How does a pluralist perspective explain the state’s role in regulating work and employment relation?

Students are required to write an essay answering the following question:
To what extent does a pluralist perspective adequately explain the state’s role in regulating work
and employment relations in Australia today? Please address this question with reference to one of
the following issues: the mistreatment of temporary migrant workers, gender inequality at work, or
workplace conflict.
The essay question is designed to develop your critical, analytical, and research skills. Students are
required to research and use quality scholarly sources from unit materials and library databases in
answering the assignment question.
You are required to cite a minimum of SIX (6) peer-reviewed academic papers (i.e. journal articles,
academic books and academic book chapters) relevant to your argument. Format in-text references
and reference list using the APA 6th edition Referencing Style.
The following questions may help guide your thinking as you develop a response:
• How does a pluralist perspective explain the state’s role in regulating work and employment
relation?
• How does the state in Australia regulate the one issue (and only one) you have chosen to
examine: the mistreatment of temporary migrants at work, gender inequality at work, or
workplace conflict?
• Is the state’s role in regulating this issue effective?
• In light of this assessment, what criticisms could be made of the pluralist characterisation of
the state, particularly from the perspective of the other theories we have examined (i.e.
unitarism, radicalism, the gender perspective)?
• Bring all of these elements together to succinctly explain whether you find a pluralist
perspective adequate for explaining the state’s role in regulating work and employment
relations in Australia today
INSTRUCTIONS
Weight: 30%
Length: 1100 words (including in-text references but excluding the reference list)
You must conform to the word length. If you exceed the word length, you will lose 10% of the total
marks when the submission is 10% above the word length and 10% for each 10% over-length
hereafter.
Deadline: Wednesday 6 October 2021, 5:00pm
(This is the date at which you have to submit your essay, late submissions accrue a penalty of 5%
per day)
Formatting: Please ensure that your work is submitted in accordance with the University’s
anonymous marking policy. Do NOT put your name on your essay, only your SID.

Referencing: You are required to cite a minimum of SIX (6) peer-reviewed academic papers
relevant to your argument. Format your in-text references and reference list using the APA 6th
edition Referencing Style
Academic honesty: Ensure your assignment does not breach the University and Business School’s
Academic Honesty policy. Turnitin software is used to check for plagiarism. Even where plagiarism
is unintended it is STILL plagiarism and may be subject to penalty.
Extensions: If there are circumstances or essential commitments that impact on your ability to
submit the essay by the deadline you will need to apply for special consideration in order to receive
an extension
Note: This is an individual assignment and must be entirely your own work
Submission:
Please do not leave your submission to the last few minutes before the deadline as this does not
allow you enough leeway if there is a problem. The Turnitin submission link is found on Canvas >
Assignments > Essay.
If you encounter problems with the online submission you can seek assistance from the University
Service Desk: ict.support@sydney.edu.au; for urgent matters call 1800 793 864 option 3.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
1. Coherence and clarity (20%)
a. Is the essay well-structured in line with the instructions and questions?
b. Does the essay have an appropriate structure (e.g. with an introduction, a body, and a
conclusion)?
c. Does the sections of the essay flow logically?
2. Language and Expression (20%)
a. Is the writing style clear and easy to follow?
b. Is there writing style suitably academic?
c. Does it avoid the use of informal or colloquial language?
d. Is it free from spelling, grammatical and typographical errors?
3. Quality of the argument (20%)
a. Is the argument strong and supported by an appropriate range of academic references
(minimum of six)?
b. Is it well researched?
4. Engagement with relevant theories (20%)
a. Does the essay demonstrate knowledge of the pluralist perspective and the Australian
employment relations system, and the relationship between them?
b. Does it engage appropriately with other relevant employment relations theories to
develop a critical analysis and argument?
5. Referencing and word count (20%)
a. Is the essay appropriately referenced?
b. Are all the in-text references included in the reference list?
c. Is the reference list properly formatted (APA 6th edition)? Does the essay comply with
the 1100 word limit requirement?

