Reference no: EM132220571

In many respects, employee discipline represents the most significant day-to-day issue in administering the labor agreement. For union and management, administration of discipline is a key factor related to control and production; the supervisor and the affected employee are even more directly and personally affected. Management had a unilateral right to discharge or discipline employees until the 1930s, although psychological reform and efficiency movements in the early 1900s urged management to critically examine its disciplinary policies. Some managers realized that an employee represented an investment that could be unnecessarily lost because of whimsical disciplinary actions. These individuals realized that they had an obligation to provide employees with clear work rules and proper training that would minimize the number of discipline problems and lead to increased productivity. The establishment of the NLRB further refined employers’ disciplinary policies, as employees discharged for union activities could be reinstated to their jobs with back pay. Discipline in unionized settings must be for just cause, a concept consisting of several dimensions. Management has the burden of proof to establish that an employee committed an infraction. Although discipline can accomplish several purposes for the organization, management may have to prove that its actions were taken to correct an employee’s behavior. Correction suggests that an employee must be aware of work rules that are clear in their content, as well as consequences for their infraction. The work rules must also be reasonable—that is, related to the job—and consistently applied to all employees under similar circumstances. Discipline’s corrective emphasis also suggests progressive penalties be given to an employee for repeating a similar offense. Progressive discipline impresses on the employee the seriousness of repeated rule infractions while giving the employee additional opportunities to correct work behavior. Unless the infraction is heinous, such as stealing property, management usually has to give an employee an oral warning for the first offense, then a written warning and suspension for subsequent, similar offenses. Discharge is a last resort, used only when all other attempts at correction have failed or the nature of the offense is so unacceptable as to make corrective efforts inappropriate. Management must also establish that the penalty fits the crime and that it considered all possible mitigating circumstances before imposing discipline. Management must also provide the employee with due process in the disciplinary procedure; that is, it must ensure that the appropriate contractual provisions are upheld. The employee usually has the right to union representation and the right to be notified of the offense in writing. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an employee has the legal right, a Weingarten right, to have a union representative present during an investigatory interview if the employee reasonably believes that the investigation could result in disciplinary action and the employee requests union representation. Since this decision, the NLRB has provided additional guidance to the parties. Unions have attempted to inform their members on how to use their Weingarten rights.

PLEASE GIVE TWO FULL PARAGRAPHS

Assume you are in charge of establishing a training program for supervisors in administering discipline. Based on the supervisor's potential role in the disciplinary process, formulate and discuss three major principles you would stress in this session.