How is seniority in union determined when two employees start on the same day in the same job group and title?

Question

Where can I find this kind of information? Would they look at who filled out the paperwork (employment) before the other or the sign in time on the first day of work?

Answer 1

I worked in a call center 3 years ago with 1200 other people. I had the same hire date as probably 100 people. To determine seniority, they went by the last 4 of your SSN. I was 10th from last in a dept of 300 people. talk about getting the shaft.

Answer 2

Usually your company will have a way to decide this. Where I used to work everyone with the same seniority was laid off or what ever at the same time, so there would be no argument about it. If it was for a job posting, they would go by who was best qualified by their outside education etc., or they would simply draw a straw if everything was even. It would depend on your company's policy, so talk to your HR person to learn the facts. Mind you, I worked for a company that may have hired up to 40 people on one day or at least started them at the same time. They could also use the SSN or even the first letter of a person's name. They normally will not look at any information before the individuals were actually hired into the company.

Answer 3

If you are referring to a job for which some sort of examination or test was taken for certification, then the test date and the test score of the examinee would most likely be considered as the determining factor in seniority by a union if both employees started work on the same day and had the same job title.

Answer 4

Senority is determined within the Union by-laws. There should be provisions for just this sort of issue.

Anyone that is telling you here specifics, doesn't really know. Each Union, every union local have different rules as to determination of senority.

Answer 5

You will have to ask your union representative or your human resources department, It varies among unions and companies. Some rely on the application or test date, others rank alpahbetically or something arbitrary such as adding the last four digits of your social security number.

Answer 6

Don't count on this being done fairly. If one person is on better terms with the union steward than the other, the union will find a way to work the rules in the direction of their choosing. Don't ever think that unions are on your side. They just want your dues.
You could arm yourself with knowledge by reading the union local's bi-laws, thus preventing anyone pulling a fast on on you.

Answer 7

Union rules, often times it is based on the last four digits of your SSN. This is typical for large companies who hire large numbers of people and have training classes. I know AT&T used the last 4 digits of SSN.

Answer 8

The union rules will provide for this. Commonly, it's age, or something silly like reversed SSN (since forward SSN favors people from certain states).

Answer 9

Depends on the contract or union. Sometimes it's done by social security number, could be age, could be a coin toss or something along those lines.

Answer 10

My union goes by hours worked.