Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Management
12-1
Internal Employees
Relations Defined
Human resource
activities associated
with movement of
employees within firm
after they become
organizational
members
12-2
Internal Employees Relations
Activities
• Promotion
• Transfer
• Demotion
• Resignation
• Discharge
• Layoff
• Retirement
• Discipline
• Disciplinary action
12-3
Employment at Will
• Unwritten contract created when
employee agrees to work for
employer
• No agreement as to how long parties
expect employment to last
• Approximately 2 of every 3 U.S.
workers depend almost entirely on
continued goodwill of employer
12-4
Not Included
12-5
Exceptions to Employment-at-Will
Doctrine
• Prohibiting terminations in violation of
public policy
• Permitting employees to bring claims
based on representations made in
employment handbooks
• Permitting claims based on the common-
law doctrine of good faith and fair dealing
12-6
How Employers Can Protect
Themselves
• No statements suggesting job security or
permanent employment
• Avoiding statements during job interviews,
such as “You can expect to hold this job as
long as you want” - Could be considered a
contractual agreement
• A person should not be employed without
a signed acknowledgment of the at-will
disclaimer
12-7
How Employers Can Protect
Themselves (Cont.)
• Clearly defining worker’s duties
• Providing good feedback on a regular
basis
• Conducting realistic performance
appraisals on a regular basis
• There is no law involving ethical
considerations for employment-at-will
12-8
Discipline and Disciplinary Action
12-9
Effective Disciplinary Action
Establish Rules
Observe Performance
12-11
Disciplinary Action
12-13
Hot Stove Rule
• Burns immediately
• Provides warning
• Gives consistent
punishment
• Burns impersonally
• Problem - All
situations are not the
same
12-14
Progressive Disciplinary Action
12-15
The Progressive Disciplinary Approach
Improper Behavior
Yes
Does this violation warrant disciplinary No
No Disciplinary Action
actions?
Yes
Does this violation warrant more than No
Oral Warning
an oral warning?
Yes
Does this violation warrant more than a No
Written Warning
written warning?
Yes
Does this violation warrant more than a No
Suspension
suspension?
Yes
Termination
12-16
Suggested Guidelines for Disciplinary Action
12-18
Problems in Administration of
Disciplinary Action
• Lack of training
• Fear
• The only one
• Guilt
• Loss of friendship
• Time loss
• Loss of temper
• Rationalization
12-19
Disciplinary Action Advice
12-20
Grievance Handling Under
Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Grievance - Employee’s dissatisfaction or
feeling of personal injustice relating to
employment
• Grievance procedure - Formal, systematic
process that permits employees to
express complaints without jeopardizing
their jobs
12-21
Grievance Procedure
• Assists management in seeking out
underlying causes of and solutions to
grievances
• Virtually all labor agreements include
some form of grievance procedure
• Normally well defined
• Usually restricted to violations of terms
and conditions of agreement
12-22
General Principles for Effective
Grievance Administration
• Grievances should be adjusted promptly.
• Procedures and forms used for airing
grievances must be easy to utilize and well
understood by employees and their
supervisors.
• Direct and timely avenues of appeal from
rulings of line supervision must exist
12-23
A Multiple-Step Grievance Procedure
Arbitrator
To Impartial
Third Party
President, Vice President for International Representative,
Labor Relations, etc. Local President, etc.
• Nature of offense
• Due process and procedural correctness
• Double jeopardy
• Past record of grievant
• Length of service with company
• Knowledge of rules
• Warnings
• Lax enforcement of rules
• Discriminatory treatment
12-26
Formats of Written Warnings
Name
Date
12-28
Grievance Handling in
Union-free Organizations
12-30
Ombudspersons
12-31
Termination
12-32
Termination of
Nonmanagerial/Nonprofessional
Employees
• If firm unionized,
termination procedure
well defined in labor
agreement
• Non-Union workers can
generally be terminated
more easily
12-33
Termination of Executives
• Economic
• Reorganization/downsize
• Philosophical differences
• Decline in productivity
• No formal appeals
procedure
12-34
Termination of Middle- and Lower-
Level Managers and Professionals
12-35
Demotion as Alternative to
Termination
• Demotions used as
alternative to discharge
• Demotion is process of
moving worker to lower
level of duties and
responsibilities, usually
involving reduction in
pay
12-36
Transfers
• Lateral movement of
worker within
organization
• Should not imply that
person is being either
promoted or demoted
12-37
Transfers Serve Several Purposes
• Necessary to reorganize
• Make positions available in primary
promotion channels
• Satisfy employees’ personal desires
• Deal with personality clashes
• Becoming necessary to have wide variety
of experiences before achieving promotion
12-38
Promotion
12-39
Resignation
• Exit interview
• Advance notice
of resignation
12-40
Analyzing Voluntary Resignations
• Exit interview - Means of revealing
real reasons employees leave jobs
which is conducted before employee
departs company
• Postexit questionnaire - Sent to
former employees several weeks
after leave organization to
determine real reason the employee
left.
12-41
Attitude Surveys: Means of
Retaining Quality Employees
Many long-term
employees
leave
organization
through
retirement
12-44
A Global Perspective: Getting
Information to Support Disciplinary
Action
• Multinational companies face significant
challenges when they try to encourage
whistle-blowing across a wide variety of
cultures
• Number of cultural factors that discourage
international employees from reporting
misconduct
12-45
12-46