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279 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
4/5ths or 80% Rule
'Rule of Thumb' by EEOC in determining Adverse Impact.

Implies that discrimination generally is considered to occur if the selection rate for a protected group (race, sex, or ethnic origin) is less than 4/5ths or 80% of the group's representation in the relevant labor market.
Abeyance
The condition of being undetermined.
Ad Hoc
Latin phrase meaning "for this."

An ad hoc committee exists only as the committee's special job remains to be done.
Ad Hoc Arbitrator
An arbitrator jointly selected by the parties to serve in a single arbitration.
ALJ or Administrative Law Judge
Official who only conducts hearings and makes recommendations to the NLRB or other government agency.
Adverse Impact
Also called Disparate Impact

Accidental

A concept tat refers to the rejection of a significantly higher percentage (discriminatory impact) of a protected class for emplyment, placement, or promotion when compared with the successful, non-protected class.
Agency Shop Clause
Requires employees who refuse to join the union to PAY EQUIVALENT AMOUNTS (service fee) equal to union dues and fees for the union's representative services.
Affirmative Action
A process in which employers identify problem areas, set goals, and take positive steps to guarantee equal employment opportunities for people in protected classes.
Ally Doctrine
Occurs when a STRUCK EMPLOYER EFFECTIVELY USES THE EMPLOYEES OF A NEUTRAL employer as strikebreakers.
Alter Ego
Latin phrase meaning "another self."

An alter ego company may result when the same owner and manager of one company shuts down operations and reopens with a new name, when it is actually the same business.
Alter Ego Doctrine
Used to determine whether an employer is secondary or neutral in a labor dispute.
ADR or Alternative Dispute Resolution
Term applied to different types of employee complaint or dispute resolution procedures.
AAA or American Arbitration Association
A private, non-profit organization founded to foster the study of arbitration, and to perfect the techniques of this voluntary method of dispute settlement, administering arbitration in accordance with the agreement of the parties.

Maintains panels from which arbitrators may be selected and provides administrative personnel and procedures for cases being arbitrated under the rules of the AAA.

Charges for servces.

140 West 51st Street
New York, NY 10020
Amicus Curiae
Latin phrase meaning "friend of the court."

A person who has no right to appear in a suit but is allowed to introduce argument or evidence, usually in the form of a brief, to protect his interests.
Animus
Latin phrase meaning "mind, attitude, intention or disposition."
Anti-union Animus
Official term for anti-union sentiments that may affect various management actions and result in union organizers, members or representatives being harassed.
Arbitrary
A phrase describing an action or decision, which is made without cause or without consideration of objective standard, and is fundamentally random in nature.
Grievance Arbitration
Means by which disputes arising from different interpretations of a labor contract are submit to an impartial 3rd party to make a decision, whose decision is generally final and binding on both parties.
Assessment Center
Process by which individuals are evaluated as they participate in as series of situations, instruments, and exercises that resemble what they might be called upon to handle on the job.

Designed to diagnose a person's development needs.
At-will
Also called Employment-at Will or EAW.

A common-law doctrine.

Describes the relationship between employer and employee that exists without a written contract or other agreement guaranteeing job security.

Employers have the right to hire, fire, demote, or promote whomever they choose, without reason or cause - unless there is a law or contract to the contrary.

At-will employees may be terminated at the will of the employer without reason or cause - with limited exceptions.

Employer is not required to provide a reason for the separation.

Employee has the right to quit when they choose.

See also Wrongful Termination, Arbitrary and capricious, and just cause.

There can be no written or implied contract, public policy, covenant of good faith, or statute.
Environmental Scanning
External

Process that systematically surveys, identifies, and interprets relevant events and conditions that may affect the organization.
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Prohibits employers rom paying workers of one sex less than the rate received by those of the opposite sex for job SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR or identical in SKILL, EFFORT, and RESPONSIBILITY and performed under SIMILAR WORK CONDITIONS.

NOT the same concept as Comparable Worth!
Equity Theory
Motivation theory that is based on the belief that people want to be TREATED FAIRLY.
Ergonomics
Interdisciplinary approach to designing equipment and systems in the work environment to address the physicals demands experienced by employees.
Essay Performance Appraisal Method
Trait approach to performance appraisal that requires the rater to compose a statement describing employee behavior.
Essential Job Functions
Fundamental job duties of the employment position that an individual with a disability holds or desires.

Does not include marginal functions of the position.
Ethnocentric Staffing
International staffing approach by which key jobs in both domestic and foreign operations are held by headquarter' management personnel, and subsidiaries are managed by expatriates from the home company.
Excelsior List
List filed by the employer within SEVEN DAYS after a union election has been directed by the NLRB, stating the names and addresses of all eligible bargaining unit employees.
Executive Order
An order issued by the U.S. President, which has the force and effect of law.
Exempt Employees
Classified as Executive, Administrative, Professional, or Outside Sales.

