Management Prerogative

Critically analyse the factors which influence the exercise of management prerogative in employment relations

The term Employer’s prerogative mean that the employers’ right to take independent decisions which cannot be questioned in a judicial court. The features of employer’s prerogative can be summarized in two practical ways. It gives employer the right to direct and supervise the work performance of employees so that he/she can conduct the business operations according to his/her own will. Secondly, the employer’s prerogative makes the employees liable to perform ‘a certain duty of obedience and a broader duty of loyalty’ (Employers’ Managerial Prerogative, Eurofound). Hence employer’s prerogative ensures the basic right of an employer to apply his/her creative concepts in the business. However, it does not enable the employer to annoy employees but only gives the right to satisfy his/her business interests. The following part will critically analyze the factors which normally influence the exercise of management prerogative in employment relations in the US, UK, and China.

The US’s ‘right to manage’ is very different from that of the other developed countries. “Joint determination of relationship between employers and organized employees through collective bargaining is now a protected right in the United States” (James 1992). Obviously United States has adopted a more liberal policy towards employees’ rights. The US law states that the managerial objectives should be achieved through good employer-employee relations in order to reduce the work difficulties and employees’ physical and mental stress. In the opinion of Summers (1976), the US considers employees’ termination as economical capital punishment (ibid). During the last decade, many states have limited employers’ traditional rights to terminate the workers any time as they liked. The unfavorable impacts of this law is that sometimes even the most unproductive workers get the opportunity...