2K - Awards and agreements

Question 1

Awards

Answer 1

Are legal documents that outline the minimum wages and conditions of work for employees across an entire industry

Question 2

Agreements

Answer 2

Are legal documents that outline the wages and conditions of employees and are applicable to a particular business or group of businesses

Question 3

Agreement (Adv + Diss)

Answer 3

Adv:
- Ability to attract and retain quality employees by offering competitive wages and conditions of work
- Agreements can be negotiated, leading to potential productivity gains being rewarded with higher wages
- Greater flexibility to tailor an agreement to the needs to the business and their employees

Diss:
- Time-consuming to negotiate the agreement
- Negotiations can break down, causing disputes and industrial action, which can harm productivity as well as relationships
- Increased costs to the business due to providing increased wages and/or improved conditions of work

Question 4

Awards (Adv + Diss)

Answer 4

Adv:
- Cost-effective for the business as they’re offering the minimum wages and conditions allowed for their industry
- Cannot be negotiated
- Provides a safety net for employees to ensure the business cannot offer wages or conditions below those in the award
- Fewer disputes over wages and conditions as they cannot be negotiated

Diss:
- The business may find it difficult to attract talented employees as they’re only offering the industry minimum wage and conditions
- Awards provide less flexibility as the business cannot alter the terms of the award to suit their needs
- The business may need to understand multiple awards as they cover multiple industries in one business
- Unable to negotiate productivity gains for higher wages with the employees