Employers are not required to pay overtime under FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act.
Exit Interview
An interview in which those leaving the organization are asked to identify the reasons for their departure and observations on their employment experience.
Expatriate
also called Home-Country National or HCN.

An employee working in a unit or plant who is not a citizen of the country in which the unit or plant is located, but is a citizen of the country in which the organization is headquartered.
Expectancy Theory
A motivational theory that is based on people's beliefs that their actions will lead to certain outcomes or rewards.
Fact-Finding
A method of resolving an impasse through investigation by a neutral third party who issues recommendations for settlement.
Featherbedding
Controversial practices which tend to LIMIT PRODUCTIVITY and create an increased demand for workers, such as demanding payment for work no longer performed by workers because of automation or robotification.

Occurs when the union REQUIRES THE EMPLOYMENT OF MORE WORKERS THAN IS NECESSARY.
Flexible Benefits Plan
Benefits plan that allows employees to select the benefits they prefer from groups of benefits established by the employer.
Flexible Spending Account
Account that allows employees to contribute pretax dollars to buy additional benefits.
Flextime
Ascheduling arrangement in which employees work a set number of hours per day buy vary starting and ending times.
FMCS
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
HCN
Home-Country National
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or FMCS
Service established as an independent agency of the Federal government under Title 11 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, to mediate and conciliate labor disputes in any industry affecting commerce other than those occurring in the railroad and air transport industries.

Also provides panels from which arbitrators may be selected.

Many union contracts provide for arbitration under the rules of the FMCS.

No charge for service.
Fiduciary Obligation
The obligation or trust imposed by law on officials of an organization making them liable for the proper use and disbursement of the organization's money, funds and property.

As applied to a pension fund trustee or a union officer, the duty to act exclusively for the benefit of the plan participants, or union members, respectively.
Formal Consent Agreement
Occurs when a preliminary investigation uncovers major Unfair Labor Practices or ULPs.

They include a written statement of facts underlying the charge, a waiver of the right to a public hearing, and consent to the issuance of a formal NLRB order.
Forced Distribution
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL METHOD in which ratings of employees' performance are distributed along a bell-shaped curve.
Forced-choice Method
A trait approach to performance appraisal that requires the rate to choose from statements designed to distinguish between successful and unsuccessful performance.

Example: appraiser is required to CHECK TWO OF FOUR STATEMENTS; one that the employee is "MOST LIKE" and one that the employee is "LEAST LIKE."
Free Riders
Term used by unions to designate non-members within the bargaining unit who obtain, without cost, the benefits of a contract gained through the efforts of the dues-paying members.
Front Pay
A remedy sometimes awarded by the courts to victims of discrimination where it is impractical to order reinstatement.

A Front Pay Award leaves the incumbent in place and orders the employer to pay the discriminatee an amount equivalent to what it is reasonable to estimate he or she would otherwise have earned in future employment.
Gainsharing Plans
Programs under which both employees and the organization share the financial gains according to a predetermined formula that reflects improved productivity and profitability, generally greater-than-expected gains in profits and/or productions.
Garnishment
A procedure, usually resulting from court action, whereby a portion of an employee's wages is deducted and paid directly to a creditor.
Geocentric Staffing
An international staffing method that ignores nationality in favor of ability and seeks the best people for key jobs.
Golden Parachute
A severance benefit that provides protection and security to executives in the event that they lose their jobs or their firms are acquired by other firms and they are negatively affected.
Good Faith Bargaining
A legal requirement arising out of Section 8(d) of the NLRA on both the union and the employer (where the union is certified as the exclusive representative).

Enforced by the NLRB.

Parties are required "to bargain collectively...to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to WAGES, HOURS, and other TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT, or the negotiation of an agreement or any question arising there under, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession..."
Grandfather
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.
Graphic Rating-Scale Method
A trait approach to performance appraisal whereby each employee is rated according to a scale of characteristics on a continuum.
Green-Circle Rate
LESS THAN

A rate paid to an individual that is below the range set for a particular job.
Grievance
A specific, formal notice of employee dissatisfaction expressed through an identified procedure.

A claim based upon the occurrence of a happening or a condition alleged to affect a member of the bargaining unit or which creates a question as to the interpretation or application of any provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The method for dealing with grievances is through a grievance procedure negotiated in the union contract.

