The document discusses several key US labor laws and regulations. It begins by explaining how federal and state laws govern employer-employee relationships and labor unions. It then outlines several important acts including the National Labor Relations Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also discusses the National Labor Relations Board, collective bargaining rights, and prohibits various forms of workplace discrimination.

2. Chapter 20
Labor Relations

3. Federal & State Labor Laws
• Relationships between employees &
employers are regulated by state & federal
laws.
• Federal laws generally take precedence over
state laws when there is conflict between state
& federal laws.
• State laws generally applicable when more
rigid than federal laws.
3

4. Department of Labor
• Functions
– promote welfare of wage earners
– improve working conditions
– advance opportunities for profitable
employment
4

5. Unions & Healthcare Organizations
• Through mid-1930s, union organizational
activity in health care industry minimal
– continued that way with relatively slow growth
until late 1950s.
• Union activity successful most often in
geographic areas in which unions have been
active in other industries.
5

6. National Labor Relations Act - I
• Enacted 1935 to govern labor-management
relations of business firms engaged in
interstate commerce.
• Act defines certain conduct of employers &
employees as unfair labor practices
– provides for hearings on complaints that such
practices have occurred.
6

7. NLRA – II
• Act modified by
– Taft-Hartley amendments of 1947
– Landrum-Griffin amendments of 1959
7

8. National Labor Relations Board
• NLRB enforces & administers the NLRA
– has jurisdiction over matters involving
proprietary & not-for-profit health care
organizations.
– agency independent of department of labor, that
is responsible for preventing & remedying unfair
labor practices by employers & labor
organizations.
8

9. NLRB – II
• Elections
– NLRA sets out procedures by which employees
may select a union as their collective bargaining
representative to negotiate employment and
contract matters.
• Unfair Labor Practices
9

10. Norris-LaGuardia Act
• Aimed at reducing # of injunctions to restrain
strikes & picketing.
• Sets procedures for handling labor disputes.
• Creates board of inquiry if a dispute threatens
to interrupt health care.
• Board’s findings provide framework for
arbitrators’ decisions.
10

11. Labor-Management
Reporting & Disclosure Act
• Places controls on labor unions & relationships
between unions & membership.
• Requires employers to report payments to
representatives of labor orgs.
• Expenditures made to influence way
employees exercise rights.
• Disclosure of agreements with labor
consultants.
11

12. Fair Labor Standards Act
• Establishes
– minimum wages
– maximum hours of employment
– overtime pay provisions
– exempt employees provisions
– work week options
12

13. Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits private employers & state & local
governments from discrimination in
employment in any business on basis of
race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
13

14. OSHA – I
• Sets and enforces safety standards
• Provides training, outreach, and education
• Establishes partnerships
• Encourages continual improvement in
workplace safety and health
14

15. OSHA – II
• Promulgation & Enforcement of OSHA Standards
• Recordkeeping
• Education
• Infectious Body Fluids
• Employee Complaints
• State Regulation
• Legal Liability
15

16. Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Protection for handicapped employees
• Applied to public & private orgs
• Requirement to perform self-evaluation of
compliance
• Jobs must not be designed to eliminate hiring
of disabled persons
16

17. FMLA – I
• Enacted to grant employees temporary medical
leave under certain circumstances.
• Covered employers must grant eligible
employees up to a total of 12 workweeks of
unpaid leave during any 12-month period.
17

18. FMLA – II
• Leave granted for:
– birth & care of employee’s child.
– placement of adopted or foster child with
employee.
– care of immediate family member
(spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health
condition.
– inability to work because of serious health
condition.
18

19. FMLA – III
• Illegal to terminate health insurance coverage
for an employee on FMLA leave.
• Following FMLA leave, employee’s job—or
an equivalent job with equivalent
pay, benefits, & other terms & conditions of
employment—must be restored.
19

20. State Labor Laws – I
• NLRB excludes from coverage health care
orgs operated by state
• State Labor-Managementt Relations Act
– Laws vary from state to state
20

21. State Labor Laws – II
• Union Security Contracts & Right to Work
Laws
– Closed shop contract
– Union shop contract
– Some state statutes forbid such contracts
– Right-to-work laws
21

22. State Labor Laws – III
Wage and hour laws
• Child Labor Acts
– working papers
– forbids employment of minors at night
– prohibits minors from operating certain
machinery
22

23. Workers’ Compensation
Program whereby an employee can receive wage
benefits due to job injury
– Physical Injury
– Job Stress
– Influenza Vaccination
– Exposure to Hazardous Material
23

24. Limitations on Bargaining Units
Supreme Court upholds NLRB ruling
– Hospital workers may form up to eight
bargaining units
24

25. Labor Rights
• Organize & bargain collectively
• Solicit & distribute union info
• Picket
• Strike
25

26. Management Rights
• Receive a strike notice
• Hire replacement workers
• Restrict union activity
• Prohibit union activity during working hrs
• Prohibit supervisors from participating in
union activity
26

27. DHHS EEO
Affirmative Action Plan – I
• Prohibits discrimination on basis of age, race,
color, religion, sex, national origin.
• Affirmative action program includes
– collection & analysis of data on the race and sex of
all applicants for employment.
– non-discrimination clause in manuals.
– use of data to show compliance with the law.
27

28. DHHS EEO
Affirmative Action Plan – II
• Failure to comply can result in denial of
federal funds.
• Health care orgs should have equal
employment opportunity or affirmative action
plan in place.
28

29. Patient Rights & labor Disputes
• Patient rights take precedence over labor-
management rights
• Patient’s have right to
– privacy
– well-being
29

30. Injunctions
• Court order directing that a certain act be
performed or not performed.
– Persons who fail to comply with court orders are
said to be in contempt of court.
• Earliest use of injunctions in labor relations
was by employers to stop strikes or picketing
by employees.
• Availability of injunctive relief limited.
30

31. Administering Collective
Bargaining Agreement
• Administered in ―good faith‖
• Supervisors should familiarize themselves with
the agreement
• Importance of recordkeeping
• Grievance procedures
• Arbitration
31

32. Workplace Discrimination
• Age
• Disability
• National Origin
• Pay
• Pregnancy
• Race
• Religious
• Sex/Sexual Harassment
32

33. Disability
Americans with Disabilities Act
– Tips for Employers
– Train managers as to ADA requirements
– Review & revise job descriptions for compliance
– Bring physical environment into compliance
– Post notice describing purpose of ADA
33

34. REVIEW QUESTIONS - I
1. Provide a general overview of the NLRA.
2. Using the hospital as a setting, give two
examples of what would violate the NLRA.
3. How do patients' rights come into play during
a strike by nurses?
4. What is the purpose of OSHA?
34

35. REVIEW QUESTIONS - II
5. Why did Congress enact the Norris-LaGuardia
Act?
6. When is the Equal Pay Act applicable? What
is the purpose of the EPA?
7. Discuss the various ways in which
discrimination can occur in the workplace
35

36. REVIEW QUESTIONS - III
8. Describe the rights of both labor and
management.
9. Describe the various ways in which
discrimination can occur in the workplace.
10. What is sexual harassment and what must an
employee show to demonstrate that the
conduct complained of was sufficiently severe
that would qualify it as sexual harassment?
36