Employee Relations - Phr Exam

Front 1

Exceptions to EAW

Back 1

Public Policy
Implied Contract
Implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

Front 2

Public Policy exception to EAW

Back 2

EEs can not be fired for fulfilling legal obligations or for exercising their legal rights.
ex. serving on jury duty, filing for worker's comp, refusing to commit perjury, whistleblowing

Front 3

Implied contract exception to EAW

Back 3

exists when an agreement is implied from circumstances even though no express agreement b/t ER and EE
ex. Company requirement to use progressive discipline in terminations could mean EE can't be terminated at will.

Front 4

Implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing exception to EAW

Back 4

contracts impose this duty on each party as an obligation for honest in the conduct of the transaction
ex. firing an EE shortly before he b/c eligible for retirement

Front 5

To protect against EAW lawsuit

Back 5

avoid representing job as permenant
list in job apps, employment offers and handbooks that jobs are EAW
require signed acknowledgement from EEs that handbook is not contract and employment is EAW
document perf appraisals, warning, disciplinary actions, etc
establish conflict-resolution process
follow org's disciplinary process

Front 6

Common law tort claims

Back 6

Negligent hiring/retention
defamation
Fradulent misrepresentation
Promissory estoppel
Duty of Loyalty
Invasion of privacy

Front 7

Negligent hiring/retention

Back 7

EE harms others and ER knew that EE posed risk
ERs have duty to protect EEs

Front 8

To state a claim of hiring/retention negligence, what must be shown?

Back 8

ER/EE relationship existed
EE was incompetent/ inappropriate for position
ER knew about this
EE's act caused injuries
With investigation, ER could have discovered relevant info and prevented incident

Front 9

Defamation

Back 9

injuring someone's reputation in the community by making false/malicious statement
to prove defamation, EE must show that false statement caused harm and ER made statement with malice

Front 10

To prove defamation, must show:

Back 10

a false, malicious statement (spoken or written) was made to another person
harm to the person's reputation was caused by the statement
the statement was made with no legitimate associated business reason

Front 11

Fradulent misrepresentation

Back 11

relates to promises or claims made by ERs to entice candidates to join company
ex. ER decides to close location in 6 mths but hires EE and tells them plant will be expanded

Front 12

Promissory estoppel

Back 12

ER entices EE to take action by promising a reward.
ex. ER promises job to candidate who resigns other position to accept new one and then finds offered position w/drawn

Front 13

Fradulent misrepresentation vs. Promissory estoppel

Back 13

difference is reward is offered in Promissory estoppel

Front 14

EE's duty of loyalty

Back 14

common law imposes on EEs a duty to be loyal to ER
Requires that EEs not engage in:
degrading ER's reputation, products
divert business opps of ER
induce EEs to leave ER
Induce customers to terminate relationship with ER
Disclose confidential info

Front 15

Invasion of Privacy

Back 15

Strike balance b/t ind right to privacy and other important public interests
includes:
unreasonable intrusion upon seclusion of another
appropriation of another's name/likeness
unreasonable publicity given to another's private life
publication that unreasonably places another in false light b/t public

Front 16

Contract issues under common law

Back 16

Express oral contract
Unfair competition and noncompete agreement
Inevitable disclosure
EE's duty of loyalty and confidentiality

Front 17

Express oral contract

Back 17

contract does not have to be in writing to be enforceable
when ER /EE exchange a promise related to employment

Front 18

Unfair competition and noncompete agreement

Back 18

To be enforceable, ER must have agreement with EE that gives the EE something of value and agreement must be narrowly tailored to protect ER's interest
can't restrict EE from earning a living

Front 19

When drafting an noncompete, use language that:

Back 19

limits geographical area to which agreement applies
limits duration of time agreement is in effect
details scope of activity covered

Front 20

Inevitable disclosure

Back 20

EE with knowledge of former ER's secrets will inevitably disclose to new ER
theory that EE can't block proprietary info when EE performs similar work
ex. Pepsi/Gatorade EE ex

Front 21

EE's duty of loyalty and confidentiality

Back 21

EE not to engage in conduct that would be adverse to ER's best interest
ex. competing with ER while still employed
soliciting coworkers while still employed
failing to disclose conflicts of interest to ER

Front 22

General rules for EE participation committee

Back 22

Members must not represent other EEs
Committee deliberations must avoid "traditional area of bargaining" (comp, benefits, rewards)
committees legal if actually make decision and don't have to negotiate with mgmt
if union exists, mgmt must meet and confer with union over design of committees

