Human Resource Management - Questins and Answers Essay

Introduction

Human resource management is concerned with what is perhaps an organization's most crucial resource, workforce. Human resource management ensures that an organization employs the most suitable human resources for the required tasks and that the human workforce is well-catered for and their rights and provisions are given accordingly. Despite this fact, Human Resource management works with various policies and issues are bound to arise. Human Resource Management policies are aimed at protecting the organizations most valuable resource, the people operating it. Therefore, the plans are based on human rights that are essential for human living and appropriate for necessary working conditions. Among the various issues raised are the following:

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To what extent can a business restrict union solicitation on company property?

A business can restrict union solicitation on company property as long as it is within the confines of the law. There are various provisions of the law with regards to the extent of lawfulness that different policies adhere to. For example, as recorded by (Walsh, 2012), it is unlawful for a business to restrict their workers who are members of various unions from participation in union activity that involves solicitation and distribution. A company can only restrict workers from carrying out union solicitation if the tender is carried out within working hours and or within working areas. Working hours are defined as the specified amount of time where workers are required to be at the working place be it offices or in the shed. Working areas, on the other hand, can be defined as a designated area where work is carried out. Business policies are required to have provisions for union solicitation. However, this must be clearly understood by the workers that union solicitation can only be carried out on non-working areas such as the lobby or the business 'parking lot, during non-working hours or else it will be unlawful, and the company has rights to restrict it. Non-working hours can be defined as the specified hours where workers are off the clock or where workers are not required to be at work such as during break time or lunch time. Non-working areas can be defined as areas where the workers are not required to be at work or do not have the work facilities. These are inclusive of corridors and break rooms.

Can managers and professional employees be members of a union?

Under the provisions of labor laws and union statutes, managers and professional employees may not be members of a union. This was seen mainly as an effort to remove the energies of upper management in frustrating the needs of the labor force. Unions were created primarily to represent the workers to the employers. Once the unions were formed, the employers felt the workers were ganging up on them. The unions are designed to represent the workers. Therefore, the managers were required to create their union composed of managers and professional workers. In doing so, the managers union can bargain with the workers' union effectively and arrive at reasonable solutions. (Green, 2019). Their input is therefore in an authoritative manner that seeks to gain more effort from the workers and likely to oppress the workers since they do not work under the same conditions. The unions are made to represent the rights of the workers and employees. The managers and professional employees transcend that cadre thus no representation by unions.

Are there any restrictions on their membership in a union?

Managers and professional employees are restricted from membership in a union in the following ways. They are restricted from joining worker unions as managers and professionals. They are however free to join together as managers and form a union of managers. Managers and professional employees are restricted from undertaking a 29-day annual leave, and they are only permitted to a 21-day statutory minimum. The managers and professional workers are also restricted from taking 30 days of sick leave (Patrick Loisel, 2013). They are only permitted to taking 14 days of sick leave on full pay, unlike union workers who are allowed up to 30 days of sick leave with full payment. The managers are restricted from joining worker unions because of the collective bargaining agreements which are designed to serve the workers of a lower cadre.

Define "employment at will" and explain an employee's rights in an at-willemployment relationship.

Employment at will is an agreement between an employee and an employee that states that the employee can be terminated at any given moment for any particular reason without prior notification or warning. The term also implies that (House, 2002). Despite this somewhat seemingly lawless situation, the employee has rights under this type of relationship. An employee has a reason not to be dismissed over issues such as race, gender, citizenship, age, sexual orientation or any other factors catered for by labor laws. Employees also have a right to company policy enforced by the union to cover for protections such as severance pay for employees who get fired under unclear circumstances.

What is a "non-compete agreement" and are non-compete agreements limited in any way?

A non-compete accord is an acknowledgment between an employee and an employer, for an employee to not be involved with the employer or work for a competitor once their contract has been terminated. A non-compete agreement is a limitation by itself in that it limits the employee from practicing in their field of expertise once they have been discontinued. Despite this fact though, it has other limitations such as courts prohibit its enforcement suggesting its selfish and illogical nature (Hummer, 2014). For a non-compete agreement to be enforceable, three things are considered: the manner and style of relationship between the employer and employee, the geographic jurisdiction of the contract and the time limits of the agreement. These are then presented in court to determine its reasonability to restrict a former employee from earning a living.

