ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Industrial relations

Industrial relations are like the relationships between the boss and the workers in a big factory or company. Just like how you have to be friends with your classmates and listen to your teacher, the boss and workers have to work together and understand each other's needs to make the factory run smoothly.

When the boss and the workers work together well, they can make sure that everyone is happy and safe in the factory. This means that workers can work without feeling like their rights are being ignored or that they are being taken advantage of. In turn, this can make the boss happy as their factory is running efficiently and everyone is doing their best work.

Sometimes, the boss may not understand what the workers need, or the workers may feel like they are being treated unfairly. This can cause problems, like strikes (where the workers choose not to work until they get what they want) or other issues. When this happens, people called "industrial relations experts" can help to figure out what is going wrong and how to fix it. These experts listen to the boss and workers and try to come up with solutions that work for everyone.

So, in a nutshell, industrial relations is like teamwork, where the boss and workers work together and try to make sure that everyone is happy and safe while working in the factory. When there are problems that arise, experts can help to solve them so that everyone is happy again.