Category: Archive

Issue:
To increase productivity by encouraging employee involvement in decision-making, your non-union company decides to create an Employee Policy Review Committee to meet at work on company time. Management selects employees to serve on the Committee from a group of volunteers. At the Committee’s first meeting, management informs the selected employees that they will act as employee representatives by gathering their coworkers’ ideas regarding existing policies or the need for new policies and ultimately making policy recommendations to management. After several meetings, the Committee recommends a no-tobacco policy and a proposal for 4-day workweek. Management accepts some of the Committee’s proposals and rejects others.

Several months after the Committee’s formation, the NLRB serves you with a complaint filed by a union, claiming that the Employee Policy Review Committee is an unlawfully dominated labor organization. Do the union’s allegations have merit?

Answer:
Yes. An employer’s creation of or involvement with an employee committee is unlawful if:

• The committee is a “labor organization;” and
• The employer has dominated or interfered with the formation or administration of the committee.

In a case involving almost identical facts, the NLRB ruled that such a committee was an unlawfully dominated labor organization. The committee was a “labor organization” because it made proposals on behalf of all employees concerning terms and conditions of employment, which management either accepted or rejected. The company had unlawfully “dominated” the committee because management created and announced the committee, determined the structure and function of the committee, selected the members, chose the subjects they were to address, and allowed the meetings to be held on site during work hours.

When is a committee a labor organization?
An organization is a labor organization if employees participate in it and if it exists, even in part, for the purpose of “dealing with” the employer concerning grievances, labor disputes wages, rates of pay, hours of employment or other terms and conditions of work. If a group of employees has a “pattern or practice” of making proposals to management and management responds—either by word or by deed—by rejecting or accepting those proposals, “dealing” is probably present.

When does an employer unlawfully dominate the committee?
Ask whether the employer created the structure and function of the committee. If the group is created by management, management determines the group’s structure and function, and the group’s existence depends on management’s approval, it will probably be found to be dominated by the employer. Ask how much independence the committee really has. If the employee group has no independent existence outside of the employer’s active involvement and support, it is probably unlawfully dominated.

Cautions for HR concerning employee committees:

• Before implementing new employee participation programs, consult with legal counsel.
• Do not allow any team activity to “represent” the views of a group of employees.
• Teams should not be used as “bargaining agents” to management or for management interests. There is a difference between communicating information and initiating proposals for management action.
• Management members of teams should not be able to veto any team decisions. Management should participate only if there is a majority rule (not consensus, which can be interpreted as a veto) or in an advisory or observer role.
• If a team or an employee committee is permanent, rotate membership.
• Teams should be advised that their powers are management’s powers. In no instance are teams representative of employees. The ability of the team to make binding decisions must be clearly defined.
• Avoid allowing management to direct the work of the employee group.
• Don’t assume that there are any “safe” areas for any type of committee action. Care should be exercised in every instance.
• If a committee is given decision-making authority, management cannot veto the decisions.
• If a union is present, do not proceed without union approval.
• Consider exploring alternatives such as focus groups and attitude surveys to collect information instead of establishing employee committees.

Cite: National Labor Relations Act, Section 2(5); EFCO Corp (1998) 372 NLRB No. 71, 1999-00 CCH NLRB 15,944; Electromation, Inc., (1992) 309 NLRB No. 163, 1992-93 CCH NLRB 17,609; Electromation, Inc. v. NLRB (7thCir 1994) 128 LC 11,181).

Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health care and small business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker safety products and publications in print, CD, online, and via the Internet.

Here’s some advice on preparing for your presentation, starting 10 days in advance:

Day 10 — Work on maps. Rehearse. Tackle Logistics. Vocalize.
Verbal “maps” guide your listeners and make your ideas more memorable, for example: “We’ll talk about three things today,” and then mention those three items. Research quotes, anecdotes, and stories to enliven your talk. Start rehearsing. Organize your thoughts for the ear instead of the eye. Gain a “feel” for your facts.Tackle logistics. Arrange to have visuals created, order equipment, and reserve a conference room for the day of the presentation and two days before. Vocalize. Do 20 minutes of daily vocal exercise so you’re talking louder and longer. Sing in your car. Read books aloud that make it fun to change pitch, volume, and pace. Do breathing exercises.

