LusCh10.pdf

Human Resource Management: Functions, Applications, Skill

Development by Robert N. Lussier and John R. HendonChapter 10

Employee and Labor Relations

Labor Relations: A Function of Trust and Communication

Trust is faith in the character and actions of another.

� To improve others’ level of trust in us, we need to be open and honest.

Communication is the process of transmitting information and meaning, verbally, nonverbally or in writing.

Employee and Labor Relations

Checking Understanding

Feedback is information provided by the

receiver that verifies that a message was

transmitted successfully.

Paraphrasing is the process of restating a

message back to the original sender in the

receiver’s own words.

Employee and Labor Relations

Job Satisfaction

�Is a feeling of well-being and acceptance of our place in the organization, and it is generally measured along a continuum from

�satisfied/positive/high to

�dissatisfied/negative/low.

�It affects worker productivity, absenteeism and turnover.

Employee and Labor Relations

Job Dissatisfaction

Is a cause of many poor organizational outcomes, including:

�Losing good employees and costly turnover.

�Lower levels of health, wellness, and productivity.

�Higher levels of alcohol and other substance abuse, employees’ physical or psychological withdrawal, and theft and sabotage.

Employee and Labor Relations

Measuring Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is difficult to measure

accurately because it is an attitude, so firms

must rely on employees’ honesty in self-

reporting their level of satisfaction on a job

satisfaction (attitude) survey.

�Since honesty requires trust, ensure that

employees’ anonymity will be protected.

Employee and Labor Relations

Measuring Job Satisfaction

Faces Scale

Employees circle the face that most closely matches their satisfaction with their job.

� Best for a quick job satisfaction assessment.

Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS)

An organizational development survey that has been shown to be valid and reliable for measuring job satisfaction in the workplace.

� Best for an in-depth job satisfaction assessment.

Employee and Labor Relations

Legal Issues in Labor Relations

Managers need to understand the

constraints set up by labor laws in order to

successfully do their job.

Employee and Labor Relations

The Railway Labor Act (RLA) of 1926

Was originally enacted to significantly limit the potential for railroad strikes to affect interstate commerce.

It also:

� Provides protection for worker rights to join a union.

� Requires that in major disputes, management and labor must participate in a negotiation and mediation process presided over by the National Mediation Board before a strike may be called.

Employee and Labor Relations

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 (The Wagner Act)

Gives employees the rights, without fear of persecution, to self-organization; form, join, or assist labor organizations; bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing; engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; and refrain from such activities unless that right may be affected by an agreement that requires membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment.

Employee and Labor Relations

The Labor Management Relations Act

(LMRA) of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act)

An amendment to the 1935 NLRA that rebalanced

employer and employee rights by prohibiting specific

unfair practices by unions, including:

� Jurisdictional and wildcat strikes, and secondary

boycotts.

� Union shops.

� Coercive tactics.

Employee and Labor Relations

The Labor Management Reporting and

Disclosure Act (LMRDA) of 1959 (The

Landrum-Griffin Act)

Requires a series of disclosures by union

officials and provides specific rights to union

members.

�Enacted because of organized crime/national

labor union linkages in the 1950s.

Employee and Labor Relations

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) of 1988

Firms that employ (full time) more than 100 people must notify employees of a layoff at least sixty days ahead of time when laying off more than 50 people.

�All workers are entitled to this notice, including hourly and salaried workers, and managers.

Employee and Labor Relations

Other Legal Issues in Labor Relations –

Corporate Whistleblowers and the Law

Whistleblowers are employees who tell an

organization with authority, outside their own

company, about actions within their company that

they believe to be illegal.

� Whistleblower laws include the Federal False

Claims Act and the recent Dodd-Frank Act.

Employee and Labor Relations

Other Legal Issues in Labor RelationsExpress Contracts, Implied Contracts and Quasi-ContractsExpress contract – when the agreement between two parties is specifically stated, orally or in writing.

Implied contract – when an agreement is formed by parties’ actions rather than as a result of a specific oral or written agreement.

Quasi contract – is a court ordered implied agreement that prevents one party from benefiting at the expense of another.

Employee and Labor Relations

Other Legal Issues in Labor Relations

Wrongful discharge – terminating an individual employee for an illegal reason, either due to a violation of a contract or in violation of a state or federal law.

Constructive discharge – occurs when an employee is forced to quit because of severe and/or pervasive harassment or intolerable working conditions.

Employee and Labor Relations

Union Organizing

People join unions for a variety of reasons,

including better pay and benefits (especially

good health care coverage and retirement

plans); unfair management practices that lead to

poor labor relations; and job security.

Employee and Labor Relations

Union Organizing – The NO TIPS Rule

� No Threats – managers can’t threaten that the firm will shut down a facility that votes for unionization.

� No Interrogations – managers can’t ask an employee about union organizing activities.

� No Promises – managers can’t promise employees pay or benefits rewards if they vote against union authorization.

� No Spying – managers can’t plant spies in union organizing meetings or other activities.

Employee and Labor Relations

Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

Labor relations are the interactions between management and unionized employees.

Collective bargaining is the negotiation process resulting in a contract between union employees and management that covers employment conditions.

A grievance is a formal complaint concerning pay, working conditions, or a violation of some other factor in a collective bargaining agreement.

Employee and Labor Relations

Management Rights – Limiting Union Organizing Efforts

No unionization on company time – policy must be consistent with other solicitation policies and the company handbook.

Management’s position on unionization – can state how unionization will affect management/labor relationships, the firm, and employees’ pay, etc.

Change agreements and use of non-union employee representation – management can offer a “non-union employee representation” alternative to union.

Employee and Labor Relations

Management Rights – Lockouts and

Replacement Workers

Lockouts – management stops work and

physically prevents workers from entering the

workplace.

Management may hire replacement workers,

who may replace striking workers permanently

or temporarily, in cases of economic strike.

Employee and Labor Relations

Management Rights Decertification Elections can be held to remove a union. But:

� Not within a year of a previous attempt at decertification.

� The company cannot initiate a decertification petition or encourage a decertification petition.

� If requested by employees, management can provide information to employees regarding decertification, but cannot threaten employees or promise benefits.

Employee and Labor Relations

Managing ConflictConflicts exist when people are in disagreement and opposition. They occur because:

� We don’t let others know our expectations and don’t ask theirs.

� We assume others have the same expectations we have.

� We don’t know our expectations until people do things in opposition to us.

Thus, it is important to share information and communicate expectations.

Employee and Labor Relations

Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict

Functional conflict – helps the firm meet its goals of increased performance.

Dysfunctional conflict – prevents the from from achieving individual and organizational objectives.

�Conflict management skills can resolve conflicts and maintain relationships before conflicts become dysfunctional.

Employee and Labor Relations

Negotiations

Negotiating is a process in which two or

more parties in conflict attempt to come to

an agreement.

�Ideally, negotiation should be viewed by

all parties as “I win some and you win

some,” rather than a win-lose situation.

Employee and Labor Relations

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) –Mediation and ArbitrationWhen labor and management cannot resolve conflicts, ADR may be used.

A mediator is a neutral third party who helps resolve a conflict, but has no authority to impose a solution to the conflict.

An arbitrator is a neutral third party who resolves a conflict by making a bindingdecision.

LusCh10.pdf

LusCh10.pdf

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