[WEBINAR] Preparing for Changes in the “Vested Rights Doctrine” - Understanding Plan Design Options
[VIDEO] Legal Update: Is the California Rule in Flux?
[VIDEO] Pension Liability by the Numbers
[VIDEO] Perspectives: The Practical Effects of Today's Pension Programs
Executive Summary: On May 9, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 256, which overhauls Florida’s Public Employees Relations Act, implementing significant changes to procedures related to dues authorization...more
Municipal workers in Colorado won the right to form unions with Colorado’s Collective Bargaining by County Employees Act, which goes into effect in 2023 and provides a significant expansion of collective bargaining rights for...more
A collision between the Ontario government and unionized education workers escalated into one of the most significant moments in recent Canadian labour relations history....more
This past Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay on implementing the Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (ETS) issued by the federal...more
Guidance for Local Governments on Collective Bargaining with Public Employees - Soon local governments across Virginia will be able to authorize collective bargaining with public sector unions. House Bill 582 legalized...more
On June 20, 2019, Oregon governor Kate Brown signed House Bill (HB) 2016 into law. The legislation brings sweeping changes for public sector employers and unions in an effort to increase unions’ direct access to represented...more
The Iowa Supreme Court released five eagerly awaited opinions upholding the 2017 amendments to the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA). The main case on which the four other companion cases relied was American Federation...more
In Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, No. 16-1466 (June 27, 2018), the Supreme Court of the United States significantly expanded the rights of nonunion public employees by...more
Massachusetts legislators have taken steps to immediately enhance the Commonwealth’s unemployment compensation regime for locked-out employees of gas and electric companies. In light of the 6-month standoff at National Grid,...more
The decades-long battle over union security faces two important pivot points during the summer of 2018. On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States handed unions a major defeat in the season’s first major fight. ...more
On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in a case that tested the constitutionality of requiring mandatory payment of “fair share” union dues to be paid by non-member public sector...more
It appears that a number of labor unions are planning for the potential negative impact of a big decision regarding fair share fees. We have heard from several public sector clients who have been contacted directly, or who...more
Recently the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a matter that could severely impact the status of unions. The dispute will determine whether nonunion employees working in the public sector should have to pay partial union...more
Just last week on February 26th, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in Janus v. AFSCME, a case in the Court’s 2017 term with a potential of adversely impacting the viability and influence of public sector unions....more
From Justice Kagan’s observation that a decision in favor of the plaintiff could affect millions of public sector workers to Justice Alito’s surprise at seeing a union brief include an argument that the Constitution...more
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case that has the potential to rock the world of unions that represent public sector employees in Rhode Island and throughout the country. The Court will decide whether state...more
As we previously reported, in July 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided to hear an appeal of a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the legality of “fair share” fees for public...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Janus v. Am. Fed'n of State, Cty. & Mun. Employees, Council 31 to decide whether it is constitutional to require public employees to pay agency fees (also known as "fair share"...more
In a move that must have labor unions across the country trembling with fear, the Supreme Court today announced that it will once again take up the issue of whether public sector agency shop fee arrangements are prohibited by...more
On September 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it will grant certiorari in a case that will test the constitutionality of requiring mandatory payment of “fair share” union dues to be paid by...more
On May 2, 2017, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a unanimous ruling by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission ("MERC") that the Michigan Education Association ("MEA") committed an unfair labor practice and...more
Public sector union officials and their allies will breathe easier as a challenge to the collection of “agency fees” from non-members was rejected by a deadlocked United States Supreme Court earlier this week. In a per curiam...more
The Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL) generally provides that non-exempt employees must be paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. However, on July 10, 2015, Governor...more
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania significantly strengthened public employers’ ability to address rising costs by holding that minimum shift manning requirements are a non-bargainable managerial prerogative. The court...more
On June 30, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a long-awaited challenge to the practice of allowing unions to collect fees from public sector employees who do not wish to be union members. In the more than 20...more