Negotiating Employee Pay and Working Conditions (Leaving Cert Business): Revision Notes
Pay and Working Conditions
Pay Claims
Pay is negotiated by different types of claims;
- Comparability claim
- Relativity claim
- Productivity claim
- Cost of living claim
-
Comparability claim: a demand for a pay rise based on what similar workers receive. Example: Dunnes and Lidl cashiers.
-
Relativity claim: a demand for pay to maintain a wage relationship between different job categories. Example: Pilots ask for a pay rise, after baggage handlers receive a pay rise.
-
Productivity claim: a demand for higher pay based on increased output, efficiency or an increase of responsibilities. Example: Factory workers at Colgate seek a raise when their output of toothbrushes increases.
-
Cost of living claim: a demand for higher pay to keep up with rising prices. It is harder to survive on their previous wage due to inflation.
Inflation is the increase in the price of goods and services from one year to the next. It is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Pay Bargaining
Pay can be negotiated in three different ways;
- Individual pay bargaining
- Local pay bargaining
- Collective bargaining
- National pay bargaining
- Individual pay bargaining: When each employee meets with the employer individually and negotiates their own pay and conditions
- Local pay bargaining: where pay is changed in an individual firm. This can be done individually or collectively among employees
- Collective bargaining: When employers negotiate with a group of employers, usually through a Trade Union shop steward.
- National pay bargaining : usually negotiated between the main social partners (e.g. the government, IBEC and ICTU.) Social partnership is where these partners agree on national pay and conditions