It is well established that, in general, employers, whose employees are represented by a union, commit unfair labor practices by making any material, substantial and significant change regarding most terms and conditions of employment affecting the unionized employees, without first providing the union notice and a meaningful opportunity to bargain about the change to agreement […]
Last year, in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, the Supreme Court held that employers act lawfully when they require employees, as a condition of employment, to enter into agreements with the employer waiving their rights to pursue employment claims through class or collective actions and stipulating that any such disputes would be resolved by individualized […]
A decision issued last week by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) should be noted by employers facing employee general demands for changes in terms and conditions of employment. [1] The NLRB reaffirmed established law that a series of short duration strikes, pursuant to a strategy of returning to work from a strike […]
Employees have the right to engage in concerted activities, and employers commit unfair labor practices if they retaliate against employees for engaging in those activities. It is important to understand the concept of concerted activity. In order to find that an employee has engaged in concerted activity, it must be shown that: 1) the activity […]
On Friday, June 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) issued a decision of significance to employers. In particular, the NLRB decision affects employers, such as hospitals and hotels, that have areas of their property open to the public. Reversing established precedent, the Board held that employers may prohibit non-employee union representatives […]
Employers frequently ask if they can maintain rules requiring employees to keep the contents of their employment handbooks confidential. In a recent memorandum, the General Counsel (GC) (Division of Advice) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concludes that such rules are unlawful, as they interfere with the employees’ rights to discuss handbook policies regarding terms […]
A recent Memorandum issued by the General Counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (GC 19-04, February 22, 2019), discusses issues of importance to all employers and in particular to employers that have union contracts that provide for union dues-checkoff. In the Memorandum, the GC reminds the NLRB Regions that the Labor Management […]
In the 27 right to work states, currently in the country, union nonmembers may not be required to pay fees to private sector unions as a condition to obtain or retain employment. In the rest of the states – union security states – private sector unions and employers may enter into agreements that require nonmembers to […]
Letters from unions to owners, general contractors, and other contractors informing them of the union’s dispute with one or more of the subcontractors, working at a common construction project site (or common situs), and of the union’s plans to engage in “public informational campaigns” at the site, in furtherance of the dispute, may constitute unlawful […]
We frequently confront the question of whether complaints by a single employee to a supervisor about some condition of employment, such as double standard with respect to disciplinary actions against employees or favoritism in job assignments, constitute concerted/protected activity. Concerted/protected activities by an employee are those engaged in with or on the authority of other […]
