In two recent decisions out of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court reversed the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), finding that Board’s conclusion that the employers engaged in unfair labor practices in each case ignored simple realities, and instead restored the common sense balance between employees’ and employers’ rights with respect … Continue Reading
In a recent ruling [pdf] the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that AT&T and affiliated telecommunications companies in California and Nevada can’t lawfully prohibit employees from wearing buttons and stickers containing phrases such as “WTF Where’s the Fairness” and “Cut the Crap” when such buttons or stickers are worn during union negotiations. Although employees generally … Continue Reading
There has been a long running battle in Australia about whether an employer, when testing for drug use, can ask employees to provide a urine sample. Many unions have resisted the introduction of urine testing, arguing that saliva testing is sufficient and, as such, the process of sampling urine is an unjustified invasion of privacy. … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice has issued an advice memorandum finding that a restaurant franchisor is not liable as a joint employer for its franchisee’s alleged unfair labor practices, either under the NLRB’s current standard, or the new standard proposed by the General Counsel in Browning-Ferris Industries. The NLRB’s current joint employer … Continue Reading
As if mid-April’s tax filing deadline wasn’t already enough of a downer, the NLRB has given employers the dreaded one-two punch, as its new union “ambush” election rules have now officially gone into effect. Although hailed by the Democrat members of the NLRB who championed them as modest changes intended to streamline the process of … Continue Reading
With President Obama’s veto of Congressional action seeking to bar the implementation of the NLRB’s proposed “ambush election” rules, unless a court enjoins the effective date of the rules in one (or both) of the lawsuits currently pending that challenge the rules, on April 14, new rules will go into effect governing the filing and processing … Continue Reading
For only the fourth time in his presidency, on March 31, President Obama vetoed a joint resolution passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives that disapproved – and would have voided – the NLRB’s new union election rules. (See our prior post summarizing the rules here.) In a “Memorandum of Disapproval,” the President … Continue Reading
On March 18, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a lengthy report summarizing recent developments in the context of employer handbook policies. As we have discussed in a number of our previous posts, over the past two years, the NLRB has been aggressively reviewing employer handbook policies addressing a variety … Continue Reading
On March 9, Governor Scott Walker signed into law Wisconsin’s right-to-work legislation. Like other state right-to-work statutes, this law prohibits any private-sector Wisconsin employer from requiring that an employee be a member of, or pay dues to, a labor union as a condition of hire or continued employment. The law does not affect current collective … Continue Reading
At the March 4, 2015 session of the American Bar Association’s mid-winter meeting of the Committee on Development of the Law under the NLRA, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Richard Griffin disclosed detailed statistics regarding his office’s handling of unfair labor practice charge, representation case, and litigation matters during the Board’s 2014 fiscal year: … Continue Reading
From Greg Viviani via our Global Compensation Insights blog: In M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door for many employers to re-examine their ability to alter or amend retiree benefit plans. The Court rejected a long-standing presumption in the Sixth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals (Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, … Continue Reading
Two brief items to pass along as we head into the weekend: In his State of the Union address earlier this week, President Obama urged passage of the Healthy Families Act, a measure that would require private sector US employers to allow employees to accrue up to seven paid sick days per year (see our … Continue Reading
It is a long-established principal that under the National Labor Relations Act, employees have the right to wear union insignia on their work uniforms, unless doing so would present special circumstances, such as a safety hazard. It is equally established that employers may require that employees wear certain apparel as part of an approved work … Continue Reading
As anyone following the goings-on at the National Labor Relations Board over the past few years knows, the Board has been aggressively fly-specking employer policies, finding seemingly innocuous and business-sensible employee conduct rules to unlawfully infringe on employees’ rights. For example, in the past year, the NLRB has issued decisions finding unlawful policies that sought … Continue Reading
On the heels of its decision requiring employers to permit employees with access to employer email systems to use those systems to send emails concerning non-business related matters, including union organizing and other communications concerning terms and conditions of employment (for example, soliciting support for wage and hour class actions) – see our post here on … Continue Reading
Today, the National Labor Relations Board reversed its 2007 decision in Register-Guard [pdf] and held in Purple Communications, Inc. [pdf] that employers that provide employees with access to employer email systems for business-related purposes must permit employees to also use those email systems for non-business related communications, such as union organizing and other communications protected under the National Labor … Continue Reading
France has recently introduced new rules obliging smaller companies to provide increased information to their employees regarding prospective takeovers and ownership changes and also regarding opportunities for the staff to make acquisition offers themselves. The laws are a part of the Lois sur l’économie sociale et solidaire,a scheme of reforms designed to strengthen economic social … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Harris v. Quinn decided on June 30, 2014, declined the opportunity to overhaul the structure of public sector “fair share” fees that applies in most public sector labor contracts today. That structure was created in the Court’s 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case, which found that public sector … Continue Reading
A decree providing for new time periods for consultation with Work Councils in France has recently been published. Consultation periods Unless otherwise agreed between the employer and its Council, the latter has one month to render its opinion on any proposed measure or similar falling under its remit. This time period starts upon communication to … Continue Reading
France’s Parliament passed a law on February 24, obliging companies with more than 1,000 employees to prove they have exhausted options for selling a plant (and so preserving all or some of the jobs there) before closing it. This is applicable to shut-downs initiated as from April 1st 2014. The Works Council will have to … 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
As most employers know particularly from the NLRB’s recent activity in the area of social media as previously reported here, the National Labor Relations Act protects concerted activities of employees—not just union organizing or representation activity. Specifically, the NLRA provides that: “Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, … Continue Reading
On December 22, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) adopted a final rule which significantly modified, in certain respects, the procedure for processing representation petitions. The “ambush election” rule, which represents a scaled back version of a more comprehensive overhaul of election procedures proposed by the Board in June 2011, went into effect on … Continue Reading
The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina late last week decided that that National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) exceeded its statutory authority when it promulgated its much debated notice-posting rule. While this decision was a setback to the agency’s efforts to require employers to post a notice informing employees of their … Continue Reading
