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Human Resource Management: Help and Review12 chapters | 214 lessons
Dr. Loy has a Ph.D. in Resource Economics; master's degrees in economics, human resources, and safety; and has taught masters and doctorate level courses in statistics, research methods, economics, and management.
Malia was recently promoted to human resources (HR) manager for Soupies. Soupies is a company that makes high-protein soups for people on the go. Now that Malia is in HR, she will be one of the management representatives who help administer the collective bargaining agreement, the contract negotiated between labor and management.
Once a union is established, it will go through contract negotiations every so many years. Soupies renegotiates every five years. After the contract is ratified, it goes through a process to implement it. Then, the contract has to be administered. Malia is now a part of this process.
Contract administration involves the implementation and enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement. Working to prevent conflict between labor and management is key to a successful administration.
Even though she has a good relationship with union representatives, Malia is intimidated by this process because it is new to her. She wants to avoid any conflicts because they are costly and time consuming. After doing some research, she comes up with multiple issues that affect contract administration. Because Soupies is so new and profitable, Malia wants to make sure everything is in place to keep production humming, so she narrowed down her focus to several important issues.
Technological impact, the influence of modernization on the work environment, can affect contract administration in a variety of ways. Soupies will need to make decisions on whether to automate certain activities, how much to involve employees in decision-making, what labor skills are needed, and how much to monitor production. Let's see how technology could impact contract administration.
Job security is another area that can influence contract administration. Under union contracts, employers can't threaten employees with termination. It's also important that employees are not placed into undesirable work assignments as punishment. Also, if any restructuring occurs, the changes should be cleared through the union.
For example, if Malia punished an employee by forcing a work transfer to a shift that is undesirable, she would be in violation of the contract. Malia needs to make sure that anything related to job placement be cleared with the union.
Subcontracting and outsourcing work is usually a problem for unions. It means fewer jobs for those who are members. Let's say Soupies needs a new database to track its soups. If Soupies' management chooses to send this to an outside company, and meet a need by temporarily assigning it to an outside vendor, this would be subcontracting. Soupies' union will need determine if it is necessary.
Once the database is sent out to a contractor, Soupies may want to outsource the maintenance of it. This is a permanent way to delegate its management.
Work scheduling consists of how many hours employees work and when those are worked. It is something that is specified in union contracts. For example, any more than 40 hours a week or 8 hours a day is considered overtime. Malia knows that in the Soupies contract, it's very clear that scheduling is done by seniority. Otherwise, it is a contract violation.
Three types of policies can influence contract administration. These are seniority, affirmative action, and employee training. Malia, for example, will need to work with the union to develop and implement policies on each.
After labor and management agree to a collective bargaining agreement, the contract must be administered. Contract administration takes both labor and management, and there are multiple issues that can affect it. In this lesson, we looked at several.
Technological impact has elements to it that are important to consider. Automation advances, such as replacing a person with a machine, is just one. Maintaining an HPWO is also difficult. Deskilling of the workforce as well as problems with implementing any type of electronic monitoring need to be considered.
Job placement is another complex issue. Job security (including work assignments, restructuring, and transfers) needs to involve labor and management. We also have to consider project management, which covers activities that are subcontracted or outsourced. Similarly, work scheduling is another aspect to keep in mind.
And finally, it's important to remember that implementing certain policies will also be part of administering the contract. These policies include seniority benefits, affirmative action, and employee training programs. It will take patience on the part of both labor and management to work through these issues.
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Human Resource Management: Help and Review12 chapters | 214 lessons