Employment Relationship Problems: Costs, Benefits and Choices
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Employment Relationship Problems In The Public Sector
Figures quoted in the report so far have been drawn from the survey of private sector employers. A similar survey of public sector employers was also conducted covering the following sectors:
- government departments
- Crown entities
- Crown research institutes
- schools
- universities and polytechnics
- local authorities
- district health boards.
The response rate for the public sector survey was very low, making it difficult to make definitive conclusions about the impacts and progress of ERPs within that sector. Response rates for government departments and district health boards were particularly low. This uneven response makes any conclusions from this data tentative at best.
The incidence rate of ERPs for the public sector organisations responding to the survey was 0.8 ERPs per 100 employees, with the rate slightly higher in the smaller organisations (under 100 employees) and lower in the largest respondents.
The patterns of resolution were similar to those for the private sector, except for the fact that the proportion of in-house resolutions was somewhat lower, with the proportions of DOL mediations and external parties being accordingly higher. As expected with this mix of resolution mechanisms, the median time frames and costs of resolution were slightly higher than the private sector experience.
| Number of disputes | |
|---|---|
| In-house resolution | 9 |
| Outside parties | 12 |
| DOL mediation | 13 |
| Authority | 2 |
| Others | 1 |
As can be seen from the table, the total numbers of ERP resolutions of any type were low. Accordingly it is very difficult to provide reliable figures on the relative costs and benefits of different resolution methods for ERPs in the public sector. Generally, however, the trends were in line with those for the private sector, with internal resolution having the lowest direct costs and quickest resolutions.