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Job Security, Seniority,
and Equality
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Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
6. Relate NLRB ruling to issues of job security, seniority, and a calculation of seniority.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 9:
Job Security and Seniority
Unit Lesson
How secure is your job? What security measures does your organization use to ensure employee job
security? How important is job security to you? How does your organization handle promotions? Is vacation
leave approved based on seniority? How does your organization handle layoffs and terminations? Does your
organization post jobs internally for a certain number of days? Are all employees given the same opportunities
for promotions?
If you were in search of a new job, would you be concerned about job security, job stability, and equality?
Would seniority be a factor at all or would it depend on if the organization had employees who are part of a
union? Even if the organization did not have employees with union representation, would any of these things
be of concern to you?
Determine if you agree or disagree with the following statements:
Most individuals view employment as their main means of support.
Job security is very important for most employees.
Social media should be a major concern in regards to employee job security.
Job stability is not as prominent as in previous years because of outsourcing.
All employees should receive the same rights regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.
Regardless of time in position, employees should have the same opportunities at promotions, and
receive the same benefits.
Seniority can have a positive and negative impact on the organization.
Seniority systems can help eliminate discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender.
Contract workers should not be paid cheaper wages for performing the same job duties as regular
employees.
Contracting is a way for companies to get around certain obligations to regular employees.
Many of the above referenced questions and statements could be considered whether you are working in a
union or nonunion environment. As you read Chapter 9, you will have a better understanding as to why these
questions and statements are important. You may also change your original response to each of the above
statements.
Within Chapter 9, the author states that job security and seniority are vital to collective bargaining
agreements. Both labor and management strongly believe they must maintain certain rights where job
security affects the employee’s ability to keep his or her job and successfully compete for higher positions
(Carrell & Heavrin, 2013). Organizations must make sure certain measures are put in place to ensure the
employees are safe while working. Some organizations conduct random drug and alcohol testing. This is
something that must be covered within the collective bargaining agreement. The legality of such testing is
often questioned and does lead to some interesting conversations during negotiations at the bargaining table.
UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE
Job Security, Seniority,
and Equality
BHR 4350, Collective Bargaining 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
In most cases, the union does not agree with the random testing; however, they will agree to test for probable
cause. Specific wording is included within the collective bargaining agreement to address the dos and don’ts
of such tests.
Another issue that can impact job security is the use of social media. Many organizations have limits on the
use of social media during work hours. The collective bargaining must also address the specifics of social
media usage within the workplace. The safety and health of the employees is of upmost importance. Although
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements must be met, all involved within the
organization must take an active part to ensure employee safety. Any issues that arise should be addressed
immediately. All safety guidelines/processes and procedures must be agreed upon by the union.
Just as job security relates to employee safety, it also relates to the stability of the job and/or organization.
The advancement in technology has a major impact on job security/stability. Along with technology comes
contracting and outsourcing. Many unions try to address such issues at the bargaining table. Unions try to
help employees retain their positions. Unions are concerned about employees being displaced or even
replaced; therefore, they are looking at contracts more closely and adding specific clauses within the
agreement to help.
Seniority is one of the most important issues for union employees. Seniority can be viewed as the act of
giving preference in employee decision on the basis of the length of continuous service with the company
(Carrell & Heavrin, 2013). Many employees view seniority as a means of job stability when it comes to layoffs,
terminations, promotions, and paid time off (vacation leave). Seniority is used as a basis for making many
decisions that impact the employees. Making decisions based on seniority can also help to eliminate
discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender. Because employees view seniority as a plus, it is very
important for organizations to have a seniority system in place. Many of the systems have certain clauses in
place. The theory behind utilizing a seniority system is that if the employees are approximately equal in ability,
then the employee who has the greatest length of service should be given the opportunity first (Carrell &
Heavrin, 2013).
Although there are laws in place to ensure equality, affirmative action and seniority can be competing entities.
Although management must be certain to adhere to federal employment laws, all factors must be considered
when looking at seniority. The main point of the affirmative action plan is for all things to be equal. Although
there are noted cases where the seniority system overruled the Affirmative Action plan (as with the Supreme
Court decision in Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts [Carrell & Heavrin, 2013]), organizations must be
certain not to use race, ethnicity, and gender as the sole determining factor during layoffs. Seniority systems
may overrule affirmative action plans and the Disability Act—the decision in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. Barnett
supported seniority systems when they are in conflict with the ADA (Carrell & Heavrin, 2013). According to the
textbook, seniority systems and employee feelings of job security are meaningless unless contract provisions
limit management’s ability to subcontract work (Carrell & Heavrin, 2013).
In efforts to keep things open, many organizations have seniority lists. This helps human resource when
making decisions about layoffs and promotions. These list should clarify seniority by employee, department,
and plant/organization-wide. The organization must be certain to maintain accurate and up-to-date lists to
avoid any possible conflict. Keep in mind that there are different units of seniority (Carrell & Heavrin, 2013).
The following list includes:
Plant-wide seniority is the most common unit—the seniority is equal to the total service with the
employer.
Departmental seniority looks at the amount of time an employee has been working in a particular
department.
Classification seniority is based upon length of time within a specific job classification.
Often times, unions have negotiated a combination of these units. If there are layoffs in a certain department
or among specific job classes and an employee has just been transferred or promoted to that classification,
then seniority would be based on total years of service within the organization. Sometimes organizations will
decide to look at other avenues to eliminate direct labor costs. Such costs could include need to decrease
output and increase input. In efforts to accomplish this, some organizations will consider downsizing,
company mergers, and ever subcontracting and outsourcing. Some unions view subcontracting as a means
of undermining labor unions. When organizations decide to have a mass layoff or close, they must abide by
the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). This requires the organization to provide the
BHR 4350, Collective Bargaining 3
