Chapter 12 The Employment Agreement

Question 1

administrative employee

Answer 1

An employee whose primary duty consists of nonmanual work directly related either to management policies or to the general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers.

Question 2

appropriate collective bargaining unit

Answer 2

A collective bargaining unit in which the employees share a community of interest; that is, they have similar compensation, working conditions, and supervision, and they work under the same general employer policies.

Question 3

at-will contract

Answer 3

An employment relationship of indefinite duration.

Question 4

card-check election

Answer 4

A method of certifying a labor union whereby employers are required to recognize a union after being presented with union authorization cards signed by a majority of eligible workers on the payrolls as long as there is no evidence of illegal coercion.

Question 5

comp time

Answer 5

Extra paid vacation time granted instead of extra pay for overtime work.

Question 6

computer employee

Answer 6

A computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, and similarly skilled worker in the computer field.

Question 7

concerted activity

Answer 7

Under the National Labor Relations Act, the exercise by employees of their rights to band together for mutual aid and protection that is engaged in with or on the authority of other employees and not solely by and on behalf of one employee.

Question 8

covenant not to compete

Answer 8

An agreement, generally part of a
contract of employment or a contract to sell a business, in which the covenantor agrees for a specific period of time and within a particular area to refrain from competition with the covenantee. Also called a noncompete agreement.

Question 9

creative professional

Answer 9

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a professional employee whose primary duty of performance of work requires invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.

Question 10

doctrine of self-publication

Answer 10

A doctrine that provides that a defamatory communication by an employer to an employee may constitute publication if the employer could foresee that the employee would be required to repeat the communication, for
instance, to a prospective employer.

Question 11

economic strike

Answer 11

A union strikes employers when they are unable to extract acceptable terms and conditions of employment through collective bargaining.

Question 12

executive

Answer 12

An employee whose primary duty consists of the management of the enterprise where he or she is employed or of a customarily recognized department or subdivision of the enterprise.

Question 13

exempt employee

Answer 13

An employee who is exempt from the minimum- wage and overtime requirements of the Federal Labor Standards Act; such an employee is generally paid a salary instead of an hourly wage.

Question 14

H-1B visa

Answer 14

A work authorization issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that is available only for foreign workers in professional and specialty occupations (generally those involving a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent), such as computer programmers, engineers, doctors, or fashion models, where the employer can show an inability to recruit qualified workers in the United States.

Question 15

I-9

Answer 15

The Employment Eligibility and Verification Form that the U.S. government requires all employers to complete and keep on file to identify the identity and employment eligibility of all persons they hire.

Question 16

implied contract

Answer 16

An employment agreement—implied from such facts as long-term employment; receipt of raises, bonuses and promotions; and assurance from management that the employee was doing a good job—that the employee would not be terminated except for good cause.

Question 17

implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

Answer 17

An implied covenant in every contract that imposes on each party a duty not to do anything that will deprive the other party of the benefits of the agreement.

Question 18

in loco parentis

Answer 18

(in place of the parent) Refers to actions of a custodian, guardian, or other person acting in the parent’s place.

Question 19

learned professional

Answer 19

A professional employee whose primary duty is the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge (defined as (1) work that is predominantly intellectual in character and (2) that includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment) in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of intellectual instruction.

Question 20

nonexempt employees

Answer 20

An employee that is not exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Federal Labor Standards Act; such an employee is often paid an hourly wage.

Question 21

outside sales employee

Answer 21

An employee that has the primary duty
of either making sales or obtaining orders or contracts for services or for the use of facilities and who is customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer’s place of business in performing such duty.

Question 22

professional employee

Answer 22

Under Fair Labor Standards Act, an employee who holds a position requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study.

Question 23

public policy exception

Answer 23

An exception to the general employment at will doctrine that prohibits an employer from discharging an employee for a reason that violates public policy.

Question 24

recognitional picketing

Answer 24

Picketing that strives to force the employer to recognize a labor union as a collective bargaining agent for its employees.

Question 25

recognized hazards

Answer 25

Under the Occupational Safety and Health
Act, a workplace condition that is obviously dangerous or is regarded by an employer or other employers in the industry as dangerous.

Question 26

representation elections

Answer 26

An election among employees to decide whether they want a union to represent them for collective bargaining.

Question 27

secondary boycotts

Answer 27

A strike against an employer with whom a union has no quarrel in order to encourage it to stop doing business with an employer with whom it does have a dispute.

Question 28

supervisor

Answer 28

Anyone possessing specified personnel functions if the exercise of that authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

Question 29

unfair labor practice strike

Answer 29

A union strikes an employer for the employer’s failure to bargain in good faith.

Question 30

unfair labor practices

Answer 30

Unlawful misconduct by an employer to employees exercising union rights.

Question 31

whistleblowing

Answer 31

When an employee reports an employer’s unlawful or wrongful conduct to a supervisor, inside counsel or ombudsperson, the board of directors, the government, or the public.

Question 32

wrongful discharge

Answer 32

An employee termination without good cause that (1) violates public policy; (2) breaches an implied contract; or (3) violates the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.