HRM-20018 - Module Specification
Keele Business School
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

This module addresses the collective aspects of the employment relationship. It is taught through conventional lectures, which will give students a thorough grounding in employment relations, and an insight into the way this is practiced in the majority of Britain's major companies and in the public sector. The module covers the role of the parties to the employment relationship: employers, trade unions and the state. The module focuses on job regulation and the underlying conflict in the employment relationship. This includes forms of conflict management such as collective bargaining, third party institutions and consultation, particularly in relation to the growing importance of collective labour law.
Tutorial work around a case study will allow students to develop their knowledge of one particular employment issue, and to practice and develop negotiating skills as part of a team, either as employers or employees, with the aim of reaching a solution acceptable to all parties.

This module will allow students to gain an understanding of employment relations in the UK, and in the EU context. Developing knowledge of the nature of the employment relationship, the module covers the structure, role and function of trade unions; employers and employers' associations; and the role of the state and its agencies. The module focuses on job regulation and the underlying conflict in the employment relationship. This includes forms of conflict management such as collective bargaining, third party institutions and consultation, particularly in relation to the growing importance of collective labour law.

Intended Learning Outcomes

explain the competing approaches to understanding the employment relationship: 1,2
describe and explain the role and functions of the parties to the employment relationship: 1,2
explain conflict with reference to the distribution of power between the parties: 1,2
relate the prevalence of collective bargaining to alternative forms of representation and to the regulation of the employment relationship: 1,2
examine the process of collective bargaining and apply knowledge of bargaining practices and constraints to the negotiation exercise carried out in tutorials: 1,2
appreciate the changing contextual and legal framework in which employment relations exist: 1,2

Study hours

20 hours lectures and tutorials
5 hours supervised preparation for tutorial exercise
20 hours student-led group work for tutorial preparation
50 hours individual tutorial preparation
55 hours personal study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment