May MHHRA Newsletter
May 2006
Dear Colleagues,
We have an annual tradition between MHHRA and the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) providing scholarships to individuals broadening their education in nursing or the allied health professions. Earlier this month we recognized two nursing professionals for their ongoing achievements in academics, community service and serving some of our most critically ill and vulnerable patients. Each will receive $1000 toward their ongoing education in Nursing. We congratulate them both.
- Deanna Dings is currently an undergraduate student at Worcester State University and works at both the Glavin Regional Center and Madonna Manner.
- Nicole Caville attends the Graduate School of Nursing at UMass in Worcester and works in the Home Health Department at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
One of the significant ways we can serve our community and ensure the future viability and success of our industry is to invest in our youth and other career decision makers. The Pulse, a web-based tool promoting health careers to a variety of audiences was showcased at MHHRA's last program meeting and at the May Labor Forum. You can log onto www.masspulse.org to familiarize yourself with the information and tools available.
The Pulse is the result of another collaboration between MHHRA and MHA. Generous funding has been provided by the Massachusetts Hospital Association Insurance Company and in-kind support from Bernard HODES Group and JWT Employment Communications.
Over the coming months we will be piloting the marketing plan and rolling out The Pulse to students, teachers, guidance counselors, community organizations and others in both Boston and Worcester. As we pilot these efforts, we will keep you informed. In the meantime, I hope you will begin using this information with your own organizations and networks. We will also solicit your feedback so we can continue to evolve the site and tools to best meet the needs of our target audiences.
If you have any questions about The Pulse, please contact me at bonod@ummhc.org
Finally, the 2006 Employee Benefits Survey for New England Healthcare Organizations has recently been released. Please refer to the article in this newsletter for information your organization can participate.
Best wishes for continued success.
Diane Bono
Chapter President
2005-2006
Consultant's Corner
NLRB Issues Important Decision on Supervisory Status of Nurses
By Robert H. Morsilli
Healthcare employers often wrestle with the issue of whether a registered nurse is a supervisor for labor relations purposes. The issue arises in both the organizing and collective bargaining contexts. For many years, employers have been frustrated with the National Labor Relations Board's refusal to recognize the supervisory status of RNs in most circumstances. A recent Board decision, however, may signal a new day with respect to this issue. In Wilshire at Lakewood, 345 NLRB No. 80 (2005), the Board held that a “weekend supervisor” in a nursing home was a supervisor, not an employee, under the National Labor Relations Act. As a result, the employer did not violate the Act when it terminated the supervisor for engaging in pro-union activity during an organizing campaign.
Wilshire is an important case for several reasons. It is an example of the employer-friendly attitude of the current majority of Board members. In fact, a previous Board, comprised of a different majority, issued an earlier decision (Wilshire at Lakewood, 343 NLRB No. 23) in which it concluded that the individual was not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. While the matter was pending before a court of appeals on the employer's petition for review, a new Board reconsidered and reversed the earlier decision.
The Board's analysis of the RN's supervisory authority in the new Wilshire decision is important because it appears to represent a change in the manner in which the Board evaluates the issue of RN supervisory status. For many years, the Board rejected the supervisory status of RNs on the ground that they did not exercise the requisite independent judgment when directing less-skilled healthcare staff in delivering services. In 2001, however, the Supreme Court rejected the Board's interpretation of the exercise of independent discretion as too restrictive in NLRB v. Kentucky River Community Care, 532 U.S. 706 (2001). Since that time, healthcare employers have argued in numerous cases that RNs exercise independent discretion in directing other staff. Unfortunately, those cases have languished from inactivity before the Board. In Wilshire, the Board concluded that it was unnecessary to address whether the RN in question exercised independent judgment to responsibly direct employees because she possesses sufficient independent discretion to exercise other types of supervisory authority. More specifically, the Board's finding of supervisory authority rested on the RN's exercise independent judgment in issuing disciplinary action, sending employees home early, and preparing employee evaluations. The Wilshire analysis may signal an effort to sidestep an issue that has divided the Board and reviewing courts for many years.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly from the practical perspective, the level of independent discretion that the Board found sufficient to establish supervisory status in Wilshire appears relaxed, as compared to past cases involving RNs. As factual support for its conclusion, the Board noted that on at least two occasions, the RN notified her superiors that an employee had reported unfit for work. In response, the RN was directed to send the employee home. In addition, the RN twice granted employee requests to leave early for family emergencies, and she was asked to evaluate an employee at the conclusion of a probationary period. The Board also found significant the RN's authority to issue low-level discipline. The Board noted that, on occasion, the low-level disciplinary action played a significant role in the progressive discipline process.
In addition to the indicia of supervisory status discussed above, the Board noted certain secondary factors that supported its conclusion in this case. The RN at issue was the highest ranking and highest paid person at the facility on weekends. She was responsible for patient care, checking employee job performance, assuring adequate staffing levels, and interacting with residents' families. She attended managerial meetings and could decide when it was necessary to document gross infractions of care. In the case of infractions, the RN's superiors would review the documentation to determine if additional discipline was required.
