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Labor Relations / Unions

NLRB numbers rising for election petitions, unfair labor charges

07/19/2022
Union representation petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board have increased 56% during the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2022.

Price of an illegal gag order: $3.12 million

07/14/2022
Employers can’t interfere with workers’ right to engage in concerted activity aimed at improving working conditions. For example, you can’t have a handbook policy or work rule that threatens discipline for employees who talk to reporters. A recent seven-figure settlement shows how expensive having and enforcing such a rule can be.

NLRB expands penalties for labor violations

07/07/2022
The National Labor Relations Board has grown bolder in coming up with new penalties to slap on employers it finds guilty of committing unfair labor practices. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo recently sent out a memo summarizing the board’s new approach.

Don’t cyber-spy on employees’ union discussions

06/24/2022
Federal labor law makes it unlawful for employers to “do something out of the ordinary” to observe employees’ union organizing activities. That includes surveilling employees’ online activities.

NLRB helps a new breed of activists unionize

06/02/2022
After decades of declining union membership, the National Labor Relations Board has begun playing an active supporting role in organized labor’s recent success winning union representation elections.

Bill would disallow employer tax breaks for anti-union activity

06/01/2022
The Senate Finance Committee could soon begin holding hearings on legislation that would deny employer tax deductions for any money spent “to influence their employees with respect to labor organizations or labor organization activities, such as elections, labor disputes and collective actions.”

Kids these days: ‘Here’s how much I get paid’

05/05/2022
Talking about how much one earns used to be considered taboo both at work and in social settings. That’s changing.

NLRB flexes muscle with reinstatement order

04/28/2022
The National Labor Relations Board, which enforces the National Labor Relations Act, is aggressively pursuing reinstatement as a remedy when it finds an employer has committed an unfair labor practice. That means more employers these days may have to take back workers they already fired. Ordering an employee’s reinstatement is an unusual step, but it could become more common.

A rebirth for unions? Grassroots victories and NLRB’s push create new labor risk

04/21/2022
Only 10.3% of American workers belong to a union, and those numbers have fallen steadily over the past few decades. But organized labor has racked up some notable successes lately, often with just the local employees leading the way.

‘Don’t say pay’ policy violates federal labor law

04/21/2022
Last month, a Kentucky fitness center went viral after a photo circulated of a breakroom wall notice that read, “Effective immediately, conversing about wages (both on and off duty) is strictly forbidden … If you are overheard speaking (or listening to!!) a conversation in which wages are discussed, you will receive disciplinary action.”