The Good News: Unions Make Sure You Do Your Job Correctly
By Ann Boehm, September 10, 2024
Quick facts:
- It’s the managers’ obligation to handle problem employees who negatively impact the agency’s mission.
- Union representatives are obligated to ensure problem employees are treated fairly.
- Learn the processes and take the right steps to handle problem employees.
What do managers, counsel, employee relations specialists, labor relations specialists, employees, and union representatives all have in common? All of them know who the toxic employees are. What’s different is how these folks deal with the toxic employees. Or is it really different?
I recently had the amazing opportunity to train union stewards. Throughout my career, I have spent much more time on the management side than on the union side. This was a tremendous chance for me to learn more about the union perspective.
Early in the training, I discovered the union stewards certainly know who the problem employees are. In fact, the problem employees are not necessarily any nicer to the union representatives than they are to managers.
But here’s the big difference between the managers and the union representatives: The managers have an obligation to the public, and part of that obligation is to handle problem employees who negatively impact the mission. The union representatives are obligated to ensure that even the problem employees are treated fairly and have all available opportunities to challenge management’s actions.
I came out of this experience thinking of the union representatives more like criminal defense attorneys. Most people wonder how criminal defense attorneys can represent an admitted murderer, for example. The common response from those attorneys is that everyone is entitled to their rights under the Constitution and criminal laws. If the police or prosecutors do something wrong to violate those rights, or if the prosecutors cannot prove the commission of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, then that’s on them.
In the employment context, union representatives may know the employee is a problem and deserves discipline or a performance-based action, but they are going to do their level best to make sure management and agency reps do things correctly.
What’s the lesson to be learned here? No one wants problem employees dragging down the agency or co-workers. If the agency wants to take action, it needs to do things correctly. The union representatives are there to keep a check on the process. It’s their job.
So, agencies learn the processes and follow them. (We at FELTG are here to help!) Understand that the union representatives know who the problem employees are, but they have a job to do. Take the right steps to handle the problem employee. Everyone will benefit. And that’s Good News! [email protected]
Related training:
- September 16-20: FLRA Law Week
- October 8: Do You Really Know How to Use the Douglas Factors?