Employee Relations Final Exam Study Guide PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Employee Relations Final Exam Study Guide PDF

Description

Chapter 1 & 2 Lockout - denial of work by management or owners during a labor dispute Strike - work stoppage by employees during a labor dispute is referred to as this Job specification - personal characteristics, licenses, and educational background that an employee must possess to successfully hold a given job. Work rules - can be placed in two general categories: - Rules governing compensation in all its forms (wages, overtime payments, vacations, holidays, shift premiums) - Rules specifying the employees’ and employers’ job rights and obligations, such as no employee strike or employer lockout during the term of the labor agreement (performance standards, promotion qualifications and procedures, job specifications, and layoff procedures Mediators - neutral third parties who facilitate bargaining activities and try to help the parties agree to the terms in a non-binding way Arbitrators - consider disputed issues between the disputing parties and make decisions binding on both labor and management Criminal Conspiracy Doctrine - to attempts by employees to organize unions aroused much public protest, not only from employees but also from factory owners who feared the closing of their factories if their employees’ dissatisfaction grew too strong Civil Conspiracy Doctrine - held that a group involved in concerted activities violated the law if it inflicted harm on other parties outside the disputants (customers or other employees) even though the workers were pursuing a valid objective in their own interest. Injunction - to make an unjust situation more fair either by upholding an existing policy or creating a new one (one company can seek this against another) Sherman Antitrust Act - created in 1890 was originally intended to prevent the restraint of trade by regulating business monopolies - still in effect today. To regulate the increasing power of large corporations to engage in anti-competitive practices (cutthroat pricing, restricting competitors' access to necessary raw materials) which tended to drive smaller firms out of the market. Knights of Labor - operated in secrecy until 1882 so that the members would not be discharged by their employers for participating in a labor organization Achieved more power, prestige, and notoriety than any other previous labor organization. Served as an important negative example to the AFL and other contemporary labor organizations that followed. Its goals were to - Change the existing labor management relationship so that the depersonalized and specialized aspects of mass production could be avoided - Attain moral betterment for employees and society. American Federation of Labor - representing for organized labor before congress and other branches of government - Speaking for US labor in world affairs and keeping in direct contact with labor unions throughout the free world - Coordinating activities such as community services, political education, lobbying,

and voter registration with greater effectiveness Helping to coordinate efforts to organize unrepresented employees throughout the US - Conducting economic and legal research on important legislative topics - Must operate under established ethical practice codes covering union democracy and financial integrity Pullman Strike - significant because of the principal personalities involved (Eugene Debs and George Pullman) and an organization (The American Railway Union ARU)) that had the potential to challenge the AFL for union members. - Also approached being a revolutionary strike in the US, progressing from a nationwide strike in one industry to nearly involving all industries - The railroad company cut the workers wages and laid off workers which shut down the country’s railroad system Issues related to a strike (such as a Gm strike) - Both sides lose (company loses money and inventory) (employees don't get paid) - Could go on for a while - Each day the company loses more inventory and business - Affects the economy and surrounding businesses (employees prefer to strike then go out to each which they can’t afford anyway) Collective Bargaining - negotiations of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees -

Chapter 3 Preemption doctrine - federal law takes precedence over state law or local ordinances whenever both seek to regulate the same conduct and there is a conflict between them. NLRA - Wagner (National Labor Relations) Act (1935) - shaped management's disciplinary policies - Prohibition of discriminatory discipline of employees because of their union activities or membership - Protect the rights of employees and employers - Encourage collective bargaining LMRA - Taft-Hartley (Labor- Management Relations) Act (1947) - to amend the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and to veto President Truman. - It retains the NLRA protections for employee collective activity but also additionally protects the right of individual employees not to engage in collective activity. - imposed restrictions on conduct of the union similarly to restrictions imposed on conduct of management by the NLRA by appropriate forms of speech, regulation of the right to association, and the participation of communists members as union leaders LMRD - Landrum-Griffin (Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure) Act (1959) - enacted to regulate the internal affairs of unions and their relationship with individual union members (51) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 - administered by the USDOL covers a variety of employment issues including minimum wage, overtime pay requirements, child labor, and migrant and seasonal agricultural worker protections (121)

