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Law in Contemporary Society
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Job Security-- By BrianMaida - 18 Feb 2016Analysis of the Effects of Job SecurityMy first job out of college, also my first real job since my father's name was no longer on the paycheck, was as a Mechanical Engineer for the City of New York. During the interview, when asked why I wanted the job, I fed them some rehearsed nonsense about being a life-long New Yorker hoping to one day work for and improve the city I love; I was just giving the conclusion a logical form. But the truth was, I had just gotten through some personal issues and all I really wanted was security. When I started working, I realized that being a municipal employee, and more importantly a member of the union, granted job security in spades. After one year on the job, employees automatically graduate from a provisional employee to a permanent employee. The [unofficial] graduation ceremony [at the bar] involved calculating what date you can retire. Theoretically, the only way to get fired as a permanent employee is by breaking rules; if you don't break a rule, you keep your job. Now, I say this theoretically because a man got caught masturbating at his desk and kept his job. So when the city says "permanent employee," they mean it.MotivationI was honestly blown away at how this job security effected the work ethic of the city employees. I felt as though no one ever did anything. I was considered "productive" and I felt like I never did anything. I realized first hand that when there is no accountability, no threat, no risk, it is really difficult to motivate an average person to work hard. The NFL is the perfect flip side of this argument. I used to wonder why these guys would shoot themselves up with painkillers to play through injury, or risk getting CTE by playing through another concussion. Then I learned that the NFL somehow negotiated most guarantees out of player contracts: motivation.CompetenceJob security also greatly effects competence. Throughout any employee's lifespan, the odds are high that the field they work in will evolve, especially in our rapidly changing society. But if your job is guaranteed, do you really need to stay up to date?LongevityJob security also allows employees to stay on their job way too long. At my job, there was an old man named Humphrey, who actually worked hard (relative to the rest of us). Regardless, old Humphrey was still just as unproductive as the younger, less motivated employees. Old Humphrey insisted on doing all drawings by T-squared and pencil; he insisted on sending out proposals via regular mail; he wrote all his project updates in ink and had a younger employee (usually me) type them up; he usually forgot the younger employee's name. The bottom line was, Humphrey was just too old to be an engineer anymore.IndependenceA strong benefit job security is that an employee, with no threat of being fired, can speak openly and honestly. If you sat in a productivity meeting with some "permanent" employees and their supervisor, you would understand what I mean. My supervisor once asked my co-worker Manny why he thought he was so inefficient and he responded: "I think I need a more efficient supervisor." Translation if Manny was facing the threat of termination: "sorry boss, I'll try harder."Application to the Federal JudiciaryBefore law school, I was admittedly unfamiliar with the makeup of the Judicial Branch. During one of the first ConLaw? classes, we learned about Article III, Section 1: "The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour...." Federal judges are granted life tenure. I couldn't help but think, among all of the federal judges, were there any old Humphreys? Were there any Manny's? What impact does life tenure have on the profession of being a federal judge?MotivationMotivation should not be a major issue for judges, as the Constitution calls for their holding of office only "during good Behaviour," but in reality, the impeachment of a judge is very rare. Just look to the Supreme court for an example of lack of motivation. The Supreme Court receives almost 8,000 petitions annually, and decided on about 80 (1%) of those. In the 1980's, the Court decided almost double and received less petitions.CompetenceThis is becoming a major issue among federal judges. When the Constitution was drafted, no only were there less federal courts, but the average lifespan of a person was in their 40s; now that figure is up to almost 80. This can have a major effect on the judge's competence in decision-making, but the judiciary in no way polices the competence of its senior members. That's like having a society where they didn't police the driving skills of their senior citizens...oh, wait.LongevityAs was previously mentioned, the longer life expectancy also plays a major role in longevity being an issue. Older judges are living in a past time and are less in touch with reality and our changing society than a youthful counterpart.IndependenceThis plays an important role, as life tenure removes the concern of making a politically unpopular decision and losing your judgeship. However, it also allows politically-exercised independence as the judges can voluntarily step down when a politically aligned President is in office. --+++ Where do we go from here? We adopt a system for the Supreme Court of 9 judges, each on 18 year terms, with a vacancy occurring every 2 years. All other federal judges are granted 20 year terms, but with competency reviews every 5 years. This way, there will be no more Old Humphreys and Mannys in the Judicial Branch.You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:
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