3 - Organization: Employee & Labor Relations Flashcards
Acceptance
Organizations accept unionization for various reasons.
Adaptation
When a workplace is already unionized, the employer defines the nature of the relationship as confrontational or collaborative.
Agency Complaints and Litigation
- Disputes that cannot be or are not resolved internally may be referred to government agencies or courts.
- HR professionals should be aware of:
- Orientation of agencies and courts toward employers.
- Specific role HR plays in complaints and litigation (e.g., active or passive—representing employer or providing evidence).
Arbitration
Sides tender dispute to a third-party judge and abide by the decision.
Avoidance
Employers remove the appeal of unions by addressing the major reasons why employees join them.
Chosen Officer
Employee selects arbitrator from designated group.
Collective Bargaining
Communicating the ER Strategy
- Workplace policies
- Broad statements that reflect the employer’s ER strategy.
- Provide a basis for HRM practices.
- Employee Handbooks
- Handbooks should reflect the organization’s vision and values and be legally compliant.
- Manager and supervisor involvement
- Must understand how ER strategy aligns with management practices.
- Should be able to fulfill the ER strategy in daily work
Conducting Investigations
- Ensure confidentiality.
- Provide protection.
- Select investigator.
- Create plan.
- Develop interview questions.
- Conduct interviews.
- Make a decision.
- Close the investigation.
- Develop written summary of investigation results.
Constructive Discipline
A form of corrective discipline that proceeds in steps as needed
- Problem solving - joint and open dialogue
- First Formal Warning - private, oral or written
- Second Warning - feature of some systems; optional
- Final Warning - written, employee documents understanding
- Discharge
Contract Negotiations
- Goal is to arrive at a workable contract acceptable to both sides.
- Outside third-party dispute mechanisms may be used (or may be mandatory) if parties cannot agree.
- Mediation (conciliation): nonbinding dispute resolution intended to help disputing parties reach decision.
- Arbitration: negotiated procedure in which both parties agree to abide by arbitrator’s decision.
HR may not be directly involved in negotiations, but they can play a valuable role in improving the quality of the contract based on their experience and knowledge of metrics.
Disciplining Employees
- Produce persuasive evidence of employee’s culpability or negligence.
- Give employee fair opportunity to present his or her side of story.
- Determine penalty appropriate for given offense.
- Impose discipline that is consistent with treatment others have received for similar infractions.
- Incorporate HR review of all material/serious disciplinary actions.
Dispute Resolution
- Listen
- Manage own emotions.
- Agree on goals.
- Focus on issues and facts rather than personalities.
- Consider all perspectives
- Engage in problem solving and explore alternative solutions together.
- Reach agreement on next steps
Employee Relationship (ER) Strategy
- Alignment with organizational strategy
- Alignment with employment laws and practices
- Vision describing the workplace culture
- Values underpinning the strategy
- Strategic goals
- Strategic initiatives
Employee/Union Unfair Labor Practices
(ULPs)
Violation of employee rights; act prohibited under labor relations statutes.
- Conspiring with employers to discriminate against employees
- Interfering with employees’ freedom of speech
- Not responding to member complaints
- Refusing to bargain in good faith
- Requiring unreasonable fees
- Directing prohibited actions
Employer or Industry Associations
Negotiation partner when contracts are at industry or national level
Employer Rights Under the Law
- Direct employees’ work and conduct of the organization in accordance with law.
- Protect assets from damage.
- Benefit from employee work through intellectual property.
Employer Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs)
- Interfering with right to join union
- Discriminating based on union membership
- Refusing to bargain or provide needed information
- Refusing to enforce contract
- Controlling or intervening in union operations
Employment Contracts
- Norm for employees in many countries; some countries mandate that employers provide contracts within a certain time after hiring.
- Can be implied by employment documents (e.g., pay stubs).
- Must be formally amended.
In the U.S., most employee relations are considered “at will” (employment at-will, or EAW). Employees may be terminated by the employer with no cause, although employers must be careful not to violate antidiscrimination laws or various exemptions (e.g., public policy, implied contract, covenant of good faith and fair dealing).
General Strike
Work stoppage
Global ER Strategies
- Hands-off
- Monitor
- Guide and advise
- Plan strategically
- Set limits and approve exceptions
- Integrate headquarters and field HR
- Manage locally from headquaters
Guide and Advise
Global ER Strategy
Headquarters offers advice and global policies
Decisions are made locally
Handling Grievances
- Immediate Supervisor
- Grievance filed with supervisor. Supervisor and union representative investigate grievance.
- Next Level
- Employee usually not present but is represented by union.
- Higher-Level Management
- May involve top officials at local or company level. Must be resolved within contract-defined time frame.
- Third-Party Determination
- Neutral third party used to arbitrate agreement between representatives at highest levels for both sides.
Hands-Off
Global ER Strategy
Locally managed
Industrial Actions
- Collective or “concerted” employee actions taken to protest work conditions or employer actions
- Designed to interfere with employer’s ability to fulfill its commercial interests
Integrate Headquarters and Field HR
Global ER Strategy
Joint decision making
International Groups
Advisory and expert role (e.g., ILO’s Global Jobs Pact)
International Labor Standards
- Reflect a consensus about employee rights and employer responsibilities. Even if they are not reflected in a nation’s employment laws, they set a recognized bar that ethical employers strive to reach.
