Labor Relations Law Midterm # 2 All

Front 1

Degree of Labor Intensiveness

Back 1

A Measure of the proportion of total operating costs comprised of labor costs, must also be considered in determining employee wage rates

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Job Evaluation

Back 2

used to maintain rational and fair wage relationships among various jobs

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Job Analysis

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A process of systematically securing information and facts about the jobs to be evaluated

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Profit-Sharing Plans

Back 4

Incentive plan to provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to regular salary and bonuses

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Gain-Sharing Plans

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Incentive plan where companies make monetary payments to a specific group or groups of employees for producing more output or generating cost savings beyond some established goal

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Scanlon Plan

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Incentive plan that provides bonus payments based on a computed ratio of total labor costs (TLC) to total production values (TPV), which typically equal monthly sales, plus or minus inventory adjustments.

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Ruker Plan

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Incentive plan based on a change in the ratio between labor costs and dollar value added. The value added equals sales less purchased materials.

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Improshare Plan

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Incentive plan where a monetary reward is granted whenever the number of labor hours required to produce the output during a measured period (week, month, etc) is less than the number of hours required during the base period.

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Skill Based Pay

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Compensation plan that bases pay on the skills or knowledge an employee possesses that are valued by the employer.

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Wage Spread

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Represents the distribution of the proposed or negotiated wage increase to the bargaining unit employees

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Skill Pay Differential

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A special cents-per-hour increase only applicable to certain high-rated jobs. Used to maintain a desired wage spread between higher and lower skilled employees

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Two-Tier Pay Plan

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Compensation plan that specifies a newly hired employee will be paid less than other employees performing a similar job

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Wage Comparability

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Comparing of wage rates in one bargaining unit to wage rates in a comparable unit

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Ability to Pay

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The financial condition of the organization can be used as a standard for wage determination.

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Labor Productivity

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A measure of the value of output created relative to the hourly costs of the labor necessary to produce that output

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Consumer Price Index (CPI)

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Measures changes in the price of goods and services purchased by a typical American household on a monthly basis

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Cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA)

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A contractual obligation on an employer to change rates of pay in accordance with a collectively bargained formula

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Deferred Wage Increase

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Wage increases negotiated in multi-year contract provide some adjustment in base wage rates beyond the first contract year

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Wage re-opener

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Clause written to permit wages to be renegotiated at a specified point in time during the contract or whenever some predetermined event occurs (e.g. profits exceed a certain level)

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Back-Loaded

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Deferred wage increases in multi-year contracts where larger increases occur later in the contract

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Front-Loaded

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Deferred wage increases in multi-year contracts where smaller increases occur later in the contract

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Even-Loaded

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Deferred wage increases in multi-year contracts where wage increases are equal in all years

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Lump-Sum Pay

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Pay adjustments that do not change the employee's base hourly wag rate, thus having no impact on roll-up costs

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Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)

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Health care plan that permits an employee to pay a lower rate for health care services if the employee agrees to use health care providers approved by the plan

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Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

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Health care plan that restricts an employee's choice of health care provider to a specific organization

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Consumer-directed Health Care Plan

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Health care plan that involves a high deductible insurance policy combined with a health savings account into which an employee may place pre-tax dollars to spend for later health care needs until the high deductible has been paid and the insurance policy begins to pay for health care needs

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Severance Pay

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Provides a lump-sum payment on termination. Only extended to an employee whose job has been terminated as a result of permanent shutdown, is subject to a lengthy layoff, or who has no reasonable prospect for recall

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Supplemental Unemployment Benefit Plan

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Provides pay in addition to unemployment compensation to which the individual would be entitled.