If a grievance cannot be settled at the supervisory level, it can be appealed to higher levels of management, and finally to arbitration if so provided.
HR Audit
A formal research effort that evaluates the current state of HR management or activities in a particular function or organization.
Halo Rating Error
Rating a person high or low on all items because of ONE POSITIVE CHARACTERISTIC.
Hay Profile Method
Job evaluation technique using three factors: KNOWLEDGE, PROBLEM SOLVING (mental activity), and ACCOUNTABILITY.

Evaluates executive and managerial positions.
HMO
Health Maintenance Organization
Health Maintenance Organization or HMO
Organization of physicians and health care professionals that provide a wide range of services to subscribers and dependents on a prepaid basis.
Horn Rating Error
Rating a person low on all items because of ONE NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTIC.
Host-Country National
Native of the host country
Hostile Environment
A form of harassment that occurs when sexual conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual's performance and creates an offensive work environment.
Hot Cargo
Goods or products that come from a plant or production facility where there is a labor dispute in progress.
Hot Cargo Clauses
Past agreements between an employer and a union that permitted union members to refuse to handle goods made by nonunion labor or a struck plant.
HRIS
Human Resource Information System
Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
An integrated system designed to track and provide information used in HR decision-making.
Impasse
A deadlock in labor-management negotiations.
Improshare
Gainsharing program under which bonuses are based upon the overall productivity of the work team.
Independent Contractors
Workers who perform specific services on a contract basis.
Informational Picketing
Picketing aimed at informing the general public that the picketed employer is unfair in treatment of workers or refuses to employ members of a particular (or any) union.

Also called consumer picketing.
Injunction
An order of a court or agency requiring a person to do or not do a certain act. Failure to abide by the terms of a court injunction may result in the court arresting and jailing the person for contempt of court.

COMPELLING to do or not do.
Integrative Bargaining
Takes place when there is more than one issue to be resolved.
Interest Arbitration
The arbitrator, instead of interpreting and applying the terms of an agreement to decide a grievance, is authorized to determine what provisions the parties are to have in their collective bargaining agreement.
Job
A group of related activities and duties.
Job Analysis
A systematic process of obtaining information about jobs by determining what the duties, tasks, or activities of jobs are and the context in which jobs are performed.
Job Classification System
System of job evaluation by which jobs are classified and grouped according to a series of predetermined wage grades.
Job Description
Statement of the TASKS, DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES of a job to be performed.
Job Design
Outgrowth of job analysis that improves jobs through technological and human consideration in order to enhance organization efficiency and employee job satisfaction.
Job Enlargement
Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the NUMBER of different tasks to be performed.
Job Enrichment
Increasing DEPTH AND BREADTH of a job by adding more meaningful RESPONSIBILITIES, TASKS and DUTIES (planning, organizing, controling, and evaluation) to make the work more REWARDING and SATISFYING.
Job Posting and Bidding
Posting vacancy notices and maintaining lists of employees looking for positions.
Job Ranking System
Simplest and oldest system of job evaluation by which jobs are arrayed on the basis of their relative worth.
Job Specialization or Job Simplification
Involves standardizing work procedures and employing people in clearly defined and specialized tasks.
Job Specification
Statement of the needed KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES of the person who is to perform the job.
Judicial Review
A case brought before a court to determine if the decisions make by a labor board or other government agency are legal.
Jurisdiction
1. The boundaries or kuleana of a union's representation as determined usually by the type of work an employee performs. In construction organizing, for example, the question arises whether the work being done by a laborer more properly belongs to a carpenter or an electrician.

2. The boundaries or authority of a given court of law, which govern, for instance, where a suit or a claim should properly be filed.
Just Cause
A "due process" provision commonly negotiated into a collective bargaining agreement that requires the employer to demonstrate proof of an employee's guilt before taking disciplinary action like suspension, or termination. Without such a protection, common law generally allows employers to terminate employees "at-will" (without cause).

See also Arbitrary and Capricious, and At-Will.
KSA
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA)
Include education, experience, work skill requirements, personal requirements, mental and physical requirements, and working conditions and hazards.
Labor Relations Process
Logical sequence of four events:

1. Workers desire collective representation
2. Union begins its organizing campaign
3. Collective negotiations lead to a contract.
4. Contract is administered.
Leafleting
A union-organizing strategy in which pamphlets stating the union's cause are passed out to employees.
Leniency or Strictness Error
Performance-rating error in which the appraiser tends to give employees either unusually high or unusually low ratings.
Liquidated Damages
A court award available under some laws (Equal Pay Act) where the employer's violation was either willful or in reckless disregard of the law or the employee's rights there under.

