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THE 2004 WORKPLACE
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS SURVEY (WERS 2004)
Between January and October 2004, the
National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) will be contacting
managers, worker representatives and employees, inviting them to
take part in the Workplace Employment Relations Survey. This is an
official, Government-sponsored survey. It is very important that
you take part because your experiences and situation may well be
distinctive and, without that information, the survey findings
will not be representative.
About
the Survey
WERS 2004 is a national survey of people at
work. The survey is jointly sponsored by:
The aim of the survey is to provide
information that truly reflects current employment relations
practices throughout Britain. To that end, we are seeking
information from: managers with responsibility for employment
relations or personnel matters; trade union or employee
representatives; and employees themselves.
The information you provide will be used to
publish a report that will inform policy-makers and practitioners
who work in the field of employment relations. The report will
also aid public debate about the nature of work and workplace
relations in Britain. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to
contribute to that process.
The 2004 survey is enthusiastically supported
and endorsed by the Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development and the Trades
Union Congress.
Earlier surveys in the series were conducted
in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1997/8. A summary of the results from the
1998 survey can be viewed or downloaded at:
The
1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey: summary of findings
 (260Kb).
A summary of the results from the 2004 survey will be provided to
all participating workplaces in the summer of 2005.
National
Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
We have commissioned the National
Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to carry out the survey on
our behalf. NatCen is the largest independent social research
institute in Britain and has been conducting important social
surveys in Britain for over 30 years.
All of the information that you provide to
NatCen, whether as part of an interview or in a questionnaire,
will be treated in strict confidence. Neither individuals nor
their workplace will be identified in the published results.
Why has my workplace been selected for the survey?
Your workplace has been selected at random
from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is the
government’s register of businesses. The IDBR is maintained by
the Office for National Statistics.
Why have I been asked to participate?
If you are the senior manager at your
workplace with responsibility for employment relations or
personnel issues, you will have been selected as the person most
able to answer questions on personnel matters at your workplace.
If you are a trade union or employee
representative, you will have been selected because you are
either: the senior representative of the trade union with the most
members at the workplace; a representative from a joint
consultative committee; or a non-union employee representative.
If you are an employee, you will have been
selected at random from a list of employees at your workplace. A
maximum of 25 employees will have been selected at random from
your workplace to participate in the survey.
What happens next?
If you are a manager or employee representative and you have
received a letter on DTI-headed paper, a NatCen interviewer will
soon be in contact in order to arrange a suitable time to conduct
an interview.
If you are an employee and you have been
given a pink self-completion questionnaire, please try to complete
the questionnaire within the next two weeks. The completed
questionnaire should be sealed in the freepost envelope provided,
and either left at your workplace collection point or returned
directly by post to NatCen.
Further information
If you have any questions about the conduct
of the survey, including queries about appointments, please
contact the WERS Research Team at NatCen:
Freephone: 0800
652 4574
Fax: 020 7250 1524
email: WERS2004@natcen.ac.uk
If you wish to discuss the survey in general
terms, please contact Barbara Kersley, WERS Project Manager, at
the DTI:
Telephone: 020 7215 5999
Fax: 020
7215 2641
email: WERS2004@dti.gov.uk
We hope that you will be able to help with this important study
and thank you in anticipation of your help.
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