On January 20, 2016, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor issued guidance on joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Migrant Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The DOL’s guidance comes on the heels of a landmark decision of the NLRB, which, as discussed in greater detail here, broadened the … Continue Reading
As we begin 2016, it is a good time to look back at 2015 labor and employment law developments that employers must keep in mind during the new year. 2015 was indeed a busy year.… Continue Reading
In its first application of the landmark Browning-Ferris decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has determined that ACECO, a contractor, was not a joint employer with Green Jobworks, its staffing agency. In Browning-Ferris, the NLRB held that two or more entities would be considered joint employers if each one possessed sufficient control over employees’ … Continue Reading
The NLRB has issued a landmark decision changing its current standard for assessing “joint employer” status in both unionized and non-union workplaces. This is significant, because, even if the company is not the actual employer of workers, the company may be required to bargain with a Union and held liable for unfair labor practice charges … Continue Reading
Earlier this year, we brought news that the DOL had revised its regulations applicable to home health care workers. Those regulations, which related to domestic workers who provide “companionship services,” narrowed significantly the classes of workers who were exempt from the minimum wage and overtime protections of the FLSA by removing the ability of home … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board continues to infiltrate the workplace even where there are no unions. Standard workplace policies — including those relating to employee conduct, protecting intellectual property, use of personal electronics, and conflicts of interest — are unlawful, according to a recent memorandum issued by the NLRB General Counsel. Basic contract and policy … Continue Reading
Few can quibble with the fact that 2015 has been a busy year for employment law. From historic pronouncements of the Supreme Court concerning fundamental and civil rights, to the Department of Labor’s release of guidance to curb misclassification and proposed new regulations to update the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “white collar” exemptions, to the … Continue Reading
Employers and other stakeholders have just a few weeks in which to provide input on proposed regulations which would raise the salary threshold for workers exempt from overtime to $50,440 a year. On July 6, 2015 the Department of Labor proposed new regulations which would result in extending overtime pay to an estimated five million … Continue Reading
On July 15, 2015, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor declared that most workers who are classified as independent contractors are actually employees and cited the erroneous designation of employees as independent contractors to be “one of the most serious problems” at workplaces in the United States. The DOL issued an … Continue Reading
A federal judge in Texas recently rejected a challenge to the NLRB’s “quickie” election rules that went into effect on April 14, 2015. One of the significant changes resulting from the enactment of the new rules is the shortening of the timeline for union elections, which the NLRB asserts “modernize[s] the representation case process and … Continue Reading
A reminder to employers concerned about employees’ discussing their wages or acting in concert to petition for higher wages: This is legally protected activity that employers cannot prohibit or restrain. A recent National Labor Relations Board decision involving a Chipotle restaurant chain in Missouri illustrates this point.… Continue Reading
Employers beware! Although the Board’s attempt to require employers to post a notice of employees’ federal rights has been defeated, the agency remains active in its regulation of the non-union workplace. The Board now has a full complement of members, with a Democratic majority, and is posed to continue to render decisions that will impact … Continue Reading
The Senate confirmed all five of the President’s nominees to serve as National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) members on July 30, 2013. This gives the Board a full complement of Senate-confirmed members for the first time in a decade. The Board now includes Democrats Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce, whose term was set to … Continue Reading
Employers must ensure that their email policies advise employees of the appropriate use of email. Likewise, employers must enforce appropriate use policies in a consistent matter. However, employers do not have unfettered discretion to discipline employees for “inappropriate” email content. In a recent ruling, the NLRB found that an employer had committed an unfair labor … Continue Reading
The “Facebook Firing” cases continue with the NLRB deciding more often than not that employees fired for Facebook postings engaged in “protected concerted activity” under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) and are entitled to reinstatement. However, a break from the typical outcome occurred in May, 2013, when an NLRB Associate Counsel sent an Advice … Continue Reading
In a memorandum dated January 29, 2013, but made public on April 16, 2013, the NLRB’s Office of General Counsel, while confirming that an employer’s blanket confidentiality rule, which precludes employees from disclosing information about ongoing investigations into employee misconduct, is unlawfully overbroad under the Board’s decision in Banner Health, 358 NLRB No. 93 (2012), … Continue Reading
Recently, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in Quicken Loans, Inc., which found confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions to be unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The decision is not surprising, and is in accord with the trend of the NLRB to find common employer … Continue Reading
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order on January 25, 2013, which struck, as unconstitutional, President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). Noel Canning v. NLRB (Case No. 12-1115) Typically, recess appointments to the NLRB, pursuant to the Recess Appointments Clause of the … Continue Reading
Now that the frenzy of the election has died down, Florida has counted its votes, and the major media outlets have moved on from dissecting party rhetoric, the question remains: What does President Obama’s reelection mean for the country? And for the purposes of employers and those in HR, what changes will we see in … Continue Reading
Two recent rulings by the National Labor Relations Board (Board) involving employees’ use of social media make it clear that employers who want to avoid violating federal labor laws are well served to revisit their social media policies and, perhaps along with their counsel, take a close look at whether these policies violate the National … Continue Reading
The recent NLRB ruling on confidentiality of interviews, which we previously discussed here, may conflict with the EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Vicarious Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors (the “Enforcement Guidance“). The Enforcement Guidance establishes that “[w]hen harassment by a supervisor creates an unlawful hostile environment but does not result in a tangible employment action, … Continue Reading
On July 27, 2012, Judge Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the National Labor Relations Board’s (“Board”) motion to reconsider his holding that that the Board’s expedited representation election rule was invalid due to lack of a statutorily-mandated quorum when the Board approved the rule in December 2011. In … Continue Reading
In keeping with its current interest in examination of standard practices of non-union employers, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has now held that the common directive to employees to not discuss matters under investigation with co-workers may interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their statutory rights under Section 7 of … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board (the Board) has started to move aggressively against “at-will” employment disclaimers that many employers include in their handbooks. Typically, employers include an “at-will” employment policy, which states that employees may be terminated at any time for any lawful reason, with or without notice and with or without cause. Further, employers … Continue Reading