The Impact of the European Union on British Employment Relations Essay

The Impact of the European Union on British Employment Relations - Essay Example The paper tells that the subject of employment relationship has been established with the help of an interdisciplinary method through conceptions and ideas that have been determined from sociology, psychology, and history. Employee relations can be of an individual dimension which is based upon the belief of every employee or can be of the collective dimension that is based upon the relationship between the management of an organization and the trade unions. Employment relationship in Britain has had a significant impact on the European Union. It has been observed that there is a long history regarding Britain’s employment relations that is considerably affected by the European Union (EU). Britain has witnessed a reduction in the trade unions. For instance, in the year 1979, there were 475 trade unions which reduced to 221 in the year 2000 and in the year 2001 the number of trade unions reduced to 206. These figures reveal that there has been a significant reduction of trade u nions in the recent years. The EU has led to an influential change in the labor law of Britain in relation to socio-economic, socio-demographic and managerial changes. Emphasis has been given to the quality of work amid the unions and the employers due to which there has been a decline in the quality of labor. There has been a rise in problems relating to the work-life balance due to which the EU directives have taken the initiative to improve this balance through egalitarianism, physical well-being, security and social dialogue. Employers have revealed that there has been an upsurge in the level of stress for the employees due to the increase in the qualitative requirements of the product and high competition. The EU legislation has not established any specific policy to provide the trade unions a greater power for negotiation.