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The purpose of each survey in the series has been to provide large-scale, statistically reliable evidence about a broad range of industrial relations and employment practices across almost every sector of the economy in Great Britain. This evidence is collected with the following objectives in mind:
To that end, the survey collects information from: managers with responsibility for employment relations or personnel matters; trade union or employee representatives; and employees themselves.
The information that is provided by respondents to the survey is used to publish a report that informs policy-makers and practitioners who work in the field of employment relations. The report also aids public debate about the nature of work and workplace relations in Britain.
The survey is supported and endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Trades Union Congress.
Before the design of the survey was agreed, sponsors conducted a number of consultation exercises with academics, policy-makers, practitioners and think-tanks. During the development work BIS also commissioned reports on WERS usage and sampling issues. A number of reports were produced including:
In keeping with its predecessors, WERS 2004 contains both a cross-section and a panel element.
The cross section survey covered workplaces in Britain with five or more employees, and whose activities were located within Sections D – O of the Standard Industrial Classification 1992. The survey data comprise responses from approximately 2,300 face -to-face interviews with managers, 1,000 face-to-face interviews with employee representatives and 22,000 employees via a self-completion questionnaire.
The 1998-2004 Panel Survey returned to a random selection of workplaces that participated in the 1998 Cross-Section Survey with the specific intention of identifying change since 1998. Around 1,000 establishments took part in the Panel survey.
The focus of the survey is the practice of employment relations at the workplace. Questions therefore focussed more on practices and attitudes than on written policies. In addition, interviews are conducted at the workplace, rather than at head office.
Whilst the survey instruments saw some redesign, the structure and broad content of the survey remain largely unchanged from 1998.
The Cross-Section survey in WERS 2004 contains questions on:
The Panel Survey questionnaire was based on the 1998 Cross-Section management questionnaire, but was much shorter and collected much less detail about particular practices.
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The sourcebook of detailed findings from WERS 2004 “Inside the Workplace:Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey” (ISBN 0-415-37813-3) was published by Routledge in July 2006. This reports findings relating to workplaces with 10 or more employees. Copies of the book can be ordered online at: www.routledge.com.
Additional resources accompanying the book, including data tables and full results from the multivariate analysis are available from the Routledge companion website at: http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415378133
The report “Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey” (ISBN 0-85605-361-9) provides a descriptive portrait of employment relations in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) The publication is available to download from this website (see Related Documents). Hard copies can be ordered through BIS Publications (quoting URN 06/1008).
(1900KB)Inside the Workplace: first findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey reports the first findings and provides information on what has changed inside British workplaces since 1998. Hard copies of this booklet are available through BIS Publications (quoating URN 05/1057).
Also available are a number of papers including the presentations made at the launch of the sourcebook, SME and first findings reports. Tables and figures from the first findings booklet are available as a powerpoint presentation for teaching purposes :
The press notice issued by the survey sponsors, which includes an annex of main findings, is also available to download from this website.
The anonymised data from WERS 2004 is now available to users through the UK Data Archive (study number: 5294). The ESRC has funded the establishment of an information and advice service for users of data from WERS 2004. The service is hosted at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
The Department of Trade and Industry made funds available to develop the evidence base in areas of policy interest, raise awareness of the WERS 2004 datasets, and encourage advanced data analysis based on the WERS 2004 datasets. For published papers, please consult our publications page.
Further information
Should you require further information about WERS 2004 please contact:
Sheila Honey
Acting WERS 2004 Project Leader
Employment Relations Directorate
Department for Business Innovation & Skills
1 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0ET
Tel: 020 7215 6984
email: sheila.honey@bis.gsi.gov.uk
A bibliography of all publicly available papers that have made original use of the data from the 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1998 surveys is available - see The British Workplace Industrial Relations Survey Series: A bibliography of Research based in WERS. The bibliography was last updated in March 2004.
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