Primary labour relationships (PLRs) occur within supervisory relationships. Previous studies confirmed that compliance, fairness, good faith and trust were interrelated facilitators of positive perceptions of primary labour relationship quality. Many researchers regard trust as a primary requirement for effective implementation of formal and psychological employment contracts.
This study investigated the nature and direction of relationships between subordinate employee perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs and levels of trust in PLRs.
Two interviewers adopted snowball sampling approaches to conduct structured interviews with 68 subordinate employees residing in Gauteng, South Africa.
The researcher adopted a mixed-method research methodology that included a thorough literature review, development of a structured interview, interviewing 68 voluntary participants and statistical analysis of data.
Confident conclusions were drawn and discussed, and related limitations were explained. Specific recommendations for further research into the relationships and dynamics of trust-related phenomena in PLRs were made.
It was confidently concluded that literature and empirical findings, jointly and separately, provided ample evidence of positive relationships between subordinate employee perceptions of the levels of trust and their perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. Accordingly, it can be confidently expected that lower levels of trust will be related to lower levels of perceived compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs, and higher levels of trust will be related to higher levels of perceived compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. Causality was not investigated in this study.
Trust can simply be defined as the willingness of a relationship stakeholder (trustor) to rely on another relationship stakeholder (trustee) to behave in an agreed or expected manner. Perceptions of trustworthiness can influence the trust relationship between trustors and trustees. A trustor will typically not expect exploitation by a trustworthy trustee, but will expect exploitation by an untrustworthy trustee (Krot & Lewicka
Labour relationship trust is a complex and dynamic social phenomenon that entails far more than mere compliance with laws and formalised work regulations (Searle & Skinner
A recent study confirmed that subordinate employee perceptions of the levels of trust, compliance, fairness and good faith in supervisory relationships are interrelated. It was concluded that these perceptions are strongly related to subordinate employee perceptions of the levels of relationship quality in PLRs (Ehlers
No results of studies that specifically deal with relationships between subordinate perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith and perceived trust levels in PLRs, or supervisory relationships, have been published recently. There is thus a knowledge gap in this regard.
This article aims to investigate the relationship between perceived levels of trust and perceptions of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. The researcher subsequently investigated the validity of the following research propositions, and related hypotheses:
Proposition 1: There is a positive relationship between subordinate perceptions of the levels of compliance and trust in PLRs:
Proposition 2: There is a positive relationship between subordinate perceptions of the levels of fairness and trust in PLRs:
Proposition 3: There is a positive relationship between subordinate perceptions of the levels of good faith and trust in PLRs:
The following definitions were accepted for purposes of this article:
Labour relationship trust can be defined as the willingness of a labour relationship stakeholder to rely on another relationship stakeholder to behave in an agreed upon or expected manner (Searle & Skinner
Compliance refers to compliance with explicitly defined laws, contracts, objectives, policies and procedures that regulate labour relationship conduct (Ehlers
Fairness refers to even-handed exchanges in labour relationships. Such treatment includes awareness, objectivity, equity, consistency and reciprocity (Bendix
Good faith refers to displays of interest, sincerity, respect, consideration and constructivity aimed at the creation of maximum labour relationship benefits for all (Ehlers
Positive relationship means that an upward change in one variable is related to an upward change in another variable, irrespective of the causes of such changes. Likewise, a downward change in one variable will be related to a downward change in another variable (Cozby & Bates
Perception refers to the process that individuals or groups of people use to organise and interpret their unique sensory impressions to give meaning to their social and physical environments (Robbins & Judge
Subordinate refers to an individual who performs work under instruction of another individual who is believed to be his or her immediate superior in some or other labour relationship (Lian et al.
The remainder of this article contains a literature review, a discussion of the mixed-method research methodology that was adopted in this study, a discussion of findings and an overview of limitations and recommendations of the study. Specific findings are described in the concluding section of the article.
There are no laws that specifically require high levels of trust in labour relationships, even though trust is regarded as the foundation of labour relationships (Williams
Numerous environmental variables that reside in the formal and psychological dimensions of labour relationships can influence trust levels in PLRs (Cropanzano et al.
