Employer-Employee Relations Paper

Employer-Employee Relations Paper

Employer-Employee Relations Paper

There are many different relationships Charles Schwab keeps with its workforce. Schwab uses every type of employee: temporary, contractor, and permanent (or "regular"). Within these types of employees exists different methods of payment, both exempt and non-exempt. This paper will examine the definition of each type of employee and pay then examine how Schwab handles the relationship with each. Charles Schwab is also an at-will employer and discloses this at the time of employment offer acceptance. The paper will end with a summary of how Schwab addresses this with employee relations.

Schwab's staffing is cyclical with market conditions. This cycle creates large demands for employment which will have a 3 to 6 month term of employment. This fluctuation causes Schwab to use temporary and contractor employees to fill in employee demand gaps. Schwab is currently trying to increase the "regular" staff, know at Schwab as permanent employees. This nomenclature of permanent is clearly defined as a permanent position and not employee in the employee handbook. Due to this use of all three different types of employees, Schwab must use different policies for each level of employment.

A permanent employee at Charles Schwab is defined as a full-time employee who is entitled to full benefits, pay, and legal status as a full-time employee. A regular employee is one who is regularly scheduled to work 40 hours or more per biweekly pay period and whose position is designated to be active for more than six (6) months. Prior to completing the initial six month probation period, regular employees are considered "at will" employees whose employment may be terminated at any time that does not violate public policy. Regular employees are retirement and benefits-eligible (I seek, 2006). Schwab gives all permanent employees a numerical job code. Any code above 50 represents a permanent employee who is eligible for all the benefits offered: health benefits, retirement benefits, and all government mandated benefits.

A temporary employee at Charles Schwab is regulated by a whole different policy. Schwab uses temp agencies to fill these needs as the needs tend to be large and approach quickly. This presents a unique approach to policy as it is a blend of basic Schwab policy and the Temp agencies work policy. This creates joint liability between the two companies, the staffing firm and Schwab (Bennett-Alexander, Hartman, 2007). Temporary employees are employees whose position will be active for less than six (6) months. Temporary and part-time employees are considered "at will" employees whose employment may be terminated at any time for any reason that does not violate public policy. Temporary employees are not eligible to participate in employee benefits or insurance plans (I seek, 2006).

Contractors are uses only for non-business related and emergency issues. These include jobs like major maintenance needs (i.e. water damage), plant and cleaning maintenance, and major technical projects. Schwab approaches these relationships with contracts. Contractors usually provide work on a project-by-project basis where fees for work performed are negotiated in advance. Employers do not need to pay taxes and benefits to contractors as they do with regular full-time employees; however contractors have considerable autonomy compared to regular full-time employees in that they perform their work as they see fit (Top Echelon, 2006). In Schwab's contractor contracts they make sure to disclose on each contract that the contract is only good for the job the contractor is hired in for and that anything above and beyond the contract will need to be re-discussed and agreed upon.

Regular employees are most beneficial because they are the base of the company. These employees receive valuable training to help the company grow. Therefore, they are eligible for benefits. As for temporary employees they are just that, temporary. These types of employees have only general knowledge and are brought in as fillers for employees who may be on leaves of absences, sick, vacationing, or times of high customer demand. Temporary employees are usually paid less and are not eligible for company benefits. Finally, the independent contractor's role is to accomplish a final result and it's the independent contractor who will determine the best way to achieve that result. The independent contractor must obtain his/her own benefits such as workers' compensation and disability. The independent contractor is not entitled to any typical employee benefits from any government agency.

Exempt employee and non-exempt employee at Charles Schwab is a huge issue. Schwab gives every job title a number that represents the level of employment. The larger the number, the higher the responsibility, power, and pay. These higher numbers also usually equate to sales or managerial positions. The largest difference between these number is whether or not the number equates to exempt or non-exempt status. Schwab pay's all non-exempt employees hourly wage broken down by the yearly salary agreed upon. Any time worked over 40 hours for the week will entitle all non-exempt employees to time and a half pay. Schwab also pays double time for any holidays worked. Exempt employees at Schwab are not entitled to any overtime pay, but these employees are entitled to a much larger share of any bonus payouts.

Exempt means an employee is not under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime provisions. The duties test and the salary test are used to qualify employees as exempt. Job duties must meet the required regulations set by the job duties test. The employee's salary also has to meet the required regulations set by the salary test. Exempt employees must be paid an annual salary rather it be weekly, bi-weekly, or some other specified interval. Exempt employees do not receive overtime pay and are exempt from the minimum wage requirements. This job classification is usually designated for professional, administrative and executive positions. (Who's Exempt, 2006)

Non-exempt employees are protected by the FLSA minimum wage and overtime provisions. FLSA also protects employees with child labor provisions and equal pay for equal work stipulations. Non-exempt employees receive hourly wages and overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week's period. Overtime is to be a time and a half per hour. Most non-exempt positions are non-professional. (Who's