Bayou Manor Health Center

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 28, 1993

311 N.L.R.B. 955 (N.L.R.B. 1993)

955
311 NLRB No. 93
BAYOU MANOR HEALTH CENTER
1 The Employer’s ‘‘medication and treatment’’ LPNs are excepted
from this finding, as the record establishes that they do not complete
evaluations of CNAs. As the LPNs’ role in the evaluations of CNAs,
and the effect of those evaluations on raises and/or bonuses received
was the only ground on which review was granted, we agree with
the Regional Director that ‘‘medication and treatment’’ LPNs are not
statutory supervisors.
2 Examples of work performance categories include: specific pro-
cedures, routine care, and nursing station tasks. Examples of cat-
egories under personal characteristics include: relationships, commu-
nication skills, appearance, and responsiveness to supervision.
Bayou Manor Health Center, Inc. and 1115 Nursing
Home, Hospital and Service Employees Union–
Florida H.E.R.E., AFL–CIO, affiliated with
1115 District Council, Hotel Employees and
Restaurant Employees, AFL–CIO, Petitioner.
Case 12–RC–7506
May 28, 1993
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN STEPHENS AND MEMBERS OVIATT
AND RAUDABAUGH
On June 10, 1992, the Regional Director for Region
12 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the
above-entitled proceeding, in which he found that the
Employer’s licensed practical nurses (LPNs) were not
statutory supervisors within the meaning of Section
2(11) of the Act. Thereafter, in accordance with Sec-
tion 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board’s
Rules and Regulations, the Employer filed a timely re-
quest for review of the Regional Director’s decision.
By Order dated July 17, 1992, the Board granted the
Employer’s request for review solely with respect to
the Regional Director’s finding that evaluations pre-
pared by the Employer’s LPNs do not affect raises
and/or bonuses received by the Employer’s certified
nursing assistants (CNAs), and, thus, do not establish
supervisory authority. The election was conducted as
scheduled on July 16, 1992, and the ballots were im-
pounded.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated
its authority in this proceeding to a three-member
panel.
Upon careful consideration of the entire record and
the undisputed findings of the Regional Director on
this issue, as well as the Employer’s brief on review,
the Board concludes, contrary to the Regional Director,
that the Employer’s LPNs are statutory supervisors
within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the Act. In so
concluding, the Board finds that LPNs exercise inde-
pendent judgment in completing evaluations of the
CNAs on an annual basis, and that these evaluations
are relied upon by the Employer to award specific
merit increases, as well as occasional departmental bo-
nuses.1
The LPNs, using evaluation forms which include 16
items covering work performance and personal charac-
teristics,2 assign numerical scores from 1 to 10 to each
item. Thereafter, an overall average score is computed.
There is no review of the numerical scores awarded by
LPNs. After the evaluation is shown to the individual
CNA, it is placed in the employee’s personnel file. The
Employer’s administrator determines the maximum in-
crease that is available for the nursing department
within the annual budget, and allocates specific per-
centage increases corresponding to the various average
scores. In the 3 years preceding the hearing in this
case, the maximum percentage increase was 5 percent
and the minimum was zero. The scores that the CNAs
received on their evaluations directly determined the
amount of the merit increase they received within this
range. Further, the last time a departmental bonus was
authorized, the administrator relied upon CNAs’ annual
evaluation scores to determine the amounts each CNA
would receive.
Thus, we find that the evaluations completed by the
LPNs affect the CNAs’ salaries, as there is a direct
correlation between the evaluations and the merit in-
creases or occasional departmental bonuses awarded. It
therefore follows that the Employer’s LPNs, except
those working as medication and treatment LPNs, are
statutory supervisors within the meaning of Section
2(11) of the Act. See Health Care & Retirement Corp.,
310 NLRB 1002 (1993).
Accordingly, the Regional Director’s decision is re-
versed, the Direction of Election is vacated, and the
case is remanded to the Regional Director for further
appropriate action consistent with the findings herein.