SUGGESTED RESOURCES TO START YOU THINKING
Most of these resources can be found in the Reading List link on the WORK1003 Canvas site.
Other sources can be found by searching for the journal title on the University Library site.
Pluralism and employment relations theories
• Bray, M., Waring, P., Cooper, R. and MacNeil, J. (2018) Employment Relations: Theory
and Practice (4e), McGraw-Hill: Sydney, Chapter 3 – Values
• Dunlop, J.T. (1958) Industrial Relations Systems. New York: Holt & Co, pp. 7-18
• Budd, J. and Bhave, D. (2008). ‘Values, Ideologies, and Frames of Reference in
Industrial Relations’. In Blyton, P., Bacon. N., Fiorito, J. and Heery, E. (eds), The
SAGE Handbook of Industrial Relations. London: SAGE, pp. 92–112.
• Hyman, R. (2008) The State in Industrial Relations, in Blyton, P., Bacon, N., Fiorito, J. and
Heery, E. (eds) The Sage Handbook of Industrial Relations, Sage, London, Chapter 14.
• Heery, E. (2016). ‘British Industrial Relations Pluralism in the Era of Neoliberalism’.
Journal of Industrial Relations, 58(1): 3-24.
• Ackers, P. (2002). Reframing employment relations: the case for neo‐pluralism. Industrial
Relations Journal, 33(1), 2-19
• Dabscheck, B., 1983. Of mountains and routes over them: a survey of theories of industrial
relations. Journal of Industrial Relations, 25(4), 485-506.
Australian employment relations – general sources
• Wright, C.F. & Kaine, S. (2021). Employment relations in Australia. In: Bamber, G.J.,
Cooke, F.L., Doellgast, V. & Wright, C.F. (eds), International and Comparative
Employment Relations (7th edition). London: Sage, Chapter 5.
• Hancock, K. and Lansbury, R.D. (2016). Industrial Relations Reform: Looking to the
Future, Federation Press: Sydney
• Birch, E. and Preston, A. (2021) ‘The Australian labour market in 2020’. Journal of
Industrial Relations, 63(3): 303-320.
• Wilkins, R. and Wooden, M. (2014) ‘Two decades of change: the Australian labour
market, 1993–2013’. Australian Economic Review, 47(4): 417-431.
• Clibborn, S. (2021) ‘Australian industrial relations in 2020: COVID-19, crisis and
opportunity’. Journal of Industrial Relations, 63(3): 291-302.
The mistreatment of temporary migrants at work
• Wright, C.F and Clibborn, S (2020) A guest-worker state? The declining power and agency
of migrant labour in Australia, Economic and Labour Relations Review 31(1), 34-58.
• Clibborn, S. and Wright, C.F. (2020) COVID-19 and the policy-induced vulnerabilities of
temporary migrant workers in Australia. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 85: 62-
70.
• Underhill, E., and Rimmer, M. (2016). Layered vulnerability: Temporary migrants in
Australian horticulture. Journal of Industrial Relations, 58(5), 608–626
• Clibborn, S. and Wright, C.F. (2018). Employer theft of temporary migrant workers’ wages
in Australia: Why has the state failed to act? The Economic and Labour Relations Review,
29(2), 207-227
• Boucher, A. (2019) Measuring migrant worker rights violations in practice: The example of
temporary skilled visas in Australia. Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(2), 277-301.
• Campbell, I., Tranfaglia, M.A., Tham, J.C. and Boese, M., 2019. Precarious work and the
reluctance to complain: Italian temporary migrant workers in Australia. Labour & Industry,
29(1), pp.98-117.

Gender inequality at work
• Baird, M. (2011). ‘Women and Work in Australia: A Theoretical and Historical
Overview’. In Murray, P.A., Kramar, R. and McGraw, P. (eds), Women at Work: Research,
Policy and Practice. Melbourne: Tilde University Press, pp. 1-22
• Baird, M. (2011) ‘The state, work and family in Australia’. International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 22(18): 3742-3754
• Pocock, B. (2016). Holding up half the sky? Women at work in the 21st century. The
Economic and Labour Relations Review, 27(2), 147–163.
• Foley, M. and Williamson, S. (2021) ‘Women, work and industrial relations in Australia in
2020’. Journal of Industrial Relations, 63(3): 321-337.
• Baird, M, Hamilton, M, Constantin, A (2021) Gender equality and paid parental leave in
Australia: A decade of giant leaps or baby steps? Journal of Industrial Relations. Epub
ahead of print 2 May 2021. DOI: 10.1177/00221856211008219
• Foley, M. and Cooper, R. (2021). Workplace gender equality in the post-pandemic era:
Where to next? Journal of Industrial Relations, Epub ahead of print 13 August 2021. DOI:
10.1177/00221856211035173
Workplace conflict
• Bray, M., Waring, P., Cooper, R. and MacNeil, J. (2018) Employment Relations: Theory
and Practice (4e), McGraw-Hill: Sydney, Chapter 12 – ‘Industrial Conflict’
• Bray, M. (2018). Workplace Cooperation and the Potential for Mutual Gains. In Bray, M.,
Macneil, J. and Stewart, A.R. (eds), Cooperation at Work: How Tribunals can Help
Transform Workplaces. Sydney: Federation Press, pp. 10–29.
• McCrystal, S (2019) Why is it so hard to take lawful strike action in Australia? Journal of
Industrial Relations, 61(1): 129-144.
• Sarina, T. and Wright, C.F. (2015). Mutual gains or mutual losses? Organisational
fragmentation and employment relations outcomes at Qantas Group. Journal of Industrial
Relations, 57(5), 686-706.
• Van Gramberg, B., Teicher, J., Bamber, G.J. and Cooper, B. (2020). Employee voice,
intention to quit, and conflict resolution: Evidence from Australia. ILR Review, 73(2),
393-410.
• Godard, J. (2011). What has happened to strikes? British Journal of Industrial Relations,
49(2): 282-305.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
• Use the Required and Optional Readings in the Tutorial Guide and the Reading List link on
the WORK1003 Canvas site to help formulate your essay response.
• You are expected to conduct research beyond listed sources to demonstrate that your essay
has been well researched.
• List cited sources in a Reference List commencing on the page following the last page of
text. This list should include only the items you have referred to in your text. It is NOT a
bibliography of everything you consulted on the topic.
• Consult other instructions regarding the essay in the UoS Outline and Online-Live lectures.

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