About the Survey

The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004) is a national survey of people at work.

The survey is jointly sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Policy Studies Institute. It follows in the acclaimed footsteps of earlier surveys conducted in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1998.

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 provide a mapping of employment relations practices in workplaces across Great Britain;
• to monitor changes in those practices over time;
• to both inform policy development and permit an informed assessment of the effects of public policy, and, to bring about a greater understanding of employment relations as well as the labour market.

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 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.

The survey is supported and endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Trades Union Congress.

For further detailed information about the survey, please visit http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/research-evaluation/wers-2004/.