Ricciardi, a partner in the Las Vegas office of law firm Fisher & Phillips, LLP, offered the following early warning of union organizing at BLR's recent National Employment Law Update in Las Vegas:

• Employees unusually busy and excited
• Group stops talking or break up when supervisor approaches
• Employees request information about policies & benefits
• Employees' behavior, attitudes, attendance or work changes
• A new "spokesperson" emerges
• Attempts to defy or irritate supervisor
• Strangers appear outside the premises
• Literature, buttons, shirts, cards
• Employees who typically talk to supervisors no longer do so
• Increased turnover among high performers
• Employees will no longer look you in the eyes
• Employees questioning managerial authority
• New employee alliances forming
• Change in nature/frequency of employee complaints
• Increase in argumentative questions at meetings
• Increase in unauthorized "group" complaints
• Employees seem increasingly divided
• Poor performers begin to show improvement

Establish an Early Warning System

Ricciardi suggests that HR take the following steps to establish an early warning system:

• Train managers to report all signs, however trivial they may appear
• Build accountability into the system
• Coordinate and triangulate all feedback
• Follow up on a regular basis

Yes, you do have the budget and time to train managers and supervisors with BLR's^® 10-Minute HR Trainer. Try it at no cost or risk. Read more.

What Can Employers Do To Oppose Unionization Of Employees?

Although there are restrictions, employers may:

• Exercise their "free speech rights" to tell employees of risks of unionization
• Exercise these rights in a card-signing drive and after a petition for election has been filed

Free Speech Proviso

Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act states: "The expressing of any views, arguments, or opinions, or the dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic, or visual form shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice under any of the provisions of this Act, if such expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit."

This proviso grants you freedom to air your views — and the Company's — without fear of reprisal.

T.I.P.S.

The only statements and actions which you may not say or do are:

• Threaten
• Interrogate
• Promise
• Spy

What Managers Can Always Say

• Facts
• Opinions
• Examples

What to Do

As Ricciardi said in yesterday's Advisor, the simplest measure in retaining your union-free status is consistently practicing good, solid, fair employee relations. And that boils down to one thing—consistent, thorough training.

Training supervisors and managers is critical, but it's also demanding. To train effectively, you need a program that's easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. Also, if you're like most companies in these tight budget days, you need a program that's reasonable in cost.

We asked our editors what they recommend for training supervisors in a minimum amount of time with maximum effect. They came back with BLR's unique 10-Minute HR Trainer.

Train your line managers with BLR's 10-Minute HR Trainer. There won't be time for classroom boredom. Try it for free.

As its name implies, this product trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer offers these features:

Trains in 50 key HR topics under all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities, and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)

• Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
• Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies or turn them into overheads, and you're done. (Take a look at a sample lesson below.)
• Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs do as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.
• Works fast. Each session is so focused that there's not a second's waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock, yet they remember small details even months later.

Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days

We've arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it's not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we'll set you up with 10-Minute HR Trainer.

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