E-Course Profile HRMT19021 Nexus Academic Centre

HRMT19021
Principles of Employment Relations

Overview

This course discusses the changing nature of employment relations. The object of the course is to ascertain what constitutes a good system of employment relations. Key aspects of a system of employment relations, such as the role of the state, employers, unions and employees will be assessed within a framework that analyses the impact of significant legal, political, economic and human resource management issues on the employment relationship.

Details

Level	Undergraduate
Credit Points	6
Student Contribution Band	3A
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load	0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

There are no requisites for this course.

Offerings

Term 1 - 2012

Brisbane

Bundaberg

Distance

Gladstone

Gold Coast

Mackay

Melbourne

Melior

Rockhampton

Sydney

Website

This course has a website, within the Moodle system, which is available two weeks before the start of term. It is important that you visit your Moodle site throughout the term. Go to Moodle

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate course at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12 hours of study per week, making a total of 144 hours for the course.

Class Timetable

Regional Campuses - [Bundaberg, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Noosa, Rockhampton]
Metropolitan Campuses - [Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney]
Melior Campus - see your campus staff

Assessment Overview

Assessment Task	Weighting
1. Written Assessment	40%
2. Examination	60%

Assessment Conditions

Dear students,

Welcome to HRMT19021 Principles of Employment Relations. This Course looks at how people are employed; how wages and working conditions are set; and what issues and challenges arise from the debates surrounding the efficiency and effectiveness of the Australian system of employment relations in particular.

I have taught this type of Course for approximately 30 years. It is a difficult course in terms of content, but it is passable if you make full use of the material in the texbook and on the Course website, which sets out clearly the issues that you have to study.

Please take every opportunity to discuss matters of content and those relating to the administration of the course with your lecturers (if you are studying at a metropolitan campus) with whom I work closely, or with me (if you are studying at a regional campus or externally). Indeed, constructive feedback is encouraged as it leads to changes that improve the content of the course.

I hope that you enjoy the Course.

Best wishes,

Gordon.

Gordon Stewart

Course Coordinator HRMT19021

Evaluation

Term 1 - 2011: The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 3.5 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 9.41% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every course is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback	Source	Recommendation
Overall, the written feedback suggests that students understood what was required in terms of the assessment. There may have been an issue with the assignment requiring too much information. More interaction between the Course Coordinator and the students may be appreciated.	Course Evaluations Course Evaluations Course Evaluations	It is clear what is required in the assignment. An effort has been made to address this issue. More class discussion points will be raised in future course offerings.

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

discuss the significance of the practice of management, human resource management and industrial relations to the study of the employment relationship
critically examine and develop an understanding of the structure and operation of a system of employment relations
critically analyse the issues that arise from the management of the employment relationship.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks	Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks	1	2	3
1 - Written Assessment	•
2 - Examination	•	•	•

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

o	Introductory Level
o	Intermediate Level
o	Graduate Level

Graduate Attributes	Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes	1	2	3
1. Communication	o	o	o
2. Problem Solving	o	o	o
3. Critical Thinking	o	o	o
4. Information Literacy	o	o	o
5. Team Work	o	o	o
6. Information Technology Competence	o	o	o
7. Cross Cultural Competence	o	o	o
8. Ethical practice	o	o	o

Prescribed Textbooks

Employment relations: Theory and practice
Author/s	:	Bray, M, Waring, P & Cooper, R	Year	:	2011
Edition	:	2nd edn	Publisher	:	Mcgraw-Hill Australia
City	:	North Ryde
Country	:

View textbooks at the CQUniversity Bookshop.

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:

CQUniversity Student Email
Internet
Course Website (Moodle)

All submissions for this course must use the Harvard (author-date) referencing style. Details can be obtained here. For further information, see the Assessment Tasks below.

