SPHR Exam Prep: Senior Professional in Human Resources, Third Edition

Chapter 5. Employee and Labor Relations

Employee relations, labor relations…what are these topics all about, and why are they important to HR professionals? The answers to these questions are sometimes presented in ways that are overly simple and other times presented in ways that are exceedingly complex. In this chapter, we’ll try to strike an appropriate balance between these two ends of the spectrum.

Let’s first take a look at employee relations because all employees, whether members of a union or not, are, in fact employees.

Note

Although this may seem like an axiomatic statement, it warrants mention. Why? Because sometimes, in the midst of the complexities, challenges, and opportunities of dealing with organized labor, organizations (and ...