Employment Relations in Canada and Australia During COVID: What Have We Learnt?

COVID caused a fundamental disruption in workplaces across the globe and challenged traditional arrangements that governed relationships between employers and employees. Employment relations refer to behaviour and communication between an employee and their employer, especially relating to behaviour and communication between an employee and their employer regarding employee rights/benefits. How these relationships are managed is governed by various laws and regulations, varying from country to country. The employee relations systems in Australia and Canada have similarities and differences, which will be explained in this article. We will use the example of the public sector's response to COVID to demonstrate how the differences in the systems influenced that response. Finally, we will explore how these differences affect the ability of organisations to implement change.