Employee & Labor Relations Flashcards
International Labour Organization (ILO) history
- Specialized agency of the United Nations headquartered in Geneva.
- Evolved from the Commission on International Labor Legislation, which was formed in 1919 as a result of the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.
International Labour Organization (ILO) members
- Membership includes governments (currently 187 member states), employers, and worker groups.
International Labour Organization (ILO) strategic objectives
- Promote rights at work
- Encourage decent employment opportunities
- Enhance social protection
- Strengthen dialogue on work-related issues
International Labour Organization (ILO) process of standards
- Research and analysis
- Reports
- Commitment or discussion sessions
- Drafts
- Revisions
- Adoption by 2/3 member nations
- Obligated to submit convention to their own law-making bodies and/or ratify convention
ILO has identified eight core labor standards:
- “Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize,
- “Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining,
- “Forced Labor,
- “Abolition of Forced Labor,
- “Minimum Age,
- “Worst Forms of Child Labor,
- “Equal Remuneration,”
- “Discrimination,”
Employer rights
- Intellectual property and copyright/patient protection
- Usually defined in local laws and individual/group contracts
- Right to protect organization’s assets from damage (ex: theft, reputation) and to benefit from work preformed by employees
Intellectual property (IP)
- Ownership of innovation by an individual or business enterprise; includes patented, trademarked, or copyrighted property and trade secrets
How employers can protect intellectual property rights
- Physical and logical security (restricted access to use of data) and survallance process
- Can conflict with employee rights to privacy and freedom of expression and are limited
- Communicate work obligations through employee handbooks, policies and practices
Employment contracts
- Documents employer and employee rights and responsibilities
- Can be done with individual or organized groups of employees
- Norm in most countries - requirements varry
- Absence of written contract could be there is an implied contract
- Must be formally amended (if change is desired)
Employment contracts with international assignees and global employees
Should specify which country’s laws will apply and what jurisdiction will be applied if there is litation
Employment at-will (EAW)
- Principle of employment in the U.S.
- Came from common law
- Employers have the right to hire, fire, demote, and promote whomever they choose for any reason unless there is a law or contract to the contrary and that employees have the right to quit a job at any time
Employment at-will (EAW) exceptions
- Public policy exemptions
- Employee cannot be fired without just cause or violations from other federal and state laws
- Implied contract exemptions
- Not written contracts
- Hard to prove but can be actions, promises or statements made to individual
- Covenant of good faith and fair dealing exemption
- Applies to few states
- Restricts actions viewed as unjust or malicious
Post-employment agreements
- Legally binding
- Signed at hiring
- Used to keep employer’s right to protect it’s business by restricting employee’s behavior during and during employment
Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
- Common form of post-employment agreement, especially in knowledge industries
- Employee agrees not to discuss knowledge gained during employment.
- Usually specifies a period of time employee cannot disclose information
- Does not include commonly known information
Non-compete agreement (NCA)
- Common form of post-employment agreement
- Prevents employee from leaving to work for one of employer’s competitors
- May specify period of time and geographical range
Post-employment agreements disadvantages
- Subsequent employers may counter-sue an employer seeking to enforce an NCA.
- Local jurisdictions and governments may look unfavorably on what they perceive as infringing on an employee’s right to work and freedom of speech.
- Damage an employer’s ability to attract and retain talent.
Employee relations strategy should include
- Be aligned with organizational strategy
- Aligned with employment laws and business practices
- Vision describing type of workplace culture leaders want to create
- Values the strategy is built on
- Goals
- Initatives (set of action plans to achieve organizational goals)
Policy
- Broad statement that reflects an organization’s philosophy, objectives, or standards concerning a particular set of management or employee activities.
- Can be unwritten - communicated by word or action
- Are not perminant
Performance management should include employee’s understandings of
- Employer’s promises
- Ex: work terms, complaint procedures
- Expectations of employee conduct
Handbooks can be usesed, but union contracts supersedes the handbook.