Such awards generally provide for attorney fees and an amount equal to, and in addition to, the lost wages and benefits.
Lockout
Shutdown of a worksite by the employer to discourage union membership or activity or to force employees to meet the demands or economic terms of the employer.
LSI
Lump-Sum Increase
Lump-Sum Increase or LSI
A one-time payment of all or part of a yearly pay increase.
MBO
Management By Objectives
Management By Objectives or MBO
Performance management tool.

Philosophy of management that rates performance on the basis of employee achievement of goals set by mutual agreement of the employee and manager.

Specifies the performance goal that an individual hopes to attain within an appropriate length of time.
Management Forecasts
The opinions (judgements) of supervisors, department managers, or others knowledgeable about the organization's future employment needs.
Mandatory Issues
Those issues that are identified specifically by labor laws or court decisions as being subject to bargaining. These items MUST be negotiated at the request of either party and include PAY, BENEFITS, SENIORITY, and WORKING CONDITIONS.
MSDS
Material Safety Data Sheets
Material Safety Data Sheets or MSDS
Documents that contain vital information about hazardous substances.
Matrix Structure
Organizational structure that reflects both a functional and a divisional reporting orientation.

Creates dual rather than a single chain of command.
Mediation
The attempt by an impartial third party, called a mediator, to bring the parties in a dispute together and assist them to voluntarily agree when there is a dispute, or when impasse is eminent.

In the private sector, mediation services are provided by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which tracks the progress of negotiations in its jurisdiction. The mediator, however, has no power to force or award a settlement but works instead to persuade the parties to reach an agreement.
Mediator
Third party in a labor dispute who meets with one party and then the other in order to suggest compromise solutions or to recommend concessions from each side that will lead to an agreement.
Mentors
Individuals who coach, advise, and encourage individuals of lesser rank.
Mission Statement
A statement that specifies who the company is, what the company does, and where the company is headed.
MNC
Multi-National Corporation
Multi-National Corporation or MNC
Firm with independent business units operating in multiple countries.
NLRA
National Labor Relations Act
National Labor Relations Act or NLRA
The federal labor relations law which governs union organizing and collective bargaining in the private sector.
NLRB
National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board or NLRB
Administers the provision of the National Labor Relations Act or NLRA.
Narrative Appraisal
Refers to written, narrative appraisal methods such as essay, critical incidents, and field review.
National Emergency Strike
A strike that would affect an industry or a major part of it such that the national health or safety would be impeded.
Negative Reinforcement
Also called AVOIDANCE

When an individual works to avoid an undesirable reward.
Negligence
Failure to provide reasonable care where acts by employee who should not have been hired based on past history, and such failure results in injury to consumers or other employees.
Neutrality Agreement
Agreement by an employer to remain neutral during a union organizing drive.
No-Lockout Clause
An agreement in which the COMPANY agrees not to lock out workers during the duration of the contract.
No-Strike Clause
An agreement in which the UNION agrees not to strike during the duration of the contract.
Non-Directive Interview
An interview in which the applicant is allowed the maximum amount of freedom in determining the course of the discussion, while the interviewer carefully refrains from influencing the applicant's remarks.
Non-Contributory Plan
Pension plan in which all the funds for pension benefits are made solely by the employer.
Non-Exempt Employees
Employees who must be paid overtime according to the Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA.
Nominal Group Technique
Different than Delphi Technique.

Uses a variety of individuals to forecast ideas and assumptions.

The group MEETS face-to-face and a composite is compiled.
OJT
On-the-job training
On-the-job Training or OJT
Method by which employees are given hand-on experience with instructions from their supervisor or other trainer.
Open-Door Policy
Policy of settling grievances that identifies various levels of management above the immediate supervisor for employee contact.
Open Shop
A bargaining unit in a company or workplace at which the owrkers, though represented by a duly-elected union, are NOT REQUIRED TO PAY the union dues or service fees for representation which the union is nevertheless legally required to provide.
Organizational Picketing
Picketing not directed against an employer but aimed at persuading coworkers to join a particular union.
Orientation
Formal process of introducing and familiarizing new employees with the organization, their jobs, and their work units.
Outplacement
Services provided by organizations to help terminated employees find a new job - and to reduce the stress of job loss.
Outsourcing
Contracting outside the organization to have done that formerly was done by internal employees.
Paired Comparison
An appraisal method in which each employee is paired with every other employee and compared, one at a time, using the same scale for performance.
Past Practice
A particular working condition, benefit or custom that has been in existence and deeply ingrained over a period of time such that it is regarded as a part of the whole agreement and, therefore, enforceable by arbitrators.
Pattern Bargaining
Bargaining in which unions negotiate provisions covering wages and other benefits that are similar to those provided in other agreements existing within the industry or region.
Pay Compression
Situation in which pay differences among individuals with different levels of experience and performance in the organization become small.
Pay-for-Performance Standard
Standard by which managers tie compensation to employee effort and performance.
Pay Equity
The concept that the pay for jobs requiring comparable knowledge, skills and abilities should be similar even if actual duties and market rates differ significantly.
Peer Appraisal
Performance appraisal done by one's associate employees, generally on forms that are compiled into a single profile for use in the performance interview conducted by the employee's manager.
Pension Plans
Retirement benefits established and funded by employers and employees.
PA
Performance Appraisal
Performance Appraisal or PA
The process of determining how well employees do their jobs compared with a set of standards and communicating that information to those employees.
Performance Criteria
Standards commonly used for testing or measuring performances.
Permanent Arbitrator
An arbitrator who is selected to serve under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement for the life of the contract or a specified period of time.