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Work Sharing

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Qualified employees agree to share the available work opportunities by having each employee work a reduced number of hours

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Premium Pay

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Pay for hours worked beyond regularly scheduled hours

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Shift Differentials

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Premium payments for working a night or weekend shift

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Reporting Pay

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Guarantees some minimum number of hours' pay for employees who report for scheduled work but find no work

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Call-in Pay

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Guarantees four hours' pay for employees called in to work during nonscheduled work hours

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Defined Benefit Pension Plan

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Guarantees a specified dollar benefit payment per month to a covered employee on retirement and is typically funded by the employer

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Defined Contribution Pension Plan

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Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

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Investing employee's pension savings in the company

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Cash Balance Plan

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Retirement savings approach that combines features of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Employer typically agrees to make a specified contribution to an employee's retirement account, which is guaranteed to earn a specified rate of interest

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Pension Protection Act of 2006

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Eliminated most legal concerns surrounding the implementation of cash balance plans

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Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)

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Establishes minimum standards for pension plans in private industry and provides for extensive rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans

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Cliff Vesting Schedule

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A qualified retirement plan must, at a minimum, permit a participant to earn a non-forfeitable right to 100 percent vested after seven years of service

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Graded Vesting Schedule

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A plan participant would be 20 percent vested after three years of service, 40 percent vested after four years, 60 percent vested after five years, 80 percent vested after six years and 100 percent vested after seven years of service

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Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)

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Requires private-sector employers of 50 or more employees to provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for their own serious illness; the birth or adoption of a child; or care of a seriously ill child; spouse or parent.

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Prepaid Legal Service Plans

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Inexpensive means of providing legal assistance to employees without imposing substantial administrative burdens on an employer

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Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)

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Provides counseling services to employees, covering a wide range of problems

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Education Tuition Aid

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Helps to cover expenses incurred by an employee who seeks additional education and training related to the employee's career.

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Transportation Subsidy

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Used to offset travel expenses to and from work

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Technological Change

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Changes in the production process that result from the introduction of labor-saving machinery and changes in material handling and work flow

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Automation

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A type of technological change, where machines perform tasks formerly performed by humans, and the human operator is replaced by automatic controls

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High Performance Work Organization (HPWO)

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A partnership in which both management and labor take responsibility for ensuring that the firm will adapt to competitive market and technological demands by sharing information, continuously training workers, and adapting to work rules to meet each firm's needs.

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De-skilling

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Reduction in the responsibility or skill level required to perform some jobs, caused by technological advancements, resulting in lower employee compensation and less job security for those employees holding such jobs.

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Featherbedding

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Job security provisions that attempt to make jobs more secure, such as spreading the workload by placing limits on the load that can be carried, restricting the duties of employees, limiting the number of machines one operator can tend to, or requiring standby crews

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Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

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Requires employers with 100 or more employees to give 60 days' advance notice of a plant closing or major layoff

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Subcontracting

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Occurs when a firm determines that it cannot perform all the tasks that are necessary to operate its business successfully or that another firm can perform the needed tasks better or at a lower cost

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Outsourcing

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A cost-cutting strategy of shifting work away from one's own firm to a different producer who may be located inside or outside the United States

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Offshoring

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Movement of work from a company location within the United States to locations outside of the United States

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Jurisdictional Disputes

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Disputes over which workers will be assigned to perform particular jobs or duties due to changes in technology, job descriptions, work materials, or processes

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Flextime

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Allow an employee to start and finish work at his or her discretion, as long as the specified total number of hours per week or per day are worked and the employee is present at work during a core-hour period.

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Compressed Workweek

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Four 10-hour work days with three days off each week or eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour days permitting one extra day off every two weeks

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Seniority

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Factor of who has been with the company longest, used to determine personnel decisions that affect bargaining unit employees

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Benefit Rights

Back 60

Vacation entitlement or scheduling, usually determined by seniority

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Competitive Job Rights

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Promotion, layoff or recall, work assignments, transfers, shift preference, usually determined by seniority

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Bumping Rights

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In a layoff, a more senior employee from one department might assert a claim to a job held by a less senior employee in a different department

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Superseniority

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Provides that highly skilled technical employees or union officials directly involved in contract negotiations or grievance handling will be the last ones laid off, regardless of their actual length of time on the job

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Work Sharing

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Two or more employees share a job by dividing the standard total number of hours for the job between them

