Job Security and Seniority Jared Thompson Jasmine Glenn Melanie Fowler

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Job Security Job security includes  The rights to remain employed during times of layoffs  Rights to promotion opportunities  A fear hearing in cases involving discipline  The need to have work performed by employees within the company rather than subcontracting or increasing the use of automatic equipment.

Job Security Cont’d  Industrial Jurisprudence- the system of rules and regulations that labor and management fashion to define their specific employment rights and obligations in the workplace

Seniority  A seniority system is a set of rules governing the allocation of economic benefits and opportunities on the basis of service with one employer.  Promotion  Layoff and recall  Economic benefits

Seniority Cont’d  The Union may argue in the absence of job seniority system:  Will make promotion  Layoff  And other decisions solely on the basis of possible short-run cost savings  Or individual biases rather than on the objective criteria that seniority easily provides.

Seniority Cont’d Management may argue that time worked on the job is only one measure and the employee’s performance record should be recorded  Performance appraisal’s  Depend on supervisors’ ability to evaluate performance honestly and thoroughly  Viewed by unions  Seniority systems are not required by federal or local laws, nor are they an inherent right or employees

Calculation of Seniority Seniority is the process of giving preference in employment decisions on the basis of the length of continuous service with the company Seniority is the process of giving preference in employment decisions on the basis of the length of continuous service with the company – seniority is not awarded to employees until after the probationary period Seniority List- identifies employees I a bargaining unit according to their length of continuous employment Seniority List- identifies employees I a bargaining unit according to their length of continuous employment

Types of Seniority  Plant-wide seniority  Departmental seniority system  Classification seniority  Bumping

Seniority and the Americans with Disabilities Act  The Supreme Court ruled that an employee is not entitled to a job assignment as a reasonable accommodation of his or her disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if the assignment would conflict with the rules of a seniority system.

Promotions  The Bureau of National Affairs estimates that  Only 5 percent call for promotion decisions based on seniority as the sole determiner  49 percent provide that the most senior individual will receive promotion among those equally qualified  40 percent provide seniority as one factor along with “skill and ability, with management determining ability

Promotions  Job bidding is the process to be detailed in the labor agreement to minimize misunderstandings and grievances and to increase employee morale.

Layoff and Recall Rights  Contract provisions that specify how seniority, ability, and other factors will be used to determine the order of employee temporary job layoffs and job recalls.

Contract Layoff Procedures  Four general categories  1. Layoff based entirely on seniority  2. Layoff based on seniority among those employees who management feels are capable of performing the work.  3.Layoff based on seniority only if ability and other factors are equal among affected employees.  4. Layoff based on past performance.

Stotts Case Supreme Court upheld a CBA seniority system even though layoffs adversely affected blacks hired under a court order to remedy past discrimination.

WARN Act  Worker adjustment and retraining notification Act.(1989)  Known in the past as the Plant Closing Act  Requires employers to provide 60 days of advance written notice to employees and communities of either a plant closing or mass layoffs.

Company Mergers  Methods of combining the seniority lists of merged employees  Surviving group principle  Length of service principle  Follow the work principle  Absolute rank principle  Ratio-Rank Principle

Subcontracting and Outsourcing  The arrangement by an employer to have another firm make goods or perform work that could be accomplished by the employer’s own bargaining unit employees, usually because the subcontracted work can be done more efficiently or for less cost.  Scope Clause  Provision that prohibits outsourcing bargaining unit work while any union member is in layoff status.

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Employee Teams  What is an Employee Team?  Enhanced productivity occurs in three primary areas  Decision Making  Problem solving  Creativity  Union Response to Employee Teams

Successorship  What is successorship?  Successorship doctrine: three factors that must be present for the doctrine to apply to to the purchaser of a business employing union members.  Substantial Continuity  Appropriate Bargaining Unit  Predecessor’s workers

Successorship continued  Successor Employer Rights  Right to higher own employers  Right to disregard the predecessors collective bargaining agreement  Right to set initial terms of employment

Employee Alcohol and Drug Testing

 Management’s desire to screen all job candidates may increase because:  Increase use of drugs within all segments of society  Reluctance of previous employers to report suspected or known drug usage of former employees  Employers liability for the negligent hiring of employees

Employee Alcohol and Drug Testing Continued..  Six common types of drug testing used by employers  Preemployment testing  Reasonable suspicion testing  Routine fitness-for-duty testing  Post-accident testing  Random testing  Follow-up to rehabilitation testing

Employee Alcohol and Drug Testing Continued..  Drug testing steps  Employee Attitudes toward Drug Testing  Several negotiation issues regarding the probable cause testing process and the use of test results.  Valid testing procedure  On-the-job impairment  Refusal to be tested  Supervisor training

Social Media Usage  Provisions that deal with social media: suggested by James A. McCall  Description of acceptable use of social media tracking technology  Notice to workers warning them of such tracking  Union access to information obtained through tracking  The inclusion of an “on-off switch” on the tracking technology to protect workers who take home equipment and are allowed to use it for personal business.

Public Sector Security Issues

Questions  What three areas does enhanced productivity occur?  What are three factors that must be present for the doctrine to apply to the purchaser of a business employing union members?  Can anyone name all 4 successor employee rights discussed?  Name a reason why Management may desire to screen all job candidates  What is a common type of drug testing used by employers  There are Several negotiation issues regarding the probable cause testing process and the use of test results, can anyone name one?  What’s a provision that can deal with social media?