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HR Intro > Fourth Exam > Flashcards

Fourth Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What is employment at will?

A

An unwritten contract created when employee agrees to work for employer. No agreement as to how long parties expect employment to last. 2/3 workers in US are like this.

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2
Q

How can employers protect themselves from lawsuits, related to employment at will?

A
  1. If there are no statements suggesting job security or permanent employment.
  2. No statements like “You can expect to hold this job as long as you want.”
  3. No hiring without a signed acknowledgement of at-will disclaimer.
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3
Q

What is disciplinary action?

A

It invokes a penalty against an employee who fails to meet established standards. Addresses employee’s wrongful behavior, not employee as a person. Should not be applied haphazardly.

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4
Q

What is the progressive disciplinary process?

A

Oral warning, written warning, suspension, termination.

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5
Q

What are two methods of analyzing voluntary termination?

A
  1. Exit interview: Means revealing real reasons employees leave jobs; conducted before employee departs company
  2. Post-exit questionnaire: Sent to former employees several weeks after leaving organization to determine real reason they left.
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6
Q

What is downsizing?

A

Reverse of company growth. Both organizational structure and number of people in organization shrink for purpose of improving organizational performance.

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7
Q

What is lateral movement?

A

Being transferred to a different department, but at the same level, of an organization.

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8
Q

What is outplacement?

A

Laid-off employees are given assistance in finding employment elsewhere.

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9
Q

What is off-boarding?

A

The whole process of exit interviews, removing access to company property, and other services involved in workers leaving the company.

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10
Q

What is severance pay?

A

Compensation designed to assist laid off employees as they search for new employment. No law requires this and 70-80% of employers do this. Typically one week of pay to each year you’ve worked with them (5 weeks for 5 years).

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11
Q

What are internal employee relations?

A

Human resource activities associated with the movement of employees within the organization.

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12
Q

What is a union?

A

An organization that represents employees’ interests to management on such issues as wages, hours, and working conditions.

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13
Q

For what three reasons do employees join unions?

A
  1. Dissatisfied with aspects of their job
  2. Lack influence with management in order for necessary changes to be made
  3. See unionization as a solution to their problems
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14
Q

What is a labor relations specialist?

A

A member of the HR department who is knowledgeable about labor relations and can represent MANAGEMENT’S interests to a union.

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15
Q

Why does an employer prefer a non-union environment?

A
  1. Union employees have higher wages

2. Unions constrain what an employer can do

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16
Q

What is the Wagner Act (1935)?

A
  1. Known as the National Labor Relations Act.
  2. Passed during the Great Depression.
  3. Protects employees’ rights to form and join unions and engage in activities such as strikes, picketing, and collective bargaining.
  4. Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
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17
Q

What does the NLRB do?

A
  1. They administer union elections.

2. They try to prevent unfair labor practices.

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18
Q

What is the Taft-Hartley Act?

A
  1. Passed afterward WW2
  2. Designed to limit some of the power that unions acquired under the NLRA
  3. Act is more favorable to management; tried to ensure a level playing field for both parties
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19
Q

What can management legally NOT do to employees/unions?

A
  1. Can’t interfere with right to organize
    - TIPS: Threaten, Intimidate, Promise, Spy
  2. Can’t discriminate against union employees
  3. Can’t refuse to bargain in good faith
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20
Q

Further explain TIPS.

A
  1. Cannot threaten employees with negative consequences of unionization.
  2. Cannot intimidate or coerce employees to vote against a union.
  3. Cannot promise benefits or rewards for voting against union.
  4. Cannot spy on organizing meetings.
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21
Q

What can the union NOT legally do to the employer?

A
  1. They can’t interfere with right of employees to not join union.
  2. Can’t discriminate against employees who are critical of union.
  3. Can’t refuse to bargain in good faith
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22
Q

What is a union shop clause?

A

Requires new employees to join the union 30-60 days after hire date.

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23
Q

What is a right-to-work law?

A

Makes it illegal within that state for a union to include a union shop clause in its contract.

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24
Q

What is an agency shop clause?

A

Requires employees to pay a union service fee, but does not require them to join the union.

25
Q

What is collective bargaining?

A

A system in which unions and management negotiate with each other to develop the work rules under which union members will work for a specified time period.

26
Q

What a work rules?

