Unit Outline

This unit offers you an opportunity to pursue advanced study in the discipline of employment relations. The unit is particularly focussed on the employment relationship, its regulation and management in contemporary workplaces. The unit introduces theoretical approaches to power, conflict and negotiation in a workplace environment. Demonstrating learning outcomes in this unit requires the capability to understand and assess situations from multiple perspectives and to appreciate both short-term and long-term consequences of decisions at the individual, organisation and societal levels. The unit has a strong focus on the application of theoretical concepts in real-world situations. There will be coverage of the Australian regulatory framework and approaches to the employment relationship taken by organisations, unions, governments and regulatory bodies.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Apply employment relations frameworks and models to interpret employment relations strategies and practice.
2.	Critically evaluate emerging trends in employment relations.
3.	Communicate ideas and arguments in an evidence-based manner.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	BMA121 OR BMA101

Alterations as a result of student feedback

To be determined.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Individual Issue Analysis PowerPoint	Week 5	25 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Individual Negotiation Reflective Paper	Week 10	25 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Individual Essay	Week 14	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Individual Issue Analysis PowerPoint

Task Description:

In the first assignment you will be asked to choose one media article related to a problem that is/has occurred because of employment relations issue(s). You will then need to:
1. Identify and assess the key points relevant to employment relations.
2. Assess the employment relations implications
3. Use theory to provide a solution to the issue.
4. Present this in a PowerPoint presentation with notes.
You should present this as a PowerPoint presentation of no more than 15 slides with associated notes of no more than 1,250 words. You will not be required to give a verbal presentation.

Further information will be provided in MyLO.

Task Length:

A PowerPoint file of no more than 15 slides with associated notes of no more than 1,250 words.

Due Date:

Week 5

Weight:

25 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify and assess key points relevant to employment relations.	LO2
2	Analyse the employment relations implications of the issue.	LO2
3	Use employment relations theory to develop potential solutions to the issue.	LO1
4	Communicate a logical and structured solution to the employment relations issue.	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Individual Negotiation Reflective Paper

Task Description:

Negotiation Reflection - For this assessment, you will undertake an enterprise agreement bargaining negotiation. You will be in either a union or management team and will be provided with several issues that you will be required to negotiate on against an opposing management or union team. You will then write an individual essay where you reflect on the bargaining process and your role within that process.

Further information will be provided on MyLO

Task Length:

1250 words

Due Date:

Week 10

Weight:

25 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Analyse the team’s bargaining strategy and tactics.	LO1
2	Reflect on your role within the team, the interactions between your team members and with the other team.	LO2
3	Analyse the progress and outcomes of the negotiations.	LO1
4	Appropriate use of academic literature and Harvard referencing.	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Individual Essay

Task Description:

Individual Essay - For this assessment, you must choose one of the provided questions and prepare and submit an essay. These essay questions focus on one or more of the unit topics.
In this assignment you can agree with the question, disagree with the question or argue that there are elements that you agree with and elements you disagree with, but importantly you must support your arguments and ideas with academic references and avoid unsupported assertions.

Further information will be provided on MyLO.

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 14

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify and assess the key issues pertaining to chosen topic.	LO2
2	Interpret employment relations theories, strategies and practices.	LO1
3	Communicate academic argument supported by relevant literature and evidence.	LO3
4	Present a clearly articulated and structured assessment of the topic.	LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There is not a required textbook. There will be required readings for each topic that can be accessed through the Unit Reading List. As well there will be additional reading lists supplied on MyLO for some of the assessments

These materials will be useful to your developing knowledge and understanding of the content in this unit. When seeking sources of evidence to support your assignment work, the required readings and reading lists are a useful starting point.

For those students who wish to undertake some preliminary reading, the text book Bray, M, Waring, P, Cooper R and MacNeil, J (2017) Employment Relations: Theory and Practice, 4th Edition, Sydney: McGraw Hill will be useful. There are hard and electronic copies in the UTAS library.