Research_

Sydney Employment Relations Research Group

Strengthening employment relations research, policy and practice
The Sydney Employment Relations Research Group (SERRG) brings together internationally recognised employment relations expertise from across the University of Sydney.

About us

Our examination of employment relations focuses on the institutions, processes and economic and social contexts that influence the relationships between workers and businesses, and the consequent outcomes.

Many of the key contemporary policy challenges in Australia and across the world are directly connected to employment relations. For instance, COVID-19 has created significant disruptions in the economy and workplaces, which has prompted governments, businesses and unions to adopt measures aimed at preventing business closures and job losses.

SERRG provides a bridge between employment relations researchers in the University of Sydney and industry stakeholders to strengthen employment relations research, policy and practice. Our members collaborate with an international community of leading researchers and institutions to promote employment relations as a field of research.

Our people

University of Sydney Business School
Other University of Sydney faculties and schools

Our research

  • Employer's perspective: New understandings of employment law non-compliance, Clibborn S, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
  • Buy or Build? Employer Strategies for Developing a Skilled Workforce, Wright C, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
  • Marginalized workers in the Australian platform economy: The work experiences of mature ride-sharing partners and those with disabilities, Veen A, Baird M, Sydney Business School/Industry Partnership Grant
  • The Future of National Work and Employment Relations Systems: An Integrative “Most Different” Analysis of Australia and Denmark, Baird M, Andersen S, Wright C, Lansbury R, University of Copenhagen/University of Sydney Partnership Collaboration Award

Our reports

  • Submission to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee Inquiry Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 Download the report (PDF, 193KB)
  • Submission to the Department of Home Affairs Review: A Migration System for Australia’s Future. Download the report (PDF, 297.8KB)
  • Bargaining for skills: Strengthening coordination of immigration, training and industrial relations in the vocational trades. Download the report (PDF, 450.2KB)

Our publications

Belardi, S., Knox, A., Wright, C. (2022). 'The circle of life': The role of life course in understanding job qualityEconomic and Industrial Democracy, Published online: 2 December 2021.

Clibborn, S., Wright, C. (2022). The Efficiencies and Inequities of Australia's Temporary Labour Migration RegimeAustralian Economic Review, 55(2), 254-262.

Flanagan, F. (2022). Beyond invisibility: Landscapes of intersubjective recognition experienced by cleaners in Australian schoolsJournal of Industrial Relations, Published online: 19 January 2022.

Howe, J., Shi, E., Clibborn, S. (2022). Fruit Picking in Fear: An Examination of Sexual Harassment on Australian Farms. Melbourne University Law Review, 45(3).

Veen, A., Bartram, T., Cooke, F. (2022). Potential, challenges and pitfalls of pay-for-performance schemes: a narrative review evaluating the merits for the Australian home care sectorJournal of Health Organization and Management, 36(1), 38-50.

Wright, C. (2022). Addressing problems for labour not problems of labour: the need for a paradigm shift in work and industrial relations policyLabour and Industry, Published online: 9 March 2022.

Wright, C., Groutsis, D., Kaabel, A. (2022). Regulating migrant worker temporariness in Australia: the role of immigration, employment and post-arrival support policiesJournal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Published online: 14 March 2022.

Bamber, G., Cooke, F., Doellgast, V., Wright, C. (2021). International and Comparative Employment Relations: Global Crises and Institutional Responses. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications.

Belardi, S., Knox, A., Wright, C. (2021). Too hot to handle? An analysis of chefs' job quality in Australian restaurantsJournal of Industrial Relations, 63(1), 3-26.

Clibborn, S. (2021). Australian industrial relations in 2020: COVID-19, crisis and opportunityJournal of Industrial Relations, 63(3), 291-302.

Clibborn, S. (2021). Multiple frames of reference: Why international student workers in Australia tolerate underpaymentEconomic and Industrial Democracy, 42(2), 336-354.

Clibborn, S., Cooper, R., Veen, A., Wright, C. (2021). Tribute to Bradon Ellem Joint Editor-in-Chief, 2006-2021Journal of Industrial Relations, 63(5), 651-653.

Clibborn, S., Cooper, R., Veen, A., Wright, C. (2021). Tribute to Marian Baird AO Joint Editor-in-Chief, 2009-2021Journal of Industrial Relations, 63(5), 654-656.

Doellgast, V., Wright, C., Cooke, F., Bamber, G. (2021). Conclusions: Globalisation, crises and institutional responses. In G.J. Bamber, F.L. Cooke, V. Doellgast, C.F. Wright (Eds.), International and Comparative Employment Relations: Global Crises and Institutional Responses, (pp. 363-388). London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications.

