Two recent major news stories again involve the intersection of politics with employment law. In the first matter, Google fired a programmer after he posted an internal document criticizing the company’s diversity...more
8/23/2017
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Hate Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Political Expression ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation
Last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) surprised many employers when it declared illegal Whole Foods’ policy that prohibits employees from video or audio recording in the workplace. The Board concluded that the...more
Many people have fanaticized about telling their boss what they really think about him or her. Fortunately, most employees have the good sense not to write down what they are thinking about their employer....more
Most of the recent legal controversy over employer enforcement of social media policies has involved employees’ concerted activity rights under the National Labor Relations Act. However, a recent case from the Fourth Circuit...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted review of a case that should decide whether employers can include class and collective action waivers in mandatory arbitration agreements signed with individual employees. Under...more
The National Labor Relations Act vests the NLRB with broad powers to correct violations of U.S. labor laws. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed the Board’s broad reach by affirming a decision ordering a...more
In recent years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has begun finding separate companies jointly liable for compliance with federal labor laws under a joint or co-employment theory. Most notably, the Board has...more
Another week, another National Labor Relations Board decision concluding that a standard employee handbook policy violates employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA. This time,...more
Over the past several years, the National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly declared standard employee handbook policies illegal because it considered them to violate employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted...more
As previously reported in EmployNews, the National Labor Relations Board has issued numerous recent decisions finding that employers’ use of class and collective action waiver provisions in mandatory arbitration agreements...more
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board continued its rejection of employer conduct policies intended to promote harmonious and productive working relationships among employees. In T-Mobile USA, Inc., unionized...more
The National Labor Relations Board continues its assault on employer handbooks and other policies it considers to impede employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA. Last month, the...more
5/4/2016
/ Code of Conduct ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Hospitals ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Nurses ,
Patient Safety ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Termination ,
Workplace Bullying
The National Labor Relations Board continues to interpret Section 7 of the NLRA to prevent employers from adopting social media policies that restrict employees’ ability to publically complain about their terms and conditions...more
Employers seeking to avoid costly and often hostile juries have increasingly relied upon mandatory arbitration agreements with employees. Under these provisions, the parties agree to submit any disputes involving the...more
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act protects employees’ rights to engage in “concerted activity.” Concerted activity means persons acting on behalf of two or more employees with regard to issues involving terms and...more
Last week’s EmployNews reported on efforts by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to attack employer-prepared releases because they supposedly do not contain adequate assurances that their terms do not prevent...more
On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board overturned 30 years of precedent, significantly expanding its definition of joint employer coverage under the NLRA. This decision has wide implications, including possible...more
8/31/2015
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Franchises ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Right to Control ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Teamsters ,
Temporary Employees ,
Unions
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees who engage in protected concerted activity. Concerted Activity means actions involving terms and...more
8/17/2015
/ Class Action ,
Collective Actions ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retaliation ,
Section 7 ,
Tipped Employees
When conducting an internal investigation involving possible disciplinary violations, employers often ask participants in the investigation to maintain its confidentiality pending completion. Last month, the National Labor...more
As previously reported in EmployNews, recent National Labor Relations Board decisions have disrupted established guidelines with regard to employers’ obligations to tolerate uncivil and insulting behavior and comments from...more
Last week, the North Carolina House and Senate overrode Governor McCrory’s veto of legislation intended to shield employers from video or other data or documents release by employees. H.B. 405, called the “ag-gag” bill by...more
6/16/2015
/ Audio Recording ,
Farm Animals ,
Farms ,
First Amendment ,
Governor McCrory ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
Section 7 ,
Trade Secrets ,
Video Recordings ,
Whistleblowers
Employers concerned over the impact of new National Labor Relations Board union election rules lost some hope last week that federal courts would step in to stop the regulations from going into effect. The NLRB rules...more
In 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13496 requiring federal contractors to post a new notice of employee federal labor rights. Among other things, the posting advised contractors’ employees of their rights to...more
For years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has cautioned employers against adopting strict English-only rules in the workplace. The EEOC considers such policies to constitute race and/or national origin...more
Over the past several years, EmployNews has reported dozens of cases involving challenges by the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of the General Counsel to what appeared to be standard employee handbook provisions. In...more