COURSE SYLLABUS

MGMT 435: Employee and Labor Relations

Fall 2008
Instructor: Dr. E. A. Ensher
Office: Hilton 351
Office phone: (310) 338-3037
Home: (310) 641-4111
Email: eensher@lmu.edu
OFFICE HOURS
Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30; 3-5
Wednesdays: 11-2
DEFINITION
Employee and Labor Relations is the functional area of Human Resource Management
whose primary focus is to develop and maintain effective working relationships with
employees. At a minimum, it is the task of managers and HR professionals to have the
knowledge and ability to adhere to organizational policy and state and federal labor law.
However, to truly to be competitive, managers and HR professionals must strive to
advance beyond the minimum standards and focus on the development and retention of
their employees as well.
INTRODUCTION
This course will present an in-depth overview to Employee and Labor Relations. This class
is designed to address several key questions related to Employee Relations: 1) What skills
are needed as employees, managers, and HR professionals to be successful in this arena?
2) Why do we care about Employee and Labor Relations? 3) Who is affected by Employee
and Labor Relations? 4) How does organizational context affect Employee and Labor
Relations? Employee and Labor Relations are critical to the bottom line success of
organizations. As future employees, managers, and perhaps for some of you, Human
Resource professionals, it is critical that you are familiar with the fundamental laws,
policies, programs, and skills related to developing yourself and your organization's human
capital.
Since Management 335 (Human Resource Management) is a prerequisite for this class,
you are expected to already know the basics of important labor laws such as Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act, Sexual harassment, Americans with Disabilities Act, Family Medical
Leave Act etc.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1) Gain an overview to the field of Employee and Labor Relations including relevant
theories, laws, programs, and policies.

10/20/2015

2) Develop oral and written communication skills to manage individual and employee
performance more effectively.
3) Increase analytical skills by researching facts and cases related to Employee and Labor
Relations.
4) Develop an understanding of current issues and best practices in employee retention.
ASSIGNED READINGS
You will need to purchase a packet or readings for this course entitled, "Management 435:
Employee and Labor Relations." You can purchase this from Mozena Publishing at (800)
444- 8398. A representative from Mozena will sell this book of readings in class for the
first several weeks, so you will also have the opportunity to purchase the book then. You
will be expected to come to class having read the assigned reading for the appropriate day
listed on the syllabus. In some cases, to complete course assignments, you may need to do
your reading a week or two early.
TEAMWORK
You will form a work team consisting of approximately 3 students. Several times during
the semester you will complete assignments as a team. Similar to Management 335, I
would like you to do some initial project planning by creating a group charter and
timeline. Your group will hand in a one or two-page Group Charter, listing all of the
expectations of your team regarding both appropriate behavior to demonstrate and avoid
on the part of the total team and individual team members. Also, be sure to indicate the
names and contact information of each team member. Please identify a team
representative who I can contact if I need to reach your team.
To start, ask yourselves in an early group meeting what should the group and individual
members do and not do to avoid the group work disasters that you may have experienced
in other classes in the past. This Charter should also indicate how your group expects to
handle such things as disagreement, decision-making, communication, feedback, and
managing individual problem behaviors that needs to be corrected for the good of the
group. All group members should sign the Charter and keep a copy.
For all team and dyadic activities, all members will receive the same grade based on the
quality of their work.
SUMMARY OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES
To succeed in this course, you must be willing to stretch beyond your comfort zone,
actively participate and above all, be prepared! You will have the opportunity to increase
your knowledge, skills, and abilities in this class by participating in lectures, class
discussions, case studies, simulations, videos, and group work. Your assignments will
include: A) Coaching & Discipline skill practice and memo (50 points ), B) Team Mock
Performance Appraisal (50 points), C) 2 exams (mid-semester worth 100 points and a final
worth 200 points), D) Team Presentation(100 points); and Team Writing Assignment (100
points) and E) Class Participation (50 points)
COACHING SKILL PRACTICE
In my recent survey of Employee Relations professionals, the results indicated that the
skills most needed, and yet least successfully exhibited by managers were the ability to
10/20/2015

