Respect Act: An Overview of Research Paper

The new definition, critics contend, is nonsensical as "it would be highly unusual for any employee, even a Vice President of Human Resources, to spend more than 50% of his or her weekly time doing hiring, firing and disciplining employees" and direction forms the bulk of most supervisor's job responsibilities (RESPECT, 2009, Foster Swift). Approximately 8 million current workers would be declassified from their current supervisory status (RESPECT, 2009, Foster Swift).

In other words, a very large proportion of what would once be considered white collar 'management-level' persons would now be eligible for unionization. "Under current law, a supervisor is considered an agent of management and owes a duty of undivided loyalty to the employer in labor-management relations, such as during union organizing campaigns, grievances, picketing and strikes. That duty would be compromised by the RESPECT Act" (RESPECT, 2009, Foster Swift). The supervisors would have dual loyalty, between labor and managerial interests, given their own potential 'stake' in the unionizing process.

Critics of the Act believe it could have a deleterious effect upon business practices in general, depriving businesses of flexibility. Because of the new definition of supervisor, "under the RESPECT Act, employees classified as supervisors would be largely "precluded from performing non-supervisor or bargaining unit work," making it difficult for companies to use supervisors to 'pick up the slack' during union strikes (another intention of the Act) (Sherk & O'Donnell 2009).Proponents of the law state that such evasion is precisely what the law is trying to prevent. It is trying to stop employers from classifying individuals with labor interests as supervisors and preventing these employees from unionizing and from using supervisors to cushion the effects of organized labor actions.

Given the recent politically rightward shift of the current Congress, passage of the bill within the next several months seems unlikely. Promoters of RESPECT wished for it to be passed in conjunction with another pro-labor law, the "Card Check" Act (Employee Free Choice Act) which "would eliminate an employee's private election of union representation and replace it with automatic unionization if more than 50% of the employee's election cards support unionization" (RESPECT, 2009, Foster Swift).

References

Bills promote unionization: The "Card Check" Act and the "RESPECT" Act. (2009, July).

Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice Group. Foster Swift Employment, Labor & Benefits Quarterly. Updated January 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011 at http://www.fosterswift.com/news-publications-Card-Check-and-RESPECT-Acts.html

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). (1936). Full text available January 12, 2011 at http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/overview/national_labor_relations_act.aspx

Sherk, James & Ryan O'Donnell. (2009, May). How the RESPECT Act hurts companies and employees alike. The Heritage Foundation Research Report. Retrieved January….....