Conflict Resolution Quiz 4

Employee misconduct

- Criteria in which cases may be decided

- Off-duty misconduct

- Consequences of serious and less serious offenses

Three common techniques for resolving impasse in collective bargaining

1. Mediation

2. Fact Finding

3. Interest Arbitration

1-a. Mediation

- Keeping parties talking

- Carry messages between parties

- Make suggestions

1-b. Mediation

- The most widely used, yet most informal, type of 3rd party intervention in collective bargaining

- The mediator assists the union and management negotiators in reaching a labor agreement

- The mediator has no power to impose a settlement and acts as a facilitator for the parties to the negotiations

- The mediator keeps parties talking and carries messages between parties plus makes suggestions

- Mediators rely heavily on communications and persuasion skills

2-a. Fact Finding

- Gather facts

- Makes report or announcement

- Recommends appropriate settlement

2-b. Fact Finding

- Alternative to mediation

- Mixed record of success

+ Rarely creates enough pressure needed to produce a settlement

- Can be effective in resolving certain disputes:

+ As a supplement to mediation when one party suffers internal (inter-organizational) opposition to settlement

+ Can be helpful when the negotiators are inexperienced

3. Interest Arbitration

- A settlement is imposed

- Common in public sector in the absence of the rights to lockout and strike

- Rare in private sector

- Third-party arbitrator is hired to impose a settlement

- The arbitrator is empowered to set the terms of the contract

- Different from grievance (or "rights") arbitration where the arbitrator settles a dispute during the life of a contract

Four types of interest arbitration

1. Voluntary

2. Conventional

3. Compulsory

4. Final Offer

1. Voluntary

The parties agree to utilize if they can't reach an agreement on their own

2. Conventional

The arbitrator is free to craft an award without any restrictions

3. Compulsory

- The parties are required to use it if they can't reach an agreement on their own

- Used in the public sector.

4. Final Offer

- The arbitrator must choose either the Union's or Management's last, best, and final offer

- Used in the public sector

Five-phase methodology for establishing an internal conflict resolution system

- Phase 1: Creating the process

- Phase 2: Designing the system

- Phase 3: Implementing the system

- Phase 4: Evaluating the system

- Phase 5: Recommendations

Phase 1: Creating the process - perhaps the most important

- To promote participation

- To determine methodology

- To set goals

Three Questions to ask regarding Phase 1:

Who should participate?

- Establish a multiparty Design Task Force

How should the process unfold?

- Scope

- Information collection/sharing

- Drafting/revisiting

- Review steps

- Approval

What should the goals be?

- Reduce disputes and/or formal complaints, avoid litigation, etc.

Phase 2: Designing the system

- To assess needs

- To set policy

- To design program

Phase 3: Implementing the system

How will the new policy and system be announced and how will relevant information be disseminated?

Are all necessary resources in place before implementation?

- To erect infrastructure

- To determine protocols

- To educate and train

- To eliminate barriers

Phase 4: Evaluating the system

- Should be performed by an independent evaluation committee, not the design task force

- Design Task Force should set evaluation perimeters

- Consider benchmarking for best-in-class

- To collect data and track use

- To diagnose and analyze problems

- To make recommendations

Phase 5: Recommendations

- Evaluation committee should make recommendations regarding what should be changed.

- To expand or disband

- To change policy

- To adjust program

Punitive and non-punitive progressive discipline models

Positive Non-Punitive Discipline Examples

- Verbal Warning

- Written Warning

- Decision Making Leave

- Day off with pay to contemplate changing behavior

- Termination

Progressive Discipline Examples

- Verbal Warning

- Written Warning

- Unpaid Suspension

- Termination

Why switch to a non-punitive model?

- Treat employees like adults

- Eliminate the repercussions of unpaid suspensions

- Recidivism rates

- Overtime and other cost avoidance to cover absence due to suspensions

Progressive discipline objective

To address employees' inappropriate behavior & allow them to correct it without consequences