7B016E - Employment Relations 01 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2032 | Version 0

Associated Module Information

Module Code: 7B016E
Module Title: Employment Relations
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Business Management
Faculty Sub Group: Business Management
Module Leader: Karl Greenhough
Module Team: Kevin Brown
First Intended Intake: SEP 2026 Final Year of Intake: 2031
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 30 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100085 - human resource management
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 0
Valid From 01 Sep 2026
Valid To 31 Aug 2032

Module Aims

The main aims of the module are:

·         Explain and critique the employment relationship as regulated, experienced and contested, integrating ER theory with a working knowledge of employment law across diverse organisational contexts.

·         Design and justify fair, legally sound interventions for workplace issues (collective and individual), including union–management dynamics, conflict handling/ADR, discipline, grievance and redundancy, demonstrating collaborative problem-solving and negotiation skills.

·         Exercise professional judgement as an ER practitioner—advising managers, drafting policy, and communicating evidence-based recommendations, while upholding procedural justice and the expectation to act fairly and reasonably.

Content Summary

The Employment Relations module develops practice-ready leaders who can manage the employment relationship confidently, unionised or not,by understanding how it is made (rules, policy, law), lived (everyday experience), and contested (voice, negotiation, conflict). Students deepen their grasp of power and management choice (context-bound by markets, technology, design, and institutions) and learn how coaching-style conversations can give people meaningful voice, surface perspectives, and inform fair decisions.

Through case- and team-based work, learners build fluency in interpreting and applying employment law to status and voice, union–management relations, discipline and grievance, mediation/ADR, redundancy, and performance. They practise the advisory craft line managers depend on: framing options, weighing risk, engaging representatives, and designing processes that people trust, while building collaborative relationships across boundaries (HR, line, unions, legal) and using coaching appropriately (with clear ethical and legal limits).

This is not “HR for HR.” It’s core leadership capability for any manager who must navigate complexity, enable ongoing professional development in themselves and others, uphold dignity at work, and secure outcomes that are both legally sound and socially sustainable.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Guided Study 10.5
Summative Assessment 60
Scheduled Learning and Teaching 56
Independent Study and self-directed learning 173.5
Total Hours Selected 116

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Critically evaluate power, conflict, and voice in the employment relationship through multiple theoretical perspectives, applying knowledge of employment law to diverse organisational contexts.
LO2 Develop and justify interventions to manage and resolve employment relations challenges ethically and effectively, demonstrating advanced negotiation and problem-solving skills.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 Portfolio consisting of: Simulated ER Hearing (Group Activity) + Individual Policy Brief + Viva Verification 15 5000 100 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Portfolio 1

Reading List

The readings and chapters listed below represent the core and supplementary texts that underpin the learning outcomes and week-to-week themes of this module. To ensure structured engagement and equitable access, specific readings from these sources will be curated and distributed through the Talis Aspire reading list, accessible via Blackboard.

Each week’s Talis list will align directly with the lecture and workshop content, indicating essential and recommended chapters or journal articles for preparatory, in-class, and reflective study. This approach supports progressive learning, ensuring students can engage with materials in a manageable, focused, and contextually relevant way throughout the block.

Reading List: Employment relations and HR Law

Week 1 – Introduction to the module and the Employment Relationship

•        Bennett T (2024) Managing Employment Relations, Ch1 and 2

•        Bingham C (2023) Employment Relations fairness and trust in the workplace

Supplementary

•        Mustchin and Hodder, (2024) Introduction: The Enduring Point and Value of Industrial Relations in the Value of Industrial relations 

Week 2 – Actor centred analysis: The state, management and trade unions

Essential

·        Bennett T (2024) Managing Employment Relations, Ch2-6

·        Williams, (2020) Introducing Employment Relations a critical approach, Ch 3,5 &6

Supplementary

•        Streeck (2024) Taking Back Control?  State and State Systems after Globalism 

Week 3 – Employee Relations Channels and Processes – Voice and Negotiations

Essential

·        Bennett T et al (2020 & 2024) Manging Employment Relations 

·        Bingham C (2023) Employment Relations

·        Boxall P & Purcell J (2022) Strategy and HRM

·        Burchill F (2008) Labour Relations Ch 9

·        Walton R & McKersie R (1965) A Behavioural Theory of Labor Negotiations

Supplementary

•        Taylor M (2017) Review of Modern Working Practices 

Week 4 – Conflict management part one causes and consequences of Industrial Action and unorganised conflict

Essential

•        ACAS (2014) Managing Conflict.

•        ACAS (2020) Managing Workplace Conflict: The changing role of HR.

•        Adams Z (2012) A structural approach to labour law. Cambridge Journal of Economics 46, 447-463

•        Bennett T et al (2020 & 2024) Managing Employment Relations.

•        CIPD (2023) Trade union recognition and industrial action

Supplementary

•        Lyddon D (2021) Strike Ballots under the 2016 Trade Union Act, Journal of Industrial Relations 52: 479-501

•        Shackelton J (2022) Summer Blues: Unions, Strikes and the law in 2022,  IEA.

•        Shackleton (2024), Unions Resurgent? The Past, Present and Uncertain Future of Trade Unions in Britain  

•        Taylor S & Emir A (2015) Employment Law: an introduction.

•        Williams S (2020) Introducing Employment Relations. 
 

Week 5 – Individual conflict, Discipline and Grievance and Alternative Dispute resolutions (Mediation)

•        Essential

•        ACAS (2015) Code of Practice1: Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

•        ACAS (2019) Discipline and grievances at work: The ACAS guide

•        ACAS/CIPD (2013) Mediation: An Approach to Resolving Workplace Issues.

•        Bennett T et al (2024) Managing Employment Relations, Ch, 9-11

•        Bennett T et al (2024) Managing Employment Relations, Ch 13


Supplementary

•        Bingham C (2016) Employment Relations

•        Burchill F (2014) Labour Relations, Ch 7

•        CIPD (2024) Mediation: An Approach to Resolving Workplace Issues
 

Week 6 – Ending the employment relationship - Redundancy

Essential

•        ACAS (2009) Redundancy handling. Advisory booklet

•        ACAS (2014) How to manage collective redundancies. 

•        Bennett T et al (2024) Managing Employment Relations, Ch 12

•        Bevitt A (2014) How to manage large scale redundancies and keep staff onside

•        Bingham C (2023) Employment Relations

•        CIPD (2024) Redundancy Factsheet

•        CIPD (2020a) Redundancy Q&As

•        CIPD (2020b) Redundancy Collective Consultation Q&As

Supplementary

•        Williams S (2020) Introducing Employment Relations