In Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 174, the Washington Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a union is responsible for property damage incident to a strike. How does that issue arise? Let’s just suppose that your company is involved in a bitter labor negotiation with the unionized workforce.
Last Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published an anticipated Proposed Rule on joint employer status. The Proposed Rule, which is designed to apply for all purposes under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including both union representation and unfair labor practice contexts, is important to businesses that rely on labor supplied by a
We’ve talked about social media policies several times over the years, but it’s been a while since we’ve discussed monitoring your employees’ work phones, emails, and internet usage. As you most likely know, you can and probably should monitor employees’ work phones, emails, and internet usage. You never know when someone outside the business will
President Biden issued his executive order on “Worker Organizing and Empowerment” on April 26, 2021. In it, he stated that “it is the policy of my Administration to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining.” In the EO, President Biden noted that while the National Labor Relations Act states that it is the policy of the
In a recent Advice Response Memo, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) indicated that employees of a cannabis growing operation were exempt from the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), meaning that the employees were not entitled to the NLRA’s protections. The employees had alleged that the cannabis operation interfered with their attempts to unionize,
Although most employers don’t want a union in their workplace, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is clear: You cannot interfere with union organizing efforts. A federal district court in Kentucky recently followed this rule and ordered a company to reopen a shuttered facility and rehire the workers affected by the closure. In NLRB v.
Do you need a social media policy or are the legal obstacles just too much? Now more than ever, people are exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, which, not surprisingly, can cause heartburn at the workplace. In times of contention, stress, and uncertainty, speech often multiplies, and, in an era where someone’s speech
Traditionally, it has been taboo to discuss religion, politics, or divisive matters of public concern in the workplace. Most employers want the worksite to be about work and want to avoid controversial and potentially offensive discourse. However, in the current political climate, amid a global health pandemic, and the movement for social justice gaining unprecedented
The National Labor Relations Board in recent weeks has continued to overturn Board decisions from President Obama’s administration. In United Parcel Service, Inc., the current Republican-controlled Board returned to a long-standing legal standard for “deferring” unfair labor practices to private arbitration.
Often when workers are disciplined, whether in a union or nonunion setting,
When, if ever, is swearing at your supervisor or coworkers a federally protected activity? The National Labor Relations Board (Board) currently is reconsidering what constitutes protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Specifically, the board is trying to clarify when workers can be protected from discipline for using profanity or engaging in harassing