Explain the difference between race-based discrimination and national-origin discrimination.

Race-based discrimination is segregation based on a person's physical characteristics. This is usually based on skin color and or hair texture. Ethnic discrimination is prejudice bias based on where a person is from. It is based mainly on accents or one names or where one's ancestral lineage is from. Both races based and national origin-based discrimination is illegal throughout the world as it promotes hostile and uncomfortable working environments that negate all efforts at making rules to govern workplace behavior and etiquette (Pollock, 2010). Race-based discrimination throughout the US is more pronounced than national origin discrimination. This is mostly owing to the history of its time. This, however, does not mean either one is of a lesser cadre, both employees and employers should denounce both evils and also denounced by the unions

When does the Fair Credit Reporting Act impose a legal obligation upon employers?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) imposes a legal obligation upon employers continuously as long as they use credit reports in their recruitment process. The Fair Credit Reporting Act imposes a legal obligation on employers who deny applicants opportunities for employment based on their credit scores and credit reports. By law, employers are required to notify applicants who have been rejected the reason for rejection (Lisa Guerin, 2016). Employers who have been denied based on their credit report can file for legal action in case their denial was unlawful or unclear. This is because credit reports and credit information is legal government information that is only requested out to employers for employment purposes. If employers misuse this privilege, they are bound to be prosecuted by the employees

For what purpose was the National Labor Relations Board established?

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was established in 1935 by Congress. It was formulated to guard the rights of employers and workers, facilitate the formulation of collective bargaining agreements for the employees, and to diminish particular private sector labor practices which were a deterrent to the general welfare of the country's labor force, the businesses and the economy of America. Generally, it was formulated to represent the rights of both workers and employees to the National Government.

The National Labor Relations Board was created by a Democratic Senator in New York named Robert F Wagner who called it the Wagner Act. The Act legislated the government as the regulatory authority over labor relations (Gross, 2017). The Act led to the formation of a 3-member National Labor Relations Board which was later upgraded to 5-members. The act equipped the National Labor Relations Board with authority to deal with labor disputes through legal means. The primary purpose of the National Labor Relations Board at its inception was to protect the rights of the workers, exempting the agricultural and domestic workers. The National Labor Relations Board enable workers to mobilize and collectively bargain to the employers and organize to form labor unions.

Explain what is meant by a "bona fide occupational qualification" in the context of federal employment discrimination law.

A bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)is a particular attribute or attribute that the law allows employers to consider when carrying out the hiring or employing the process, that would otherwise be illegal and considered discriminatory without a bona fide occupational qualification. These are qualities that are deemed necessary for the betterment of the job by the employer (Cascio, 2018). The bona fide professional qualification allows the employers to be able to lawfully discriminate between the prospective workforce based on what they deem to be essential and beneficial for the business. The bona fide occupational qualification caters for provisions such as age, gender, religion or national origin. For example, one cannot join the military special forces above the age of 60. Age is an occupational qualification for the US military. It is a widely documented fact that businesses make better sales when it is a woman at the sales desk; therefore, it may be a common occurrence to find receptionist jobs being occupationally more qualified for women than men.

Why do some employers prefer hiring independent contractors rather than employees?

Some employers would instead hire independent contractors rather than employers because of much better deals. These deals are inclusive of insurance cover and periodic contacts that are cheaper than hiring employees. The practice of hiring is time-consuming for some employers, it is, therefore, a more logical step to employ the task to a contractor who brings in their workforce to complete a task and is gone. In this way, an employer does not have to worry about compliance with union laws or solicitation, or paying out salaries (Henry H. Perritt, 2016). The employer will only be concerned with paying the contractor a certain amount of money for all the tasks that are to be done, and the head contractor will take care of the rest of the job. Hiring independent contractors have indeed proved to be quite cheaper and efficient since the employer never has to deal with having to fire or retrench their employees because the independent contractor has that handled with his workforce.

Define a "hostile work environment" in the context of sexual harassment. In yourresponse, provide an example of a hostile work environment in this context.

A hostile work environment is a manner of sexual harassment between either employee or between employer and employee. In this type of sexual harassment, there is...