Unions (labor relations)

2 tips to help your social media policy withstand NLRB scrutiny

November 6, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Notwithstanding three social media advice memoranda, and another ruling from the National Labor Relations Board slamming Costco’s social media policy, you’d think employers would have a better idea how to revise their social media policies so as not to risk violating the National Labor Relations Act.

Well, not so much.

Except, the Board has recently issued guidance which attempts to clarify certain policy issues for employers. Does it? Well, sort of. It’s worth a read. Click through…

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NLRB breathes new life into your “at-will” employment disclaimers

November 1, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Just Google it.

The National Labor Relations Board has been drawing a lot of attention for its heightened scrutiny of at-will employment disclaimers. For example, in a case involving the American Red Cross, a Board ALJ found that the American Red Cross broke the law by having an employee handbook policy that stated, in part, “I further agree that the at-will employment relationship cannot be amended, modified or altered in any way.”

But new guidance from the NLRB’s Acting General Counsel confirms what I’ve been saying: Don’t even think about scrapping those employee handbook at-will employment disclaimers. (Maybe a small tweak may do the trick).

More after the jump…

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In its first Facebook-firing decison, the NLRB backs an employer

October 2, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Look out for that flying pig!!!

No, it’s true. I’ve got proof after the jump…

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What one employment-law question would you ask Paul Ryan?

September 27, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re just a few months away from the Presidential election. That means that the debates are right around the corner.

Monday, started a week-long series of hypothetical debate question for the 2012 candidates for President and Vice President. Here are the questions I asked President Obama, Mitt Romney, and Vice President Biden.

And here’s my question for Rep. Paul Ryan:

NLRB’s 1st social media ruling: Slams Costco policy; greenlights defamation

September 20, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

It’s been a while since I’ve addressed social media policies and the National Labor Relations Act on this blog. Longer than Kim K’s marriage to what’s his name? Indeed. Methinks things at the National Labor Relations Board have been quiet lately. Maybe a little too quiet.

And then…

Click..click…BOOM! [Cue music]

Earlier this month, for the first…time…evah, the NLRB weighed in on the validity of an employer’s social media policy.

I know. I know. Sit down, catch your breath. This is big stuff! Big stuff!!! Mmmm…double stuf. And speaking of Oreos, have you seen these bad-boys? Who wants to send me a package for Halloween?

Wait! What were we talking about again? Was it fantasy football? Should I start Martellus Bennett tonight?

No, it was NLRB. Dang! What did the NLRB decide about social media policies? WHAT OF SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES!?!? I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. Hit the jump and find out!

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PA: Forced reinstatement of a sexual harasser violates public policy

August 28, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Courts analyzing anti-discrimination statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act mandate that employers educate employees about discrimination in the workplace and provide a way for them to complain. Then, once made aware of discrimination in the workplace, the employer must take steps that are reasonably designed to end the discrimination. That could mean anything from a verbal warning up to termination of employment. That decision is up to the employer.

In Phila. Housing Authority v. AFSCME, after investigating a complaint of sexual harassment, a unionized employer with a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment fired the alleged harasser. The union subsequently filed a grievance that eventually led to arbitration, at which time the arbitrator deemed the alleged harasser’s behavior to be “lewd, lascivious and extraordinarily perverse.” Notwithstanding, the arbitrator concluded that a verbal warning would have sufficed, rather than termination, and ordered the alleged harasser reinstated and made whole.

On appeal, the PA Supreme Court blasted the arbitrator’s decision, while emphasizing the public policy against unlawful harassment in the workplace.

A scary NLRB decision threatening the integrity of workplace investigations

August 1, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

HR heads are still spinning as they try to digest what the National Labor Relations Board has tried to accomplish this year.

The Acting General Counsel has issued confusing reports on social media. The Board has also attempted to create quickie union elections, and require companies to abide by a union-poster rule. Why, just a few weeks ago, the Board ruled that an “at will” provision in an employee handbook may violate the National Labor Relations Act. That one is still a head-scratcher for me.

But the National Labor Relations Board has really stepped in it again, dealing another crushing blow to HR. I think you’ll agree with me when you read on after the jump…

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The NLRB continues preaching to your non-union employees

June 20, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

As y’all know, the National Labor Relations Board has taken quite a beating recently in the courtroom. First, the Board was forced to delay requiring employers to post a union-rights poster in the workplace. Then, a federal court voided the Board’s “quickie” union-election rules.

But, this Board is resilient. This Board is determined to encourage your employees to seek strength in numbers. How does the Board plan to spread its message? Find out after the jump…

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Want a labor-law-legal social media policy? Bookmark this, I guess.

May 31, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board‘s Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon issued a new report on social media cases brought to the agency, this time focusing exclusively on policies governing the use of social media by employees. It includes a copy of a social media policy that the NLRB found to be lawful.

However, the report, as a whole, left me shaking my head. Inconsistent, overreaching, it’s a ~~hot~~ tepid mess. So, before you go all cut and paste on me from that sample policy, read my critical two cents after the jump…

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That was fast: Court voids NLRB “quickie” union-election rules

May 15, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hot!

How hot is the Chamber? Hotter than Paris Hilton humming an 80’s Buster Poindexter tune. (Actually, she abandoned her trademark exclamation “That’s Hot!” for “That’s Huge!”).

Maybe not quite Josh Hamilton hot. But, way hotter than the mature offspring of an encounter involving Zac Efron traveling back in time to impregnate an early-90s Cindy Crawford. I would not want to stand next to the Chamber’s fire right now. Sammmmmokin’!