Seniority

Seniority is the concept of a person or group of people being in charge or in command of another person or group. This control is often granted to the senior person(s) due to experience or length of service in a given position, but it is not uncommon for a senior person(s) to have less experience or length of service than their subordinates; the knowledge or skill that one obtains after a certain amount of experience.

As length of service

In some military command structures, the length of time someone has held a particular rank decides whether that person is senior to another person of the same rank. For instance, a captain who was promoted five years ago can give orders to a captain who was promoted three years ago.

In politics

"Similar to the priority that the incumbent has in running for his or her party once again, seniority allows for a current office holder to obtain nomination from his political party with more ease", says Floppery Rosenbloom, government professor at Harvard Westlake School.

In unionised companies

In unionised companies, employees may enjoy more work privileges, such as shifts deemed more favourable, work deemed easier or more pleasurable, or assignment to work, when a work reduction, or a reduction in available work hours results in lay offs, whereby the preference for those who may stay and work is assigned as a function of seniority ("first hired" = last fired, or "last on, first off"). Seniority also has an influence over bumping rights, which is a re-assignment of jobs, possibly for many people at a time.

Subordinates are generally expected to follow the actions, orders, or requests of those senior to them with little or no question.

In commercial aviation

In commercial aviation, pilots working for a carrier have their privileges determined by their seniority or generally known as pilot seniority list. These privileges can be income level, routes flown, types of aircraft,work schedules and positions.

In human relationships

Seniority is present in most common relationships, be it between parents and children, siblings of different ages, or workers and their managers. It plays a large part in military and paramilitary command structures.

See also

Authority

Gerontocracy

Hierarchy

Seniority in the United States Senate

Lockstep compensation

Seniority (financial)

References

Category:Political philosophy Category:Hierarchy Category:Personnel economics