Subordinate expectations, experiences and outcomes of previous trust exchanges will typically result in revised positive or negative perceptions of supervisor trustworthiness. These revised perceptions will then influence a subordinate’s willingness to trust a supervisor in future trust exchanges. Subordinates of trustworthy supervisors are less likely to anticipate exploitation and could therefore be more willing to increase their trust in their supervisors. Accordingly, subordinates of untrustworthy supervisors are more likely to anticipate exploitation and could therefore be less willing to increase their trust in their supervisors and may even have distrust in their supervisors (Starnes, Truhon & McCarthy
Coyle-Shapiro and Shore (
A climate of trust facilitates an open and constructive relationship interaction and can prevent minor differences from evolving into dysfunctional labour relationship conflicts. Higher trust levels can also promote humane interpersonal relations in workplaces, and facilitate the effective prevention of inhumane, opportunistic and exploitative relationship behaviours (Flanagan & Runde
At least five behaviour forms can be regarded as typical characteristics of labour relationships in which higher trust levels are evident. The absence of one or more of these characteristics will typically be related to less positive perceptions of trust in such relationships (Ehlers
Criteria for trust in labour relationships.
Trust | Trust will be evident when parties are |
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A relationship partner is willing to risk vulnerability by relying on a relationship partner to behave in an expected manner. | Convinced (undoubted acceptance of relationship objectives and partner bona fides) Devoted (committed to relationship objectives and performance of relationship duties) Tolerant (accepting relationship partner shortcomings and unforeseen relationship duties) Supportive (encouraging or assisting relationship partners to perform their duties) Loyal (acting in the best interest of a relationship partner – not exploiting partner vulnerabilities) |
Employers and employees are legally obliged to comply with all employment-related provisions of the Constitution, common law and statutory employment laws. These sources of labour law, and related case law, promote and regulate legal compliance, fair employment practices, good faith, fair discrimination and the equitable distribution of benefits in employment relationships, among numerous other objectives. Unreciprocated and charitable benevolence is, however, not an obligation of employers or employees under South African labour law (Grogan
Additional formal guidelines, or control mechanisms, are typically introduced in labour relationships to ensure the effective and harmonious achievement of relationship objectives, and to reduce the risk of misinterpretation and labour conflict. Such guidelines include labour relations vision and mission statements, objectives, strategies, policies and procedures (Greenwood
Lower levels of trust are typical of labour relationships where employees perceive the implementation or nature of rules and procedures of their employers as unjustified or invalid (Linde et al.
Positive employee perceptions of compliance are also significantly related to positive perceptions of primary labour relationship quality (Ehlers
Compliance can be assumed to be demonstrated in a labour relationship exchange when at least five interrelated compliance criteria are met. Failure to satisfy any one or more of these criteria during relationship exchanges will strongly suggest that the behaviour was non-compliant, Non-compliance will typically have a negative effect on compliance perceptions in PLRs (Ehlers
Criteria for assessing compliance in labour relationships.
Compliance | Compliance will be evident when parties are: |
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A relationship partner complies with all formal regulations that apply to a labour relationship. | Constitutional (compliance with constitutional provisions) Lawful (compliance with applicable labour laws) Contractual (compliance with formal labour contracts or collective agreements) Directional (compliance with legitimate organisational strategies, policies and codes) Procedural (compliance with legitimate organisational procedures and rules) |
Fairness is perceived through the eyes of the beholders. Most assessments of fairness are therefore subjective and context dependent. Employers and employees can subsequently have different expectations or perceptions of fairness in work relationships. These differences often result in tension or relationship conflict (Robbins & Judge
Patel et al. (
However, subordinate employee perceptions of unfair treatment can lead to lower levels of relationship trust and a variety of undesirable organisational outcomes. Some employees may resort to deliberately restricting their work output or sabotage work processes if they believe that they are unfairly treated or harassed in their work relationships (Commission for Conciliation Mediation And Arbitration [CCMA]
Fairness can be assumed to be demonstrated in PLRs when at least five interrelated behaviour criteria are met. Failure to satisfy any one or more of these criteria during relationship exchanges will strongly suggest that an exchange was unfair and will typically result in negative perceptions of fairness in PLRs (Ehlers
Criteria for assessing fairness in labour relationships.
Fairness | Fairness will be evident when parties are: |
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A relationship partner treats another labour relationship partner in an even-handed manner in labour relationship exchanges. | Informed (being aware of facts relating to an issue under discussion) Objective (acting in a neutral or impartial manner) Equitable (treating actual equals as equals) Consistent (acting in the same manner in similar circumstances at different times) Reciprocal (performing duties before, when or after claiming rights – give and take in equal measures) |
Goodwill towards relationship partners and genuine concern for their well-being and interests are generally regarded as typical characteristics of good faith (Dietz & Hartog
Positive perceptions of good faith are related to higher levels of trust in organisational relationships, and organisational trust is positively related to several positive organisational behaviour outcomes. Conversely, negative perceptions of good faith, or displays of bad faith, are generally believed to be related to lower levels of trust in such relationships (Botha & Moalusi
The CCMA (
As in the case of fairness, most assessments of good faith are also subjective and context dependent. Rights and obligations of employers and employees regarding good faith are not readily and clearly defined in labour laws, which makes it difficult to assess the legitimacy of differing expectations and perceptions of labour relations partners. Subsequently, diverging employer and employee expectations and perceptions of good faith often result in labour relationship tension and conflict, which in turn influence trust perceptions and levels in such relationships (Heap
Good faith can be assumed to be demonstrated in a labour relationship exchange when at least five interrelated behaviour criteria are met. Failure to satisfy any one or more of these criteria during relationship exchanges will strongly suggest that good faith was not displayed during the exchange and will often have a negative effect on good faith perceptions in PLRs (Ehlers
Criteria for assessing good faith in labour relationships.