provide effective oral and written feedback to employees regarding their performance. You
will have an opportunity to learn about, practice, and evaluate these skills in this class.
With a partner, you will be given a short case related to giving performance feedback
and/or a counseling session. You and your partner will be asked to participate in a practice
session of your response to this case with one of you playing the role of the supervisor and
one of you playing the role of the employee. You will be asked to write a sample script
incorporating steps to an effective session.
DISCIPLINE MEMO
You will be asked to write a discipline memorandum to an employee based on a sample
case study incorporating the steps to effective discipline.
MOCK PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
As a team you will write a written performance appraisal based upon a case study
distributed to you in class. You will write this performance appraisal as if you were the
manager writing to your employee. Each of you will need to first write your own analysis
individually and then turn in a written team synthesis. This paper will be approximately 5-6
pages long and is worth 50 points.
TEAM PROJECT AND PRESENTATIONS
The best way to learn something new is to teach what you know to others. This is your
chance to unleash your creativity. Choose a topic related to Employee and Labor Relations
(must be approved by me) and then create a project designed to teach us what you have
learned. For example, you could: 1) Research and create an interactive learning game such
as the Employee Relations Board Game, 2) Research, write, and shoot a movie and post it
on You Tube, 3) Research and write a case study (should be at least 5 pages long). Your
project must include a presentation and written component as well. For example, if you
design a game, you need complete questions, answers, and a citation list. If you research
and write a movie, then you need to include a substantive script and an annotated
reference list of your sources. I am open to other suggestions. The purpose of this
assignment is to give you the opportunity to focus on a topic of your interest, perform the
necessary research, and then design a creative way to teach it to your classmates.
Each team will be required to present your project and engage the class in an interactive
learning experience on a designated day later in the semester.
EXAMS
The mid-semester exam (worth 100 points) and a cumulative final exam (worth 200
points) may consist of multiple choice, true-false questions, short answers, definitions,
and/or essay questions. These exams will cover your class notes, required reading, and inclass discussions. Study guides for each of these exams will be provided.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Due to the interactive class design, your high quality preparation in this course is VITAL
to the success of this course. You must come to class having read and thought about your
assignments and be open and willing to ask questions, challenge assumptions, provide
examples, and be an active participant every single time. It becomes extremely obvious to
me very early on who is a prepared and high quality participant and who is not. Your
10/20/2015

prompt arrival, attendance, and prepared participation (quality emphasized) will be closely
monitored. Please avoid tardiness- just as it is not acceptable to arrive at a job late, it is
not acceptable to arrive in class late. Your final grade will begin to be seriously
jeopardized with more than three absences. Please let me know immediately if you have a
problem attending class. Your participation and adherence to class policies will have a
significant influence on your final grade, as well as what you ultimately gain from this
course.
At the end of the semester I will conduct a work team peer evaluation that will help me to
assess your performance in this important area, particularly with regard to the nature of
your contribution to the successful learning and effective performance of your work team.
GRADING
The following represents the relative weighting that your performance in the various
graded learning activities will have in determining your final grade:
Coaching skill practice script
Discipline/coaching memo
Mock Performance Appraisal
Team Project -written
Team Project- presentation
Mid Term Examination
Final Examination
Participation
Total points possible

50 points
50 points
50 points
100 points
100 points
100 points
200 points
50 points
700 points

I believe that honest, regular feedback is very important. You can expect regular feedback
from me, and I will ask you for feedback on my performance at the middle and end of the
semester. Of course, feedback that you would like to give me at any other time is also
very welcome.
Your final grade, based on your total accumulated points, will be determined by a modified
curve grade distribution procedure. If there is little final total point spread and evidence of
considerable student effort, all final grades can be quite high. However, if there is much
final total point spread, indicating significant performance difference, a more normal curve
grade distribution procedure will be used. Only students who do outstanding work will
receive an "A."
PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIORS & POLICIES
I will give you my full energy and commitment to making this a successful and rewarding
course this semester. In fact, if you receive at least a "C" as a final grade, you can expect
from me a commitment to help you (i.e., letters of recommendation) as you progress in
your academic and professional career. In exchange for my commitment to you, I expect
complete honesty and genuine behavior on your part. Any cheating or plagiarism will be
dealt with severely. Late papers, assignments, or missed exams are absolutely, positively
unacceptable! All assignments turned in after class until 10 pm of the same day will be
docked 1/2 a grade. Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade for every day they
are late. This means you need to get your work done early and prepare for inevitable
10/20/2015