Day 8 — Get a haircut and go to the cleaners.
Pick out the appropriate attire including accessories-aim for the simple and elegant. Check your clothes for tears, frays, loose or missing buttons, and spots before and after the cleaners.

Day 6 — Hydrate.
Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day to help you feel and look your best. Cut down on caffeine and alcohol — better yet, avoid them.

Day 2 — Dress rehearse.
Pretend it’s the real thing. You’ve reserved the conference room so get comfortable with your surroundings and eliminate any problems that could undermine your success. Use a video camera to assure objective feedback. Confirm logistical arrangements. Rest. Get eight hours of sleep. You’ll look and feel more like a winner when it really counts.

Day 1 — Don’t push your voice.
Do your vocal exercises, but keep all other utterances — especially loud ones — to a minimum.

The BIG Day — Squash surprises.
Check the room early. Count the chairs, flip on the machines, etc. Carry phone numbers of anyone you may need to call today — catering, maintenance, audiovisual, etc. Stay serene. Avoid anything with caffeine — coffee, soda, chocolate, medicines, etc. Don’t drink extra fluids (for obvious reasons). Warm up. To gently prepare your voice, take five deep breaths from the belly. Then, hum a little. Take a short, brisk walk. Swing your arms to loosen your muscles; they’ll move more freely when you gesture. Think winning thoughts. Welcome the inevitable rush of energy when you’re introduced. It’s a sign that you’ve entered the zone you’ve been working toward — the zone of peak performance.

SOURCE: Executive Communications Group, Englewood, NJ, January 28, 1999.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibits anyone from hiring an illegal alien. HR managers, line managers and supervisors can use the checklist below to comply with the immigration laws.

Verify employment eligibility.
Verify and maintain records demonstrating that each employee hired after the law became effective (November 7, 1986) is eligible for employment.

Don’t request additional or different documents than the law requires.
If a manager requests more or different employment-eligibility documents than are required under the IRCA, or refuses to honor documents tendered that reasonably appear to be genuine, charges of discrimination can result.

Don’t retain an employee that you know is illegal.
If an employee’s illegal status becomes known after initial hire, it is unlawful to retain that employee. Knowledge of someone’s lack of authorization for employment includes not only actual knowledge, but also constructive knowledge.

Wait to fill out Form I-9 until the first day of work.
To avoid possible civil rights, age discrimination, and other discrimination suits, avoid having applicants fill out the immigration form (Form 1-9) during the application process. That form gives the employer access to information, such as age, that should not be used in the hiring decision. Instead, the employer could wait until the new employee reports for duty at the job site before completing Form 1-9.

Make sure documents are produced within three days.
A manager or supervisor who hires employees without documents must fire them if they fail to produce the documents in three days, unless they prove they have ordered them, in which case there is a 21-day extension.

Don’t discriminate because of nationality or citizenship.
Employers with four or more employees may not discriminate on the basis of the national origin or citizenship status of legal aliens. While citizenship status may be a basis for extending preference to one applicant over another individual who is an alien, the preference is limited to instances where the two individuals are equally qualified. Managers or supervisors that attempt to avoid problems under the immigration laws by not hiring “foreign-looking” individuals instead may be violating federal civil rights laws.

Don’t impose additional employment standards that could be discriminatory.
Be aware that seemingly neutral standards that are not supported by business necessity, such as lengthy residence requirements, preferred verification documents or restrictive language requirements, that in fact discriminate may be treated by the government as intentional discrimination irrespective of the true motive.

Cite: Immigration and Control Act of 1986, 8 USC Sec. 1324a-c.

Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health care and small business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker safety products and publications in print, CD, online, and via the Internet.

As companies continue to outsource many of their HR functions, it’s important to know how to negotiate contracts with the right vendor. Keep the following in mind:

• Know your needs and goals.
  
  
• Institute a detailed RFP (request for proposal) process.
  
  
• Specify company/vendor responsibilities.
  
  
• Set detailed performance standards.
  
  
• Determine growth rates.
  
  
• Don’t use a vendor’s standard contract.
  
