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Kerala, being the most literate state in India, has at least one newspaper being subscribed to every household and thus the Print industry in Kerala is doing a commendable job. Labour welfare as a part of industrial relation is assuming greater significance with the growth of industrialization. An industry today is a co-operative undertaking with both the capital and the labour as equal partners. The workers in the modern context are not simply a marketable commodity to be purchased by the owners, but human beings with their own needs, emotions and aspirations who invest their labour in making the industry a success. It is normally believed that the model employer maintains harmonious relation with the employees. Considering the conflicts are usually natural, the employer always tries to minimize the disputes by offering the right mix of labour welfare measures and ensure the loss of man days and the loss of production to the lowest possible extent. This article delineates the industrial relations in Kerala newspaper industry. The data were analyzed related to age, occupation, region of working, education and experience on the leaders' attitude on various factors related to labour welfare. The primary data collected from the trade union leaders were analyzed using the statistical computer package SPSS. Appropriate tests were used for analysis. It can be seen that the leaders were not at all satisfied with any of the facilities except for safety practices for the employees and the grievance handling process since they were directly involved.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of specific human resources (HR) practices (leadership, employee relations, employee safety, rewards and incentives and career opportunities) on organizational performance in the context of the Middle Eastern market, with a specific focus on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hotel sector.

A comprehensive research methodology was used for this study. Two distinct questionnaires were crafted: one targeting 338 hotel employees who completed the HR practices survey, and the other for 109 general hotel managers who completed the organizational performance survey. All respondents were from five-star hotel establishments in the UAE. To validate the hypotheses, a multidimensional approach was adopted. This paper first applied factor analysis to understand correlations and groupings among the factors. This paper then undertook validity assessment by examining factor loadings, average variance extracted and the reliability values for all parameters. Discriminant validity was also carefully evaluated.

The results found that there is a direct correlation between leadership, employee relations and career opportunities, with boosted organizational performance. Contrary to prevalent assumptions, the data showed no discernible link between employee safety, rewards and incentives and the actual performance of organizations. The results highlight the crucial role of social exchange in interpreting the indirect relationship between HR practices and organizational performance. This insight offers a fresh perspective on the often-discussed 'black box' in HR research.

The novelty of this study lies in its intricate exploration of human resource management practices within a region experiencing swift socioeconomic transformations due to factors such as the significant expatriate presence and economic diversification. By underlining the significance of social exchange as a mediating factor, this research significantly contributes to the ongoing dialogue on HR-performance relationships, offering insights for both theoretical and practical applications in HR activities formulation in the context of the UAE.

This study investigates the mediating role of wage and workforce adjustments, along with the moderating influence of collective bargaining system and employees’ localization, in elucidating the relationship between the COVID-19 shock and workplace employee relations (ER) tension.

Survey data from 1,483 enterprises across 21 prefectural cities in China’s Guangdong Province are collected. The hypotheses are tested by logistic regression.

The study reveals a positive correlation between the COVID-19 shock and workplace ER tension across crisis-hit enterprises, irrespective of their size or industrial sector. Wage reduction and mass layoffs emerge as significant mediators, while the collective bargaining system (CBS) and employees’ localization act as moderators.

The measurement of ER is limited in a single-item scale. Representation of China is also limited since the study exclusively focuses on Guangdong province. The study offers some contributions that firm-level data reveal the pathway through which COVID-19 creates ER tension.

On the one hand, the authors recommend the establishment of an effective communication system between employers and employees. On the other hand, managers should consider the role of informal institutions. Furthermore, the authors suggest implementing tailored strategies at the enterprise level.

Intense external shocks result in widespread layoffs and increased wage reductions within workplaces, and under such circumstances, formal or informal institutions may be insufficient to alleviate ER tension. In this case, the state authorities – including governments and other public agencies or bodies – are necessary to intervene in to organize tripartite dialogue.

While numerous emerging studies on COVID-19 explore how different countries manage industrial relations tension at the national level, few focus on ER at workplace level, particularly in developing countries. Understanding how workplace ER evolve during external shocks and identifying institutional measures to mitigate their negative impact is crucial for future crisis management.

In this paper, the authors examine the strategies used to reduce labour costs in three public hospitals in South Africa, which were effective and why. In the democratic era, after the revelations of large-scale corruption, the authors ask whether their case studies provide lessons for how public service institutions might re-make themselves, under circumstances of austerity.

A comparative qualitative case study approach, collecting data using a combination of interviews with managers, focus group discussions and interviews with shop stewards and staff was used.

