Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, 1989-1990

The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey was undertaken to fill gaps in current knowledge about the Australian workplace. The survey sought to collect information that would meet two principal objectives: the description of patterns of workplace industrial relations; and the provision of data which would allow the analysis of differing efficiency and equity outcomes in the workplace. This summary document outlines the scope of the survey, its aims and in some detail, the methodology employed. The survey project comprises two streams: a survey of 2004 workplaces across all States and Territories with twenty or more employees, covering all industries with the exception of defence and agriculture; and a survey of managers at 349 workplaces with between five and nineteen employees. The survey of workplaces with twenty or more employees consisted of four different questionnaires, three of which were administered by personal interview. An Employee Profile Questionnaire was mailed to managers prior to the initial interview and was usually collected by the interviewer on arrival at the workplace. This questionnaire asked for: employment figures; a breakdown of the workforce into eight broad occupational groups; labour turnover and absenteeism data; the name of the main award at the workplace and the number of employees it covered; whether the workplace used outworkers, agencies or contractors, and, data on earnings by occupation. The General Management Questionnaire was aimed at the most senior manager in the workplace and covered topics such as workplace performance, the major product or service produced and organisational change. The third questionnaire, Employee Relations Management Questionnaire, was administered to the manager with the most day-to-day responsibility for workplace industrial relations. This was the most extensive questionnaire, covering topics such as awards; payment systems; employment practices; communication; recruitment and training; union organisation; and industrial action. In smaller workplaces this questionnaire was often answered by the same manager who answered the General Management Questionnaire. The last questionnaire administered to this workplace group was the Union Delegate Questionnaire. It was administered only at workplaces where a recognised union delegate was present. An interview was held with a delegate selected from the union with the most members at the workplace. A second union delegate was also interviewed when a workplace had more than one union, and the second union had ten or more members at the workplace. The survey of smaller workplaces, Small Workplace Telephone Survey, used a separate questionnaire, which was administered by a telephone interview with the most senior manager at the workplace. It was shorter in length than the corresponding questionnaire for larger workplaces, and covered general industrial relations matters and issues particularly relevant to workplaces with a small number of employees.