When an employee leaves, most employers focus on the logistics: returning equipment, revoking access, and wrapping up final pay. But for many organizations, there is a critical step that too often gets skipped: a forensic review of the departing employee’s computer and electronic devices. Depending on the nature
Questions about employee monitoring, especially electronic monitoring, come up regularly these days. Monitoring can involve email, computer log-in history, surveillance cameras, GPS devices, and various types of production metrics. Care is necessary, however, not to run afoul of various labor and privacy laws.
Why do employers implement monitoring policies? Reasons
New Year, new legislation — California and New York are leading the way in restricting certain “stay-or-pay” provisions in employment contracts. These types of provisions are relatively common. For example, an employer may offer a signing bonus with the proviso that the incentive would be clawed back if the employee leaves before a specified period
Federal layoffs have been a focal point of President Trump’s administration, drawing both strong support and opposition. On March 15, Trump issued an executive order directing seven federal agencies to make workforce cuts. Among the agencies affected was the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Downsizing this agency could prove problematic for resolving many employer-union disputes
The National Labor Relations Board issued yet another Starbucks decision this past week. Again, the Board upheld an administrative law judge’s opinion that Starbucks violated the National Labor Relations Act during a union’s organizing campaign at a New York retail location. This new Starbucks decision is an excellent reminder about what
Someone who works in the home of their employer as a nanny or in another domestic service role is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage requirements, right? Not according to Blanco v. Samuel, a recent 11th Circuit opinion that reversed the district court’s ruling that a live-in employee was exempt.
If you don’t already know, Starbucks has been in a pretty big labor dispute, and there are bound to be lessons for all of us. If your company has internal documents about relations with prospective unions, you may have to disclose them in a labor dispute even though pre-hearing discovery is generally not available. You
For many, this has been a summer of strikes. Beyond the high-profile, ongoing strike of Hollywood writers and actors, union actions have secured outcomes like substantial pay increases for UPS drivers and commercial air pilots. A major strike of autoworkers now looms. Despite indicators pointing to a labor market that is loosening after historic post-pandemic
Are PhD students at a private university who also teach courses and grade papers – tasks that are a part of their development but also certainly assist the university – employees who can unionize? The NLRB said yes for a second time. This trend that allows unionization of employees who were once thought to be
If the NLRB finds that you have committed an unfair labor practice (and maybe more than once), just what can it do? In Noah’s Ark Processors, a three-member panel of the board recently took an opportunity to pronounce available punishments for repeat labor offenders, and it was not shy. An administrative law judge determined