Work Choices

The four principles that can help us to overcome our brains' natural biases to make better, more informed decisions--in our lives, careers, families and organizations. In Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch, tackle the thorny problem of how to overcome our natural biases and irrational thinking to make better decisions, about our work, lives, companies and careers. When it comes to decision making, our brains are flawed instruments. But given that we are biologically hard-wired to act foolishly and behave irrationally at times, how can we do better? A number of recent bestsellers have identified how irrational our decision making can be. But being aware of a bias doesn't correct it, just as knowing that you are nearsighted doesn't help you to see better. In Decisive, the Heath brothers, drawing on extensive studies, stories and research, offer specific, practical tools that can help us to think more clearly about our options, and get out of our heads, to improve our decision making, at work and at home.

Andrew Stewart and George Williams, leading scholars and media commentators, explain what has been called the most important decision of the Australian High Court since the Tasmanian Dam Case in 1983. They show what was being argued and why it was being argued, as well as what was decided and the implications for Australia’s future. They include key passages of the majority judgment, and from the dissents of Justices Kirby and Callinan. Is this “a destabilising intrusion of direct federal lawmaking into areas of legislation which, since federation, have been the subjects of State laws†(Justice Kirby)? Might it reduce State Parliaments to “impotent debating societies†(Justice Callinan)?

This wide-ranging collection is an authoritative and accessible analysis of the profound changes to labour regulation under the Howard and Rudd Governments. The authors, leading scholars and practitioners, examine both the nature and legacy of the controversial Work Choices reforms and how workplace relations are set to change under the new Fair Work legislation.Besides an ovrview of these developments, there are separate chapters on:the shifting boundaries between federal and state regulation the 'safety net' enforcement processes agreement-making the regulation of bargaining industrial actions trade union rights dispute resolution unfair dismissal This book is a must-have for anyone grappling with the impact of these changes.

Making Work and Family Work investigates the difficult choices that contemporary employees must face when juggling work and family with a view to identifying the smart choices that all parties involved—society, employers, employees and families—should make to promote greater work–life balance. Leading scholars Jeffrey Greenhaus and Gary Powell begin by identifying the factors that work against an employee’s ability to be effective and satisfied in their work and family roles. From there, they examine a variety of factors that impact the decision-making process that employees and their families can use to enhance employees’ feelings of work-family balance and families’ well-being. Covering a comprehensive set of topics and perspectives, this fascinating book will appeal to upper-level students of human resource management, organizational behavior, industrial/organizational psychology, sociology, and economics, as well as to thoughtful and engaged professionals.

Consolidated to 12 January 2010, this book provides all regulations and Fair Work Australia Rules 2009 [Interim] for the practical operation of Australia's workplace relations system.

A best practice guide to terminating employment in light of the fair Work Act 2009. Terminating employment can be an emotional and legal minefield, for both the employer and the employee. This guide explains when and how an employer can justifiably terminate employment for a range of reasons, including poor performance and redundancy.

A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2021 The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented experiment that reshaped white-collar work and turned remote work into a kind of "new normal." Now comes the hard part. Many employees want to continue that normal and keep working remotely, and most at least want the ability to work occasionally from home. But for employers, the benefits of employees working from home or hybrid approaches are not so obvious. What should both groups do? In a prescient new book, The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face, Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort to provide both employees and employers with a vision of their futures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have to accept to get what they want. Cappelli illustrates the challenges we face by in drawing lessons from the pandemic and deciding what to do moving forward. Do we allow some workers to be permanently remote? Do we let others choose when to work from home? Do we get rid of their offices? What else has to change, depending on the approach we choose? His research reveals there is no consensus among business leaders. Even the most high-profile and forward-thinking companies are taking divergent approaches: --Facebook, Twitter, and other tech companies say many employees can work remotely on a permanent basis. --Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and others say it is important for everyone to come back to the office. --Ford is redoing its office space so that most employees can work from home at least part of the time, and --GM is planning to let local managers work out arrangements on an ad-hoc basis. As Cappelli examines, earlier research on other types of remote work, including telecommuting offers some guidance as to what to expect when some people will be in the office and others work at home, and also what happened when employers tried to take back offices. Neither worked as expected. In a call to action for both employers and employees, Cappelli explores how we should think about the choices going forward as well as who wins and who loses. As he implores, we have to choose soon.

Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions -- both big and small -- have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice -- the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish -- becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice -- from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs -- has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.