3 Discussions and 2 weekly summary

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Learning Outcomes

Explain the concepts of employee rights and
employer responsibilities
Identify and explain what the privacy rights of employees are
Establish disciplinary policies and differentiate between the two approaches to disciplinary action
Identify the different types of alternative dispute
resolution methods

Employee Rights

Guarantees of fair treatment that become rights when they are granted to employees by the courts, legislatures, or employers
Include rights of employees to:
Protest unfair disciplinary actions
Question genetic testing
Have access to their personal files
Challenge employer searches and monitoring
Be free from employer discipline for off-duty conduct
Federal and state courts view the privacy rights of employees as minimal

Employee Rights vs. Employer Responsibilities

Employer is responsible to provide a safe workplace for employees while guaranteeing safe, quality goods and services to consumers
Employers have to exercise reasonable care while
Hiring
Training
Assignment of employees to jobs

Employee Rights vs. Employer Responsibilities

Employers failure to honor the rights of employees, can result in
Costly lawsuits
Damaging the organization’s reputation
Hurting employee morale
Failure to protect the safety and welfare of employees or consumer interests can invite litigation from both groups

Negligent Hiring

Negligence: Failure to provide reasonable care when such failure results in injury to consumers or other employees
Negligent-hiring lawsuits have forced managers to take extra care in the employment and management

Job Protection Rights

Psychological contract: Expectations of a fair exchange of employment obligations between an employee and employer
Led to the development of legal principles about the security of one’s job
Employment-at-will relationship: Right of an employer to fire an employee without giving a reason and the right of an employee to quit when he or she chooses
Basic rule dominating the private-sector employment relationship

Job Protection Rights

Wrongful discharge: Discharge, or termination, of an employee that is illegal
Suits challenge an employer’s right under the employment-at-will to unilaterally terminate employees
Exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine
Violation of public policy
Implied contract
Implied covenant
Whistle-blowing: Complaints to governmental agencies by employees about their employers’ illegal or immoral acts or practices

Job Protection Rights

Implied contract - Occurs when an implied promise by the employer suggests some form of job security to employee
Explicit contract - Formal written (signed) agreements grant to employees and employers agreed-upon employment benefits and privileges

Job Protection Rights

Constructive discharge: Employee’s voluntary termination of his or her employment because of harsh, unreasonable employment conditions placed on the individual by the employer
Discharge as a result of retaliation
Discharges and WARN Act

Privacy Rights

Freedom from unwarranted government or business intrusion into one’s personal affairs
Involves the individual’s right to be given personal autonomy and left alone
Drug testing in private sector is regulated by individual states
Pro–drug testing states permit testing, provided strict testing procedures are followed

Figure 13.3 - Recommendations for a Drug-Free Workplace Policy

Impairment Testing

Measures whether an employee is alert enough to work
Also called fitness-for-duty or performance-based testing
Advantage
Focuses on workplace conduct rather than off-duty behavior
Identifies employees impaired because of fatigue, stress, and alcohol use

Electronic Surveillance

Camera surveillance
Phone conversations and text communications
E-mail, internet, and computer use
Searches
Access to personnel files
Off-duty employee conduct
Off-duty employee speech
Workplace romances
Body art, grooming, and attire

Disciplinary Policies and Procedures

Discipline: Tool, used to correct and mould the practices of employees to help them perform better so they conform to acceptable standards
Disciplinary actions should be taken only for justifiable reasons
Employees should be treated fairly and consistently

Figure 13.6 - Common Disciplinary Problems

Result of Inaction

Failure to discipline employees aggravates a problem
HR department is responsible for:
Developing and having top management approve an organization’s disciplinary policies
Ensuring that disciplinary action taken against employees are consistent
Employee’s immediate supervisor
Logical person to apply the company’s disciplinary procedures and monitor the employee’s improvement

Figure 13.7 - A Disciplinary Model

Suggestions to Set Organizational Rules

Have to be reasonable and relate to safe and efficient operation of the organization
Consequences for breaking them should be written down and widely disseminated to all employees
Have to be clearly explained
Employees should sign a document stating that they have read and understand the organizational rules
Have to be reviewed, especially those rules critical to work success

Documenting Misconduct

Failure to record the misconduct of employees, can undermine a firm’s efforts to deal with the behavior
Records of employee misconduct are considered business documents
Admissible evidence in arbitration hearings, administrative proceedings, and courts of law
Significant cause of inadequate documentation
Managers do not know what constitutes good documentation

