PHR Exam Prep™

Introduction

Employee relations…labor relations…what are these topics all about, and why are they important to HR professionals? The answer to this question is sometimes presented in ways that are overly simple, and it is sometimes presented in ways that are exceedingly complex. In this chapter, we'll try to strike an appropriate balance between these two extremes.

Let's first take a look at employee relations, since 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 the people within those organizations, ...