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Work Restructuring

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Changing the nature of the work performed by employees, typically involves major departures from the traditional way of assigning specific tasks to each employee

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Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

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Governs occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government. Main goal is to ensure that employers provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards

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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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Prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability

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Person with Disabilities

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A person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits that person in some major life activity

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Reasonable Accommodation

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If an employer can make a modification in a job's requirements or structure that will not cause the employer “undue hardship” and that will allow a disabled employee to do the job, then that modification or change in the job must be made

Front 70

Fact-Finding

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A semi-judicial process used primarily in the public sector to gather facts about a labor dispute for the purpose of publishing a public report containing the fact-finder's conclusions and often recommended terms of settlement

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Interest Arbitration

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Involves the selection of a neutral person or panel to hear the bargaining positions of the parties and make a final and binding decision on what should be included in a negotiated agreement

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Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)

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independent federal agency charged with helping to prevent or minimize labor disputes by providing mediation, conciliation, and voluntary arbitration services

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Conventional Interest Arbitration

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Arbitration procedure where the arbitrator can select either party's proposal or some compromise settlement terms between or beyond those proposed by the parties themselves

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Final-Offer Total Package (FOTP)

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Form of interest arbitration that restricts an arbitrator's authority to settle an interest dispute by requiring the selection of either the employer's or union;s final proposal on all issues in dispute

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Final-Offer Issue by Issue (FOIBI)

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Form of interest arbitration where the arbitrator is restricted to selecting either the union's or employer's final proposal on each separate issue in dispute

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Mediation-Arbitration (med-arb)

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A third party neutral selected by the bargaining parties will first function in the role of a mediator attempting to encourage the parties to make a voluntary settlement. If no settlement occurs, the third party neutral then switches hats to become an arbitrator empowered by the parties to make a final and binding decision to resolve the parties' interests disputes

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Strike

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A temporary work stoppage by a group of employees for the purpose of expressing a grievance or enforcing a demand

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Primary Employer

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The employer with whom the striking employees have a dispute and the employer who has the ability to end the dispute by agreeing to employees' proposed settlement terms

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Lockout

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A temporary work stoppage caused by an employer's withdrawal of employee's opportunity to work for the purpose of enforcing a bargaining demand or minimizing the employer's potential loss should employees control the timing of a work stoppage by initiating a strike

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Unconditional Request for reinstatement

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A locked-out employee always has the right to return to work at any time during the lockout by notifying management of the employee's voluntary acceptance of the employer's proposed terms and conditions of employment

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Economic Strike

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A strike that began over a wage dispute

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Unfair Labor Practice Strike

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A strike that began over an unfair labor practice

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Wildcat Strike

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A strike which occurs in violation of an existing no-strike clause in a labor agreement and often without the approval or prior knowledge of union officials

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Sympathy Strike

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Work Stoppage by employees who have no dispute with their own employer but are striking to support another bargaining unit of their employer or a union representing employees at another employer

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Jurisdictional Strike

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Involves a dispute between two or more unions over the assignment of work

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Voluntary Employee's Beneficiary Association (VEBA)

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A trust controlled by the union who will use the funds' earnings to finance medical and prescription drug benefits for current and future retirees

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Preferential Recall List (Laidlaw-Fleetwood Doctrine)

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List that striking employees have the right to be put on that requires the employer to fill any permanent vacancy occurring in a bargaining unit position thereafter by firs offering the job to a qualified individual on the preferential recall list

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Serious Strike Misconduct

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Employees that engage in an unlawful strike during an otherwise lawful strike forfeit their normal rights to reinstatement

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Secondary Employer

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An employer with no direct authority to resolve the labor dispute that may become involved in a labor dispute wither voluntarily or involuntarily

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Business Ally

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A secondary employer who knows or reasonably should have known that engaging in certain conduct would aid a primary employer during a labor dispute is presumed to have voluntarily joined the labor dispute on the side of the primary employer and therefore can be subjected to the same lawful economic pressure tactics that employees could engage in regarding the primary employer