Ellem, B., Baird, M., Clibborn, S., Cooper, R., Veen, A., Wright, C. (2021). EditorialJournal of Industrial Relations, 63(5), 657-660.

Flanagan, F., Walker, M. (2021). How can unions use Artificial Intelligence to build power? The use of AI chatbots for labour organising in the US and AustraliaNew Technology Work and Employment, 36(2), 159-176.

Flanagan, F., Huf, B. (2021). Putting capitalism in its place: Economies of worth and the practice of Australian historyLabour History, 121(1), 195-217.

Markey, R., McIvor, J., O'Brien, M., Wright, C. (2021). Triggering business responses to climate policy in AustraliaAustralian Journal of Management, 46(2), 248-271.

Smith, B., Goods, C., Barratt, T., Veen, A. (2021). Consumer 'app-etite' for workers' rights in the Australian 'gig' economyJournal of Choice Modelling, 38, 100254.

Van Den Broek, D., Wright, C., Howe, J., Reilly, A. (2021). Pro-market governance, migration status and worker vulnerability: The case of Australian horticultureEconomic and Industrial Democracy, 42(4), 1305-1325.

Veen, A., McGrath-Champ, S. (2021). Evolving Employment Relations in the Australian Construction Industry. In D. Belman, J. Druker, G. White (Eds.), Work and Labor Relations in the Construction Industry: An International Perspective, (pp. 34-56). Abingdon: Routledge.

Wright, C., Bamber, G., Doellgast, V., Cooke, F. (2021). Introduction: Internationally comparative approaches to studying employment relations. In G.J. Bamber, F.L. Cooke, V. Doellgast, C.F. Wright (Eds.), International and Comparative Employment Relations: Global Crises and Institutional Responses, (pp. 1-28). London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications

Wright, C., Constantin, V. (2021). Why recruit temporary sponsored skilled migrants? A human capital theory analysis of employer motivations in AustraliaAustralian Journal of Management, 46(1), 151-173.

Wright, C., Kaine, S. (2021). Employment relations in Australia. In G.J. Bamber, F.L. Cooke, V. Doellgast, C.F. Wright (Eds.), International and Comparative Employment Relations: Global Crises and Institutional Responses, (pp. 105-130). London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications.

Wright, C., Knox, A., Constantin, V. (2021). Using or abusing? Scrutinising employer demand for temporary sponsored skilled migrants in the Australian hospitality industryEconomic and Industrial Democracy, 42(4), 937-959.

Wright, C., McLaughlin, C. (2021). Trade Union Legitimacy and Legitimation Politics in Australia and New ZealandIndustrial Relations, 60(3), 338-369.

Clibborn, S. (2020). Australian industrial relations in 2019: The year wage theft went mainstreamJournal of Industrial Relations.

Ellem, B., Goods, C., Todd, P. (2020). Rethinking Power, Strategy and Renewal: Members and Unions in CrisisBritish Journal of Industrial Relations.

Ellem, B., Sandstrom, J., Persson, C. (2020). Neoliberal Trajectories in Mining: Comparing Malmfalten and the Pilbara.

Foley, M., Oxenbridge, S., Cooper, R., Baird, M. (2020). "I'll never be one of the boys": Gender harassment of women working as pilots and automotive tradespeopleGender, Work and Organization.

Lansbury, R., Johnson, A., Van Den Broek, D. (2020). Contemporary Issues in Work and Organisations: Actors and Institutions. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Nankervis, A., Baird, M., Coffey, J., Shields, J. (2020). Human Resource Management: Strategy and Practice (10th Edition). Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia.

Patmore, G., Westcott, M. (2020). Special issue: interdisciplinary historical studiesAccounting History Review, 30(1), 1-6.

Todd, P., Ellem, B., Goods, C., Rainnie, A., Smith, L. (2020). Labour in global production networks: Workers and unions in mining engineering workEconomic and Industrial Democracy.

Van Den Broek, D., Groutsis, D. (2020). Women, Work and Migration. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Van Den Broek, D., Wright, C., Howe, J., Reilly, A. (2020). Pro-market governance, migration status and worker vulnerability: The case of Australian horticultureEconomic and Industrial Democracy.

Veen, A., Barratt, T., Goods, C. (2020). Platform-Capital's 'App-etite' for control: A labour process analysis of food-delivery work in AustraliaWork, Employment and Society.

Wright, C., Clibborn, S. (2020). A guest-worker state? The declining power and agency of migrant labour in AustraliaEconomic and Labour Relations Review, 31(1), 34-58.

