The past decades have been marked by the transformation of a significant number of
countries in the world from autocratic governments and centralized economies towards
democratic political structures and liberalized economies. Industrial relations systems have
contributed to this process by bringing democracy to the workplace, putting in place
structures for employee participation, including collective bargaining. In the pluralistic
democracies in Europe, employee participation has become a central feature of the
industrial relations systeMs
In addition, the rapid development of human resource management has resulted in an
expanded concept of employee involvement that is particularly linked to the increase in
direct forms of employee participation, where individual employees are actively involved
at various levels of organizational decision-making. Indirect participation is exercised
through processes such as collective bargaining and elected representatives. The search by
enterprises and companies in the highly competitive globalized economy for competitive
advantages has been a significant driver for new models of partnership, creating not only
direct participation forms, but also new alignments between trade unions and employees
and employers.
The developed economies have a long history of effective employee participation
models, albeit with different trajectories and outcomes. However, empirical research in this
area for developing countries is scarce. This study is part of a research project intended to
fill this gap by documenting and analyzing practices in Sri Lanka.