非公有制企业工会维护农民工权益的困境与出路——基于法视角的分析

在现有农民工权益保护体制下,工会维权责无旁贷。但目前非公有制企业的工会陷于监督缺失、维权乏力甚至"不在场"的困境之中。非公有制企业工会维护农民工权益的出路在于:进一步完善工会法制,确立非公有制企业工会"农民工权益代表者和维护者"的角色,将农民工组织起来,构建切实维权的体制。     

Labor union negotiations: stepping stones or stumbling blocks for a responsible downsizing strategy? Empirical tests in Taiwan

Firms have used organizational downsizing strategies for years. But organizational downsizing not only cannot surely improves firm performance, but also harms thousands of employees and their families. A number of scholars investigating organizational change suggest that ‘a responsible downsizing strategy’ can mitigate or solve this issue. As the major stakeholder in downsizing, labor unions naturally negotiate with firms to protect employee rights and benefits. Their negotiation, therefore, may either enhance or mitigate the effect of responsible downsizing strategy on firm performance. This study used a sample of 154 downsized local firms and multinational corporations in Taiwan to examine the research construct, and invited focus groups to have a further validated explanation. The findings show that labor union negotiation may act as either stepping stones or stumbling blocks. The results indicate that firms employing labor union negotiation experience higher downsizing performance than non-unionized firms do. However, labor union interventions can also become stumbling blocks. Labor union negotiation neutralize the positive effect of employee-caring practices on downsizing performance, leading to a decline in downsizing performance when firms increase employee participation and justice consideration in the downsizing process. The research findings provide implications for further scholarly research and management practices in terms of organization change, stakeholder management and labor–management relationship.     

The challenge of responsibilities: Confronting the revolution in workplace rights in modern organizations

The contemporary world of work is experiencing a revolution in workplace rights thinking and practices. Included among factors related to this are professionalization and technocracy, management orthodoxy, corrupt organizational structures, the moral ineptitude of business education, the increasing size of the working population, worker mobility, worker diversity and the variegated cultural milieu, the growth of highly paid and very powerful workers, favorable solons, and supportive justices. Demands for protection and respect of rights are expressed in a variety of ways ranging from the statutory or economic to the ethical or psychological. Because of the correlative link between rights and responsibilities, organizational researchers and practitioners should be concerned with identifying various responsibilities implied by various employer and employee rights. Of equal importance is the challenge of examining in detail these responsibilities and how the strategies suggested by them can be used to manage specific employee rights in the contemporary workplace.     

Conceptions of employee responsibilities and rights in the United States and the People's Republic of China

Workplace responsibilities and rights tend to be defined in ways that imply their universal applicability in various cultural contexts. Based on comparisons of the United States and the People's Republic of China, this article investigates the influence of differing cultural characteristics on conceptions of responsibilities and rights. The basic assumptions underlying the conceptions of employee (and employer) responsibilities and rights in the two countries are examined. Evidence drawn from relevant bodies of literature and a close examination of many social or organizational incidents suggest that the concepts of employee (and employer) rights and responsibilities are culture-relative. Based on the findings, the article further offers a set of theoretical propositions, and discusses implications for future comparative research on employee responsibilities and rights.     

Employee Rights, Employee Responsibilities and Knowledge Sharing in Intelligent Organization

Much is currently being written about the need to encourage employees to share knowledge in order for companies to maintain a role as an intelligent organization in a technologically sophisticated environment. However, there is little written of the relationship between employee rights to satisfactory employment conditions, employee responsibilities in decision-making, and employee willingness to share their knowledge collaboratively. This paper seeks to redress this gap by discussing the importance of the relationship between employee rights and responsibilities and employee willingness to share knowledge. The reaction of a group of employees (academics) employed in an Intelligent Organization (university) to a reduction in their rights and responsibilities is discussed in order to design a framework of employee rights and responsibilities required for knowledge sharing in intelligent organizations.     

