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
As exhaustively reported in EmployNews over the past several years, the National Labor Relations Board has been attacking numerous employee handbook provisions considered for years by employers to constitute standard...more
When employers require employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, the agreements typically state that any subsequent arbitration must be brought in the employee’s individual capacity. In other words, the agreements...more
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals backed the National Labor Relations Board’s position that employee social media postings are protected concerted activity under federal law, even if they use obscenities that...more
Many, if not most employers maintain policies regarding disclosure by employees of confidential business information. Sometimes these policies appear in employee handbooks, and sometimes employees are required to sign...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 April, President Obama issued Executive Order 13,665, prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from publishing or enforcing rules intended to keep employees from discussing their compensation. On September 10,...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
Over the past several years, EmployNews has reported on dozens of National Labor Relations Board cases expanding the concept of employee rights in even non-unionized workplaces. Earlier this month, the NLRB added to this list...more
Last year, the Department of Labor issued final rules significantly reducing employers’ ability to administratively challenge petitions for unionization. The rules significantly restrict the grounds on which employers can...more
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
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
Last month, the federal district court judge assigned multiple legal challenges to new National Labor Relations Board election rules, declined to issue an injunction to stop the rules from going into effect. The regulations,...more
For decades, the National Labor Relations Board has recognized boundaries on employees’ rights to engage in activity protected under federal labor laws. While employees have been granted leeway to engage in heated or...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
When faced with performance or disciplinary issues, human resource professionals often turn to use of a performance improvement plan (PIP) as a method to explain to employees problems with their work and expectations for...more
Despite years of legal decisions to the contrary, a surprising number of employers still attempt to prohibit employees from discussing their compensation among themselves. The National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly...more