The specific functions and responsibilities of the office of the permanent arbitrator are determined by the contract.
Permissive Subjects
Illegal

For collective bargaining are voluntary subjects for negotiations. Includes retirement benefits and managerial control.
Perquisites
Special or selected benefits provided to organizational executives.

Also called PERKS.
Piece-Rate System
A productivity-based compensation system in which an employee is paid for each unit of production.
Plaintiff
The one who sues.

The moving party in a civil lawsuit who is bringing the complaint against a defendant.
Point Factor System
Quantitative job evaluation procedure that determines the relative value of a job by the total points assigned to it.
Policy
Broad statement that reflects an organization's philosophy, objectives, or standards concerning a particular set of management or employee activities.
Polycentric Staffing
An international staffing method in which multinational corporations (MNC) treat each subsidiary as a distinct national entity with some decision-making autonomy and appoint host country nationals as managers.
Polygraph Tests
Lie Detector test.

Measures a person's respiration, blood pressure, and perspiration while they are asked a series of questions to determine if the responses are true.
Positional Negotiation
A type of contract negotiation in which the following outcomes occur:

1. People lock themselves into positions and find it difficult to move away
2. Parties lose sight of the underlying problems to be resolved.
3. Emphasis is placed on winning the position.
Precedent
An adjudged case or decision of a court of justice, considered as furnishing an example or authority for an identical or similar case arising later.

A lower court is expected to follow the precedents set in the higher courts.
Preemption
The right of one law over another in circumstances where the rights or remedies of the one law conflict with the other.

Generally, federal laws preempt state laws.
Pre-Experiment
A type of scientific research that utilizes one-shot case designs and one-group pretests/posttests to collect data.
Predictive Validity
Validity measured when test results of applicants are compared with subsequent performance, for example, applicants' test scores match criterion data obtained from those applicants/employees after they have been on the job for some indefinite period.
PPO
Preferred Provider Organization
Preferred Provider Organization or PPO
A group of physicians who establish an organization that guarantees lower health care costs to the employer.
Preponderance
A greater weight of evidence, or evidence, which is more believable and convincing in comparison to that, which has been presented by the other party in a suit or grievance.
Presumption
An advantage of proof legally accorded to one side in a suit or trial that in the absence of any evidence or without convincing evidence to the contrary that party's argument or version of the facts shall be accepted as true, and the burden of proof rests with the opposite side.
Pretext
A legal excuse to do something which otherwise would be illegal.

In discrimination cases, for instance, it may be shown that the apparently innocent motive behind an action may conceal a discriminatory intention.
Prima Facie
Latin phrase meaning 'on firt view' or 'on the surface.'

Utilized in EEOC cases, when a plaintiff presents evidence of a PRIMA FACIE case, the employer must articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory business reason for the decision.
Principled Negotiation
A type of contract negotiation based on four premises:

1. separate the people from th problem
2. focus on interests, not positions.
3. invent options for mutual gain
4. insist on objective criteria.
Procedure
Detailed, step-by-step description of the customary methods of handling activities.
Productivity
A measure of the quantity and quality of work done, considering the cost of the resources it took to do the work.
Portability
A pension plan feature that allows employees to move their pension benefits from one employer to another.
Profit Sharing
Any procedure by which an employer pays, or makes available to all regular employees, in addition to base pay, special current or deferred sums based upon the profits of the enterprise.
Progressive Discipline
Application of corrective measures by increasing degrees.
Programmed Instruction
A method of presenting new subject matter to students in a graded sequence of controlled steps.
Protected Class
Anti-discrimination laws only regard unequal or unfair treatment as unlawful discrimination when the victim is a member of a defined group known as a PROTECTED CLASS.

The first civil rights laws protected only FACE and COLOR. As the principle of discrimination evolved, more laws were passed and more groups were added.

