employee representatives (NERs) acting as forum officers in a large Internet finance company. Currently there is little academic coverage concerning NERs in this sector, including their contributions to employment relations, their motivations and orientations towards representative role and activities, or relations with management and fellow employees. An important precondition to answering one of the main questions asked of NERs is whether such representation constitutes the foundation of some nascent trade unionism, or whether by acting as forum representatives, they are positioning themselves to support management agendas and outlook? The range of data from this articles longitudinal case study, indicating time usage including individual and collective representation, suggests that NERs allegiances and roles remain ambiguous, existing as they do in the intersection between consultation and collective bargaining. An important factor may be their capacity for independent action and independence from senior management.

From 'the best kept company secret' to a more proficient structure of employee representation: the role of EWC delegates with a managerial background

This article is a longitudinal case study that demonstrates how company middle managers acting as European works council (EWC) delegates are well placed to represent the interests of the wider workforce. Contrary to widely held assumptions about the role of management on EWCs, namely that such delegates represent nothing more than the ‘managerial capture’ of this European institution, the article exemplifies such delegates as possessing skills sets which incorporate communication, organization, strategy, assertiveness, tact and diplomacy that can benefit the EWC. The delegates in this study developed both solidarity and a shared sense of identity among employees that spanned national borders; delegates also influenced both company policy and strategy. Ultimately these delegates operating in a strictly non-unionized IT company helped transform the company EWC from its initial description as ‘the best kept company secret’ into a more purposeful structure of employee representation.

The Living Wage

Book review of : The Living Wage, Donald Hirsch and Laura Valadez-Martinez. Agenda Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2017. ISBN 978-1-911116-46-2

HIV / AIDS, Obesity and Stigma: A new era for non-discrimination law?'

This aim of this paper was to explore commonalities between HIV/AIDS related conditions, obesity and other disabling impairments as health-related barriers that limit opportunity and advancement in society and the workplace. Taking a number of examples from original fieldwork and European Union and United Kingdom law, we posit that ‘disability discrimination’ under European Union law remains an indefinite, imprecise and incomplete area that requires greater alignment with the social model of disability. The principle attributes of societal discrimination towards people living with HIV and obese people are that these conditions are perceived to be primarily or in some instances, solely caused by controllable factors related often to behaviours and lifestyle choices. Strong beliefs that these conditions are controllable, is perceived as a justification and in some instances encouragement for the creation of stigma and discriminative behaviours that are unjust and uninformed. The structure of the paper is as follows. First, this paper postulates how and why stigma exists towards both individuals with disabilities and also obese individuals and people living with HIV; second, reviews the legal framework on disability discrimination in both United Kingdom and European Union courts that are directly relevant to the concepts of obesity and HIV-AIDS; third, presents critical thoughts as to the extent to which emerging decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning obesity and HIV-AIDS accord with the social model of disability; and fourth, offers an analysis of the implications of the United Kingdom and European framework and suggests possible interventions in this area.