Front 91

Struck Work

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A secondary employer who agrees to perform work normally done by striking employees. The most common means of establishing business ally status

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Sympathy Striker

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A secondary employer's driver that fails to make a delivery to a struck employer's business is presumed to be acting in sympathy with the striking employees

Front 93

Common Situs Picketing

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Occurs at a location where a primary employer and one or more neutral, secondary employers are engaged in normal business operations at the same site

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Moore Dry Dock Doctrine

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Establishes guidelines for lawful picketing at a common site of a labor dispute. Picketing at a common site is lawful if: 1. The primary employer is present and engaged in normal business operations at the common site. 2. Picket signs must clearly identify the primary employer with whom the union has a labor dispute. 3. Picketing must occur at locations reasonably close to the primary employer's operations at the common site

Front 95

Reserve Gate Doctrine

Back 95

Permits entrances to a work site to be clearly marked for the exclusive use of either a primary employer or neutral, secondary employer and their employees, customers, and suppliers

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General Electric Doctrine

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Establishes the conditions under which a primary employer could lawfully establish a gate on the primary employer;s property reserved for the exclusive use of a neutral, secondary employer hired to preform some work for the primary employer during a labor dispute

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Product Picketing

Back 97

Lawful for the purpose of encouraging consumers to boycott the products or services of the primary employer involved in a labor dispute

Front 98

Merged Product Doctrine

Back 98

Exception to a union's right to engage in product picketing occurs if the product of the primary employer being struck and a neutral, secondary employer are so intertwined that it would be impossible for a consumer to boycott the primary employer's product without inducing a near total boycott of the neutral secondary employer

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Handbilling

Back 99

Where other forms of picket activity may be illegal, attempting to hand a written notice to boycott a product to an individual is allowed

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National Emergency Strikes

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Strikes that have substantial adverse impact on national economic or defense interests. Federal government uses three methods to deal with such strikes, 1. Presidential seizure or other intervention, 2. Procedures under the Railway Labor Act, 3. Procedures under the Labor Management Relations Act

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Grievance

Back 101

The core of contract administration and is defined as an employee's alleged violation of the labor agreement that is submitted for resolution

Front 102

Employee Voice

Back 102

Opportunity for an individual to offer input into management's decision making and discuss, even appeal, adverse employment actions

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Grievance Mediation

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Formal step in the grievance procedure designed to resolve grievances without the use of arbitration

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Directive or Results-Oriented Mediation

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Approach to grievance mediation where the goal is to bring the parties to a certain agreement that the mediator believes is appropriate and achievable. Mediator sits down with both parties who talk to the mediator directly, not to each other, with the agitated party going first

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Transformation Mediation

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Approach to grievance mediation where the mediator tries to get the parties to discover their own separate and mutual resources and to understand the other party's point of view. Serves as a good starting point from which to move on, if necessary, to other approaches to mediation

Front 106

Open-Door Policy

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Policy that encourages employees to resolve any workplace problems with their immediate supervisor because the supervisor is the person closest to the situation and may be aware the problems and may be in a position to offer a new perspective

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Ombudsperson

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A person employed by a company to help resolve personnel disputes. Functions as a “go-between” the aggrieved employee and the company manager

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Peer Review Panel

Back 108

Mix of employees, managers, and non managers that conduct a hearing in which the aggrieved employees tells his or her side of the story and presents witnesses

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Early Neutral Evaluation

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A process in which a neutral party is chosen jointly by the employee and the company to conduct an informal hearing at which the parties present their evidence and arguments. Purpose of the hearing is to narrow the issues and help the parties better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their positions

Front 110

Codified Relationships

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Stress the rights and privileges of union stewards and first line supervisors established through the labor agreement and various union and management publications

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Power Relationships

Back 111

Develop in situations where the supervisor and union stewards pursue differing interests or goals

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Empathetic Relationships

Back 112

Occur between individuals when each is aware of the other's situation and is guided by an understanding appreciation

Front 113

Third-and-One-half Step

Back 113

Management and union reps meet to discuss and trade grievances, dispatching several cases originally scheduled for arbitration