Federal protected classes now include RACE, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN, RELIGION, SEX, AGE and DISABILITY.
Punitive Damages
A monetary award made by the court that goes beyond sumple reimbursement for losses suffered (actual or compensatory damages) and, in the manner of a fine, assesses the defendant an amount of cash designed to punish the defendant for his evil behavior or to make an example of him/her.
Quality Circle
A small group of employees who monitor productivity and quality and suggest solutions to problems.
Quid Pro Quo
Latin phrase meaning 'what for what' or 'this for that.'

Generally refers to sexual harassment issues that occur when an employee is forced to choose between an employer's sexual demands or forfeiting an economic benefit.
Quasi-Experiment
A type of scientific research that collects information at two or more points in time in order to study trends, cycles, and stability of data.
Ranking
Listing of all employees from highest to lowest in performance.
Rater Bias
Error that occurs when a rater's values or prejudices distort the rating.
Ratification
The internal voting process for the formal approval of the contract negotiated by a union.
Reasonable Accommodation
A modification, adjustment, or attempt by employers - without undue hardship, to adjust a job, the working conditions or schedules of a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunity.

Generally for employees with disabilities or religious preferences.

Must be generally affordable to the organization costing no more than approximately $250.
Recency Error
Performance-rating error in when a performance appraiser gives more weight to recent occurrences and discounts the employees' earlier performance during the appraisal period rather than on behavior through the appraisal period.
Recognition
The employer's acknowledgement of a union as the exclusive bargaining agent for the employees, given either voluntarily upon evidence of an employee petition, or by legal requirement after an election conducted by the government.
Recognition Picketing
Done to obtain the EMPLOYER'S recognition of the union as the bargaining representative of its employees.
Red-Circled Rate
An incumbent who is paid above the range set for the job.
Reengineering
Fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service and speed.
Regiocentric Staffing
An international staffing method in which organizations utilize a wider pool of managers spread over regional areas and provide them with a degree of regional autonomy.
Regression Analysis
Allows a person to predict ONE VARIABLE from knowledge ABOUT ANOTHER.
Reinforcement
A concept based on the law of effect, which states that people tend to repeat responses that give them some type of positive reward and avoid actions that are associated with negative consequences.
Reliability
The CONSISTENCY with WHICH A TEST MEASURES AN ITEM.

The degree to which interviews, tests, and other selection procedures yield comparable data over time and alternative measures.

Different than validity.
Repatriation
The process of bringing expatriates home from an international assignment.
Repetitive Motion Injuries
Injuries involving tendons of the fingers, hands, and arms that become inflamed from repeated stresses and strains.
Replacement Charts
Listings of current job-holders and persons who are potential replacements if an opening occurs.
Reserved Rights Doctrine
Also known as MANAGEMENT RIGHTS.

The concept that management's authority is supreme in all matters except those it has expressly conceded to the union in the collective agreement - particularly in the area to manage, direct, and control its business; including to hire, suspend, or discharge employees and establish policy.

Often a contact clause that lists certain management's rights, prerogatives, or authority.
Retaliatory Discharge
Occurs when an employer punishes an employee for engaging in a protected activity, such a filing a discrimination charge or opposing unlawful employer practices.
Retrenchment
Adoption of a smaller scale of operations in an organization, often resulting in layoffs as part of the effort to reduce the work force.
Reverse Discrimination
Act of giving preference to members of protected classes to the extent that unprotected individuals believe they are suffering discrimination.
Rights Arbitration
The appeal of an unresolved grievance to an impartial arbitrator for final and binding determination.

Sometimes called "grievance arbitration."

The arbitrator determines the meaning of the contract/MOU and clarifies and interprets its terms.

Arbitration, where it is possible, is usually the last step in the grievance procedure.
Rucker Share of Production Plan
A program whereby certain cost savings resulting from an employee's effort will be shared with all employees.

Incentive pay plans focusing on efficiency or cost reduction involve defining a standard or normal cost and then rewarding employees on a schedule that is achieved at less than standard cost.
Rule
Reflects management decisions that actions be taken or avoided in a given situation.
Scab
A union term generally applied to a worker who refuses to join coworkers in a strike.

Sometimes applied to members of a non-striking union who pass through a striking union's picket line.
Scanlon Plan
Bonus incentive plan using employee and management committees to gain cost-reduction improvements.
Scientific Method
A systematic method for DIAGNOSING problems, FINDING solutions, and EVALUATING the effectiveness of activities.
Secondary Boycott
Is an Unfair Labor Practice by which a union attempts to strike a neutral third-party in order to put pressure on the company - generally involved in a certification or decertification action.

