Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T04:47:24.225Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Unmasking re-regulation in the luxury hotel sector

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Angela Knox*
Affiliation:
Department of Business, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW, Australia

Abstract

The pursuit of regulatory reform in order to enhance organisational flexibility and efficiency appears to be ongoing in Australia. This is particularly salient in the service sector, where competition is strong and operating hours are often extended. In responding to these issues, government has sought to provide both employers and employees with additional regulatory options to better suit their individual needs; thereby offering what might be termed ‘regulatory choice’. While employers, on average, have engaged in these alternate forms of agreement making, those within the hospitality industry have been less enthusiastic about bargaining outside of the award system. The reasons for their reluctance have not been examined in depth, however. This paper therefore seeks to analyse the factors underpinning employers' bargaining decisions in order to develop a greater understanding of regulatory choice in Australian service sector firms. In doing so, the analysis focuses on employers' bargaining arrangements in the Australian luxury hotel sector. The findings indicate that regulatory choice is influenced by four primary factors: business/human resource management strategy; workplace characteristics; finances and perceived risk; and administrative issues. Contrary to the government's endeavours to enhance flexibility, some employers ‘choice’ of employment regulation was restricted. Regulatory choice appears to be significantly more complex than anticipated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, R (2006) Understanding Australian industrial relations (6th edn) WorkChoices update. Melbourne: Thomson.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2000) Employee earnings and hours. Cat No. 6306.0. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS).Google Scholar
Australian Government. (2005) Work Choices: A simpler, fairer national workplace relations system for Australia. Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Buultjens, J and Howard, D (2001) Labour flexibility in the hospitality industry: Questioning the relevance of deregulation. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 13: 6070.Google Scholar
Buultjens, J and Luckie, K (1997) ‘Flexibility in the hospitality industry: Is deregulation necessary?’ Paper presented to the 11thAIRAANZ Conference, Brisbane QLD, 30 01–1 Feb.Google Scholar
Commerce Queensland (2005) Workplace relations reform: Sorting fact from fiction. http://www.commerceqld.com.au/www/index.cfm?ItemIE=197Google Scholar
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Office of the Employment Advocate (DEWR and OEA) (2004; Agreement making in Australia under the Workplace Relations Act: 2002 and 2003. Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) (1989) Award restructuring: the task ahead. Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
DIR (1996) Enterprise bargaining in Australia (1995 Annual Report). Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Ellem, B, Baird, M, Cooper, R and Lansbury, R (2005) ‘Work Choices’: Mythmaking at work. Journal of Australian Political Economy 56: 1331.Google Scholar
Flick, U (1998) An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hall, R (2006) Australian industrial relations in 2005 – The WorkChoices revolution. Journal of Industrial Relations 48: 291303.Google Scholar
Holstein, J and Gubrium, J (1997) Active interviewing, in: Silverman, D (ed.) Qualitative research: Theory, method and practice. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hort, L and Timo, N (2001) ‘Missing in action? A decade of HRM and enterprise bargaining in the Australian hotel industry’. Paper presented at the Ten Years of Enterprise Bargaining Conference, Newcastle NSW, 3–4 05.Google Scholar
Industry Commission. (1996) Tourism accommodation and training. Melbourne: AGPS.Google Scholar
Keating, P (1992) One nation. Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Keating, P (1994) Working nation – Policies and programs. Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Knox, A (2006) The differential effects of regulatory reform: Evidence from the Australian luxury hotel industry. Journal of Industrial Relations 48: 453474.Google Scholar
Macken, J (2006) Macken on Work Choices. Sydney: Lawbook Co.Google Scholar
Office of the Employment Advocate (OEA) (2006) OEA research and statistics, employee coverage. http://oea.gov.au/graphics.asp?showdoc=/news/researchStatistics.aspGoogle Scholar
Patton, M (1990) Qualitative evaluation and research methods. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Sheldon, P and Thornthwaite, L (1999) Employer Matters in (1998) Journal of Industrial Relations 41: 152169.Google Scholar
Timo, N (1999) Contingent and retentive employment in the Australian hotel industry: Reformulating the core-periphery model. Australian Journal of Labour Economics 3: 4764.Google Scholar
Timo, N and Davidson, M (1999) Flexible labour and human resource practices in small- to medium-sized enterprises: The case of the hotel and tourism industry in Australia, in: Lee-Ross, D (ed.) HRM in tourism and hospitality: International Perspective on small- to medium-sized enterprises. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
van Barneveld, K (2004) Equity and efficiency: The Case of Australian Workplace Agreements, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Newcastle.Google Scholar
van Barneveld, K (2006) Hospitality, in: Waring, P and Bray, M (eds) Evolving employment relations: Industry studies from Australia. Sydney: McGraw-Hill Irwin.Google Scholar
WageNet (2006) Advanced industry award search. http://www.wagenet.gov.auGoogle Scholar
Waring, P, Ostenfeld, S and Bray, M (2004) Award Pull' in the hospitality industry. Paper presented at AIRAANZ Conference, Noosa, 4–6 02.Google Scholar
White, N and Bray, M (2005) The processes of workplace change for nurses in NSW public hospitals, in: Stanton, P, Willis, E and Young, S (Eds) Workplace reform in the healthcare industry: The Australian Experience. Basingstoke: Palgrave.Google Scholar