Dear Colleagues,
Many employees have reached out to Human Resources to ask specifically about how union representation might impact the flexible work options currently available to them as UNH employees. In response, we offer this insight. Please know that you are welcome to reach out to your HR Partner for help in answering questions. If you do not know who your HR Partner is, their contact information can be found at www.unh.edu/hr/partners.htm.
—Kathy Neils, CHRO
If a union represented the staff at UNH, all benefits enjoyed by employees would be subject to collective bargaining negotiations. In the contract that is the result of those negotiations, supervisors may have less or no ability to work directly with individual employees to meet their specific needs. Unions often seek to restrict the ability of supervisors to work directly with employees to meet their needs.
More than 120 employees currently utilize one of five formal options for workplace flexibility — compressed work week, flex time, reduced time, flex year and teleworking — and many more employees work directly with their supervisors on a case-by-case basis to make necessary or helpful arrangements that allow them to meet their personal and family needs. A negotiated contract may not permit any employee to work one-on-one with a supervisor to find a unique solution that fits that employee’s personal and family needs.
It is important to learn as much as you can about what union representation could mean for you and the benefits you currently enjoy, and what current features of your UNH employment could be affected by a collective bargaining contract.
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