The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that Illinois Consolidated Telephone Co. violated the National Labor Relations Act when it suspended striking switchman Eric Walters for making an obscene gesture. Specifically, Walters grabbed his crotch in a sexual gesture aimed at an employee crossing the picket line. While the Labor Board did find credible evidence … Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has issued a 5-4 decision in which it found that closely-held for-profit corporations can avoid the mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires the provision of birth control coverage to their employees. In reaching their decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Burwell, the justices determined … Continue Reading
Depending on what you read and who you believe, today’s opening-up of eligibility to request flexible working to all employees with six months’ service or more will be: (i) the unleashing of an unstoppable tide of cost, inconvenience and Tribunal claims; or (ii) no big deal. Perhaps by the time you read this, there will … Continue Reading
My word, I hope somebody has a good explanation for this one. London Underground bosses have apparently required the removal from Tube offices in Essex of two small photos of the Queen, unwitting subject of bullying allegations made by a member of one rail union against a member of another. RMT and ASLEF union representatives … Continue Reading
In January, Northwestern University football players petitioned the NLRB to be recognized as a union. (Previously published here). Yesterday, to the surprise of many, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) granted the unprecedented request, finding that grant-in-aid scholarship football players are “employees” within the meaning of the federal law and are therefore eligible to unionize. … Continue Reading
Obviously when you hold a high judicial office in the UK you have to be very measured in the reports you can make about your function – no ranting tweets here about your boss/service-users/colleagues/coffee, thank you, or that’s your gong firmly down the drain. Which makes all the more laudable the very clear disgruntlement discernible … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, Northwestern University student-athletes made a historic request: they asked to be recognized as employees of the university and to be represented by a labor union. This was more than a flippant comment or casual request; rather, the request came in the form of a petition filed in the Chicago office of the National … Continue Reading
On December 10, 2013, the Sixth Circuit formally adopted a new theory plaintiffs can use to hold entities liable under Title VII. In EEOC, et. al., v. Skanska USA Building, Inc., 2013 FED App. 1021N (6th Cir.), the Sixth Circuit found that Skanska, a general contractor, was liable under Title VII though Skanska did not … Continue Reading
Once upon a time, in a land far far away (the 1980s), Christmas parties were an excuse for a good old knees-up, staggering amounts of inebriation, wildly inappropriate conversations, and for drunken staff to get anything off their chest to the MD safe in the knowledge that he (and in those days it almost always … Continue Reading
Tough economic times in Japan in recent years have led to the growth of a new social problem, the “burakku kigyo” or “black company”. There is no legal definition for this, but it is usually described as an exploitative employer where unlawful practices are common (in fact, normal), including excessive working hours, abuse of power, … Continue Reading
Many fields of human endeavour give rise to sly phrases and painful euphemisms, but perhaps none more so than the world of employment relations. Maybe it is because the language of dismissal can be so brutal – sacked, severed, retrenched, terminated – that employers strive for something to soften the blow for the employee, or … Continue Reading
Recently we’ve seen a number of disgruntled employees exercise their rights under the Data Protection Act to make Data Subject Access Requests of their employers. Having a genuine concern to see one’s own personal data is all well and good, but what if you suspect that it is nothing more than a fishing expedition for … Continue Reading
On the train into London you cannot help but overhear conversations, either two or more people travelling together but still feeling the need to raise their voices, or an individual on the phone. Whatever happened to the convention that imposing your conversation on others, especially in the morning, was quite beyond the pale? Anyway, this … Continue Reading
Ninety-six. That is how many possible different claims an employee could have against his employer according to the recently-issued Department for Business Innovation & Skills Consultation document on Ending the Employment Relationship. Mind you, that includes such belters as the Fishing Vessels (Working Time: Sea Fishermen) Regulations 2004 and the ever popular European Public Limited … Continue Reading
Throughout my career I have worked with some fantastic leaders. I keep a little notebook where I write down interesting quotes, ideas and thoughts that I pick up from them from time to time. For example, during a recent conversation with a CEO about leadership and performance, I was struck by his attitude towards his … Continue Reading
Great news for fans of cheap political propaganda this week as the Department for Business Innovation & Skills releases an updated version of its 2011 Employers’ Charter. The original version was a shallow gesture aimed at dispelling the belief common among retired Colonels and other Daily Express readers that UK employment laws are all tilted … Continue Reading