Wright, C., Constantin, V. (2020). Why recruit temporary sponsored skilled migrants? A human capital theory analysis of employer motivations in AustraliaAustralian Journal of Management.

Wright, C., Knox, A., Constantin, V. (2020). Using or abusing? Scrutinising employer demand for temporary sponsored skilled migrants in the Australian hospitality industryEconomic and Industrial Democracy.

Baird, M. (2019). Will Gender Trump Trump in the Workplace? Negotiation Journal, 35(1), 191-193.

Baird, M., Ellem, B., Clibborn, S., Cooper, R., Wright, C., Veen, A. (2019). Editorial: The Journal of Industrial Relations: Sixty Years onJournal of Industrial Relations, 61(1), 4-10.

Baird, M., Hill, E., Gulesserian, L. (2019). Expanding paternity leave in Southeast AsiaEast Asia Forum: Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific.

Barratt, T., Ellem, B. (2019). Temporality and the evolution of GPNs: remaking BHP's Pilbara iron ore networkRegional Studies, 53(11), 1555-1564.

Clibborn, S. (2019). Australian Industrial Relations in 2018: Inequality, policy stagnation and a brewing stormJournal of Industrial Relations, 61(3), 318-325.

Clibborn, S. (2019). It takes a village: Civil society regulation of employment standards for temporary migrant workers in Australian horticultureUNSW Law Journal, 42(1), 242-267.

Cooke, F., Wood, G., Wang, M., Veen, A. (2019). How far has international HRM travelled? A systematic review of literature on multinational corporations (2000-2014)Human Resource Management Review, 29(1), 59-75.

Fee, A., McGrath-Champ, S., Berti, M. (2019). Protecting expatriates in hostile environments: institutional forces influencing the safety and security practices of internationally active organisationsInternational Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(11), 1709-1736.

Fitzgerald, S., McGrath-Champ, S., Stacey, M., Wilson, R., Gavin, M. (2019). Intensification of teachers' work under devolution: A "tsunami" of paperworkJournal of Industrial Relations, 61(5), 613-636.

Goods, C., Veen, A., Barratt, T. (2019). "Is your gig any good?" Analysing job quality in the Australian platform-based food-delivery sectorJournal of Industrial Relations, 61(4), 502-527.

Hill, E., Baird, M., Ford, M. (2019). Investing in care key to boosting economic growthEast Asia Forum Quarterly, 11(1), 8-9.

Hill, E., Baird, M., Vromen, A., Cooper, R., Meers, Z., Probyn, E. (2019). Young women and men: Imagined futures of work and family formation in AustraliaJournal of Sociology, 55(4), 778-798.

Howe, J., Reilly, A., Wright, C., Van Den Broek, D., Clibborn, S. (2019). A Critical Examination of the Relationship between Labour Hire Intermediaries and Growers in the Australian Horticulture Industry. Australian Journal of Labour Law, 32(1), 83-102. 

McGrath-Champ, S., Stacey, M., Wilson, R., Fitzgerald, S., Rainnie, A., Parding, K. (2019). Principals' support for teachers' working conditions in devolved school settings: Insights from two Australian StatesEducational Management Administration & Leadership, 47(4), 590-605.

Markey, R., McIvor, J., O'Brien, M., Wright, C. (2019). Reducing carbon emissions through employee participation: evidence from AustraliaIndustrial Relations Journal, 50(1), 57-83. [More Information]

Schuessler, E., Frenkel, S., Wright, C. (2019). Governance of Labor Standards in Australian and German Garment Supply Chains: The Impact of Rana PlazaIndustrial and Labor Relations Review, 72(3), 552-579.

Temple, J., Dow, B., Baird, M. (2019). Special working arrangements to allow for care responsibilities in Australia: availability, usage and barriersAustralian Population Studies, 3(1), 13-29.

Wright, C., Clibborn, S. (2019). Migrant labour and low-quality work: A persistent relationshipJournal of Industrial Relations, 61(2), 157-175.

Wright, C., Wood, A., Trevor, J., McLaughlin, C., Huang, W., Harney, B., Geelan, T., Colfer, B., Chang, C., Brown, W. (2019). Towards a new web of rules: An international review of institutional experimentation to strengthen employment protectionsEmployee Relations: the international journal, 41(2), 313-330.

Workshops and events

 

Videos

Research Highlights with Professor Rae Cooper

Co-director

Stephen Clibborn
Associate Professor Stephen Clibborn
Academic profile

Co-director

Chris F Wright
Associate Professor Chris F Wright
Academic profile

Co-director

Professor Marian Baird
Professor Marian Baird
Academic profile

Co-director

Dr Alex Veen
Dr Alex Veen
Academic profile