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Articles Posted in Unions (labor relations)

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A Texas judge has enjoined practically all of the DOL “blacklisting” rules

Last night, while you we sleeping in your comfy beds — me, on a pile of money, blogging power and, yes, ego — a Texas federal judge entered an injunction against the final “blacklisting” rules and guidance of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council. What were…

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I’m training the U.S. Army South on social media at work, and other news…

Yep, if you need me this morning, I’ll be at Fort Sam Houston, giving my spiel to U.S. Army South and some folks from Guantanamo Bay on social media and the workplace. How cool is that! (In a dorky lawyer kinda way). While that’s going down, let me catch you…

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What your business can do NOW to prepare for the DOL ‘Blacklisting’ rules and guidance.

In 2014, President Obama signed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order. Folks like me on the management-side refer to this Order as the Blacklisting rules. In general terms (I’ll get a little more specific below), the Blacklisting rules require prospective federal contractors and subcontractors to disclose anything that may appear on…

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Yes, the NLRB will also clobber unions who punish social media complainers

And, you’ll have to excuse me for not clutching my pearls. Protected concerted activity is powerful stuff Like it or not, to a person, we can agree that the rulings flowing from the National Labor Relations Board over the past several years have been largely employee-friendly. This is especially true with cases involving employee…

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Those non-competes your employees sign probably violate federal labor law. Or do they?

Quit playing with my emotions, Eric. That National Labor Relations Board has gone and done it again! Or has it? In Minteq International, Inc., and Specialty Minerals, Inc. (you can download a copy of the decision here), the Board examined the confidentiality language in a company’s non-competition agreements: Confidential Information refers to…

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Here are the 3 biggest workplace compliance concerns for the next year? No. 2 will SHOCK you!

No it won’t. But, I do like click-bait. Seriously though, I came across Littler Mendelson’s Executive Employer Survey Report, which “examines the legal, economic and social issues having the greatest impact on the workplace, based on survey responses from 844 in-house counsel, human resources professionals and C-suite executives from a range…

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Can you get fired for ripping French soccer players as poor tippers? Oui, but of course.

You may get your passport revoked if you hate on the free kick prowess of French soccer star, Dimitri Payet. Nasty! But, if you work in a tipped position and you question the generosity of French soccer players when leaving gratuities, then, hasta luego. Not even the National Labor Relations Board…

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Do you force employees to arbitrate class-action claims? Then, you should read this…

  As I think about all of the agreements with arbitration provisions that I’ve drafted for clients over the years. ***wipes brow, tugs collar, clutches pearls***  Certain arbitration agreements may blunt certain federally-protected rights employees have to discuss working conditions with one another. The National Labor Relations Board is not fond of…

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Can you force an employee to delete critical tweets about the company? NLRB says no.

Folks, it’s been a real crappy 2016 for Chipotle. Critical tweets about work get deleted. Last year, Chipotle’s National Social Media Strategist saw a series of tweets from a Chipotle employee working just outside of Philadelphia. The tweets had a common theme: working conditions: One of Kennedy’s tweets included a news…

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Sorry, NLRB. Using an iPhone to secretly record a conversation with your boss may be criminal

Remember last month when I told you to short crude oil futures and bet the Broncos to win the Super Bowl about how the National Labor Relations Board concluded that an employer could not maintain a workplace rule that banned employees from recording workplace conversations, absent prior company approval. (More on that here).…