** WAIVERS, CONTRACTS & SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS **
No public or union employee should be coerced, intimidated or threatened by their employer or union to sign any type of waiver, contract or settlement agreement that forces an employee to waive their rights as a condition of “continued” employment following an internal investigation and/or before an employee has a chance to file a grievance/dispute or formal complaint with their employer and or union (agent).
Employers shall not use a waiver, contract or settlement agreement to block or interfere with any employees right to file a complaint or grievance with management or their union.
Employers shall not use a waiver, contract or settlement agreement to block or interfere with any employees right to utilize the arbitration process or any other litigation unless the employee has already been terminated and gone through mediation.
Employers shall not use a waiver, contract, settlement agreement or NDA as a tool to silence an employee from speaking to other employees about disputes, working conditions, wages or conditions of continued employment. ( Section 7 & 8 of the NLRA)
Forcing any employee whether a union member or not to sign a waiver to keep silent about a work investigations or grievances regarding their contract rights, working conditions, wages, discipline or terms of employment should not be allowed.
- An internal investigation or work meeting does not constitute as an actual dispute until a formal written complaint or grievance has been submitted to the company or union.
Any Settlement Agreement issued to employees over 40, the OWBPA guidelines must apply. For those over 40, consideration must be in the form of money as the awarded in exchange for the employees signature to waive their rights to sue.
Settlement Agreements should not be considered “Last Chance Agreements”. Last chance agreements should ONLY be offered to an employee who has already been terminated and is offered an opportunity to get their job back based on if they can comply with standards and rules set forward for a limited time.
Settlement Agreements can only be issued following dispute resolution which means at minimum that mediation must take place.
All waivers must be individual documents and must require a signature for each waiver. All waivers within a settlement agreement must include a signature for each waiver.
There should be a law that clearly states that Waivers Not to Sue, NDA’s and Settlement Agreements can ONLY be used when an employee is actually being terminated or there is a group exit program such as a buyout. Waivers should never be allowed to be used in conjunction with discipline as a way to force the employee to comply.
There shall be No Retaliation allowed by the labor department management employees (including supervisors) against any employee who refuses to waive their right or wish to file a grievances, to use the arbitration process or to use any other methods of litigation.
No retaliation (discipline or termination) shall be allowed against an employee who refuses to sign any type waiver or settlement agreement. All waivers and settlements should be voluntary!
Waivers & Settlements that are not allowed to be discussed as evidence of retaliation in mediation or arbitration, should be allowed to be litigated in state or federal court without having to look to a Collective Bargaining Agreement or Railway Labor Act for jurisdiction purposes.
A supervisors scope should not include the ability to issue a waiver, contract or settlement agreement along with discipline.
A Supervisor’s opinion of a person’s reputation, character, professionalism or responsibility should not be a reason for discipline or termination of an employee. The reason for termination must include a specific violation of an employee handbook rule/policy or Collective Bargaining Agreement.
An employee should only be terminated for serious violations within a code of conduct policy, handbook or CBA. Examples of serious violations would be safety/security violations, theft, intoxication of drugs or alcohol while on the job, any serious harm that “directly” effected an individual.
Employers should not have the ability to terminate an employee unless at minimum a representative from human resources, the employee and his/her supervisor and union representative has a face to face termination meeting.
The above suggestions shall pertain to ALL union, non union, at-will and probationary employees.