BHR 3565 - Employment Law

Columbia Souther University

Moran, J. J. (2014).Employment law: New

Challenges in the Business Environment (6thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Question 1  

1.   During a campaign toorganize a union at Total Manufacturing Co., two employees of Total asked otheremployees in the break room at Total if they would sign cards indicating theirsupport of the union. The Vice President for Human Resources for Total was inthe break room at the time and overheard the conversation about signing cardsto support the union. That Vice President said to the employees who had beenasked to sign the cards supporting the union that they should know the factsbefore they signed the cards, that in signing the cards, if the union won theelection, they were giving up their right to decide later if they wanted tojoin the union and that they would be required to pay union dues if the unionwon the election. The Vice President also told the employees that they would beobligated to be union members and pay union dues even if the union was not ableto improve their pay or benefits through negotiations with Total.

Were the Vice President’s statements an unlawful interference with the unionorganizing process? If so, what law applies?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.

Question 2  

1.   Construction workerswere hired on an hourly basis to perform work being done by AC Contracting in ashipyard that was owned by BAE Company. Security procedures instituted by BAECompany required that the construction workers employed by AC Contracting parktheir cars outside of the shipyard and pass through a security gate to enterthe shipyard. Once the construction workers employed by AC Contracting passedthrough the BAE Company security gate, they were required to ride on a bus tothe construction site on a remote part of the shipyard. The security processand ride to the construction site took about one half hour each way every day,but during that time, construction workers employed by AC Contracting were notrequired to do any work other than carry their personal safety equipment. Theconstruction workers claim that they should be paid from the time they beginthe security check-in procedure until the time they complete the securitycheck-out procedure.

Are these workers entitled to be paid for the time required to check in and outof the security gate and to ride to and from the construction site? If not, whynot? If so, what law applies?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.

Question 3

1.   Oil Service Company has an office in a remote area in NorthDakota. During an uncharacteristically heavy snow, three employees in theoffice of Oil Service Company called the manager of Oil Service Company to saythat they did not think that they could get to work because of the heavy snow.The manager told each of those employees that he did not want them driving towork if they thought that it was too dangerous, but that since there was animportant contract that had to be finished, and if they wanted, he (themanager) would come to their houses, pick them up, and bring them to work. Twoof the three employees who called agreed to have the manager come to theirhouses and bring them to the office. One of those employees slipped on the icein front of her house as she was coming down the front steps to the manager’scar and was injured.

Is this employee entitled to workers’ compensation for this injury? Why, or whynot?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.

Question 4

1.   Big Jim Company sponsored a picnic for employees and purchased apropane grill equipped with a standard-sized propane tank for the picnic. Tomake sure there was enough propane for all the cooking that was to be done atthe picnic, the employer also purchased a larger propane tank to replace thesmaller propane tank that came with the grill. Though the larger propane tankcontained a label warning that it should not be used with grills designed forsmaller tanks, the employer was able to connect the larger tank to the grill.When the grill was turned on, two employees who had volunteered to do thecooking determined that the gas flow was not adequate to cook the meat, so theytried to adjust the larger propane tank and the valve connecting it to thegrill to increase the flow of propane. After those adjustments were made,propane began to leak from the larger tank and caused an explosion whichinjured both of the employees who had volunteered to do the cooking.

Did the employer violate any of the duties imposed on it by OSHA? If not, whynot. If so, what duties were violated?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.