BUSI 342 - CHAP 15 - EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES |73 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Rights powers, privileges, or interests derived from law, nature, or tradition Statutory rights are the result of specific laws or statutes passed by federal, state, or local governments Responsibilities which are obligations to perform certain tasks and duties Sociological Department visit employees at home and help them manage their household finances and family health Contractual right based on a specific contract with an employer Employment contract a formal agreement that outlines the details of employment when employees are hired from outside Noncompete Agreement which prohibit individuals who leave an organization from working with an employer in the same line of business for a specified period of time separate or a clause in employment contract Nonpiracy agreement bar former employees from soliciting business from former customers and clients for a specified period of time nonsolicitation of current employees can be incorporated into the employment agreement intellectual property and trade secrets help protect trade secrets Implied contract an unwritten agreement created by the actions of the parties involved when hires Indefinite period or promises job security Employment at will (EAW) employers have the right to hire, fire, demote, or promote whomever they choose, unless there is a law or a contract to the contrary, and employees can quit at any time with or without notice EAW exceptions 1. Public policies expectation 2. Implied contract exception 3. Good-faith and fair-dealing exception Wrongful discharge involves the termination of an individual's employment for reasons that are illegal or improper Just cause reasonable justification for taking employment-related action Not protected in at will employment AWE Constructive discharge which is the process of deliberately making conditions intolerable to get an employee to quit Due process when an employer is determining if there has been employee wrongdoing and uses a fair process to give an employee a chance to explain and defend his or her actions org justice the fairness of decisions and resource allocations in an organization three individual fairness assessments 1. Making decision 2. Actual decision made 3. How decision is explained to employees Procedural justice the perceived fairness of the processes used to make decisions about employees distributive justice which is the perceived fairness in the distribution of outcomes Interactional justice the extent to which a person affected by an employment decision feels treated with dignity and respect open-door policy which allows workers who have a complaint to talk directly to someone in management Arbitration a process that uses a neutral third party to make a binding decision, thereby eliminating the need to involve the court Compulsory arbitration requires employees to sign a pre-employment agreement stating that all disputes will be submitted to arbitration Peer Review Panel _ peer review panels can complement a formal complaint process for at-will employees because solutions can be identified and implemented without court action _ the employer has a stronger case Ombuds individuals outside the normal chain of command who act as independent problem solvers for both management and employees Mediation a tool for developing appropriate and fair outcomes for all parties involved Evaluative techniques, on the other hand, point out the potential weaknesses in each side's case and offer potential settlement options right to privacy an individual's freedom from unauthorized and unreasonable intrusion into personal affairs The Privacy Act of 1974 protect individual privacy rights Only to federal agencies and org supplying services to the federal government 3 years of retention ADA - medical medical-rated information maintained separately Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protect the privacy of employee medical records Employees' Free Speech Rights not unrestricted in the workplace, so employees and companies need to be aware of appropriate boundaries