NLRB - The National Labor Relations Board - Administers the National Labor Relations (wagner) Act as amended by the LMRA - determines whether two seemingly separate companies should be treated as one by considering the following guidelines: interrelation of operations, centralization of control of labor relations, common management, and common ownership or financial control (140) Cease-and-Desist Orders - instructing the respondent to stop committing the ULP (unfair labor practice) violations immediately and in the future Chapter 4 Agency Shop - does not require an employee to join the union but does require the employee to pay the union a small sum equal to membership dues to remain employed - help defray the bargaining and grievance processing costs Union Shop - a contract provision that means the employee does not have to be a union member to be hired by the company and the employer may hire nonunion workers who must join a labor union within an agreed time to remain employed Preferential Treatment Cause - a negotiated labor agreement provision that indicates current employees who may be union members will be given employment preference over non employees when a new facility is opened Right-to-work Laws (in 27 states) - Congress allowed individual states to ban union security agreements in their state - It allows only open shop (workers can choose to join a union or chose not to and do not have to pay if they choose not to) - Three arguments for right to work laws - employees get free choice, requiring union membership violated the employees’ constitutional rights of free speech and association, required union membership concedes too much power to union officials Shop steward - in a craft union, who may be the first person on the job or the most senior employee, handles employee grievances, represents the business agent on the job, and contacts the business agent if anything goes wrong. Chapter 5 Scarcity Consciousness Theory - the employees collectively believe that jobs are difficult to obtain and retain - unions are attractive to many employees concerned about job security Consent Election - if both sides agree to the appropriate bargaining unit, voter eligibility, ballot; and date, time, and place for the election this election will be held Directed Election - an election directed by NLRB if the union and management officials cannot agree to a consent election Reasons Unions are formed - Alienation - Improve working situation / environment - Give employees a voice which is an alternative before just quitting right away - Not satisfied with work, supervision or benefits/pay

-

Class consciousness to employers background Personal desires Perceived needs To answer job-related concerns

Chapter 6 Collective Bargaining - a continuing interdependent relationship that involves the exchange of commitments to resolve conflicts of interests by reaching agreements acceptable to both labor and management Coordinated Bargaining - sharing information and goals prior to bargaining, but bargaining independently of other union locals Bargaining unit - refers to the employees and employers who will be bound by a negotiated labor agreement Centralized bargaining - (also called industry-wide bargaining) all of the major employers in a given industry negotiate one contract with one union Bargaining range - both parties usually enter negotiations with a range of acceptable positions that give them some room for maneuvering - one for management and one for the union Target point - the point at which a negotiator would like to conclude negotiations - their optimistic goal for a specific issue Resistance point - a distributive bargainer seeks to achieve settlement at (or as close as possible to) this of the other party’s -- (the point beyond which the other party would prefer no settlement to settlement on the other party’s proposed terms) Lock-in Agreement - requires each union-represented bargaining unit covered by an agreement to withhold final settlement until all involved unions are willing to settle and ruled unlawful by the NLRB Leapfrogging - attempts to use the most recent contracts in the industry as the starting point for extracting further concessions Good faith Bargaining - each party must demonstrate a sincere and honest intent to reach a labor agreement and be reasonable in their bargaining positions, tactics, and activities. Successorship Clause - a clause in the labor contract requiring the present owners to obligate subsequent owners to continue the labor contract upon assumption of ownership Contract Ratification - the union's constitution and by-laws typically require that union members be given an opportunity to approve or disapprove proposed tentative settlement terms before a final contract agreement can be achieved --the vote on whether to accept a tentative contract is called this Ratification - indicates union members’ approval if, but not necessarily satisfaction with, contract provisions

Chapter 7: Reasons for Wage Differentials

● The degree of competition or monopoly in the product market ● The value added by workers in a particular industry ● The % of total product or service cost represented by labor cost Job description - a listing of job factors (tasks, duties, and responsibilities) required to perform the job Job specification - a listing of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other factors (KSAOs) required to be possessed by holders of the job Methods of Job Evaluation ● Ranking - compares each job to every other job to create a hierarchy of jobs and to look at similar jobs on the open market ● Classification - groups similarly valued jobs into classes ● Point System - assigns points to each job based on the degree to which job (compensable) factors are present in the job Production Standards - expected employee output consistent with the working capacities of normal (typical) operators - determined by time studies of effort and motion and used as the basis for calculating standard and incentive wages Incentive plans - are used to increase employee productivity, attract prospective employees, reward employees momentarily Profit sharing plans - these plans typically provide an annual cash payment or some payment into a pension plan Skill-based pay - rather than setting base pay on the job an employer performs, SBP systems base compensation on the skills or knowledge an employee possesses that are valued by the employer Lump-sum bonuses - popular with management because they do not change the employee’s base hourly wage rate and thus have no impact on increasing roll up costs a smart alternative to a wage freeze or pay cut when economic conditions prevent an employer from paying a straight time hourly wage increase Cost of living adjustments (COLA) - imposes a contractual obligation on an employer to change rates of pay in accordance with a collectively bargained formula and appears in approximately 21 percent of labor contracts Wage spreads - which represents the internal distribution of the proposed or negotiated wage increase to the bargaining unit employees Consumer Price Index (CPI) - computed by the US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which measures changes in the price of goods and services purchased by a typical American household on a monthly basis