Management in two hospitals relied on their financial power, divisions between unions and employees' loyalty. They lacked the insight to manage different actors, and their efforts to outsource services and draw on the Extended Public Works Program failed. They failed to support staff when working beyond their scope of practice, reducing employees' willingness to take on extra responsibilities. In the remaining hospital, while previous management had been removed due to protests by the unions, the new CEO provided stability and union–management relations were collaborative. Her legitimate power enabled unions and management to agree on appropriate cost cutting strategies.

Finding an appropriate balance between the new reality of reduced financial resources and the needs of staff and patients, requires competent unions and management, transparency and trust to develop legitimate power; managing in an authoritarian manner, without legitimate power, reduces organisational capacity. Ensuring a fair and orderly process to replace ineffective management is key, while South Africa grows cohorts of competent managers and builds managerial experience.

This study problematizes the prevailing normative and managerial-dominated view of self-initiated employee ambassadorship on social media from a power perspective. The aim is to provide a more nuanced and critical understanding of the negative aspects of this phenomenon.

The empirical material encompasses qualitative interviews with employees from 14 organizations and Foucault’s concept of disciplinary discursive power to analyze which and how discourses exert power over employee communication on social media and what role visibility plays in it.

This study indicates that employee ambassadors’ social media communication is governed by two discourses that create complex tensions, where ambassadors constantly must negotiate between self-branding requirements and an authenticity paradox. These tensions intensify through visibility on social media, where employees strategize and situationally silence their communication through self-monitoring and self-surveillance practices. Conclusively, the findings also outline the need for further critical research to offer a deeper understanding of power relations that influence the communication practices of organizational members.

The paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of self-initiated employee ambassadorship on social media and highlights disciplinary power relations that go beyond organizational borders.

The findings underscore that organizations need to address the critical aspects of self-initiated employee ambassadorship and act as facilitators to support employees in their navigation process.

This paper contributes a new critical power perspective on employee ambassadorship on social media.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyse subjective well-being among public relations (PR) and communication professionals by looking at several factors: employer and employee engagement, work culture and relationships, work–life balance and conflict, job satisfaction, well-being and networking and perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Additionally, we examine and discuss them in the context of perceived organisational support (POS) and management-mediated well-being.

This paper examines several dimensions of well-being in the PR/comms industry in Romania: employer and employee engagement, work culture and relationships, work–life balance and conflict, job satisfaction, well-being and networking and perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment. 117 adult respondents (male and female, full-time employed and freelancers, professionals from PR, advertising and corporate communications) filled-in a questionnaire developed within the EUPRERA Women in PR Network, which brings together communication and human resource (HR) perspectives.

The study revealed a gap between perceived and practical organisational support related to well-being. While emotional support is acknowledged, actionable support is less present. Gender-specific challenges, such as networking stress and sexual harassment, were more prevalent among women. Age and experience influenced job satisfaction, with mature professionals reporting higher satisfaction but more work encroachment into personal time. The characteristics of the industry, including its feminisation at both executive and managerial levels and the predominance of small businesses as market actors, underscore the need for tailored well-being strategies based on gender and age conditioned by organisational capabilities and resources.

The results can be used by PR and communication managers in Romania to better understand the perception of their employees regarding well-being and to develop organisational support systems.

This is the first study addressing well-being and POS in the PR and communication industries in Romania.

Because a large number of employees now work remotely, either completely or partially (e.g. flexible), it is imperative that scholars and practitioners understand the implications of remote work, such as how employee satisfaction is impacted.

This study examined leadership communication styles to understand how they may be perceived differently for remote workers. Results from an online survey (N = 403) revealed that while higher perceptions of leadership communication styles (responsive, vigilant and motivating language) were related to increased employee satisfaction, the amount of time spent working remotely did not moderate these relationships.

The findings suggest that the benefits of demonstrating leadership communication strategies can be extended from physical environments into online spaces.

This study is unique in that it centers on communication-forward leadership styles and applies them to remote contexts. Furthermore, remote work is conceptualized as a continuous variable as opposed to a binary, allowing for increased nuance.

This paper aims to explore the potential relationship between internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the decline of organised labour in countries of the global North. Given the opposing trends since the late 20th century and the widespread adherence of internationally recognised labour standards in CSR codes, standards, and reporting frameworks, questions arise about the disparity between CSR rhetoric and practice regarding the collective rights of in-house employees. The paper further explores the tendency in CSR scholarship to overlook violations of collective rights for in-house employees in the global North.