See also BOYCOTT and HOT CARGO.
Selection Ratio
The number of job applicants compared with the number of persons hired.
Self-Efficacy
An aspect of motivation that refers to the judgements people make about their abilities to handling prospective situations.
Self-directed Work Team
An organizational team composed of individuals who are assigned a cluster of tasks, duties, and responsibilities to be accomplished.
Sexual Harassment
Unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature in the working environment that subjects the worker to ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS or creates a HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.
Sexual Harassment
Unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature in the working environment that subjects the worker to ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS or creates a HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.
Similar-to-me Error
Performance-rating error in which an appraiser inflates the evaluation of an employee because of a mutual personal connection.
Situational Interview
An interview in which an applicant is given a hypothetical incident and asked how he or she would respond to it.
Skill-Based Pay
Pay based on how many skills employees have or how many jobs they can perform.
Slowdowns
Partial or intermittent strikes that are not protected and which may result in discipline or discharge of the workers involved.
Solicitation
Asking, selling.

An employer may have a "no solicitation" rule to prohibit employees from union organizing at work, but the rule may not be valid if the employer allows other forms of solicitation such as fundraising ticket sales.
Statute of Limitations
The provisions in any law or laws that limit the time when a plaintiff may bring suit or the time before which the defendant may be liable for losses or damages.
Specialization
Also called Vertical Specialization.

A hierarchical division of labor that distributes formal authority and establishes how critical decision will be made.
Stipulation
An agreement between the parties to mutually accept some facts or evidence as true and undisputed.
Stipulation Election
NLRB election option where the parties seek settlement of representation questions such as the NLRB's jurisdiction or the appropriate employees to be included in the bargaining unit.
Stipulation for Certification
NLRB Form 652

An agreement between the union and the employer that the NLRB's Regional Director merely investigates challenges or objections and makes recommendations to the Board in D.C., but the NLRB then makes the final decision.

See also Consent Agreement
Straight Piecework
Incentive plan under which employees receive a certain rate for each unit produced.
Strategic Planning
An organization's process of defining its strategy or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy.

An organization must understand its current position and the possible avenues through which it can pursue a particular course of action.
Stress
Any adjustive demand caused by physical, mental, or emotional factors that requires coping behavior.
Strike
Work stoppage in which union members refuse to work in order to put pressure on an employer.
Jurisdictional Strike
Refers to a concerted refusal to work undertaken by a union to assert its members' right to particular job assignments and to protect the assignment of disputed work to members of ANOTHER UNION or to unorganized workers.
Structured Interview
An interview in which a set of standardized questions having an established set of answers is used for all job applicants.
Subpoena
A process document issued out of court requiring a witness to attend. A subpoena DUCES TECUM further requires the witness to bring relevant books or records.
Substance Abuse
Use of illicit substances or the misuse of controlled substances, alcohol, or other drugs.
Substantial Evidence
A considerable weight of relevant evidence that a reasonable mind would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.
Succession Planning
Different than a replacement plan.

Process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals and talent to meet organizations needs - generally 24+ months into the future.
SUBS
Supplemental Unemployment Benefits
Supplemental Unemployment Benefits or SUBS
Plan that enables an employee who is laid off to draw, in addition to state unemployment compensation, weekly benefits from the employer that are paid from a fund created for this purpose.
Surveillance
Unfair labor practice in which a company focuses its surveillance efforts on union activity.
Sweetheart Contracts
Illegal

Outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act

Prohibited employers from establishing company-sponsored labor organizations.
SWOT Analysis
Method of systematic group pr individual reflection of an organization.
SWOT
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
Sympathy Strike
Strike that expresses one union's support for another involved in a dispute, even though the first union has no disagreement with the employer.
Task
A distinct identifiable work activity composed of motions.
Task Analysis
Process of determining what the content of a training program should be on the basis of a study of the tasks and duties involved in the job.
Task Force
A TEMPORARY grouping of personnel and resources for the accomplishment of a specific objective.
Task Significance
Extent to which the job has substantial impact on other people.
Tax Equalization Plan
Compensation plan used to protect expatriates from negative tax consequences.
Team or Group Incentive Plan
Compensation plan where all the team members receive an incentive bonus payment when production or service standards are met or exceeded.
Telecommuting
Use of microcomputers, networks, telecommunication equipment and other technology to do work remotely that is traditionally done in the workplace.
TCN
Third Country Nationals
Third-Country Nationals or TCN
Employee who is a citizen of one country, working in a second country, and employed by an organization headquartered in a third country.

