Letter U Ultimatum to Utmost Good Faith.docx

Dictionary of Human Resources and Personnel Management ultimatum 264 undergo U ultimatum /$lt _me t?m/ noun a statement to someone that unless they do something within a period of time, action will be taken against them The union officials argued among them-selves over the best way to deal with the ultimatum from the management. The management has given the union an ul-timatum. (NOTE: plural is ultimatums or ultimata) ultra vires /$ltr? _va ri_z/ Latin phrase ‘beyond powers’ ultra vires contract /$ltr? _va ri_z k?ntr_kt/ noun a contract which the parties are not competent to sign umpire /_$mpa ?/ noun an independ-ent person who is asked to decide in a dispute in cases where the adjudicators cannot come to a decision unacceptable /$n?k_sept?b(?)l/ adjective which cannot be accepted The terms of the contract are quite unacceptable. unanimous /ju__n_n m?s/ adjective where everyone votes in the same way There was a unanimous vote against the proposal. They reached unani-mous agreement. unanimously /ju__n_m m?sli/ ad-verb with everyone agreeing The pro-posals were adopted unanimously. unauthorised /$n_?_??ra zd/, unau-thorized adjective not permitted unauthorised access to the company’s records unauthorised expenditure No unauthorised persons are allowed into the laboratory. unauthorised absence from work or absence with-out leave the fact of being away from work without permission and without a good reason unauthorised person /$n- ?_??ra zd _p__s(?)n/ noun a person who has not received permission to do something No unauthorised persons are allowed into the laboratory. uncommitted /$nk?_m t d/ adjec-tive referring to an employee who is not happy and does not feel involved in the organisation they work for There is a drive on to weed out employees who are uncommitted to the objectives of the company. unconditional /$nk?n_d ?(?)n?l/ adjective with no conditions or provi-sions attached unconditional accep-tance of the offer by the board After the interview he got an unconditional offer of a job. unconditionally /$nk?n- _d ?(?)n(?)li/ adverb without imposing any conditions The offer was accepted unconditionally by the trade union. unconditional offer /$nk?nd ?(?)n?l _?f?/ noun a job offer with no conditions or provisions attached underachiever /$nd?r?_t?i_v?/ noun a person who achieves less than they are capable of underemployed /$nd?r m_pl? d/ adjective with not enough work The staff is underemployed because of the cutback in production. underemployment /$nd?r m- _pl? m?nt/ noun 1. situation where workers in a company do not have enough work to do 2. a situation where there is not enough work for all the workers in a country undergo /$nd?_ ??/ verb to go through or to take The managers have to undergo a period of retraining. She has to undergo a fitness test. (NOTE: un- dergoing – underwent – undergone) undermanned 265 unemployment pay undermanned /$nd?_m_nd/ adjec-tive with not enough staff to do the work The department will be undermanned during the Christmas period. undermanning /$nd?_m_n ?/ noun a situation of having too few staff than are needed to do the company’s work The company’s production is affected by undermanning on the assembly line. Undermanning is caused by lack of available skilled workers in the area. undermine /$nd?_ma n/ verb to make something less strong The leak-ing of the secret report has undermined confidence in the management. underpaid /$nd?_pe d/ adjective not paid enough Our staff say that they are underpaid and overworked. underrepresent /$nd?repr _zent/ verb to give one group fewer represen-tatives than another Women are underrepresented at senior management level. under review /$nd? r _vju_/ adverb in a state of being examined Our wage and salary structure is currently under review. understaffed /$nd?_st?_ft/ adjec-tive with not enough staff to do the com-pany’s work understanding /$nd?_st_nd ?/ noun a private agreement to come to or to reach an understanding to agree The management and union came to an understanding about the demarca-tion problems. understudy /_$nd?st$di/ noun a person who is learning how to do a job which is currently being done by someone else, so as to be able to take over the job if the present incum-bent retires or is ill They have planned to put understudies into each of the key managements posts. The production manager made sure his understudy could run the factory if called upon to do so. (NOTE: plural is understud-ies) verb to learn how to do a job by working alongside the present incum-bent, so as to be able to take over if he retires or is ill He is understudying the production manager. (NOTE: under- studies – understudying – understudied) undertake /$nd?