To examine whether there is an elective affinity between the rise of CSR and the decline of organised labour, the paper uses a discursive institutionalism approach, providing a meta-theoretical analysis of academic literature on internal CSR. A scoping review methodology was used to identify relevant literature and compile it into an empirical corpus for a metatheoretical analysis. The empirical corpus, consisting of 38 articles, was generated through a Google Scholar (GS) search guided by the following questions: (1) What are the dominant conceptual framings of internal CSR? (2) What are the dominant roles and practical aspects of internal CSR?

The paper identifies two key disparities in the literature: (1) between rhetoric and practice regarding the collective rights of in-house employees in the global North and (2) between the extensive CSR research on violations of collective rights of value chain workers and the limited attention to in-house employees’ collective rights. The analysis highlights two factors contributing to these disparities: the integration of internal CSR into the corporate managerial toolbox and the distinction in CSR discourse between core labour standards and workplace issues. The analysis shows that internal CSR has an elective affinity with the decline of organised labour.

While scoping reviews are often standalone studies, this paper used the methodology for its stated purpose. Limitations include the broad span of internal CSR across various academic fields and reliance solely on GS. Measures taken to enhance inclusivity were unlimited review period, refined inclusion criteria and keywords during the selection process and cross-checks of cited articles.

Considering the implications of the decline of organised labour on workers’ collective voice, poverty and the distribution gap in wealth and income, this paper suggests that for CSR to play a significant role in advancing sustainable social justice, scholars and practitioners should look at ways to reduce the disparity between rhetoric and practice regarding employees’ voice and collective rights.

The paper lays the foundation for a better understanding of the potential links between internal CSR and the decline of organised labour. It addresses a gap in the literature on the interrelations between CSR and organised labour in the global North and proposes root causes of this gap. This contribution enriches the scarce literature exploring the potential elective affinity between CSR and transformations in the global economy and labour markets since the late 1980s. Finally, the paper deepens the understanding of the implications of CSR for employees’ collective rights and voice as well as for organised labour.

The study draws on emerging research on declining employee mental health, particularly employees with low educational attainment, in human resource management (HRM) and health and tests whether labor market institutions are empirically associated with better mental health among workers from different educational backgrounds.

This study draws on a large national sample of part- and full-time workers and models a conditional relationship between labor market institutions and employee self-rated mental health using ordinary least squares (OLS) models with fixed effects.

The findings indicate membership in a labor market institution such as a union is positively associated with improved employee mental health, but the relationship is moderated by educational attainment. Union membership is associated with better mental health among employees with low educational attainment and appears to bring these workers up to a level of mental health that is comparable to more highly educated workers, thereby reducing mental health inequality. However, union membership has no effect on the mental health of more highly educated employees.

Despite the recognition that declining worker mental health presents challenges for workers, organizations and society, systematic empirical research on institutional mechanisms that may affect mental health is limited. This study draws on data of part- and full-time workers to model the relationship with a sample large enough to specify conditional models to account for heterogeneous relationships conditional on workers' educational attainment. The findings have important implications for our understanding of employee mental health, employment relations and institutional mechanisms to help workers and improve organizational performance.

Our study, based on signaling and social identity theories, explores how companies develop employer brand strategies through university partnerships and employee-centered practices. We also identify key factors that encourage employees to share positive word-of-mouth, enhancing the company’s appeal to potential and current talents.

Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, we analyzed a sample of 687 employees from various industries in Greece.

In our research, we highlight the role of employees' affective commitment in generating positive word-of-mouth recommendations for their company, as a desirable employment destination through interactions within their alma mater universities. This commitment, tied to their understanding of the company’s employer brand and their perceptions of its pre-recruitment practices, fosters a positive employer image among potential candidates. Our study confirms that leveraging employees as brand ambassadors enhances a company’s appeal to younger generations.

Companies should prioritize cultivating employees' affective commitment and facilitate interactions between employees and young candidates at their alma mater universities. It is crucial to ensure that employees understand the company’s employer brand both during their experience as candidates and as employees. By understanding the factors influencing employees' willingness to act as brand ambassadors, organizations can strengthen their employer image and attract younger candidates.

Our findings enhance the understanding of employee word-of-mouth dynamics, offering insights to improve pre-recruitment HR practices aimed at attracting students and recent graduates. By emphasizing employees' perceptions and actions regarding their social interactions at alma mater universities and their employer brand awareness, we can add value to employee-centric pre-recruitment strategies. Designed and implemented by employers, these strategies aim to attract emerging talent through universities.