Natives of a country other than the home country or the host country.
Threat of Reprisal
Any threat that is intended to intimidate or coerce employees to act in a certain way.
TQM
Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management or TQM
A comprehensive set of management processes, principals and practices whose core ideas include understanding customer needs, doing things right the first time, and striving for continuous improvement.
Tort
A wrongful act that violates a person's private or civil rights and creates a liability under which the victim of the violation may sue the person or persons responsible in civil court.
Transfer
Placement of an individual in another job for which the duties, responsibilities, status, and remuneration are approximately equal to those of the previous position.
Transactional Leadership
Leadership approach that offers the promise of reward or the threat of discipline to motivate employees.
Transformational Leadership
Leadership approach that motivates employees by inspiring them to join in a mutually satisfying achievement.
Trend Analysis
Quantitative approach to forecasting labor demand based on an organizational index such as sales.
Tripartite Panel
A THREE member arbitration, which one member represents management, one member represents the union, and one member is neutral who is selected by the parties to act as chair.
True Experiments
Proper test of a hypothesis is the comparison of the posttests between the treatment group and the control group. Most common design is the Pretest-Posttest Group Design (often called the 'classic' experimental design) with random assignment.

See also Solomon Four-Group Design.
Solomon Four-Group Design
More sophisticated true experiment that uses four different comparison groups.
Twenty-Four Hour Rule
Employers and unions are prohibited from making election speeches on company time to massed assemblies of employees within 24 hours before the schedule time for conducting an election.
ULP
Unfair Labor Practice
Unfair Labor Practice or ULP
Action that violates provisions of national (NLRA) or state labor relations acts that deny employees their rights and benefits under labor law.

Both unions and employers can be guilty of ULPs.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
Procedural document published in the Federal Register to assist employers in complying with federal regulations against discriminatory actions.
Union
Formal association of workers that promotes the interests of its members through collective action.
Union Shop
All workers must join the union.

Bargaining unit in a company or workplace in which all workers whom the union is legally required to represent must eithe pay the union dues or a service fee for its representation.

Provision of the labor agreement that requires employees to join the union as a requirement for their employment, usually 30 to 90 days after being hired.
Unlawful Circumvention
Occurs when an employer's attempts at direct communication with employees begin at the same time as (or before) contract negotiations.
Validity
The extent to which a test actually measures what it says it measures.
Vesting
Contractual right or guarantee by which an employee, after a designated period of employment, has accrued benefits to participate at retirement age, regardless of their employment status at that time - either a 'Cliff' or 'Step' schedule.
Voluntary Arbitration
Occurs when both parties agree to submit their differences to arbitration.
Voter Eligibility
Determined by whether or not an employee is on the payroll before the date of the election.
Waiver
The intentional (knowing) and voluntary relinquishment of a known right.
Wage-Rate Compression
Compression of differentials between job classes, particularly the differential between hourly workers and their managers.
Weingarten Rule or Right
Right to representation during a company interrogation(s).

NLRB v. Weingarten, Inc in 1975 - Supreme Court upheld the NLRB's determination that Section 7 of the NLRA creates a statutory right in an employee to refuse to submit without union representation to an interview which he reasonably fears may result in his discipline.

In July 2000 the NLRB ruled that non-unionized employees also have the right to represented by a coworker at any investigatory interview conducted by an employer, if the employee reasonably believes the interview could lead to disciplinary action against the employee.

In 2004 the NLRB again decided that non-union employees are NOT entitled to these rights under the NLRA reversing the previous decision in July of 2000.
Whistle Blowing
Occurs when an employee exposes illegal employer conduct to a person or organization that can take corrective action.
Wildcat Strikes
Work stoppages that occur during the life of the collective bargaining agreement WITHOUT APPROVAL OF UNION LEADERSHIP, in violation of a no-strike clause, and of short duration.
Without Prejudice
This means that the right or privilege of the complainant to sue again on the same cause of action is not thereby lost or waived when a case or grievance is being dismissed.

Phrase used expressly to prevent the dismissal from operating as a bar to a subsequent suit or prejudice.
Workers' Compensation Insurance
Federal or state-mandated insurance provided to workers to defray the loss of income and cost of treatment due to work-related injuries or illness.
Writ
A process document of a court ordering a public officer or a private person to do a certain act.
Wrongful Termination
Civil action or lawsuit brought by a discharged employee against the employer, alleging that the termination violated or breached a statutory right, express public policy, or an employment contract.
Yellow Dog Contracts
UNLAWFUL CONTRACTS THAT FORCE EMPLOYEES to agree NOT TO JOIN a union OR PARTICIPATE IN any UNION activity as a condition of employment.
Yield Ratio
Percentage of applicants from a recruitment source that make it to the next phase of the selection process.
Zipper Clause
Contract in which both parties waive the right to demand bargaining on any matter not dealt with int he contract, whether or not that matter was contemplated when the contract was negotiated or signed.