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Articles Posted in Unions (labor relations)

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He was late for work 111 times because of….BREAKFAST?!?! (And kept his $90,000 job).

Earlier this year, I shared the most unique late-to-work excuses. “I have a bad habit of eating breakfast in the morning, and I lost track of time” did not make the list. However, according to the Associated Press, a New Jersey teacher used that excuse to explain away the 111 times he was…

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The latest NLRB decision could provide many fired employees with a huge second bite at the apple.

In a decision issued last week (here), the National Labor Relations Board ruled that “the filing of an employment-related class or collective action by an individual employee is an attempt to initiate, to induce, or to prepare for group action and is therefore conduct protected by Section 7 [of the National Labor Relations Act].”…

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Company ordered to re-hire an employee after his “racist, offensive, and reprehensible” speech.

An employee was caught on video saying to black employees, “Hey, did you bring enough KFC for everyone?” and “Hey, anybody smell that? I smell fried chicken and watermelon.” The company had a strict anti-harassment policy. So, after learning about the comments, the company fired the employee. So, what would…

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NLRB ok’s one of the filthiest employee Facebook posts about a manager … evah!

[WARNING: This post has some VERY foul language. Although the National Labor Relations Board may tolerate it, many of you may be offended].   By now, all of us have read the articles, which claim that the law permits your employees to complain about work on social media … and keep…

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English-only rules may be discriminatory….and violate federal labor law too.

A few years ago, I posed the question: Is a workplace “English-only” rule legal?  Yadda, yadda, yadda, sometimes. That is, in this Compliance Manual, the EEOC confirms that employers may adopt English-only rules under certain circumstances, insofar as it is adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons (e.g., safety, business necessity) and not to discriminate…

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39 reasons why your employee handbook may violate the law

Before I get to a 1752-word blog post about the National Labor Relations Board going wee-wee all over your workplace Cheerios with this March 18 report from General Counsel Griffin, replete with examples of how your employee handbook is overly broad and violates the National Labor Relations Act, let me do two…

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#SOTU and the #Workplace: A full debriefing of last night’s Presidential address

I had every intention of watching the President address the Nation last night. I really did. But, then I got sucked into the Director’s Cut of The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, the one where the Washington Generals show up first and replace all the confetti with lice. Then poor Lovie…

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SHRM, US Chamber, NAM, and other business groups sue to block new NLRB election rules

It’s on now! Late yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a press release in which it announced that it had filed this complaint in federal court against the National Labor Relations Board to strike the Board’s election rules, passed last month, which would create faster union elections. More…

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Make a New Year’s Resolution to have union-avoidance training

Cue the haters. Following a decision last Thursday permitting employees to use company email to badmouth you and unionize, the National Labor Relations Board ended last week by passing a new rule, which, in its words, updated “its representation-case procedures to modernize and streamline the process for resolving representation disputes.”…

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NLRB: Your employees can use company email to badmouth you and unionize. Four reasons it’s no big deal.

YES, THAT’S RIGHT. NO BIG DEAL. Hey, if you’re a big employment dork like me, (vote Handbook!), you’ve already read a bunch of blog posts, and you’ll read several more about how the sky is falling after yesterday’s NLRB decision, in which the Board held that employees may use company…