Labor Relations / Unions

You can land in trouble for trying to stop harassment

08/01/2004

Issue: Can you encourage employees to report on-the-job harassment from union organizers? Risk: Your efforts may be viewed as an illegal union-busting …

Don’t let employees bully you into dictating their employment terms

07/01/2004

You don’t need to let an employee set a bad example by trying to force concessions from you that aren’t required in a collective-bargaining agreement or employment contract. Turn the tables …

New OT rules: countdown to compliance

06/01/2004

The long wait is over. Now it’s time for you to act.
More than a year after proposing changes to the rules that define which employees are eligible for overtime …

Federal contractors: Post ‘Beck’ notice in workplace

06/01/2004

The Labor Department issued final rules last month requiring federal contractors to post notices that inform employees of certain union rights under the Supreme Court’s Communi-cation Workers v. Beck case. Essen-tially, …

Steer the interview back on track if applicant strays

05/01/2004

You know that certain questions are off-limits in a job interview. Just one wrong query, say about a candidate’s marital status or ethnicity, could run afoul of federal sex, age, race, religious, disability or national origin discrimination laws. But what do you do when a candidate volunteers such personal information?

Can you land in trouble for trying to stop harassment? Yes

04/01/2004

You know what they say about good intentions. As the following case shows, if your anti-harassment efforts are seen as an attempt to squash a union-organizing bid, you could be slapped …

Beware labor’s pitch to create union sympathizers

02/01/2004

As AFL-CIO union membership continues to decline, it’s trying another tack: creating an army of nonunionized workers to rally support for its causes. Rather than organizing individual workplaces, this program, dubbed …

Hidden risk: Do your staff committees violate labor law?

01/01/2004

Consider these two scenarios:
1. At the suggestion of a project manager, your organization starts an employee committee to provide workers a voice in safety issues. Management and the safety …

Employees comparing pay? Don’t try to muzzle them

12/01/2003

Issue: About a third of all organizations prohibit employees from discussing pay with one another. Risk: Such confidentiality policies likely violate …

Nonunion firms: Acquaint yourselves with labor-relations law

11/01/2003

Your organization isn’t unionized, so you shouldn’t care about the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), right?
Wrong! The NLRA applies to all employers, including nonunion ones. And the law’s impact …