Shift Scheduling & Labor Relations Flashcards
7 cards from real CPM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Shift Scheduling & Labor Relations flashcards as text
A plant uses a voluntary overtime sign-up list but repeatedly goes to mandatory overtime when the list isn't filled. Over 18 months this becomes routine. A union grievance citing 'past practice' would argue:
Answer: The consistent practice of mandatory overtime has established a binding norm management cannot change without bargaining
A consistent 18-month practice of mandatory overtime can establish a past practice that constrains management's ability to change the process unilaterally without bargaining.
Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, employers with 100+ employees generally must provide how many days advance notice before a mass layoff?
Answer: 60 days
The WARN Act requires covered employers to provide 60 calendar days of advance written notice to employees, unions, and local government officials before a qualifying plant closing or mass layoff.
Which scheduling strategy is BEST suited for a plant that experiences highly variable daily production demand?
Answer: A flex-scheduling or call-in system that adjusts staffing to actual demand
Flex-scheduling or demand-driven call-in systems allow staffing levels to match actual production demand, reducing labor cost during low-volume periods while maintaining coverage when needed.
A union steward accompanies an employee to a disciplinary investigative interview. This right is known as:
Answer: Weingarten rights
Weingarten rights (from NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 1975) give unionized employees the right to have a union representative present during investigative interviews that could result in discipline.
When calculating the true cost of absenteeism, plant managers should include which factor beyond direct overtime pay?
Answer: Reduced productivity, quality defects, and administrative time managing absences
The true cost of absenteeism includes overtime premiums, reduced productivity from replacement workers, quality impacts, and the management time spent arranging coverage, often 2-3x the direct wage cost.
A labor-management joint committee on scheduling is formed at a plant. This structure PRIMARILY benefits operations by:
Answer: Building union-management trust and surfacing frontline input to improve schedule design
Joint labor-management committees foster cooperative problem-solving, allow frontline workers to share practical scheduling insights, and reduce adversarial grievances by addressing issues collaboratively.
In shift scheduling, 'schedule adherence' measures:
Answer: How closely employees follow their assigned start times, break times, and end times
Schedule adherence tracks how well employees conform to their planned schedule (start/end times, breaks), which directly impacts labor cost accuracy and production planning reliability.