  
• Don’t sign incomplete contracts.
  
  
• Don’t set a reporting system for convenience.
  
  
• Don’t neglect your employees.
  
  
• Don’t ignore the vendor’s motives.

SOURCE: Winning Strategies for Outsourcing Contracts, Personnel Journal (now Workforce), Jennifer J. Laabs and Brenda Paik Sunoo, March 1994.

Are your payroll records in good shape? An employer with workers who are entitled to the minimum wage or to both the minimum and overtime wages prescribed by the FLSA must maintain and preserve records that show the following for each such worker:

• Name in full, including the employee’s number or identifying symbol if such is used in place of a name on any time, work or payroll record.
• Home address, including zip code.
• Date of birth if the employee is under 19 years of age.
• Sex and occupation in which the worker is employed.
• Time and name of day on which the employee’s workweek begins.
• Regular hourly rate of pay, the basis on which wages are paid and regular-rate exclusions.
• Hours worked each workday and the total hours worked each workweek.
• Daily or weekly straight-time earnings or wages.
• Weekly overtime excess compensation.
• Deductions from or additions to wages.
• Wages paid each pay period.
• Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment..
• Retroactive wage payment under government supervision.

Cite: Fair Labor Standards Act Regulations, 29 CFR 516.2.

Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health care and small business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker safety products and publications in print, CD, online, and via the Internet.

Ever been at the end of your rope? There are a number of valuable benefits for never giving up. Here are a few:

1. You will never know what you could have achieved if you quit.

2. Your competitors would love you to give up.

3. No matter what your station or position in life — there will always be reasons to quit.

4. When you give up, your message to the world is — you really didn’t think you could do it in the first place.

5. Anything worthwhile takes time, effort and the will to go on under adverse circumstances.

6. When you give up, will you start something else, and then quit when it gets hard?

7. The price of quitting is higher than the price of sticking it out.

8. When it gets the hardest, that is when you are almost there.

SOURCE: Tim Connor, author of The Road to Happiness is Full of Potholes. Connor Resource Group, Davidson, NC, January 4, 1999.

Here’s a warning if you’re going to be in a videoconference meeting: Don’t let the sight of yourself shock you. If you haven’t seen yourself on video, or haven’t done so lately, be aware that the sudden image of yourself on the monitor can be mesmerizing or shocking. Before the conference, give yourself a rehearsal, using either the videoconference equipment the meeting will use or a home video camera.

Here are some suggestions from Communispond for putting your best face forward at the videoconference:

Rehearse in advance.
If your videoconference debut is an important job interview or presentation, a rehearsal is even more critical. You’ll be able to practice getting your message clear and concise, and your delivery confident and smooth. Furthermore, you’ll be able to see and correct posture, mannerisms and facial expressions that may be getting in the way of making your best impression

Be still.
At your regular staff meetings you may be accustomed to engaging in side discussions, interrupting the person who is speaking, tapping your pen on the table, and shifting your position. These are all no-no’s at the videoconference. The microphone is very sensitive and will pick up your off-handed comment to your neighbor at the table, the sound of your knuckles cracking, and the shuffling of your feet. Any movements you make when someone else is speaking will grab attention away from the person who is speaking.

Adjust your pace.
When it’s your turn to talk, speak clearly and make a deliberate pause after each thought. Although the sound quality of videoconferencing equipment is good, for technical reasons there is a slight delay between your speaking the words and the listeners on the other end hearing them. A little pause after each expressed thought, and a longer pause between you and the next person to speak will prevent overlapping that might cause listeners to miss what is being said.

Maintain your distance.
In a face-to-face meeting it feels natural to lean forward toward your listeners to draw them in to what you are saying. On camera, such leaning looks like lunging and may make you seem aggressive. To the viewers on the other end, it will appear that you are coming on too strong. Any shifts in your bearing will be exaggerated by the camera. Sit straight in your chair, and don’t lean forward or back when you are speaking, but maintain a consistent distance from the camera.

Tone down your body language.
In live meetings and presentations, big, bold gestures convey conviction and intensity. On camera such moves come across as herky- jerky. For the videoconference, talking with your hands should be confined to slower and smaller movements.