Although Wilshire presents the issue of RN supervisory status in the skilled nursing context, the Board's analysis of the issue is important in the acute care context as well. The case indicates that the scope of authority with which RNs must be vested to be considered supervisors may not be as expansive as previously required. In addition, the Wilshire decision may provide a roadmap that healthcare employers can utilize to ensure that certain RNs are vested with sufficient authority to be considered supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act.
Robert H. Morsilli is a senior associate in the Boston office of Jackson Lewis LLP, one of the nation's preeminent labor and employment law firms.
Editor's note: This article is provided for informational purposes to our readers. Readers should consult counsel of their own choice for advice as to how these matters relate to their own problems or questions.
 KEY TO YOUR PASSWORD...
As you know, our web site features a members-only section - please respect the privacy of our membership!!
CONFIDENTIAL Member Only Access can be granted with the following information:
Login: Member
Password: MHHR4
We are very interested in your comments and thoughts on our web site – please share them with us via email at mhhra@mhhra.org.
This wonderful member benefit would not be possible without the help of our Premiere Business Partners:
BostonWorks
A division of the Boston Globe, BostonWorks is the largest and most popular recruitment tool dedicated to the Boston market. BostonWorks has more jobs, more resumes and reaches more active and passive job seekers than any other recruitment site in the market. BostonWorks and BostonWorks.com leverage the power of The Boston Globe and Boston.com to reach an audience of more than 2.4 million each week.
In addition to the BostonWorks section in The Boston Sunday Globe and the online recruitment site BostonWorks.com, the division offers industry-specific magazines such as "On Call" for nurses and allied health professionals and JobSource, a weekly career publication with distribution of over 100,000. BostonWorks also produces a number of career fairs held in Greater Boston throughout the year. Please visit http://www.bostonworks.com
LaRhette Manin Benefit Service Group
At LaRhette Manin BSG, products, consulting and service converge to provide a single-point resource for the human resources and financial executive. We can approach your strategic requirements from any angle, and provide your organization with the following array of services bundled in a comprehensive package: Design initiatives, Investment and insurance carrier selection and management, Employee communications and training, Enrollment and on-going educational services, On-going plan administration and Comprehensive employee services.
Our capabilities are built on an infrastructure of NASD-registered account executives, licensed insurance representatives and certified benefits counselors who have been trained in all aspects of compensation reward systems that offer employees choices and options - which we believe to be the cornerstone of future benefits strategy. Please visit http://www.lmbsg.com
Industry News
Benefits Survey for Healthcare Industry Initiated for 2006
Questionnaires for the 2006 Employee Benefits Survey for New England Healthcare Organizations have recently been released. The survey, endorsed again by MHHRA, is published by Olney Associates in conjunction with LaRhette Manin Benefits Service Group. It covers a wide range of programs, including health, dental, vision, PTO, group life, disability, retirement, education assistance, dependent care, wellness benefits and more.
Last year's inaugural survey was highly successful, with 81 participants. The 2006 survey has been significantly improved with easier web navigation, simplified check-off reporting, benefit trends, and more detail on PT employees, retirement programs and post-retirement benefits.
To view a sample of last year's report, go to www.olneyassociates.com and follow links to the 2005 Sample Report. To participate in the survey, contact Olney Associates for a password to the 2006 web-based questionnaire.
ASHHRA's 42nd Annual Conference
Transformation in Healthcare: Leading the Way through HR Leadership
October 15-17, 2006
Gaylord Opryland
Resort & Convention Center
Nashville, TN
Exhibit Information: contact Corcoran Expositions 312-541-0567
Rates Information: contact ASHHRA ashhra@aha.org
MHHRA Budget:
MHHRA's most recent budget update is available to our members. To view a copy, please download the PDF.
March Program
By Donna Bonaparte, Program Chair
One of our organizational program goals is the facilitation of professional development by creating and implementing educational programs related to the contemporary management of human resources in healthcare organizations. One of these subject areas is managing diversity. Achieving and maintaining diversity competence in healthcare is no longer an option, but an organizational and individual imperative.
We were fortunate that our March program featured a Senior Diversity Practitioner, Mr. Hal Jones, from the firm of one of our nation's Diversity pioneers, Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas.
In this presentation, Mr. Jones expounded on three primary dimensions of diversity management, and its importance and relevance to business and leadership today. These dimensions include conceptual clarity on diversity and diversity management, tools for building organizational capacity and individual capability, and diversity's link to the growing importance of cultural competency.
This interactive session gave participants valuable tools for Organizational & Individual Competence.
New Members
MHHRA would like to welcome the following new member to our Chapter!
Mary Naughton, Director of Human Resources, Brooksby Village
|
