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Employee Rights and HR Communications

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Title: Employee Rights and HR Communications


1
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management Eighth
Edition DeCenzo and Robbins
Chapter 4 Employee Rights and HR Communications
2
Introduction
  • Employee rights have become one of the more
    important human resource issues.
  • The U.S. Constitution, laws, and Supreme Court
    rulings have increasingly constrained employer
    actions related to employee rights.

3
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • Privacy Act of 1974
  • Requires government agencies to make available to
    employees information contained in their
    personnel files.
  • Employees may also have the right to review
    letters of recommendation made on their behalf.
  • Similar state laws apply to state and
    private-sector employees.
  • Restrictions include employee waivers of right to
    review and procedures which stipulate when and
    how a file can be accessed.

4
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • Privacy Act of 1974
  • Computerized information systems add more
    complexities and potential flexibility to
    employee records.
  • The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1971
  • Extension to the Privacy Act
  • Requires employers to notify employees that their
    credit is being checked
  • Provide additional information to applicants who
    are negatively affected by a credit check.
  • Information used must be job relevant.

5
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
  • requires government agencies, federal
    contractors, and those receiving federal funds of
    25,000 or more to actively pursue a drug-free
    environment.
  • Covered organizations
  • must establish and disseminate policies
  • provide substance-abuse awareness programs
  • Companies regulated by the Department of
    Transportation and Nuclear Regulatory Commission
    must test employees in certain jobs for drugs.

6
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • Drug-free policies must include
  • What is expected of employees
  • Penalties for infractions of policies
  • Substance abuse awareness programs
  • Disseminated to all employees

7
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
  • Prohibits employers in the private sector from
    using lie-detector tests in all employment
    decisions.
  • May still be used during investigations of
    suspected criminal activity
  • Employees can challenge the results of a
    polygraph.

8
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
    of 1988
  • Plant Closing Bill
  • Protects employees from unexpected plant
    closings.
  • The law does recognize circumstances in which
    advance notice is impossible.

9
Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications
  • Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
    of 1988
  • Organizations employing 100 or more individuals
  • 60 days notice in advance
  • Close the facility or lay off 50 or more workers
  • Penalty
  • One days pay and benefits for each days notice

10
Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights
  • Drug Testing
  • The severity of substance abuse in organizations
    has led to use of drug testing even by
    organizations not covered by the Drug-Free
    Workplace Act.
  • Drug testing of current employees typically
  • Offers rehabilitation to those who fail
  • Communicates that drugs will not be tolerated

11
Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights
  • Drug Testing
  • Should be done after a job offer is made.
  • Those who fail are generally no longer
    considered.
  • Companies are
  • Moving to more precise tests by using ones that
    do not involve body fluids
  • Communicating clear policies and procedures
  • Relating the testing program to safety and job
    performance.

12
Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights
  • Honesty Tests
  • Written tests to get applicants to reveal
    information about their integrity.
  • Legal alternative to polygraph
  • Used to predict theft and drug use
  • Multiple questions on the same topic to assess
    consistency of responses.
  • Should not be used as the sole criterion for a
    hiring decision.

13
Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights
  • Whistle-blowing
  • occurs when an employee reports his/her employer
    to an outside agency over what the employee
    believes is an illegal or unethical practice.
  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act protects employees from
    retaliation for reporting company wrongdoing.
  • Laws protecting whistle-blowers vary by state.
  • Many firms have voluntarily adopted policies to
    protect employees who identify problems.

14
Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights
  • Employee Monitoring and Workplace Security
  • Interests are protected against
  • Theft
  • Revealing of trade secrets to competitors
  • Using the customer database for personal gain
  • Must balance these security needs with employee
    rights.
  • Develop and communicate policies for monitoring
  • computer, e-mail, telephone

15
Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights
  • Workplace Romance
  • Some companies try to prevent relationships
    between employees because of potential
    discrimination or sexual harassment issues
  • Others view romance as having a positive effect.
  • Many companies have issued policies and
    guidelines on how relationships at work may
    exist.

16
The Employment-at-Will Doctrine
  • The doctrine, based on common law, allows
    employers to dismiss employees at any time for
    any reason.
  • Has been modified to prohibit termination based
    on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or
    disability.

17
The Employment-at-Will Doctrine
  • Exceptions to the Doctrine
  • Contractual relationship A legal agreement
    exists defining how employee issues are handled.
  • Statutory considerations Federal and/or state
    laws can create exceptions
  • Public policy violation Employees cannot be
    fired for disobeying an illegal order from the
    employer
  • Implied employment contract verbal or written
    statements made by members of the organization,
    such as promises of job security or statements in
    an employee handbook.
  • Breach of good faith An employer breaches a
    promise or abuses its managerial powers.

18
Discipline and Employee Rights
  • Discipline
  • A condition where employees conduct themselves in
    accordance with the organizations rules and
    standards of acceptable behavior.
  • The most frequent violations requiring
    disciplinary action involve
  • Attendance
  • On-the-job behaviors
  • Dishonesty
  • Outside activities (criminal activity, etc.)

19
Discipline and Employee Rights
  • Factors to consider when disciplining
  • Seriousness of the problem
  • Duration of the problem
  • Frequency and nature of the problem
  • Extenuating factors
  • Degree of socialization
  • History of organizations discipline practices
  • Management backing

20
Discipline and Employee Rights
  • Disciplinary Guidelines
  • Make disciplinary action corrective rather than
    punitive.
  • Make disciplinary action progressive i.e. verbal
    warning, written warning, suspension, dismissal.
  • Follow the Hot-stove rule i.e. immediate
    response ample warning consistency impersonal.
  • Allow employees to have a representative present
    for disciplinary meetings.

21
Discipline and Employee Rights
  • Disciplinary Actions
  • Written verbal warning
  • Written warning
  • Suspension
  • Dismissal

22
Employee Counseling
  • This approach is most appropriate when a
    performance problem is not amenable to training
    and development or mentoring and coaching.
  • Listen to the employee to uncover the reason for
    poor performance.
  • Focus on performance-related behaviors
  • Get the employee to accept the problem, and work
    to find solutions.
  • Managers are not expected to solve employees
    personal problems
  • Employee Assistance Program

23
Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights
  • Why Use an Employee Handbook?
  • Helps employees learn about the company
  • Provides central information source concerning
    policies, work rules and benefits.
  • Helps ensure that HRM policies will be fair,
    equitable, and consistently applied.
  • Creates sense of security and commitment
  • Can be used to provide information to recruits.
  • Caution Use disclaimer to avoid handbook being
    interpreted as implied contract.
  • Must be seen as useful, concise, well-organized
    and must be continually updated.

24
Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights
  • Using Information Technology for Employee
    Communications
  • Provides greater flexibility and timeliness of
    information.
  • Networked communication - e-mail, instant
    messaging, voice intranets and extranets, and the
    talking Internet.
  • Wireless communications - microwave signals,
    satellites, radio waves and radio antennas, and
    infrared light rays

25
Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights
  • Complaint Procedures
  • Step 1 Employee-supervisor
  • Step 2 Employee-employer relations
  • Step 3 Employee-department head
  • Step 4 Employee-president

26
Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights
  • Why Companies Support Suggestion Programs
  • Allow employees to tell management what they
    perceive they are doing right or wrong
  • Connected to other management systems, such as
    continuous improvement processes
  • Suggestions must be acknowledged and employees
    recognized for their efforts
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