A

Terms or conditions of employment (pay, breaks, etc.)

27
Q

What is a labor contract?

A

The outcome of collective bargaining. A union contract that spells out the conditions of employment and work rules that affect employees in the unit represented by the union.

28
Q

What is a labor relations strategy?

A

A company’s overall plan for dealing with the union.

29
Q

What is a union acceptance strategy?

A

Management chooses to view union as its employees’ legitimate representative and accepts collective bargaining as an appropriate mechanism for establishing workplace rules.

30
Q

What is a union avoidance strategy?

A
  1. Union substitution: proactive human resource management; responsive to employee needs and removes the incentive for unionization
  2. Union suppression: avoids unionization at all costs
31
Q

How does a certification election take place? And then how is a union formed?

A

If at least 30% of employees sign authorization cards. When the majority of employees sign, a union is formed.

32
Q

What are mandatory bargaining topics?

A

Topics management and union consider to be fundamental to the organization’s labor relations: wages, hours, working conditions.

33
Q

What are permissible bargaining topics?

A

Topics that may be discussed if both parties are willing. Neither have to bargain.

34
Q

What are strikes?

A

Union members withhold their labor from the employer.

35
Q

What are lockouts?

A

Employer shuts down its operations during a labor dispute.

36
Q

What is third party intervention?

A

Neutral party that attempts to help both parties in a dispute come to a voluntary agreement.

37
Q

What is a grievance procedure?

A

Systematic step by step process designed to settle disputes regarding the interpretation of a labor contract

38
Q

What is a union steward?

A

An advocate dedicated to representing a union member’s case to management in a grievance procedure.

39
Q

How do unions impact staffing?

A

Job opportunities are allocated on basis of seniority.

40
Q

How do unions affect HRD?

A

The uses of performance appraisals are very limited.

41
Q

How do unions affect compensation?

A

Increase in total compensation, pay raise policies

42
Q

What is the Weingarten Right?

A

The employee has a right to have a union representative during a disciplinary investigation.

43
Q

What is the leading cause of job related death in Mississippi?

A

Transportation related deaths

44
Q

Why is it that states may differ in terms of workers’ compensation?

A

States administer their own workers comp programs, whereas OSHA is done at the federal level.

45
Q

What is the goal of workers’ compensation?

A

It is to provide income to workers injured on the job.

46
Q

Why do organizations want their workplaces to be safe?

A

The more accidents the workplace has, the more the employer has to pay in workers comp.

47
Q

What are lost time accidents?

A

Any accident that causes an employee to lose days at work.

48
Q

What two things happen when there’s a lost time accident?

A
  1. Workers comp premiums go up.

2. OSHA gets involved.

49
Q

What is OSHA? What three things does it require of employers?

A
  1. Occupational Safety and Health Act. Enacted in 1970, tries to get employers to have safer workplaces.
  2. Requires 1) a safe and healthy work environment, 2) employers must comply with specific occupational safety and health standards, 3) employer must keep track of injuries and illnesses.
50
Q

Employers cannot retaliate against employees for what three things?

A
  1. Complaining to OSHA.
  2. Seeking or participating in an OSHA inspection.
  3. Testifying in any proceeding related to an OSHA inspection.
51
Q

What is variance?

A

Giving the organization more time to meet standards

52
Q

What are the four main responsibilities of OSHA?

A
  1. Setting occupational standards
  2. Variances
  3. Workplace inspections
  4. Citations and penalties
53
Q

What forms can violence in the workplace take?

A

Assault, threats, and sabotage

54
Q

What is negligent hiring?

A

When you hire someone who has a violent record, but slipped through the cracks, was hired anyway, and later committed a violent act at work.

55
Q

How to avoid workplace violence?

A
  1. Screen applicants thoroughly
  2. Implement zero tolerance policy
  3. Report all threats to police
  4. Encourage respect and communication
  5. Take advantage of counseling programs (EAP)
  6. Be careful when disciplining or terminating employees
56
Q

What is an employee assistance program?

A

A counseling type program that employees have available to them.

57
Q

What is burnout?

A

When you have too much stress and things on your plate. Can lead to depression and shit.

58
Q

What is a wellness program?

A

Preventative programs meant to keep employees physically healthy.

HR Intro (4 decks)

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