Simplify the visual aids.
If you’re using visual aids, take particular care to make them easy to see and read. Off-white paper is best, because of the glare problems with stark white. If your visuals include bullet points, there should be no more than four lines on each page, and no more than four words on each line. It’s important to tell viewers what they are seeing before you start talking about what it means.

Choreograph the event.
The basic rules of running a good meeting are more critical when the participants are at distant locations. Send out the agenda in advance, and clarify the objectives and time frames for each item. Get the people on your side together for a planning session to decide who is going to talk about what, and who will be the host or moderator. The moderator should introduce each participant, and their names should also be clearly printed on tent cards in front of them. At the end of the meeting, the moderator should summarize what has been discussed and decided, and make sure everyone knows what has been agreed on, what the next action steps are, and when the group will be convened again.

Dress for success.
The camera sees white shirts and shiny jewelry as glaring. Bright reds, bold plaids, and busy prints don’t project well either. Black clothes make faces look overexposed. Bulky and baggy outfits can make you look much heavier on screen than you do in real life. Take your cue from television anchor people: light blue instead of white shirts, solid ties, quiet colors, clear rather than tinted eyeglasses, subtle jewelry and tailored styles.

SOURCE: Tom Hill, Communispond, New York City, February 4, 1999. Phone: 800/529-5925.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the Form 5500 series for use in filing 1998 annual reports of pension, welfare and fringe benefit plans.

All required forms and schedules must be filed by the last day of the seventh month after the end of the plan year. For a short plan year, required forms and schedules must be filed by the last day of the seventh month after the end of the short plan year.

Form 5500 satisfies the reporting requirements of the IRS, Labor Department and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) for qualified plans.

If plan administrators file Form 5500 electronically or on magnetic media, it must be accompanied by Form 8453-E, the Employee Benefit Plan Declaration and Signature for Electronic/Magnetic Media Filing document.

Administrators with plans covered by the PBGC termination insurance program must file PBGC Form 1, the Annual Premium Payment form, directly with the PBGC.

Source: Reprinted by permission of Council on Education in Management (March 1999) with the understanding that in publishing this material, the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, seek the advice of an attorney. Council presents employment law seminars nationwide for HR professionals and publishes the Personnel Law Update newsletter.

A new federal study issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) warns that with “the nature of work changing at whirlwind speed,” job stress for today’s workers may be higher than ever before. NIOSH points to a Princeton Survey Research Associates survey which shows that three-fourths of employees believe workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago.

The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports that healthcare expenditures are nearly 50 percent greater for workers who report high stress levels. And, stress on the job is associated with increased absenteeism, tardiness, and a desire by workers to quit. Workers who take time off as a result of a stress-related disorder tend to be off the job for roughly 20 days.

Helping employees better manage their work and personal lives can dramatically reduce their stress levels. Some ways to help reduce employee stress include:

1. Assisting employees with financial planning related questions. Poor personal financial planning behaviors are breeding productivity-inhibiting stress for roughly 15% of US workers (Garman, Leech and Grable; Virginia Tech, 1996).

2. Setting up a toll-free 24-hour number to help employees with home assistance services, including locating handymen, plumbers, electricians.

3. Offering assistance-via subsidy vouchers and/or a referral network-with emergency child care, elder care, pet care, and public transportation.

4. Providing “soft” benefits to employees such as employing an office concierge service to run errands for employees, offering in-house massages, shoe shines, manicures or meditation sessions to relieve daily stress, providing an in-house dry cleaner and tailor.

SOURCE: Work/Life Benefits, Cypress, CA, January 20, 1999.

They might not have come from a higher authority, but these commandments will reduce stress.

1. Thou shalt organize thyself
2. Thou shalt give thyself positive feedback
3. Thou shalt reward thyself with enjoyable leisure
4. Thou shalt exercise
5. Thou shalt relax
6. Thou shalt take rest breaks
7. Thou shalt listen to what your body is telling you
8. Thou shalt eat a balanced diet
9. Thou shalt smile a lot
10. Thou shalt ask for help when you need it

SOURCE: Trans4mation Training Ltd, Evesham, U.K. Receive learning tips via e-mail at Intouch@trans4mation.com