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August 2016

It is no secret that federal agencies have been very active in recent years in changing their regulations and interpretations of existing labor and employment law.  Some commentators even assert that federal regulators are virtually out of control, writing laws as they see fit without democratic votes or review by anyone.  Numerous examples are ...
During March of 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a rule requiring employers to file public reports with the DOL when they use consultants (including lawyers) to provide labor relations advice that had the purpose of persuading employees regarding union organizing or collective bargaining.  The definitions were so broad as to potentiall...
On June 10, 2016, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the NLRB’s controversial new "quickie election" rule.  Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 15-50497 (C.A. 5, June 10, 2016).  Among other things, the quickie election rule cuts the amount of time between the filing of the request of the election by a un...
An extremely interesting federal appeals court case addressed whether an employer can request work to be performed by an employee on FMLA leave.  Massey-Diez v. Univ. Of Iowa Community Medical Services, Inc., 26 WH Cases 2d 991 (C.A. 8, 2016).  The plaintiff claimed that she had been required to do various tasks while on FMLA leave, and she was ...