About Labor Relations
Labor relations can refer broadly to any dealings between management and workers about employment conditions. However, according to investorglossary.com “labor relations refer to dealings between management and a workforce that is already unionized, or has the potential to become unionized”. Labor relations are more crucial to industries such as autos and airlines where there are heavily unionized workforces. In 1935 the United States labor relations were greatly affected by the passing of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This act gave workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively. Labor relations have also been importantly affected by passing of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. This act “equalized the effects of the National Labor Relation Act by defining and prohibiting unfair labor practices by unions” (Flynn, Mathis, Jackson, 2011, pg. 229).
It wasn’t until 1974 the healthcare industry was included in the National Labor Relations Act. However, unlike other industries Congress felt there should be some stipulations of unions within the healthcare field. Of the stipulations the ten day strike notice was in effect. The ten day notice demanded that a union give healthcare employers a ten day grace notice before starting a strike. If the notice was not presented the NLRA would not protect the strikers which could leave them jobless. “The process of unionizing healthcare employees has been relatively unchanged since 1974…” (Flynn, Mathis, Jackson, 2011, pg. 230). “Labor relations are the study and practice of managing unionized employment situations” (investopedia.com). Maxim healthcare aims to make all employees happy and therefore, no formed unions. If however, in the future a union is formed we will govern the company based on the union laws set. It will be clear that Maxim does not agree with unions. Our employees will also be educated on the cons of forming a union. Our company will try to resolve the issue in an ethical manner where a union is not needed.
Strategy for Compensation
“A strategic plan for employee compensation determines how much you want to pay employees and what type of employees you want to attract. Your compensation plan entails a variety of aspects including pay scales, reward programs, benefits packages and company perks”. (www.smallbusiness.chron.com). Maxim healthcare strategic plan was formed to set compensation goals for our company. We wanted the compensation of our employees to coincide with what the company stands for as a whole. Therefore, we set compensation goals where HR and other personnel could maintain and achieve. The goals were set by top executives as well as HR. It is clear the compensations goals aligned with the corporate culture and long term expectations of employees. Our compensation strategy allows smooth and efficient function of other HR operations like recruiting and staffing, performance management, and performance appraisals. Maxim feels if employees are treated fairly and compensated properly the business a whole will flourish. The company strategy is to motivate while compensating our employees. The company compensation plan was set upon establishing the overall goals for Maxim Healthcare. This simply means we discovered the pay scales as discussed earlier after concluding what we wanted our overall business goal to be. Doing this ensures that employees are compensated in line with their ability to satisfy the company’s goals.
Benefits and Variable Pay
Our company feels that it is important to compensate employees properly. Here at Maxim healthcare we used both general types of compensation direct and indirect. The direct pay consists of both base and variable pay. Base pay is the hourly wage each employee receives just for working with us. Base pay is not the same for all employees. We issue an hourly wages based on knowledge, credentials, and experience.
Variable pay consists of the incentives employees receive. Being that we are a home health company employees does not have the opportunity to work side by side of each other. Therefore, incentives are used for employees whom willingly go out of his or her way to help the company. For example an employee may travel to another city to work or host a clinical.
Indirect compensations our company offers all fulltime employees consist of health and medical insurance, vacation time, overtime, retirement plans, and some education reimbursements. These are what we consider some of the perks our company has to offer. We also provide little incentives and trinkets such as company clip boards, water bottles, tote bags, etc. to all employees randomly as a form of appreciation.
Maxim’s overall approach is the total reward approach. “The total rewards approach tries to place a value on individuals rather than just on jobs” (Flynn, Mathis, Jackson, 2011, pg.249). As mentioned previously we compensate our employees based on his or her skills, credentials, and experiences. Employees that carry the same title such as RNs are compensated based on a pay range. There is a starting pay for RNs and we have discovered a pay bracket for all RNs. A less experience RN may be compensated on the starting pay scale. While a more experience might get paid more not exceeding the pay scale for RNs. This method allows all employees to receive the adequate pay that both the company and employee will be pleased with.
Merit Pay
According to the United States Department of Labor, Merit pay is defined as “a raise in pay based on a set of criteria set by the employer. This usually involves the employer conducting a review meeting with the employee to discuss the employee's work performance during a certain time period”. Merit pay is a matter between an employer and an employee.
The guidelines Maxim used to manage merit pay first consist of establishing a pay philosophy. Maxim has adopted the entitlement approach to manage based on the two approaches. Although, most companies would use the performance approach this approach is a bit difficult to maintain within our company. In home health each individual’s performance is on a case by case base. All employees should perform at his or her best. However, each case demands a nurses’ best to be something different. Therefore, we use the entitlement approach because all employees should be entitles to a wage increase yearly. Bad performance has zero tolerance within Maxim healthcare. Although, fulltime employees receive raises yearly all do not receive the same increase.
Conclusion Maxim healthcare has proven we provide our employees with adequate compensation and benefits. We have an extremely low turnover rate which is due to our company understanding our employees have lives and want to feel equally important too. We have been listed as an employer many would like to work for. Maxim has numerous applicant daily in hope of an opportunity to work for our company. When asked why Maxim? The response always includes the compensation and benefits our employees receive. Again our company has proven with the right attitude, compensation, and benefits the company goals can and will be reached.

Resources
Flynn, W; Mathis, R; Jackson, J (2011) Healthcare Human Resource Management (Custom Edition) Cengage Learning http://www.dol.gov/ www.ehow.com http://ezinearticles.com/?Managing-the-Union-at-Your-Workplace&id=568098 www.investopedia.com
www.smallbusiness.chron.com