Front 23

Taylor's concept of scientific mgmt

Back 23

designing jobs to get most work done in least amount of time
accomplished by:
division of labor - jobs reduced to smallest parts
standardization - through study, most efficient way to do job determined and instituted
specialization - as people repeat same task, b/c more proficient

Front 24

Downfalls of Taylor's concept of scientific mgmt

Back 24

decreased communication b/t depts
EEs understand only small piece of puzzle
boredom
low sense of achievement
low EE morale

Front 25

Mayo's Hawthorne studies

Back 25

discovery that ind beh altered when workers are involved and mgmt show interest in their work
heralded beginning of human relations movement, study of industrial sociology
advocated job design as way to direct work groups toward goals of org

Front 26

Core characteristics of Mayo's job design

Back 26

every job is a combination of tasks, duties, responsibilities
task = piece of assigned work activity
duty = composed of number of tasks and is a larger segment of work performed by one person
job responsibilities = obligations to perform certain tasks/duties

Front 27

Mayo's job design - EEs more motivated if job design accounts for following core characteristics:

Back 27

skill variety = job requires variety of different activiteis
task identity = job requires a "whole" identifiable unit of work (ex. sew pair of pants rather than a button)
task significance = job has substantial impact on others
autonomy = ind freedom/ discretion
feedback

Front 28

Mayo's job design - Core job characteristics lead to:

Back 28

meaningfulness = linked to skill variety, task identity and task significance
responsibility = autonomy
knowledge of results = linked to feedback

Front 29

Job Redesign strategies

Back 29

Job enlargement = broadening scope of job by expanding number of different tasks to be performed (adding more similar tasks) - ex. admin doesn't just distribute mail but opens it and route to appropriate person
Job rotation = shifts people to different jobs (AKA horizontal integration)
job enrichment = increase depth by adding responsibility for planning, organizing, controlling, evaluating (AKA vertical integration) - ex. admin asked to read and answer correspondence

Front 30

Different kinds of teams used to improve employment involvement

Back 30

committees
project teams
self-directed teams
task forces
work team

Front 31

Definition of team

Back 31

set of 2 + people equally accountable for accomplishment of a purpose/ specific perf goal

Front 32

committees

Back 32

group of people and resources who come together for accomplishment of specific org obj
ongoing but members can change
cross-functional

Front 33

project teams

Back 33

group of people who come together for specific project
members disband once done
cross-functional

Front 34

self-directed teams

Back 34

team that works in "self-managing way"
given autonomy in specific area of work
team sets critieria for all decisions

Front 35

task forces

Back 35

temporarily allocates personnel and resources for accomplishment of specific obj
have mission to tackle long-term strategic issue

Front 36

To minimize risk of violating NLRA

Back 36

do not establish committees in response to union organizing activity
do not allow EEs to select representatives
do not define member roles as representing other EE
do not negotiate with committee about terms/ conditions of employment
rotate membership

Front 37

work team

Back 37

group of EEs responsible for given end product
ongoing charter to continually
improve work processes over which they have direct responsibility/ownership
participation is permenant part of daily work

Front 38

Types of work teams

Back 38

functional work team = EE from particular funciton pool resources to serve various client groups
cross-functional work team = EEs from different functions and may have overall responsibility for particular customer, business, process

Front 39

Results analysis common errors

Back 39

rush to conclusion
graphical misrepresentation = errors made in visually representing data
statistical analysis errors = ensure all statistical test performed correctly
analysis paralysis
manipulated results

Front 40

Difference b/t policies, procedures and work rules

Back 40

policies = broad statement that reflects org's philosophy
ex. ER provides tuition reimbursement
Procedures = detailed, step by step descriptions of customary methods of handling activities
ex. to be reimbursed, must fill out this specific form
work rules = reflect mgmt decisions regarding specific actions to be taken or avoided in a given situation
ex. EE seeking reimbursement must be enrolled in accredited institution

Front 41

ADR options

Back 41

Open-door policy
Ombudsperson
Peer review
Mediation
Arbitration

Front 42

Ombudsperson - ADR option

Back 42

designates neutral third pary to confidentially investigate EE complaints and help bring them b/t mgmt.

Front 43

Peer Review - ADR option

Back 43

Establishes panel of EEs trained to work together to hear /resolve EE complaints

Front 44

Mediation vs. Arbitration

Back 44

Mediation = uses neutral third person trained in mediation to help both sides assess strengths/weaknesses of their positions
process negotiates mutally acceptable settlement but is nonbinding
arbitration = submits disputes to 1 + impartial person for final determination - includes:
pre-dispute, final and binding
pre-dispute, nonbinding
post-dispute, final and binding
post-dispute, nonbinding