In This Issue:

- It’s 2012 And The NLRB Is Off To A Fast – And Controversial – Start By Joseph Brennan (Cleveland)

The 2011 calendar year was one of the more interesting years for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The Board became a lightning rod for controversy and partisan politics due to its controversial decisions to utilize its rarely-used rulemaking authority to rewrite the rulebook on union elections and to require employers to post what many consider a pro-union National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) poster in its workplace...

- Can A Paid Break Become Unpaid? By John Thompson (Atlanta)

Acme Corporation’s longstanding policy is to give non-exempt employees two 10-minute rest breaks each workday. It treats these breaks as paid worktime. Management recently realized that, over the years, most of the employees have gradually come to be spending 15 to 20 minutes or even a little longer on each break. Acme sent out a memo reminding everyone that the breaks are limited to 10 minutes, but it had no effect. Could Acme start considering the over-10-minute extensions to be unpaid time?

- Interviewing The Pawn Stars Way By James Holland (Kansas City) and Michael S. Mitchell (New Orleans)

Viewers of the popular television show “Pawn Stars” (The History Channel) know that recently the owner, Rick Harrison, and his father, “the old man,” have been interviewing applicants for the night shift. Here is their exchange when the old man sat in on one of the interviews...

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