_te k/ verb 1. to agree to do something The union has undertaken not to call a strike without further negotiation with the manage- ment. (NOTE: undertaking – under-took – undertaken) 2. to carry out They are undertaking a study on em-ployee reactions to pay restraint. undertaking /_$nd?te k ?/ noun 1. a business He is the MD of a large commercial undertaking. 2. a (legally binding) promise They have given us a written undertaking not to strike be-fore negotiations have been completed. underutilisation /$nd?ju_t la - _ze ?(?)n/, underutilization noun a sit-uation where members of a social group are underrepresented in a particular job category the underutilisation of women in top management posts underutilised /$nd?_ju_t la zd/, underutilized adjective not used enough underworked /$nd?_w__kt/ adjec-tive not given enough work to do The directors think our staff are overpaid and underworked. undischarged bankrupt /$nd st??_d"d _b_?kr$pt/ noun a person who has been declared bankrupt and has not been released from that state unemployed /$n m_pl? d/ adjective not having any paid work noun the unemployed the people without any jobs unemployed office workers /$n mpl? d _?f s w__k?z/ plural noun office workers with no jobs unemployment /$n m_pl? m?nt/ noun 1. the state of not having any work 2. a situation where a person is willing to work but cannot find a job 3. the number of people in a country or region who are willing to work but cannot find jobs unemployment benefit /$n m- _pl? m?nt ben f t/ noun a payment from the government made to someone who is unemployed unemployment pay /$n m- _pl? m?nt pe / noun money given by the government to someone who is unemployed unemployment rate 266 unit unemployment rate /$n m- _pl? m?nt re t/ same as rate of unemployment unequal value jobs /$ni_kw?l _v_lju_ d"?bz/ plural noun jobs done by men and women which are not equal in value unfair /$n_fe?/ adjective not just or reasonable unfair contract term /$nfe? _k?ntr_kt t__m/ noun a term in a con- tract which a court holds to be unjust unfair dismissal /$nfe? d s- _m s(?)l/ noun the act of removing someone from a job for reasons which are not fair COMMENT: Unfair dismissal cannot be claimed where a worker is dismissed for incapability, gross misconduct or in cases of genuine redundancy. unfair labour practices /$nfe? _le b? pr_kt s z/ plural noun illegal activities by workers or employers unfairly /$n_fe?li/ adverb in an unfair way She complained that she was treated unfairly by her manager. unfilled /$n_f ld/ adjective referring to a vacancy which has not been filled There are still six unfilled places on the training course. Many specialised jobs remain unfilled because of a lack of qualified candidates. unfreezing /$n_fri_z ?/ noun the pro-cess of getting accustomed to a new or-ganisation and its procedures Unfreezing can be stressful in new em-ployees who are used to more bureau-cratic organisations. unhappy camper /$nh_pi _k_mp?/ noun someone who has a grievance against their employer (slang) unilateral /ju_n _l_t(?)r?l/ adjective on one side only or done by one party only unilateral decision /ju_n l_t(?)r?l d _s "(?)n/ noun a decision taken by one party alone They took the unilat-eral decision to cancel the contract. unilaterally /ju_n _l_t(?)r?li/ ad-verb by one party only The decision was taken to cancel the contract unilaterally. uninstalled /$n n_st?_ld/ adjective dismissed from employment (slang) union /_ju_nj?n/ noun same as trade union ‘…the blue-collar unions are the people who stand to lose most in terms of employment growth’ [Sydney Morning Herald] union agreement /_ju_nj?n ?- ri_m?nt/ noun an agreement between management and a trade union over wages and conditions of work union card /_ju_nj?n k?_d/ noun a card showing that the holder is a mem-ber of a trade union union dues /ju_nj?n _dju_z/, union subscriptions /_ju_nj?n s?b- skr p??nz/ plural noun payment made by workers to belong to a union unionised /_ju_nj?na zd/, unionized adjective referring to a company where the members of staff belong to a trade union ‘…after three days of tough negotiations, the company reached agreement with its 1,200 unionized workers’ [Toronto Star] unionism /_ju_nj?n z(?)m/ noun 1. the fact of having trade unions 2. the fact of being a member of a trade union unionist /_ju_nj?n st/ noun a member of a trade union union leader /ju_nj?n _li_d?/ noun the head official of a trade union union member /ju_nj?n _memb?/ noun a person who belongs to a trade union union official /ju_nj?n ?_f ?(?)l/ noun a person holding an official posi-tion in a trade union union recognition /ju_nj?n rek? _n ?