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Labor Relations / Unions

DOL celebrates Women’s Bureau 100th anniversary, created in 1920

02/04/2020
The U.S. Department of Labor is commemorating the centennial anniversary of the Women’s Bureau—one of the department’s longest-serving agencies—with a year-long celebration that marks its establishment in 1920.

NLRB extends timetable for scheduling union elections

01/02/2020
Most union elections will take place no sooner than 20 business days after being authorized, according to a new rule issued by the National Labor Relations Board. That’s significantly longer than the election schedules that have been possible since a 2014 NLRB decision dramatically compressed the election timeline.

‘Reply All’ email response may be protected by NLRA

12/20/2019
The National Labor Relations Act allows employees to discuss working conditions among themselves. That includes responding to a critical email about working conditions by hitting “Reply All” to offer support or thanks to the original sender.

NLRB gives back email control to employers

12/19/2019
The National Labor Relations Board on Dec. 17 reestablished the right of employers to restrict employee use of company-owned email for purposes unrelated to work, striking a blow against labor unions.

McDonald’s win in NLRB joint-employer case

12/17/2019
McDonald’s must pay $250,000 to be split between hundreds of workers who claim they were assigned harder work and inconvenient shifts after they joined a 2014 protest organized by the Fight for $15 worker advocacy group.

Proposed rule could end push for graduate student unions

11/25/2019
On Sept. 23, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that addresses the longstanding issue of whether undergraduate and graduate students who perform services for compensation (including teaching or research) at private colleges and universities can form a union under the National Labor Relations Act.

NLRB staffers accuse agency of ‘management abuses’

11/21/2019
Career employees of the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 18 rallied outside the board’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to protest what they call “management abuses” by NLRB Chair John Ring and General Counsel Peter Robb.

DOL sets record for back pay recovered through enforcement

10/29/2019
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered a record $322 million in wages owed to workers in fiscal year 2019.

New NLRB standard on changes favors employers

10/24/2019
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a favorable decision that makes it easier for employers to demonstrate that a unilateral change in terms and conditions of employment was permitted by the collective bargaining agreement.

Prepare for OSHA visit when labor is unhappy

10/21/2019
Pay extra attention to safety when your company is going through labor unrest. Federal safety inspections tend to rise when employers are facing a strike, claims of unfair labor practices, union organizing or other labor problems.