Inclusions in the Documentation

Date, time, and location of the incident(s)
Behavior exhibited by the employee (the problem)
Consequences of that action or behavior on the employee’s overall work performance and/or the operation of the employee’s work unit
Prior discussion(s) with the employee about the problem
Disciplinary action to be taken and the improvements expected should be documented

Inclusions in the Documentation

Consequences of failing to make the improvements by a certain follow-up date
Employee’s reaction to the supervisor’s attempt to change his or her behavior
Names of witnesses to the incident (if applicable)

Investigative Interview

Should be conducted to make sure the employee is fully aware of the organization’s rules and he or she has not followed them
Should concentrate on how the offense violated the performance and behavior standards expected
Employee must be given a full opportunity to explain his or her side of the issue
Employees do not have the right to have an attorney present during an investigative interview

Progressive Discipline

Application of corrective measures by increasing degrees
When applied properly, employees:
Always know where they stand regarding offenses
Know what improvement is expected of them
Understand what will happen next if improvement is not made

Positive or Nonpunitive Discipline

System that focuses on early correction of employee misconduct, with the employee taking total responsibility for correcting the problem
Implementation
Conference between the employee and the supervisor to find a solution to the problem
Second conference to determine why the solution agreed to in the first conference did not work
One-day decision-making leave given to the employee to decide whether he or she wishes to continue working

Discharging Employees

Have to be undertaken only after a deliberate and thoughtful review of the situation
In cases of lack of fair treatment by management, an employee has a right to file wrongful discharge suit
Discharge guidelines are applied to determine if a firm had a just cause for termination

Figure 13.9 - Just Cause Discharge Guidelines

Informing the Employee

Employee must be informed honestly and tactfully of the exact reasons for the action
Helps the employee face the problem and adjust to the termination in a constructive way
Termination meetings should be held in a neutral location to prevent the employee from feeling unfairly treated
Termination details of the employee should be kept confidential

Due Process

Procedures that constitute fair treatment, such as allowing an employee to tell his or her story about an alleged infraction and defend against it
Ensures that a full and fair investigation of employee misconduct occurs
Provided through the employer’s appeals procedure

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Term applied to different employee complaint or dispute resolution methods that do not involve going to court
Used in nonunion organizations
ADR agreements are signed by employees when they receive their offer letters or handbooks
Must be fair and equitable to employees and employers

Step-Review System

System of reviewing employee complaints and disputes by successively higher levels of management
Managers are required to provide a full response to the complaint within a specified time period
Employee is allowed to bypass meeting if he or she fears reprisal
Decision is not appealable

Peer-Review System

System of reviewing employee complaints that utilizes a group composed of equal numbers of employee representatives and management appointees
Group weighs evidence, considers arguments and, after deliberation, votes to render a final decision
Sole method for resolving employee complaints, or in conjunction with step-review system
Benefit - Creates a sense of justice among employees

Open-Door Policy

Settles grievances that identifies various levels of management above the immediate supervisor for employee contact
Problems
Managers do not like to listen honestly to employee complaints
Fails to guarantee consistent decision making
Lacks credibility with employees
Working out grievances with immediate supervisors can make open-door policy work better

Ombudsman System

Ombudsman: Designated individual from whom employees may seek counsel for resolution of their complaints
Listens to an employee’s complaint and attempts to resolve it by seeking an equitable solution
Works cooperatively with both sides to reach a settlement
Must be able to operate in an atmosphere of confidentiality

Mediation and Mediator

Mediation: Use of an impartial neutral to reach a compromise decision in employment disputes
Flexible process that can be shaped to meet the demands of the parties
Mediator: Third party in an employment dispute who meets with one party and then the other in order to suggest compromise solutions
Fact finder and an open channel of communication between the parties
Have no authority to force either side toward an agreement

Arbitration

System in which employee and employer present their cases to an arbiter and then he or she makes a decision that the parties have agreed to be bound by
Arbiter - Retired judge
Resolves discrimination suits related to
Age
Gender
Sexual harassment
Race

Managerial Ethics in Employee Relations

Ethics: Set of standards of conduct and moral judgments that help to determine right and wrong behavior
Focus attention on an organization’s ethical values
Provide basis for managers to evaluate plans and actions
Goals of ethics training
Avoid unethical behavior and adverse publicity
Gain strategic advantage
Treat employees in a fair and equitable manner