(?)n/ noun the act of agree- ing that a trade union can act on behalf of staff in a company union representative /ju_nj?n repr _zent?t v/ noun a person who rep- resents a trade union on a committee union shop /_ju_nj?n ??p/ noun US a place of work where it is agreed that all employees must be members of a trade union unit /_ju_n t/ noun 1. a single product for sale 2. a group of people set up for a special purpose unstructured interview unitarism 267 upgrade unitarism /_ju_n t?r z(?)m/ noun the belief that the management and workforce are working together for the good of the company (NOTE: the oppo- site is pluralism) unite /ju__na t/ verb to join together The directors united with the managers to reject the takeover bid. The three unions in the factory united to present their wage claims to the management. unjustified /$n_d"$st fa d/ adjective which is not justified The union claimed the sackings were quite unjustified. unofficial /$n?_f ?(?)l/ adjective done without authority unofficial industrial action /$n?f ?(?)l nd$stri?l __k??n/ noun an industrial action such as a strike or go-slow taken by employees without the approval of a trade union unofficially /$n?_f ??li/ adverb not officially The HR manager told the union negotiators unofficially that their claim would be accepted. unofficial sanctions /$n?f ?(?)l _s_?k?(?)ns/ plural noun sanctions im-posed by an employer on union mem-bers who are working to rule unofficial strike /$n?f ?(?)l _stra k/ noun a strike by local employees which has not been approved by the main trade union unpaid /$n_pe d/ adjective not paid unpaid holiday /$npe d _h?l de /, unpaid leave /$npe d _li_v/ noun leave during which the employee does not receive any pay unpunctual /$n_p$?kt?u?l/ adjec-tive referring to an employee who is not punctual or who does not arrive on time for work unpunctuality /$np$?kt?u__l ti/ noun the practice of not arriving on time for work or for an appointment He was warned that he would be sacked for further unpunctuality. unrest /$n_rest/ noun a state of protest because of dissatisfaction with conditions unskilled /$n_sk ld/ adjective not having specific skills or training Using unskilled labour will reduce labour costs. Nowadays there is rela-tively little work for an unskilled workforce or for unskilled workers. unskilled worker /$nsk ld _w__k?/ noun a worker who has had no particu-lar training unsocial /$n_s???(?)l/ adjective to work unsocial hours to work at times such as in the evening, at night or during public holidays when most people are not at work /$n- str$kt??d _ nt?vju_/ noun an inter-view which is not based on a series of fixed questions and which encourages open discussion Shy respondents of-ten perform well in unstructured inter-views where they have more freedom of expression. Compare structured interview unsuccessful /$ns?k_sesf(?)l/ ad-jective not successful He made six un-successful job applications before he finally got a job. unsuccessfully /$ns?k_sesf(?)li/ adverb with no success He unsuccess-fully applied for the job of marketing manager. unsuitable /$n_su_t?b(?)l/ adjective not suitable We send all candidates a short written test, so as to weed out those who are clearly unsuitable for the job. untrained /$n_tre nd/ adjective refer-ring to a person who has had no training She came into the office straight from school, and completely untrained. The company has a policy of not recruiting untrained staff. unwaged /$n_we d"d/ noun the unwaged people with no jobs up /$p/ adverb, preposition in or to a higher position She worked her way up to become sales director. verb to increase Management upped their of-fer to 7%. (NOTE: upping – upped) upgrade /$p_ re d/ verb to increase the importance of someone or of a job Her job has been upgraded to senior manager level. upgrading 268 utmost good faith upgrading /$p_ re d ?/ noun the act of increasing the importance of some-one or of a job uphold /$p_h??ld/ verb to uphold a decision to reject an appeal against a decision upper /_$p?/ adjective higher upper age limit /$p?r _e d" l m t/ noun the highest age limit upper earnings limit /$p?´ ___n ?z l m t/ noun the top level of earnings above which tax or other financial levies do not apply upsizing /_$psa z ?/ noun the process of increasing the number of staff em-ployed by an organisation up-to-date /$p t? _de t/ adjective, adverb current, recent or modern an up-to-date computer system to bring something up to date to add the latest information or equipment to something to keep something up to date to keep adding information to something so that it always has the latest information in it We spend a lot of time keeping our mailing list up to date. upward /_$pw?d/ adjective towards a higher position an upward movement upward communication /$pw?d k?mju_n _ke ?(?)n/ noun communica- tion between the lower level of staff in an organisation and senior management user’s guide /_ju_z?z a d/, user’s handbook /_ju_z?z h_ndb?k/, user’s manual /_ju_z?z m_nj??l/ noun a book showing someone how to use something utmost good faith /$tm??st ?d _fe ?/ noun a state which should exist between parties to certain types of legal relationship (such as partnerships or insurance)