Labor Relations / Unions

Employment law in the news for New York employers

10/12/2016

A recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board will affect New York colleges and universities. New state regulations will affect all employers that use paycards to pay their employees.

Complaints against McDonald’s bring EEOC into joint-employer fight

10/12/2016

A new front has opened in the war to determine if McDonald’s, along with its franchisees, is liable as a joint employer for employment law violations.

2nd union initiation fee OK

09/29/2016

Even if union members quit their union, they still have the right to be represented in workplace disputes.

Is it true that California law requires us to give employees a way to work sitting down?

09/26/2016

Q. An employee recently complained that I was violating California’s “suitable seating law” by requiring him to stand throughout his shift. Am I required to let my employees sit?

NLRB to hospital: It’s time we had a talk

09/22/2016

The National Labor Relations Board, which enforces the National Labor Relations Act, has issued an order telling a Minnesota employer to hold a “talk” with employees about their rights to unionize.

Columbia grad students win right to unionize

09/02/2016

The National Labor Relations Board in late August ruled that Columbia University graduate students who serve as teaching assistants may form a union.

DOL mounts vigorous defense against business groups’ lawsuits

08/26/2016

It’s been a busy summer for the beleaguered lawyers at the U.S. Department of Labor. On Aug. 19, the DOL filed briefs in three separate cases filed against it in federal courts, covering everything from benefits advice to safety records to resisting unionization.

Texas court blocks union ‘persuader’ rule, appeal likely

08/11/2016

A federal court in Texas on June 27 ruled that the Department of Labor’s controversial “persuader rule” could not go into effect July 1. An injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas means employers have at least a temporary reprieve from having to disclose who advises them on ways to discourage union organizing.

NLRB: Temps can vote in union elections, too

07/22/2016

The NLRB is at it again, this time overturning its own previous ruling that determined which employees can vote in a union election.

Unions call 87% fewer strikes than they did 25 years ago

07/14/2016

A study by the pro-union, nonprofit Century Foundation found that only 103 strikes were called in 2014, lasting an average of 35 days.