Governance Regimes and the intersection of employment regulation: the case of the EU I&C Directive

This paper will argue that since the 1960s forms of employee voice have been important employment policy objectives of the European Commission (Gold and Schwimbersky, 2008). The transposition of the Information and... [ view full abstract ]

This paper will argue that since the 1960s forms of employee voice have been important employment policy objectives of the European Commission (Gold and Schwimbersky, 2008). The transposition of the Information and Consultation Directive (2002/14/EC) (ICED) into the employment laws of European Union (EU) member states has established for the first time general frameworks for informing and consulting employees. This paper evaluates the impact of employment regulation on employee voice through a study of the content and transposition of ICED in the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, namely Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI).

There has been considerable scholarly interest in the significance of ICED on the potential to reshape or ‘transform’ the voluntarist forms of Industrial Relations (IR) in Ireland and the UK and specifically the bestowing of general rights on employees in member states to be consulted and informed, as opposed to transnational rights (Bercusson, 2002; Dundon et al. 2003; Roche and Geary, 2005; Hall, 2006). The focus was mainly on the potential legislative provision of employee voice as possible challenges to both union based single channel voice forms and employer sponsored direct forms of workplace communication. There is sustained interest in the academic literature in aspects of the implementation of ICED in ROI and UK (Deakin and Koukiadaki 2011; Hall and Purcell, 2012; Cullinane et al. 2013). Similarly there is ongoing research by the EU Commission and Eurofound into aspects of implementation, ‘fitness check’ and evidence of the impact of ICED (Hall and Purcell, 2011). Therefore, current academic literature and ongoing research by the EU Commission indicates the topic of employee voice as spurred by ICED has relevant scholarly, policy and practical considerations.

There are multiple forms and patterns of regulation relationships that influence broader workplace governance regimes; the law and government regulation, market conditions in the economy, organisational hierarchies and power relationships, and employer and employee collective associations (Campbell and Lindberg, 1991; Hollingsworth et al. 1994; Hauptmeier, 2011). Conceptually the role of governance regimes in shaping voice has received little empirically based research attention. This paper seeks to address this limitation on how the functioning of workplace governance regimes influence and shape the outcomes of employee voice as examined through the specific lens of the ICED in workplaces on the island of Ireland.

The research for the paper was designed to obtain the views and acceptance approaches to ICED of; employers at national level, employers in 6 units of analysis; trade unions; unionised employees and non-unionised employees. The 6 units of analysis covered companies in the manufacturing, retail and service industries, both unionised and non-unionised and a total of 79 interviews with respondents was conducted.

This paper explores the contextual factors of the transposition processes and the on-going influence of the ICED in workplaces is a matter of significant public policy concerns in terms of effectiveness of legislation and ongoing social dialogue. This paper offers an insight that can be of benefit to ongoing scholarly, policy and practical concerns as to the regulatory acceptance and effectiveness of ICED application particularly in the LME workplaces of Ireland.

employee voice, governance regimes, regulation, EU, Information and Consultation Directive [ view full abstract ]

employee voice, governance regimes, regulation, EU, Information and Consultation Directive