Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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ch13 150313045815 Conversion Gate01
ch13 150313045815 Conversion Gate01
• Employee Rights
Guarantees of fair treatment from employers,
particularly regarding an employee’s right to privacy.
• Negligence
Failure to provide reasonable care where such failure
results in injury to consumers or other employees.
• Employment-at-Will Principle
The right of an employer to fire an employee without
giving a reason and the right of an employee to quit
when he or she chooses.
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–4
Employment-at-Will Doctrine and Wrongful
Discharge
Violation of Public
Policy
Exceptions to
Implied Contract
Employment-at- Will
Implied Covenant
• Constructive Discharge
An employee voluntarily terminates his or her
employment because of harsh, unreasonable
employment conditions placed on the individual by
the employer.
Employers cannot accomplish covertly what they are
prohibited by law from achieving overtly.
Courts have generally adopted a “reasonable person”
standard for upholding constructive discharge claims.
• Retaliation Discharge
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination
in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities
Act, and other employment laws prohibit employers
from retaliating against employees when they
exercise their rights under these statutes.
Proper handling of these employees involves:
Taking no adverse employment action against
employees when they file discrimination charges.
Treating the employees consistently and objectively.
Harboring no animosity toward the employees when they
file©discrimination
Copyright 2004 South- lawsuits.
Western. All rights reserved. 13–10
Plant Closing Notification
•• Substance
SubstanceAbuse
Abuseand
andDrug
Drug
Testing
Testing
Employee
Employee •• Searches
SearchesandandSurveillance
Surveillance
Privacy
Privacy •• Access
Accessto toPersonnel
PersonnelFiles
Files
versus
versus •• E-mail
Employer E-mailand
andVoice
VoiceMail
Mail
Employer •• Conduct
Obligations ConductOutside
Outsidethe
the
Obligations Workplace
Workplace
•• Genetic
GeneticTesting
Testing
Organization
Organization Violation
Violationof
of Investigation
Investigation
Definition
Definitionof
of
discipline
discipline organizational
organizational of
ofemployee
employee
discipline
discipline
policy
policy rules
rules offense
offense
Disciplinary
Disciplinary Progressive
Progressive Due
DueProcess
Process Just
Justcause
cause
Interview
Interview discipline
discipline
Discharge
Discharge
Copyright
Figure 13.7
© 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved.
Presentation Slide 13–3
13–21
Common Disciplinary Problems
• Attendance • Dishonesty And Related
Unexcused absence Problems
Chronic absenteeism Theft
Unexcused/excessive Falsifying employment
tardiness application
Leaving without Willfully damaging
permission organizational property
• Work Performance Punching another
employee’s time card
Not completing work
assignments Falsifying work records
Producing substandard
products or services
Not meeting established
Copyright © 2004requirements
production South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–22 Figure 13.8a
Common Disciplinary Problems (cont’d)
• On-the-job Behaviors
Intoxication at work Sleeping on the job
Insubordination Using abusive or
threatening language
Horseplay
with supervisors
Smoking in unauthorized
Possession of narcotics
places
or alcohol
Fighting
Possession of firearms
Gambling or other weapons
Failure to use safety devices Sexual harassment
Failure to report injuries
Carelessness
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–23 Figure 13.8b
Implementing Organizational Rules
• Hot-Stove Rule
Rule of discipline that can be
compared with a hot stove in
that it gives warning, is
effective immediately, is
enforced consistently, and
applies to all employees in
an impersonal and unbiased
way.
• Definitions of Discipline
Treatment that punishes.
Orderly behavior in an organizational setting.
Training that molds and strengthens desirable
conduct or corrects undesirable conduct and
develops self-control.
• Conduct of an Interview
Concentrate on how the offense violated the
performance and behavior standards of the job.
Avoid getting into personalities or areas unrelated to
job performance.
Give the employee must be given a full opportunity to
explain his or her side of the issue.
• NLRB v Weingarten,Inc.
The Supreme Court upheld an NLRB ruling in favor of
the employee’s right to representation during an
investigative interview in a unionized organization.
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–30
Approaches to Discipline
• Progressive Discipline
Application of corrective measures by increasing
degrees.
Employees always know where they stand regarding
offenses.
Employees know what improvement is expected of them.
Employees understand what will happen next if
improvement is not made.
• Positive, or Non-punitive, Discipline
Discipline that focuses on the early correction of
employee misconduct, with the employee taking total
responsibility for correcting the problem.
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–31
Positive Discipline Procedure
• “ADR”
The term applied to different types of employee
complaint or dispute-resolution procedures.
• ADR Procedures
Step-Review Systems
Peer-Review Systems
Open-Door Policy
Ombudsman System
Mediation
Arbitration
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–37 Presentation Slide 13–6
Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures
• Step-Review System
System for reviewing employee complaints and
disputes by successively higher levels of
management.
• Peer-Review System
A group composed of equal numbers of employee
representatives and management appointees.
Functions as a jury since its members weigh
evidence, consider arguments, and after deliberation,
vote independently to render a final decision.
• Open-Door Policy
A policy of settling grievances that identifies various
levels of management above the immediate
supervisor for employee contact.
• Ombudsman
A designated individual from whom employees may
seek counsel for the resolution of their complaints.
They do not have power to overrule the decision
made by an employee’s supervisor, but they should
be able to appeal the decision up the line if they
believe an employee is not being treated fairly.
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–40
Third-party Dispute Resolution
• Mediation
The use of an impartial neutral to reach a
compromise decision in employment disputes
• Mediator
A third party in an employment 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.
• Arbitration
The use of an impartial neutral party as decision
maker to resolve an employment labor dispute by
imposing a binding final decision on all parties
involved in the dispute.
• Arbitrator
Third-party neutral who resolves a labor dispute by
issuing a final decision in the disagreement.
• Ethics
The set of standards of conduct and moral judgments
that help to determine right and wrong behavior.
Provides cultural guidelines—organizational or
societal—that help decide between proper or
improper conduct.
• Code of Ethics
A written set of standards of conduct (ethical values)
that governs relations with employees and the public.
Provides a basis for the organization, and individual
managers, to evaluate their plans and actions.
Copyright © 2004 South-
Western. All rights reserved. 13–43