mishaps. Getting work in on time and managing multiple demands are part of the
professional competencies you are expected to learn at LMU. If you miss a class, it is your
responsibility to find out what happened from your classmates and borrow any lecture
notes or materials distributed in class.
GENERAL POLICIES
1. In general, I do not accept assignments via email unless you receive prior
permission from me. I would advise you to avoid using email to turn in papers
as often there is a discrepancy regarding when the paper was sent and received.
It is your job to make sure I received it and dont assume I did receive it until
you receive a message back from me. Also, I count the paper as received when
I get it, NOT when you sent it. See how complicated this is? Avoid using
email- just come to class or have a friend turn your work in when its due.
2. This is a business class so I expect a high degree of professionalism so that
means everything you turn in to me must be typed and professional or I will
not accept it.
3. Please note, late papers, assignments and exams are absolutely, positively
NOT acceptable! Grades for papers turned in the same day, yet after the
class period they are due regardless of your excuse, will be reduced 1/2 a
letter grade. After that, the paper will be docked one complete letter
grade for every day it is late. The same rule applies for a missed exam.
4. If you miss class the day I return assignments, you can come by my office and
pick up your assignment. I only bring returned assignments to class once.
5. Students with special needs who need reasonable modifications, special
assistance, or accommodations in this course should promptly direct their
requests to the Disability Support Services office. Any student who currently
has a documented disability (physical, learning, or psychological) needing
academic accommodations should contact the Disability Services Offices
(Daum Hall, #224, X84535) as early in the semester as possible. All
discussions remain confidential. Please visit www.lmu.edu/dss for additional
information.

10/20/2015

COURSE SCHEDULE- Revised 10/12/081

DATE

TOPIC

ASSIGNMENT

Tues. Aug. 25

The Future of Work

Tues. Sept. 2

Course expectations and

Introduction
Overview to Employee and
Labor Relations
Labor Law Review

Thurs. Sept. 4
Tues. Sept. 9

Labor Law Review

GLBT Issues in the workplace

Thurs. Sept. 11
Tues. Sept. 16

GLBT Issues in the Workplace

Performance Appraisal &
Management

Thurs. Sept. 18
Tues. Sept. 23

Performance Appraisal and

Management
Coaching and Counseling

Thurs. Sept. 25
Tues. Sept. 30

Team Development Day

Coaching and Counseling

Thurs. Oct. 2
Tues. Oct. 7

Coaching and Counseling

Employee Discipline

Thurs. Oct. 9

Employee Discipline

Tues. Oct. 14
Thurs. Oct. 16

Midterm
Employee Rights Overview

Tues. Oct. 21

Spirituality and Management

(Mathew Scharpnick)

Thurs. Oct. 23

Employee Relations in Practice

(Kathy Flores)
Employee Rights: Privacy

Thurs. Aug. 27

Tues. Oct. 28

Employee Relations; Legal

Environment of HRM
The Cracker Barrel
Restaurants; Cracker Barrel
launches program; Is this the
right time to come out?; Queer
Inc.
Appraising and Improving
Performance; Conducting the
appraisal; How to prepare
more effective appraisals
Group Charters due
When should you counsel or
coach; Plan & conduct
coaching;
Mock Performance Appraisal
Due
Why managers fail as
coaches, Coaching
analysis
Employee Rights and
Discipline; Taking
Disciplinary Action
Group Topics due;
Coaching Skill practice
Write-up due
Readings provided in class
God and Business;
The Divided Soul of Corporate
America
Discipline Memo Due
Recognizing Employee On-the-

I will do my best to ensure that this syllabus is an accurate reflection of my expectations of you, however,
there may be slight changes during the course of the semester that I will inform you about early on if
needed.

10/20/2015

Issues

Thurs. Oct. 30

Romance in the Workplace

Tues. Nov. 4

Employee Retention

Thurs. Nov. 6

Employee Retention:
Corporate Social
Responsibility

Tues. Nov. 11

Employee Retention: Work and

Family Balance

Thurs. Nov. 13

Employee Retention:
Generations in the workforce
(Guest speaker)
Employee Retention summary
Team Presentations of Projects
Team Presentations of Projects
No Class
Team Presentations and
Projects
Class Wrap Up

Tues. Nov. 18
Thurs. Nov. 20
Tues. Nov. 25
Thurs. Nov. 27
Tues. Dec. 2
Thurs. Dec. 4

Job Rights and Conducts;

Watching What you Say and
Do in the Workplace;
Breaching the Castle Walls
Coffee, Tea, or Me?;
Dangerous Liasons; LA
Mayors Romance; Questions
Persist; Romancing the CEO
Retention tactics that work;
The Spirit of Work; Loveem
or loseem; Challenges of
Employee Retention
Corporate Social
Responsibility Pays Off;
The New Capitalists
Smashing the Clock;
Additional Reading to be
provided
Reading to be provided

Thanksgiving

Final Exam is Thursday, Dec. 11 at 11 a.m.

10/20/2015