Employee Rights and HR Communications

1
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management Eighth
Edition DeCenzo and Robbins
Chapter 4 Employee Rights and HR Communications
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Introduction

• Employee rights have become one of the more
  important human resource issues.
• The U.S. Constitution, laws, and Supreme Court
  rulings have increasingly constrained employer
  actions related to employee rights.

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• Privacy Act of 1974
• Requires government agencies to make available to
  employees information contained in their
  personnel files.
• Employees may also have the right to review
  letters of recommendation made on their behalf.
• Similar state laws apply to state and
  private-sector employees.
• Restrictions include employee waivers of right to
  review and procedures which stipulate when and
  how a file can be accessed.

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• Privacy Act of 1974
• Computerized information systems add more
  complexities and potential flexibility to
  employee records.
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1971
• Extension to the Privacy Act
• Requires employers to notify employees that their
  credit is being checked
• Provide additional information to applicants who
  are negatively affected by a credit check.
• Information used must be job relevant.

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
• requires government agencies, federal
  contractors, and those receiving federal funds of
  25,000 or more to actively pursue a drug-free
  environment.
• Covered organizations
• must establish and disseminate policies
• provide substance-abuse awareness programs

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
• Companies regulated by the Department of
  Transportation and Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  must test employees in certain jobs for drugs.

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• Drug-free policies must include
• What is expected of employees
• Penalties for infractions of policies
• Substance abuse awareness programs
• Disseminated to all employees

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
• Prohibits employers in the private sector from
  using lie-detector tests in all employment
  decisions.
• May still be used during investigations of
  suspected criminal activity
• Employees can challenge the results of a
  polygraph.

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
  of 1988
• Plant Closing Bill
• Protects employees from unexpected plant
  closings.
• The law does recognize circumstances in which
  advance notice is impossible.

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Employment Rights Legislation and Its HRM
Implications

• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
  of 1988
• Organizations employing 100 or more individuals
• 60 days notice in advance
• Close the facility or lay off 50 or more workers
• Penalty
• One days pay and benefits for each days notice

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Drug Testing
• The severity of substance abuse in organizations
  has led to use of drug testing even by
  organizations not covered by the Drug-Free
  Workplace Act.
• Drug testing of current employees typically
• Offers rehabilitation to those who fail
• Communicates that drugs will not be tolerated

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Drug Testing
• Should be done after a job offer is made.
• Those who fail are generally no longer
  considered.
• Companies are
• Moving to more precise tests by using ones that
  do not involve body fluids
• Communicating clear policies and procedures
• Relating the testing program to safety and job
  performance.

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Honesty Tests
• Written tests to get applicants to reveal
  information about their integrity.
• Legal alternative to polygraph
• Used to predict theft and drug use
• Multiple questions on the same topic to assess
  consistency of responses.
• Should not be used as the sole criterion for a
  hiring decision.

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Whistle-blowing
• occurs when an employee reports his/her employer
  to an outside agency over what the employee
  believes is an illegal or unethical practice.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act protects employees from
  retaliation for reporting company wrongdoing.
• Laws protecting whistle-blowers vary by state.
• Many firms have voluntarily adopted policies to
  protect employees who identify problems.

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Employee Monitoring and Workplace Security
• Interests are protected against
• Theft
• Revealing of trade secrets to competitors
• Using the customer database for personal gain

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Employee Monitoring and Workplace Security
• Must balance these security needs with employee
  rights.
• Develop and communicate policies for monitoring
• computer
• e-mail
• telephone

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Current Issues Regarding Employee Rights

• Workplace Romance
• Some companies try to prevent relationships
  between employees because of potential
  discrimination or sexual harassment issues
• Others view romance as having a positive effect.
• Many companies have issued policies and
  guidelines on how relationships at work may
  exist.

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The Employment-at-Will Doctrine

• The doctrine, based on common law, allows
  employers to dismiss employees at any time for
  any reason.
• Has been modified to prohibit termination based
  on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or
  disability.

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The Employment-at-Will Doctrine

• Exceptions to the Doctrine
• Contractual relationship A legal agreement
  exists defining how employee issues are handled.
• Statutory considerations Federal and/or state
  laws can create exceptions
• Public policy violation Employees cannot be
  fired for disobeying an illegal order from the
  employer

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The Employment-at-Will Doctrine

• Exceptions to the Doctrine
• Implied employment contract verbal or written
  statements made by members of the organization,
  such as promises of job security or statements in
  an employee handbook.
• Breach of good faith An employer breaches a
  promise or abuses its managerial powers.

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Discipline and Employee Rights

• Discipline
• A condition where employees conduct themselves in
  accordance with the organizations rules and
  standards of acceptable behavior.

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Discipline and Employee Rights

• Factors to consider when disciplining
• Seriousness of the problem
• Duration of the problem
• Frequency and nature of the problem
• Extenuating factors
• Degree of socialization
• History of organizations discipline practices
• Management backing

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Discipline and Employee Rights

• The most frequent violations requiring
  disciplinary action involve
• Attendance
• On-the-job behaviors
• Dishonesty
• Outside activities

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Discipline and Employee Rights

• Disciplinary Guidelines
• Make disciplinary action corrective rather than
  punitive.
• Make disciplinary action progressive i.e. verbal
  warning, written warning, suspension, dismissal.

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Discipline and Employee Rights

• Disciplinary Guidelines
• Follow the Hot-stove rule i.e. immediate
  response ample warning consistency impersonal.
  
• Allow employees to have a representative present
  for disciplinary meetings.

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Discipline and Employee Rights

• Disciplinary Actions
• Written verbal warning
• Written warning
• Suspension
• Dismissal

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Employee Counseling

• This approach is most appropriate when a
  performance problem is not amenable to training
  and development or mentoring and coaching.

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Employee Counseling

• Listen to the employee to uncover the reason for
  poor performance.
• Focus on performance-related behaviors
• Get the employee to accept the problem, and work
  to find solutions.
• Managers are not expected to solve employees
  personal problems
• Employee Assistance Program

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Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights

• Why Use an Employee Handbook?
• Helps employees learn about the company
• Provides central information source concerning
  policies, work rules and benefits.
• Helps ensure that HRM policies will be fair,
  equitable, and consistently applied.

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Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights

• Why Use an Employee Handbook?
• Creates sense of security and commitment
• Can be used to provide information to recruits.
• Caution Use disclaimer to avoid handbook being
  interpreted as implied contract.
• Must be seen as useful, concise, well-organized
  and must be continually updated.

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Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights

• Using Information Technology for Employee
  Communications
• Provides greater flexibility and timeliness of
  information.
• Networked communication - e-mail, instant
  messaging, voice intranets and extranets, and the
  talking Internet.
• Wireless communications - microwave signals,
  satellites, radio waves and radio antennas, and
  infrared light rays

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Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights

• Complaint Procedures
• Step 1 Employee-supervisor
• Step 2 Employee-employer relations
• Step 3 Employee-department head
• Step 4 Employee-president

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Using Employee Communications to Enhance Employee
Rights

• Why Companies Support Suggestion Programs
• Allow employees to tell management what they
  perceive they are doing right or wrong
• Connected to other management systems, such as
  continuous improvement processes
• Suggestions must be acknowledged and employees
  recognized for their efforts