Good faith | Good faith will be evident when parties are: |
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Relationship partners sincerely promote mutual relationship benefits in labour relationship exchanges. | Interested (active interest in another person’s views) Sincere (displaying honesty and transparency) Respectful (showing concern for ideas and dignity of others) Constructive (displaying positive behaviour forms and commitment to progress during exchanges) Considerate (taking circumstances of relationship partners into account) |
Mixed methodologies allow researchers to make confident research assumptions despite unique research challenges, such as relatively small samples. In addition, mixed-method research studies can yield trustworthy findings that provide foundations for further development of theory, and a deeper understanding of the nature of phenomena under investigation, despite relatively small sample sizes (Cooper & Schindler
A thorough literature review was undertaken on the nature of trust, compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs, and a customised research interview was developed. Interview questions were selected after considering the objectives of the study, data required to test propositions and hypotheses, research interview guidelines, potential respondent characteristics and typical knowledge of concepts, language barriers and response options (Cozby & Bates
The draft structured interview contained three biographical questions relating to age, gender and years of employment, as well as 12 questions relating to perceptions of trust, compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. All interview questions were closed-ended and linked to specific quantified response options (Cozby & Bates
Interview question validity was deemed to be higher than adequate, considering the very narrow alignment between questions and the respective hypotheses that were to be tested in this study (Edwards & Holland
Ten voluntary respondents participated in mock research interviews and provided positive feedback on their structured interview experience. A Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.79 confirmed that the interview questions were more than adequately consistent (Cresswell
Two skilled interviewers then adopted snowball sampling approaches to conduct 68 structured interviews with voluntary research participants. All interviewees were employed in the larger Pretoria and Ekurhuleni areas of Gauteng, South Africa.
The sample size of 68 far exceeded the generally recommended minimum sample size of 30 for qualitative research studies (Baker & Edwards
Research data were captured, and descriptive and non-parametric inferential statistical analysis procedures were applied to judge the validity of the respective research propositions and related hypotheses. Salkind (
The following section contains discussions of the validity of the respective propositions and hypotheses that were investigated in this study.
Levels of compliance, fairness and good faith at different trust levels in primary labour relationships.
It can confidently be assumed that there is a positive relationship between subordinate perceptions of the levels of compliance and trust in PLRs. This assumption is strongly supported by reports in related literature (Cropanzano et al.
The perceived levels of compliance in PLRs with lower trust levels were average (
H0 was rejected in favour of H1. The results of a Spearman’s Rho correlation test confirmed that there is a statistically significant relationship between subordinate perceptions of compliance and trust levels in PLRs (
H0 was rejected in favour of H2. The results of a Wilcoxon signed ranks test confirmed that there is a statistically significant difference (
It can confidently be assumed that there is a positive relationship between subordinate perceptions of the levels of fairness and trust in PLRs. This assumption is strongly supported by reports in related literature (Botha & Moalusi
The perceived levels of fairness in PLRs with lower trust levels were average (
H0 was rejected in favour of H3. The results of a Spearman’s Rho correlation test confirmed that there is a statistically significant relationship between subordinate perceptions of fairness and trust levels in PLRs (
H0 was rejected in favour of H4. The results of a Wilcoxon signed ranks test confirmed that there is a statistically significant difference (
It can confidently be assumed that there is a positive relationship between subordinate perceptions of the levels of good faith and trust in PLRs. This assumption is strongly supported by reports in related literature (Botha & Moalusi
The perceived levels of good faith in PLRs with lower trust levels were average (
H0 was rejected in favour of H5. The results of a Spearman’s Rho correlation test confirmed that there is a statistically significant relationship between subordinate perceptions of good faith and trust levels in PLRs (
H0 was rejected in favour of H6. The results of a Wilcoxon signed ranks test confirmed that there is a statistically significant difference (
It was noted that the perceived levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs with lower levels of trust were all very close to the average score of one (0.97, 0.99, 1.04). These average levels gradually increased in PLRs with average (1.22, 1.15, 1.12) and higher than average (1.65, 1.6, 1.59) trust levels (see
Damage to trust relationships, or increased distrust will typically arise when employers or employees fail to demonstrate legally or socially expected levels of compliance, fairness or good faith in PLRs. Such failures can also be perceived as breaches of written employment contracts or the regulations, policies and procedures that apply to PLRs in terms of such contracts. Perceived breaches of formal employment contracts can typically result in employee grievances, disciplinary action and labour disputes. Irreparable breaches of trust or intolerable levels of distrust in PLRs typically result in the termination of an employment contract by employers or employees (Bendix 2014; Grogan
The above-mentioned views in literature and findings from this study very strongly suggest that below, or far below, average levels of compliance, fairness and good faith could be typical of PLRs in which very low levels of trust or higher levels of distrust reside.
