Employee Rights Ch 16

Front 1

Employee Rights

Back 1

-organize and bargain
-safe and healthy workplace
-privacy
-discipline fairly and justly
-blow the whistle
-equal employment opportunity
-treated with respect for fundamental human rights

Front 2

Employee Duties

Back 2

-no drug or alcohol abuse
-nothing that would endanger others
-treat others with respect and without harassment
-honesty
-loyalty and commitment
-respect for employer's property and intellectual capital

Front 3

Labor Unions

Back 3

fundamental employee right and to bargain collectively
Service Employees International Union
Teamsters
negotiate wages, working conditions and other terms
--goal to have labor law reform

Front 4

New Deal period of 1930s

Back 4

workers joined unions and made more than nonunion workers

Front 5

Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) 2009

Back 5

help make it easier for workers to organize...initial provision of "card check" require employers to recognize and bargain with employees who signed

Front 6

Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970

Back 6

workers given right to job "free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm

Front 7

Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) 1970

Back 7

congress gave them the power to set and enforce safety and health standards

Front 8

brown lung

black lung

Back 8

textile workers inhale cotton dust

coal miners inhale coal dust

Front 9

employment-at-will

Back 9

employees are hired and retain their jobs "at the will of" the employer

Front 10

Employer Restrictions

Back 10

may not fire worker due to:
-discrimination
-constitute a violation of public policy (ie cooperated with authorities in investigation of crime)
-if it would violate WARN (Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act)...60 days advance when laying off 30% of workforce
-if involved in union
-if it violates "fair dealing" or implicit, verbal contracts

Front 11

Union workers fired only for

Back 11

"for just cause"

Front 12

Social Contract

Back 12

implied understanding (shared expectations) between organization and stakeholders. i.e.business and employees

Front 13

codetermination

Back 13

employee representatives on board of directors (mostly Europe)

Front 14

New Social Contract

Back 14

weakening of employer-employee bonds
no long-term job security, but:
-interesting and challenging work
-performance-based compensation
-ongoing professional training
Employees are expected to then:
-commit strongly to job and share responsibility

Front 15

Defined Benefit Pensions

Back 15

Predictable Payout Each Month

Front 16

Privacy Rights

Back 16

protecting individual's personal life from unwarranted intrusion by employer...i.e. religious, political views, health conditions, credit history and other off the job activities

Can get into privacy dilemmas

Front 17

Electronic Monitoring

Back 17

companies gather and store employee information through: e-mail, messaging, voice mail, wi-fi cell phones, GPS satellite, internet browsing and digitally stored data

Easier and cheap for firms to monitor and block employees

Front 18

Romance in the Workplace

Back 18

can go sour and create sexual harassment issues, biases in evaluations
sometimes sign a consensual relationship agreement

Front 19

Drug Testing

Back 19

Preemployment Screening
Random Testing of Employees
Testing for Cause

Front 20

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

Back 20

offer counseling and followup for drugs and alcohol abuse

Front 21

Honesty Tests

Back 21

controversial like polygraph tests and can generate false positives (that employees stole when they didn't)

Front 22

Free Speech Rights

Back 22

U.S. Constitution protects, but company info is proprietary and private unless society's interests override

Front 23

whistle-blowing

Back 23

employee believes employer is being harmful to public then employee can report misconduct to media, gov or high-level company officials

Front 24

Employees discharged for blowing-the-whistle

Back 24

can sue for reinstatement, entitled to punitive damages
protected by Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, employers cannot retaliate against employees

Front 25

U.S. False Claims Act 1986

Back 25

individuals may sue federal contractors for fraud and receive up to 30% of amount recovered by gov

Front 26

Justification of blowing-the-whistle

Back 26

-organization is doing something that seriously harms others
-employee has tried and failed to resolve the issue
-reporting problem public will stop or prevent harm
-harm is so serious that it justifies costs of disclosing through whistling

Front 27

Sweatshops

Back 27

employees (sometimes children) are forced to work long hours, low wages and under unsafe conditions

Front 28

Labor Standards

Back 28

conditions that company's employees or employer's suppliers, subcontractors or others commercial chain work

Front 29

Fair Labor Standards

Back 29

universal, common norms that all employees should operate under

Front 30

Voluntary Corporate Conduct

Back 30

labor standards that companies expect own plants and contractors to follow

Front 31

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) labor codes

Back 31

attempted through SA 8000 (social accountability)
ISO 9000 (international organization for standardization)
"good working conditions"

Front 32

Industrywide Labor Codes

Back 32

define standards that everyone can agree to for them and global supply chain

Front 33

Living Wage

Back 33

Decent family standard of living