Understanding management rights versus mandatory subjects of bargaining is crucial for the HR professional. If you set a precedent of bargaining a management right, you potentially forfeit that right forever.

You are a new human resource manager and you met with managers from all the other departments. During your onboarding conversations with the managers, they gave you a list of practices they would like to change. They have tasked you with communicating the changes to the employees and to make the appropriate policy updates. You know that you cannot make some of these changes without conferring with the union.

Directions

The following is the list of changes. Choose five of these changes for your response.

1. Management wants to change represented police officers’ schedules from a 10-hour day to a 12-hour day.
2. Management wants to change an unrepresented supervisor’s schedule to include one weekend day.
3. Management wants to open on Saturdays. Previously they have been closed. Management wants to force 25% of employees to work on Saturday.
4. Sales are slow. Management wants to cut all exempt employees’ hours by 25% this week.
5. Sales increased suddenly. Management wants to force all union employees to work overtime this week.
6. Management wants to decrease the tuition assistance benefits because sales are low. Some employees are unionized; others are not represented.
7. Management wants to implement additional background check measures.
8. Management is going to remove money from the unofficial employee recognition program and will reinvest those funds in operations. This will affect all employees.
9. The finance department, partially represented, has requested elimination of two positions. One position is union, and one is unrepresented.
10. Management wants to create a new union position, and they insist that the position pay $25 per hour because it is hard to fill.
11. Management wants to change the current COVID-19 safety protocols.

Using your selected five changes, answer the following questions. Specifically, your responses must address the following rubric criteria:

1. Identify Requests: Identify which of your selected changes are likely covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
2. Requires a Meeting: Explain which of the selected managers’ requested changes will require a meeting with the union and why. Be sure to address unrepresented employees.
3. Steps: Describe the steps that Human Resources must take to implement each selected change.