The sample size of 68 was adequate for mixed-method research studies but too small to make generalisable findings resulting from statistical analysis of data. Nonetheless, an investigation of the statistical significance of differences between the means of perceptions of different sample groups was undertaken to obtain some indication of differences between such perceptions. A non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was applied to determine if there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of two independent sample groups, and yielded the following results (Salkind
There are no statistically significant differences between male (
There are no statistically significant differences between younger (0–35 years,
There are no statistically significant differences between less experienced (0–10 years,
The relatively small sample and snowball sampling approach precluded this study from classification as a true quantitative research study, and findings from this study were subsequently interpreted from a mixed-method research perspective. Nonetheless, findings from a literature review and statistical analysis of research data confirmed that the research propositions and hypotheses under investigation were mostly true (Cozby & Bates
There were no statistically significant differences between different sample group perceptions of the levels of good faith compliance, fairness and good faith at different trust levels in PLRs. Similar studies of related perceptions of employees in South African provinces other than Gauteng could facilitate further investigation of differences in perceptions and re-assessment of the validity of the propositions and hypotheses of this study (Cresswell
The perceived levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs with lower and average trust levels were all relatively close to average (1) and noticeably higher in PLRs with higher levels of trust. Accordingly, it can be expected that very low levels of trust, or higher levels of distrust, in PLRs may be related to perceptions of below average levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. The views of McKnight and Chervany (
This study confirmed that there are positive relationships between perceived levels of compliance, fairness and good faith and trust levels in PLRs, but no findings on causality or the sequential development of compliance, fairness and good faith were made. Further research into causality and the sequence in which compliance, trust and fairness develop in PLRs could fill this knowledge gap. It could be worthwhile to conduct a thorough investigation into potential associations between underlying patterns in the situational leadership theory of Hersey and Blanchard, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and theories on labour relationship trust and quality perceptions PLRs (Ehlers
This article reported on a study that was undertaken to investigate the relationship between perceived levels of trust and perceptions of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. Findings from a literature review and statistical analysis of data were reviewed and integrated to arrive at the following conclusions:
Positive subordinate employee perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith are typically related to higher levels of trust in PLRs, and negative employee perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith are typically related to lower levels of trust in PLRs. These assumptions were strongly supported in literature and empirical findings in this study.
Increased displays of compliance, fairness or good faith by superiors in PLRs can be confidently expected to result in more positive subordinate perceptions of the levels of trust in PLRs. In contrast, inadequate or reduced displays of compliance, fairness or good faith by superiors in PLRs can confidently be expected to result in less positive subordinate perceptions of the levels of trust in PLRs.
Literature and empirical findings from this study strongly suggest that it can confidently be expected that higher levels of distrust and very low levels of trust in PLRs will typically be related to far below average levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. Correspondingly, it can confidently be expected that perceived levels of distrust in PLRs will increase in relation to increases in perceived levels of non-compliance, unfairness and bad faith in PLRs.
It can thus be confidently assumed that there are positive relationships between subordinate perceptions of the levels of trust and their perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs. Furthermore, there are significant differences between subordinate employee perceptions of the levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in PLRs with lower levels of trust and PLRs with higher levels of trust. Findings strongly suggest that levels of distrust in PLRs can confidently be expected to increase when subordinates perceive below average levels of compliance, fairness and good faith in such relationships.
Higher levels of trust in PLRs are related to numerous desirable labour relationship behaviours, outcomes and benefits for all stakeholders in such relationships. All stakeholders in all forms of PLRs should subsequently be continuously encouraged to actively establish, protect and promote compliance, fairness, good faith and, accordingly, higher levels of trust in such relationships.
The author would like to thank Martine van der Walt-Ehlers for editing and Athenkosi Mbuma for data collection.
The author has declared that no competing interests exist.
The author declares that he is the sole author of this research article.
Ethical clearance to conduct the study for purposes of this article was obtained from the Gordon Institute of Business Science of the University of Pretoria during August 2018.
The research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency or authors.