THE STRUCTURE FOR ANALYZING AN EMPLOYMENT PROBLEM
In order to resolve an employment issue, we often have to refer to a specific law, such as wage and hour, employment discrimination, occupational safety and health, or union/employer relations. The critical analysis and writing structure used to address employment problems when referring to a specific law is IRAC:
ISSUE
RULE
ANALYSIS
CONCLUSION
This structure is also useful for other issues, including life problems. Labor relations problems, like life problems, are comprised of a principle or rule and how that principle or rule applies to a set of facts. When working in Human Resource Management, we must take into consideration the perspective of the employer, the employee, the supervisor, co-workers, and those to whom we provide a service or product. Looking at a problem from different points of view helps develop a sound conclusion.
Henry Nichols has been employed by Seaside Hospital for the past fifteen (15) years as an Administrative Director. Seaside Hospital is a small private community hospital in the Northeast Bronx, New York. It has been under serious financial constraints for the past ten (10) years due to declining reimbursements from the state and insurance companies. As a result, there has been a reduction in staff and the remaining staff have been asked to assume more responsibilities.
There are currently twenty (20) administrative directors at Seaside. The role of the administrative director is to manage the unit to which they are assigned and coordinate patient care. They must ensure that all patients’ needs are met according to the instructions in the patient’s chart. The responsibilities include ensuring documentation of doctors’ visits and nurses’ service delivery, correct meal delivery, and cleaning and preparation of patient rooms. The position reports to the Director of Nursing and requires working with both the medical and support staff, including the dietary and custodial staff.
The Administrative Directors must have at least a bachelor’s degree and are paid on an annual salary basis. They are represented by 1199 SEIU, their bargaining agent, and have a collective bargaining agreement that defines the terms and conditions of employment. The collective bargaining agreement has a salary schedule with periodic increases. The current salary schedule is from $54, 268 up to $86,188, based on years of service. Seaside Hospital has designated the Administrative Directors as exempt from the Fair Labor Standard Act requirements as administrative employees.
The collective bargaining agreement between Seaside Hospital and the Union includes Article 15, defining the workload for those in the bargaining unit, including the Administrative Directors. The Hospital requires that all Administrative Directors follow up on all tasks for their shift before turning over the shift to the next Administrative Director. Administrator Directors must make sure that all doctor contacts have been completed, meals delivered, rooms cleaned and prepared, and all events documented before they complete their shift. This results in the Administrative Directors often working beyond the normal seven (7) hours per shift and often working 40 to 45 hours per week. The Administrative Directors have raised the issue of their workload with the Union and the Union has filed a grievance with Seaside Hospital under the collective bargaining agreement alleging a breach, misinterpretation, or misapplication of Article 15.
Using the IRAC structure, explain the arguments on behalf of the Union and the arguments on behalf of Seaside Hospital, the employer. Article 15 is below. The Administrative Exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act is included with Case Study Three. In the conclusion, provide a summary of the arguments for each side and explain how this issue should be resolved.
SEASIDE HOSPITAL AND 1199 SEIU (SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION) AGREEMENT
Article 15: Workload
(b) All titles covered under this Agreement shall have a workweek of thirty-five (35) hours as assigned. This workweek is to be scheduled in not more than five days in any week.
(c) Employees in administrative titles shall not be required to work an excessive number of hours, or be assigned an unreasonable schedule, it being recognized by the parties that members of the staff have the obligation to perform their responsibilities in keeping with the proper staffing of the facility to meet the needs of the patients.
(d) It is understood that split schedules do not meet the definition of a reasonable schedule. A split schedule is a schedule in which the hours assigned are not consecutive except for meal periods.
