Professional employees

I would like to bring to your attention the matter which I did refer to in my testimony with respect to a law to improve the legal basis for the employee-employer relationship of professional employees. As I understand, and I am sure you as a lawyer are quite aware, the relationship is that of master-servant as defined in English common law. I think it would be very worthwhile to explore the prospects of changing this to provide legal basis for the employment relationship so that professional employees will be encouraged to exercise their responsibilities as informed citizens. 

One might ask, Why restrict it to professional employees and what is the legal basis for such restriction I think the answer to this is that ... 

Professional employees generally are more apt to possess detailed... 

Generally employers consider the jobs that professionals do to be more sensitively related to the operations of the enterprise and, hence, are less willing to have such employees speak out in the area of their expertise than non-professional employees. 

As far as the legal basis for such identification, it seems to me that professional employees are defined as such in both the National Labor Relations Act with respect to their right to set up exclusive collective bargaining electorates and in the Wages and Hours Act where they are classified as exempt employees. 

Outline of Proposed Legal Guidelines for Employers of Professional Employees... 

VII. The Judgment of a professional employee s performance should involve input from his professional peers by means of confidential questionnaires. 

XI. The right of professional employees to participate in the activities of their professional societies will be recognized. 

Tn the area of the rights of chemists in layoffs and other serious griev-ances, there is no question that the employee is getting a chance to say more, owing to the assistance of legislation such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the courts, which are now starting to play a role. In these economic hard times the threat of a layoff is very real, both to the factory line workers and the white collar or professional employees. 

The only known increase in unionization among professionals to date has occurred in the context of governmental and institutional employees and, particularly, in the field of education. There, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Association of University Professors are all competing for the right to represent the professional academic employees on American campuses. In the context of the private business firm, however, either the number of professional employees is too small or the economic interests are too diverse to give them any real economic influence vis-a-vis their employer in a bargaining situation. 

The story of how this principle became the accepted legal doctrine in this country is a curious one. Professional employees traditionally had been employed under oral or, in some cases, written employment contracts that ran for an indefinite term. Under the English common law, when no particular term of employment was stated, the hiring was presumed to be for one years service. If the employment continued beyond one year, it was thereafter terminable only at the end of an additional year. Other than this power unilaterally to terminate at one-year intervals, both parties, under the English rule, would be bound as long as they both remain satisfied with the performance and the working conditions. In other words, except for the power to terminate automatically on the anniversary of the date on which the contract was made, both parties could terminate only for a good cause shown. 

The vulnerability of the professional employee to unfair termination has finally been recognized, however, and is illustrated by abusive discharge cases, of which I shall now mention three. In a 1959 California case called Peterman vs. Teamster Local 296 (2), the court reinstated an employee who had been fired for failing to commit perjury when solicited to do so by the employer. In that case the court said ... 

This, then, is the changing state of the law regarding dismissal of professional employees who have not contractually bound their employer to retain them for a given term. Reform is visible on three fronts. First, courts are paying closer attention to the contract—law concept of implied promises—i.e., a promise of job security not found in the employment contract but which arises from circumstances of employment, the company s "common law, etc. 

Although the future for the rights of professional employees in this area is rather bright, for the present one must negotiate and demand that provisions for employment security be specifically incorporated into the terms of the employment contract. These cases where the court looks beyond one s rights under the contract in granting relief to a terminated employee remain exceptions, not the rule. 

Chamot, D., Professional Employees Turn to Unions, Haro. Business Rev. 

Prior to establishment of this formal program, areas of training were determined by a comparison of the job assignments and experiences of all professional employees at Detroit with three years of company experience or less. This was accomplished through small-group conferences with employees and their supervisors. Many of the present duties of the director of employee development and training were established to meet the needs expressed in these conferences. 

John H. O Neal, M.D. has been a board-certified psychiatrist in private practice since 1977. A past chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Sutter Community Hospital in Sacramento, Dr. O Neal is currently on the hospital staff. He is also an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. He lectures on depression and psychopharmacology to mental health professionals, employee assistance programs, and the public. Dr. O Neal received his M.A. in psychology from Harvard University. 

Answering information requests from health care professionals, employees, and occasionally patients. Preparation and management of information databases for employees. 

Preparation of materials to be distributed directly to health care professionals, employees, and patients. Setting up and managing clinical drug research and the information derived from it. 

OSHA also provides professional training and short courses to safety and health professionals, employee representatives, and employees at the OSHA Training Institute and through contracts with universities, colleges, technical schools, and unions. See the OSHA website for information on training (http //www.osha.gov). 

That said, the OHS remains heavily focused on D I from a cultural perspective, which is where the company s overall strategy has shifted, particularly with respect to the notion of Talent Sustainability (PepsiCo Inc., 2011). Professional employees taking the 2011 OHS encountered about 11 percent of the total OHS items dedicated to D I topics (this is not including the many follow-up questions that are asked if the respondent answers neutrally or unfavorably). 

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