Comparable Worth - the concept that women and men should receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility. Chapter 8: Outsourcing - contracting work that the employer does not do to an outside vendor to reduce costs Offshoring - movement of work from a company location within the United States to locations outside of the United States Work Transfer/Relocation Subcontracting Reasonable Accommodation - requires employers to make reasonable adjustments to a job for qualified persons with disabilities who can otherwise carry out the essential functions of the job Apprenticeships - is a kind of job training that involves following and studying a master of the trade on the job instead of in school Work Restructuring Programs - programs that have many different labels, such as employee involvement, worker participation, cross-training, multiskills, or self-managed work teams - all such programs typically involve major departures from the traditional way of assigning specific tasks to each employee. Why do we strike -

Issues between labor and management Job security Dangerous work environment

Chapter 9 Fact-finding -

A semi-judicial process used to gather facts and issue a public report containing conclusions and recommended terms of settlement Handled by individuals or groups

Wagner Act, Sections 7 & 8 -

7 - counterbalance the powers of employers by giving employees via their unions the ability to strike and provide other forms of economic pressure to force

-

employers to negotiate To engage in activities for mutual “aid and protection” appropriate? 8 - limited the available responses of employers Is it a fair system?

Tactics for employers and employees/unions to minimize the cost of strikes or lockouts -

-

Build inventory in advance of an anticipated strike Workers may react with a work slowdown. Notify customers & suppliers in advance of strike potential. Help arrange alternative sources to meet customer needs Engage in a publicity campaign to inform the public (customers, civic leaders, and employees) about company efforts to resolve the labor dispute Shift the work to other primary employer-owned plants or outsource such work to other secondary employers Continue business operations using some combination of non-bargaining unit employees and/or bargaining unit employees willing to cross the union’s picket line, and temporary or permanent striker replacements Existence of poor product market demand serves to decrease risk of market share loss and sales revenue Purchase strike insurance or enter mutual aid pact with other employers

Some of the costs associated with a strike or lockout for the employer, the union, and the employees Secondary strike, sympathy strikers -

Loss of union members due to voluntary union membership resignation or permanent striker replacement Loss of wage income or employee benefits coverage Loss of union dues revenue for the union Cost of strike benefits provided, if any (Comes from paid union dues.) Cost of operating a strike (e.g., printing costs, legal fees, picket-line supplies such as coffee, food, or medical aid) Political cost to union’s leadership if strike isn’t won or won ‘‘big enough’’ . Damage to co-worker (peer) relationships between strike supporters and nonsupporters Continuing personal debt payments (e.g., auto, home, credit card, insurance, and telephone) for striking workers. Increased level of stress on work stoppage participants, their families, and communities. Chapter 10

Grievance -

An employee’s alleged violation of the labor agreement (by management) that is

-

submitted to the grievance procedure for resolution. Employee concerns (“gripes”) that are unrelated to the terms of the labor agreement are not grievances. Grievances can be filed for any reason. Are accepted or denied by management based on their perceived merit. Methods/forms of ADR:

Ombudsperson -

A person who serves the employee advocate (“go-between”) in resolving personnel problems

Peer Review Systems -

A panel of employees hears both the employee’s and the company’s arguments, and then renders an advisory or binding decision to resolve the matter.

Early Neutral Evaluation -

A mutually agreed-upon third party evaluates the merits of the problem and renders a nonbinding advisory opinion on the matter.

Duty of Fair Representation -

The union, as the exclusive bargaining agent, has a legal duty to fairly represent all union and nonunion members of the bargaining unit alike. Bargaining unit employees give up their individual right to represent themselves when they elect the union as the exclusive bargaining agent. Meeting the legal duty requires that unions must consider the interests of all members, take their positions honestly, in good faith, and without hostility or arbitrary discrimination.

Chapter 11: Types of arbitrators Permanent Arbitrator or Umpire -

An arbitrator who will resolve all disputes during the life of a labor agreement. Permanent status allows the arbitrator to become intimately knowledgeable about the industry, the company, and the union.

Ad Hoc Arbitrator -

The arbitrator is selected on a case-by-case basis, providing flexibility in the use of different arbitrators in addressing specific grievance issues....