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Across the Board Increase

Back 114

A general wage increase that covers all the members of a bargaining unit, regardless of classification, grade or step level

Front 115

American Arbitration Association (AAA)

Back 115

A private nonprofit organization that, among other things, provides lists of qualified arbitrators to unions and employers and administers the arbitration process

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Back Pay

Back 116

Wages dues for past services, often the difference between money already received and a higher amount resulting from a change in wage rates

Front 117

Beck Notice

Back 117

Allows employees paying union dues to “opt out” of paying the portion of dies used towards political contributions or other activity not related to administration of the collective bargaining agreement. Requires employers to post notices where workplace postings are located and in other “conspicuous places”

Front 118

Broadbanding

Back 118

The replacement of a salary schedule or pay classification system that has numerous salary grades or levels with one that has only a few “bands” that each carry wider pay-range spreads

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Capricious

Back 119

A phrase describing an action or decision which is made without cause or without consideration of an objective standard, and is totally subject to the whim or pleasure of the person or party in power

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Card Check Agreement

Back 120

An agreement in which the employer agrees to recognize a union as the official bargaining agent of its employees once a third party verifies that a majority of the entire group of employees has signed union membership cards

Front 121

Coalition Bargaining

Back 121

When one or both parties engaged in collective bargaining represents a group of entities. e.g. A group of labor unions forms a coalition to negotiate a single agreement

Front 122

Community of Interest

Back 122

Factors, such as common supervision, job tasks, hours, working conditions, wages and benefits, etc. which determine which groups of employees the NLRB will include in an appropriate bargaining unit

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Concerted Activity

Back 123

Action taken by a group of employees in order to improve their working conditions or benefits. Bargaining law considers this type of activity protected from retaliation or reprisal

Front 124

Constructive Discharge

Back 124

IN some cases, a resignation provoked by management harassment so unbearable that the resignation may be construed by the court or an arbitrator as a form of discharge, restoring the employee's right to grieve or hold the employer liable for violating the employee's due process rights

Front 125

COPE

Back 125

Committee on Political Action or Political Action Committee of the union. Funded by voluntary contributions made by individual members for the purpose of supporting labor-friendly legislation and sometimes labor-endorsed political candidates

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Davis-Beacon Act

Back 126

Federal Law passed in 1931 that provides for payment of wages by contractors engaged in construction, alteration or repair of public buildings or Federal contracts that must be no lower than locally prevailing wages and benefits for the same kind of work. The secretary of labor fixes these wage rates

Front 127

Decertification

Back 127

An action by employees of a unit to remove the exclusive representation status of the existing union by the filing of petitions calling for an election to change to a different union, or to become unrepresented

Front 128

Double Breasted Operation

Back 128

A condition where an employer operates two closely related companies- one with a union contract and one without. Under such operation, the employer will normally assign most of the work to the non-union segment of its two companies

Front 129

Escalator Clause

Back 129

Union contract provision for the raising and lowering of wages according to changes in the cost of living index or a similar standard; most commonly referred to as a COLA

Front 130

Escape Clause

Back 130

A provision in maintenance of membership union contracts giving union members a period during which they may resign from union membership. Members who do not exercise this option must remain members for the duration of the contract

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Evergreen Clause

Back 131

An automatic renewal clause. Such a clause purports to continue the terms of the contract indefinitely until the parties negotiate and ratifies a successor contract

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Exempt Employee

Back 132

AN employee who is not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and is therefore not eligible for time-and-one-half monetary payments for overtime work. Generally paid a salary rather than hourly rate

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Excelsior List

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The list of names and addresses of employees eligible to vote in a union election. Normally provided by the employer to the union within 10 days after the election date has been set or agreed upon at the NLRB

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Fringe Benefits

Back 134

Negotiated contract provisions other than wages and hours; for example, health insurance, welfare fund, pensions

Front 135

Grandfather Clause

Back 135

An exception provided in a contract article that either exempts or continues a prior benefit to those covered employees who were employed prior to the negotiation of that article