Course Coordinator	Gordon Stewart

Note: Check the Term-Specific section for any additional contact information provided by the teaching team

Week	Begin Date	Module/Topic	Chapter	Events and Submissions
Week 1	27-02-2012	What is employment relations?	1
Week 2	05-03-2012	The study of employment relations	2
Week 3	12-03-2012	Theoretical comparisons	3
Week 4	19-03-2012	The changing context of Australian employment relations	4
Week 5	26-03-2012	The state	5
Vacation Week	02-04-2012
Week 6	09-04-2012	Management	6	Written Assessment Due Thursday (12 Apr 12) 01:00 PM AEST
Week 7	16-04-2012	Employee representation: Trade unions	7
Week 8	23-04-2012	Employee representation: Non-union	8
Week 9	30-04-2012	Statutory regulation	9
Week 10	07-05-2012	Bargaining structures and processes	10
Week 11	14-05-2012	Industrial conflict	11
Week 12	21-05-2012	Employment relations and performance	12
Review/Exam Week	28-05-2012
Exam Week	04-06-2012

Written Assessment

Assessment Title

Written Assessment

Task Description

Question

Provide a definition of “employment relations”. Why is the term “industrial relations” less relevant to the study of workplace relations now than it was in 1980? Determine the extent to which the term “employment relations” best describes the changes that have occurred in workplaces since 1980.

Please note:

Advice with respect to the assignment question will be posted on the Course website as required.

The markers of the assignment will pay particular attention in their marking to the extent to which papers are referenced, analyse and critically discuss the evidence, and answer the question. Purely descriptive and poorly referenced papers will not receive high marks.

Please note that this assessment is to be written in essay not report format.

You will receive a total score of the marks and the corresponding grade that reflects how well your assignment has met the marking criteria that is displayed in this Course Profile.

Please keep in mind that basing your work ONLY on the textbook and assigned reading is NOT sufficient. You are expected to read widely.

A pass student will have referenced their paper poorly, and description will dominate. Better referencing and some analysis will lead to a credit, while the distinction students will have referenced and analysed the question well. They will be separated from the HD student because of their failure to argue a case in answer to the question consistently throughout the course of their paper.

Please read CAREFULLY the essay-writing guidelines that are set by the University.

Please note:The Faculty of Business and Informatics uses the Harvard (Author/date) style of referencing.

This course requires submission of hard-copy, signed assignments with a personalised coversheet.

Reading

Chapter 1 of the textbook, as well as the recommended readings on the Course website and throughout the textbook.

HRMT19021 – Assessment Item 1 – Assignment marking criteria

Name: Student No:

The essay will be assessed on the extent to which it meets each of the following criteria;

Content: Does your essay demonstrate		Marks
Depth of knowledge and critical analysisof the topic		/ 15
Knowledge and application of relevant HRM theories and/or models in response to the topic question		/ 5
Appropriateness of responses to the topic question		/ 5
Relevant and accurate literature; AT LEAST 5 academic sources such as textbooks and peer-reviewed journals. Please note websites will NOT be considered to meet this criteria.		/ 5
Presentation: Does your essay demonstrate
Essay has clear introduction, body & conclusion. Clarity of expression/grammar and spelling		/ 5
Referencing style confirms with Author-date system as set out in the Australian Government Publishing Service 2002, Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 6thedn, AGPS, Canberra? (Refer to Guide for students)		/ 3
Appropriate word length relevant to topic.		/ 2
Late Penalty
Additional comments: Final mark		/ 40

Assessment Due Date

Week 6 Thursday (12-Apr-2012) 01:00 PM AEST

Return Date to Students

Week 9 Friday (04-May-2012)

Weighting

40%

Assessment Condition

Must Submit - You must submit this item to be eligible to pass the course

Size

Between 2000 and 3000 words

Format

Essay

Referencing Style

Harvard (author-date)

Submission

Hard copy

Learning Outcomes Assessed

This section can be expanded to view the assessed learning outcomes

1. discuss the significance of the practice of management, human resource management and industrial relations to the study of the employment relationship