HR role in policies and procedures
- Support development by leaders and can help supply culture and values
- Facilitate development by other departments
- Support communication and policies through the organization
Developing policies and procedures in global organizations
- Policies should be consistent, fair and transparent through the organization
- Lack of consistency, legal compliance and cultural adaptation can be difficult
Employee handbook
- Availability - in the language and form of media universally avilable
- Organization - clear and direct
- If employees cannot read - another way to communicate will be necessary
Employee handbook in union environment
- Policy handbook
- Outlines policies that apply to employees without exception
- Ex: mandated rights and restrictions on ileggal behavior
- Outlines policies that apply to employees without exception
- Collective barganing agreement/labor contract
- Descriptions of terms and conditions for employees
- Separate hanbook can be created if there are union and nonunion employees
Tips for Creating Effective Employee Handbooks
- Reflects the orgnization
- Alligned with local laws and regulations
- Policy and policy related procedures (not job procedures)
- Include procedures for reporting and/or resolving policy and/or resolving policy and work violations
- Realistic in expectations - should be consistently enforced
- Keep short and understanable to the average reader
Managers and supervisors regarding employee relations strategy
- Must understand the strategy and how it is aligned with specific management processes
- Should receive training especially with conflict and discipline and development opportunities
- Their perfomance metrics should demonstrate ability to fulfill ER strategy in daily work with employees
Labor relations
- How organizations manage their relationships with employees as collective group, rather than individually
- Typically includes thrid party representatives and institutions that interject themselves into the employer-employee relationship
Labor union
- Also called trade union
- Group of workers who coordinate their activities to achieve common goals in their relationship with an employer or group of employers
- Members elect representatives to interact with management
- May also include managers and professionals
Types of unions
- Single enterprise
- Specific trades or crafts
- A national union
- An industry union
Large or global organizations may interact with multuple types of unions
How to idenyify labor groups:
- Level of barganing
- Barganing topics
- Union penetration or density
- Percentage of workers in the union
- Membership
- Compulsory, individuals or group, etc.
- Relationship with management
- Role the government will play
Labor relations strategies
- Acceptance
- Avoidance
- Adaptation
Acceptance labor relations strategy
- Accepting the unionization
- Reasons
- Well established and protected legally
- Fighting efforts is too high or distracting
Avoidance labor relations strategy reasons
- Costs of managing unionized workforce
- Loss of flexibility in management decisions
- Increased time to make and implement strategic decisions
- Seen as a competitive disadvantages
How to have an avoidance labor strategy
- Decrease appeal of unions by focusing on why they go (wages, benefits, etc)
- Communicate why organization prefers to be union free
- Train managers on signs of unionizing activitiy and respond quickly to actions
Adaptation labor relations strategy
- Organization is already unionized
- Employer can define the type of relationship they want with third-party reps (confrontational or collaborative)
Confrontational union relationship
- Takes time and resources
- Difficult contract barganing
- Disagreeing with admistration of agreements
- Seek to replace or remove union
Collaborative union relationship
- Greater acceptance of labor-management partnerships.
- Increased willingness to share power.
- Open and candid sharing of information.
- Joint decision making on issues of common concern.
- “Win-win” bargaining techniques.
- Shared responsibility and accountability for results.
How to improve employer-union relationships
- Comply with international standards and local laws with unionization and worker rights
- Comply with local regulations with informing and involving workers
- Develop fair grivance and alternative dispute resolutions and available to all employees regardless of union membership
- Implement joint study groups to solve common problems
- Treat union members fairly and respectfully
- Demonstrate genuine apprecation for employees’ interest and involvement in workplace issues
- Consult union leader to defuse problems before they become grivances
Global labor relations strategies are shaped by
- Extent production is integrated among subsidiaries
- Enterprise’s cultural attitude toward workforce relations and experiences with labor/trade unions
- Relationship bewtween originating country and subsidiaries
Global labor relations strategies include
- Hands-off
- Monitor
- Guide and advise
- Strategic planning
- Set limits and approve exceptions
- Integration of headquarters and line management in field
- Manage locally from headquarters
Hands-off global relations strategy
- Locally responsive strategy
- Workforce relationship is entirely locally managed
Monitor global relations strategy
- Headquarters tracks local management decsions and demonstrates interest and concerns
- Decisions are made at local level
Guide and advise global relations strategy
- Headquarters offers more advise and tries to apply global practices to local practices
- Decisions are made at local level
Strategic planning global relations strategy
- Employee relations strategy is developed with understanding of variations among workforces through the enterprise
- Policies set globally
- Practices developed locally
- Practices must conform to global policies
Set limits and approve exceptions global relations strategy
Some local adaptations may be made but only after review and approval from headquarters HS
Integration of headquarters and line management in the field global relations strategy
Labor decisions are made jointly