Perspectives on the implementation of employee rights programs

In the past decade, employee rights have been an increasingly important and complex issue. This paper examines the benefits of successfully implementing employee rights programs and outlines factors that influence effective implementation. This includes a discussion of three general organizational approaches to employee rights issues and contextual factors that influence successful implementation of employee rights programs.Never in American history has there been so much confusion over the prerogatives of managers to manage and the rights of their subordinates to be managed within limits. On this point, if nothing else, there is complete agreement... (Ewing, 1983, p. 1)     

Arbitrators’ characteristics and decision-making records,gender of arbitrators and grievants,and the presence of legal counsel as predictors of arbitral outcomes

Labor arbitration helps define employee and employer rights and responsibilities. Evidence indicates that the advocates at arbitration tend to concern themselves with issues unrelated to the facts of the case or to the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved. More specifically, before the hearing, management and union advocates often dwell on issues such as the importance of the arbitrators’ personal characteristics and their decision-making history, the likely effects of the gender of arbitrators and grievants, and whether the presence of legal counsel impacts the arbitral outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine whether these non-case-related factors actually can be associated with differing awards by arbitrators. This study may be the first in which the arbitrators’ decision-making history (award orientation) is a primary issue. Of all the issues studied, the arbitrator’s disciplinary award orientation is the only one with a consistent impact on arbitral outcomes. We conclude that the energy and resources expended by the advocates concerning non-case-related issues would be better spent in preparing their cases for arbitration and in examining the potential impact of arbitration on the rights and responsibilities of management and its employees.     

Review of no-fault absenteeism cases taken to arbitration, 1980–1989: A rights and responsibilities analysis

No-fault absenteeism control programs represent an emerging counterpoint to traditional misconduct-based approaches. By altering the policies governing absence in the work place, the rights and responsibilities of both the employee and employer may be modified. This article examines the arbitral standards applied in the disposition of grievances arising under no-fault absenteeism plans. Arbitration cases from 1980 to 1989 are analyzed; a taxonomic structure for reviewing arbitrator rulings on the unilateral imposition of no-fault programs, as well as discipline and discharge arising under no-fault policies, is developed. While advocates of no-fault plans have asserted that arbitrators will embrace these plans, the results of this analysis indicate that arbitrators will infuse standard elements of reasonableness and just cause into no-fault policy. Trends in arbitral standards in absence cases, policy-making strategies for managements and unions, as well as implications for the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers are outlined.     

The Influence of Environmental Pressures, Diversification Strategy, and Union/Nonunion Setting on Employee Participation

This study tests the hypotheses that environment, diversification strategy, and union/nonunion setting affect the number and variety of employee participation programs. A survey of large U.S. manufacturing firms measured the implementation of employee participation programs. Regression results suggest that environmental pressures exert a direct effect on participation in union settings. However, in nonunion settings, environment and diversification strategy both correlated directly with participation. These results suggest that unions could potentially affect participation program implementation.     

Who is an Employer in the Triangular Employment Relationship? Sorting Through the Definitional Confusion

Employers in the United States are increasingly utilizing staffing firms, employee leasing firms, temporary employment agencies and other third parties to help manage contingent labor in their organizations. The use of such triangular relationships creates complexities in the rights and responsibilities of each party, partially due to the variation in how U.S. employment law defines employers and employees across statutes. We analyze the various definitions of employee and employer across key U.S. employment statutes (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964, ADA, FMLA, FLSA), tests used by the courts in their decision making, and IRS regulations and evaluate the impact of these definitions on the use of contingent employees in triangular relationships. We review existing case law relevant to discrimination and non-discrimination statutes and identify key areas of risk and responsibility for both the individuals employed as contingent workers and firms that use contingent labor. Finally, we offer recommendations for strategically managing contingent labor in the current legal context.     

Temporary workers: Employee rights and employer responsibilities

As the number of temporary workers in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the past ten years, so, too, has social policy concent over the rights of temporary employees in the workplace and the responsibilities of employing organizations to them. This article first reviews the extent to which temporary workers can be considered “employees” of organizations and thereby be extended the same rights and protections as permanent, full-time employees. Then, the article reviews the current state of case law on the most salient legal issues pertaining to the treatment of temporary workers: discrimination, pay and fringe benefits, worker’s compensation, occupational safety and health, and union activity. The article concludes with the managerial implications of current labor law for compliance with legislative and judicial mandates.     

Allegiance to company or conscience: The case of harding engineering corporation

Employees are sometimes forced to choose between meeting professional responsibilities or following their conscience. Following is a situation where an employee must decide upon a course of action that could potentially cause personal and professional damage to a fellow employee, or possibly harm the company. Several important issues arise as a result of the dilemma-confidentiality, professionalism, legal rights, agency loyalty, personal values, business ethics, to name some. A thorough analysis of the situation will provide a rich opportunity for discussion and learning.     

