Labor relation
A relationship between workers and employers shaped by the organization of work, authority over workers, and compensation for labor.
Employment contract: An agreement that establishes the terms under which a person works for an employer. It formalizes duties, compensation, and other terms within an individual labor relation.
Labor: Human physical or mental effort directed toward producing goods or providing services. Labor is the activity around which the worker–employer relationship is organized.
Industrial relations: The study and practice of relations among employers, workers, trade unions, and governments. It is the broader field in which labor relations are analyzed and managed.
Unitarism: An industrial-relations perspective that treats an organization as a unified community with shared interests. It frames workplace disagreement as a problem within the relationship, not an inherent conflict.
Managerial prerogative: An employer's authority to direct work and make decisions about workplace operations. It describes the authority employers exercise within the relationship.
Worker: A person who performs labor, whether as an employee, contractor, or in another work arrangement. The worker is one of the parties whose interests and status shape the relation.
Labor law: The body of law governing employment, workplace rights, and relations between workers and employers. Legal rules set enforceable limits and obligations within labor relations.
Pluralism: An industrial-relations perspective that recognizes distinct interests among workplace groups and supports negotiation between them. It treats conflict as normal and collective bargaining as a means of managing it.
Wage: Payment made to a worker in exchange for labor, commonly calculated by time or output. Compensation is a central exchange linking workers and employers.
Employer: A person or organization that engages workers and directs or benefits from their work. The employer is the other principal party, with responsibilities and authority.