Labor Relations / Unions

Know the NLRA: Unionized or not, labor law applies to you

11/11/2010

The federal labor law can be a trap for the unwary—even for nonunion employers. Even if your employees don’t belong to a union, the National Labor Relations Act applies to you. For example, the National Labor Relations Board recently announced that a nonunionized employer will pay $900,000 to two fired employees to settle charges that it violated the NLRA.

HR after the mid-terms: What’s Washington going to do?

11/09/2010

Republicans captured control of the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections, while Democrats retained a slim majority in the Senate. With a Democrat in the White House and a divided Congress, what does that mean for the HR-related issues that have dominated the headlines for the last two years? Here’s our rundown of the likely legislative scenarios.

West Palm Beach labor dispute becomes election issue

11/01/2010

An ongoing dispute between West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and trade unions became an election issue this fall, forcing candidates to cancel political events they had scheduled there rather than cross picket lines.

Now at full strength, will NLRB continue anti-business bias?

10/15/2010

Now that it’s finally back in business, the NLRB has issued several controversial and decidedly anti-business decisions. You may recall that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that NLRB decisions made while there were just two board members are invalid. Those old cases and all new ones are now being heard by a new set of board members, three of whom are former union lawyers.

Library cuts lead to bias suits, a new union and spiraling costs

10/15/2010

Faced with falling revenue, the counties that fund the Great River Regional Library System last year implemented what they hoped would be cost-saving measures. The unwanted results: Two age-discrimination lawsuits, the unionization of library managers, higher unemployment comp costs and spiraling legal fees.

The HR I.Q. Test: October ’10

10/13/2010

Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

A sign of change: New NLRB majority says pro-union ‘bannering’ against employers is legal

10/05/2010

Forecasts of a shift in the rulings at the National Labor Relations Board are starting to come true. In a trio of cases, it said that “bannering” by a union—holding a large banner near a neutral business urging the public to boycott the company because of the union’s dispute with a primary employer—does not violate the National Labor Relations Act.

NLRB sides with nurses union in six-year-old dispute

09/24/2010

A Brick social services organization committed an unfair labor practice when it began cracking down on nurses who administered medications after the employees joined a union, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

Beware! Your ‘neutral’ rule may invite lawsuit

09/24/2010

So your work rules are fair and neutral. There’s no way employees belonging to a protected class would sue you, alleging the rule has a disparate impact. Guess again—it happens. Consider this recent case, which has resulted in years of legal wrangling.

Q&A: How the new federal contractor NLRA notice rules affect you

09/22/2010

Final rules are now in place for enforcing Executive Order 13496, the White House decree requiring all federal contractors and subcontractors to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The following questions and answers cover some of the issues you may have to deal with.