- Core standards relate to:
- Right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
- Prohibition of forced labor.
- Regulation of child labor.
- Equal pay and benefits for men and women.
- Prohibition of discrimination and promotion of equal opportunity and treatment.
Know Your Union
- Level at which bargaining occurs
- Focus of bargaining topics
- Union penetration or density
- Membership
- Relationship with management
- Role government will play
Labor or Trade Unions
Group of workers who coordinate activities to achieve common goals in their relationship with an employer or group of employers
- Members elect representatives to interact with management.
- Membership may include managers and professionals as well as skilled/unskilled workers.
Labor Relations
Refers to the way organizations manage their relationships with employees as collective group rather than individually.
- Frequently involves third parties (e.g., labor/trade unions, works councils, professional associations, government ministries)
- Requires direct HR involvement in developing and implementing labor strategy
Labor Relations Strategies
- Acceptance
- Avoidance
- Adaptation
Local Governments
Nongovernmental Organizations
Religious Institutions
Community Groups
Apply pressure on social issues, participate in task forces on employee relations issues
Manage Locally from Headquarters
Headquarters-developed HR policies and practices with local implementation.
Mediation
Neutral party helps both sides assess positions and reach agreement.
Monitor
Global ER Strategy
Headquarters expresses interest
Decisions are made locally
Multicultural Aspects of Conflicts
- Cultures differ in their appetites and tolerances for conflict.
- Cultural differences also affect the way in which the existence of conflict is acknowledged and then resolved.
National Governments and Agencies
Regulator, representative of social interests, sometimes part of negotiations
Ombudsperson
Neutral third party investigates and mediates
Open Door
Access anyone in chain of command
Overtime Ban
Employees refuse to work any overtime, adhering to the hours stipulated in the contract.
Peer Review
Panel of employees (and maybe managers) hears and resolves complaints.
Picketing
- Positioning of employees at the place of work targeted for the action for the purpose of protest.
- Can be used for similar purposes as strikes, but there is no work stoppage.
- May illegally interfere with commerce at the employer’s site.
Plan Strategically
Global ER Strategy
Global policies and local practices are in alignment
Productive Union Relationships
- Comply with international standards and all employment laws.
- Comply with local regulations.
- Develop fair grievance and dispute resolution processes.
- Implement joint problem-solving groups.
- Treat union members equitably and respectfully.
- Demonstrate genuine appreciation for workers.
- Consult with union leaders proactively.
Retaliation
Unlawful discrimination or other adverse action taken against an employee as a result of a conflict or complaint.
Employers should:
- Adopt and disseminate a strong antiretaliation policy.
- Inform employees about process for reporting retaliation.
- Train managers and supervisors.
- Monitor treatment of employees.
- Investigate allegations and take corrective action if necessary.
Secondary Action or Boycott
Attempt by a union to influence an employer by putting pressure on another employer—for example, a supplier.
Set limits and approve exceptions
Global ER Strategy
Some local adaptation allowed
Single Designated Officer
Management appoints someone to investigate and resolve.
Sit-Down Strike
- Refusal by workers to work
- Refusal by workers to leave their workstations, making it impossible for the employer to use replacement workers.
Sympathy Strike
- Action taken in support of another union that is striking the employer.
- Contracts may include provisions prohibiting this type of strike
Tests of Due Process
- Employee is informed of expectations.
- Employer is consistent and predictable in disciplinary actions.
- Action is based on facts.
- Employee is given the chance for defense
- Employee has the right to appeal.
- Constructive discipline is used.
- Employee is considered as an individual.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) -Third-Party Resolution Techniques
Umbrella term for the various approaches and techniques, other than litigation, that can be used to resolve a dispute.
Legal and cultural norms, organizational requirements, and/or collective bargaining agreements can impact the choice and use of ADR.
- Open Door
- Ombudsperson
- Single Designated Officer
- Chosen Officer
- Peer Review
- Mediation
- Arbitration
Types of Unions
Large or global employers may interact with all types of unions.
- Single enterprises
- Specific trades or crafts
- National
- Industry
Wildcat Strike
Strike occurs without the approval of union leadership; Work stoppages at union contract operations that have not been sanctioned by the union.
Work-to-Rule
Situation in which workers slow processes by performing tasks exactly to specifications or according to job or task descriptions.
Workplace Conflict
HR may have to apply their competencies to manage different types of workplace conflicts.
Works Councils
- Permanent bodies composed of employee representatives on local or organizational level
- Receive information from employer that might affect workforce and enterprise
- Do not engage in contract negotiation
In the U.S., these are seen as violating Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits company-dominated unions.
Works Councils Structures
- May include BOTH management and worker representatives or ONLY worker representatives.
- When worker representation only, may or may not involve management oversight.
- Codetermination:
- Two-tiered corporate governance structure that allows both management and employees to participate in strategic decision making.
- Topics include anything that affects workers, including HR policies and practices and compensation.
Freedom of Association
the right of workers to join (or not join) an organization of their choosing without prior authorization by their employer
Project labor agreement (PLA)
Agreement that requires specific contractors to accept certain conditions in project contracts, such as paying a fair wage and contributing to health insurance, pension, and training funds.
Lockout
Action of an employer to shut down operations to prevent employees from working.