Employer Penalties for Failure to Provide Individual Employee Notification Under the Family and Medical Leave Act: “Clarifications” Following Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.

This article examines the Supreme Court's ruling in Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. (2002) and considers its implications for employer and employee rights and responsibilities relative to implementing the FMLA policies. We provide an overview of the pre-decision regulatory environment including the general leave provisions of the FMLA and DOL's regulations requiring employer notification of leave designated as FMLA leave. We also identify those provisions that the decision did not alter and provide a broader consideration of the issues and implication of this decision for employers and employees.     

对企业工会参与社会管理的思考

新形势下加强和创新社会管理是从党和国家事业发展全局出发确定的一项重大战略任务,是企业工会新时代的任务。企业工会要把握工会工作的运行规律,探索创新工作,努力构建和谐劳动关系,代表和维护职工群众的合法权益,充分发挥企业工会的作用,参与社会管理,促进社会的公平、公正。     

Knowledge Concerning Employees’ Legal Rights at Work among Banking Employees in Malaysia

This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge concerning employee rights under the Employment Act, Trade Unions Act and Industrial Relations Act among banking employees in Malaysia. This study also identified the specific areas of employee rights that employees are most familiar with and compared this level of knowledge by gender, age, tenure, and level of education. The findings revealed that the respondents do not possess sound knowledge of their legal rights. The respondents have the highest level of knowledge on employee basic rights, and have the lowest level of knowledge on rights to termination and dismissal. There was a small difference in the level of knowledge between male and female; however the level of knowledge increases with employes’ age, tenure and level of education.     

The family and medical leave act of 1993: Employee rights and responsibilities,employer rights and responsibilities

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law on February 5, 1993 after approximately eight years of controversial discussion in Congress. The FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for eligible employees for the birth or placement for adoption or foster care of a child, to care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition, or for the employee’s own serious health condition. The Act is intended to help individuals balance their home obligations with their work obligations. This article highlights both employee rights and responsibilities afforded by the FMLA and employer rights and responsibilities under the Act.     

Barriers to employee rights: Gender,selection, and the labor process

This article applies a labor process analysis to the issue of employment rights in the particular context of gender inequality and unlawful discrimination in the recruitment process. It criticizes conventional perspectives on employee rights for their failure to examine critically managerial power and prerogative and its implications for gender inequality. The article outlines two particular labor process theories of gender divisions and inequality. In exploring the strengths and weaknesses of these more critical perspectives, the article highlights the analytical significance that they ascribe to power asymmetries in the labor process and labor market. Building on this perspective, the analysis then presents empirical data on gender discrimination in the selection practices of contemporary UK organizations. The research material reveals how gender discrimination can be reproduced, rationalized, and resisted. These empirical findings are theorized through a combined labor process analysis of power, knowledge, and identity in recruitment practices. We conclude that labor process analysis facilitates our understanding of the deep-seated barriers that continue to impede the protection of employee rights in workplace practices.     

HR managers as toxin handlers: The buffering effect of formalizing toxin handling responsibilities

Toxin handlers are organizational members who help colleagues manage negative emotions in the workplace. Although toxin handling activities help distressed employees remain productive, they put the toxin handler at risk of emotional exhaustion. In this research, more than 400 HR managers described their experience managing emotionally charged employee problems. We found that formalizing toxin handling responsibilities provided a buffering effect: HR managers whose organizations had made handling emotionally charged employee problems a formal part of HR responsibilities experienced lower levels of emotional exhaustion and perceived HR as more effective, even when they engaged in high levels of toxin handling. Formalizing toxin handling responsibilities may protect HR managers from harm and ensure that they maintain the toxin handling function in their organizations. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Employee involvement in American corporations

At the direction of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Governmental Affairs, the general Accounting Office (GAO) conducted a survey of employee involvement practices within American companies. The population consisted of top management within Fortune's 500 largest manufacturing and 500 largest service companies. An analysis of the data examined three broad areas relating to employee involvement: (1) the existing organizational programs and processes such as personnel practices, information sharing, and training; (2) the degree of corporate participation in specific employee involvement programs including the reasons for undertaking employee involvement programs, and the perceived barriers to the implementation of employee involvement programs; and (3) the perceived effect of employee involvement on organizational operation as measured by changes in indicators of performance and activities within the internal business environment.