Employment and Labor Law
Every once in a while, companies face challenges from their part time employees who seek to be included in the full-time bargaining unit. For some, their arguments tend to be supported by law, while in other cases it becomes impossible to do so. This paper analyses two different situations whereby part-time employees may be included in the full-time bargaining unit, and where they cannot be included.
The part-time faculty in the community colleges is generally similar to the full-time faculty. First, they are hired by the same college administrators. Second, they teach courses just as the full-time faculty, however they are only offered one or two courses a term. They teach in the same building, and will teach same courses as full-time employees when they are filling in for them. Lastly, whenever position openings are available, the part-time employees have filled them, hence joining the full-time faculty. According to the protection of employees Act 2001, a part-time worker can be compared to the full-time worker when they perform similar roles, under similar conditions (Cihon & Castagnera, 2016). Therefore, these part-time faculty at the community colleges should be included in the full-time bargaining unit as there is really no difference between the two groups of employees.
Unfortunately, the same argument cannot be applied in the case of part-time coaches. These employees have roles that relate to sports only. When there is need for filling in, the coaches cannot be taken to teach courses in the classroom as that is not their area of expertise. In addition, sports is not considered a compulsory course in the community colleges, and there is no credit offered for participation. Basically, it is a co curriculum activity in the colleges. As a result of this difference, there is no way that these two groups of employees can compare (Cihon & Castagnera, 2016). Therefore, it should not be included in the full-time faculty bargaining unit.
Reference
Cihon, P., J., & Castagnera, J., O. (2016). Employment and Labor Law. South-Western College/West. ISBN-13: 9781305580015
