Accessibility Tools

Web Accessibility plugin by DJ-Extensions.com
Skip to main content

The Latest      —

Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues

Our Monthly Report on Labor Law Issues, also known as the Employment Law Bulletin, is a monthly newsletter that covers a wide range of labor law issues, including affirmative action plans, strikes, OSHA regulations, minimum wage requirements, and more. Other topics covered have included issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as workplace walk-outs and strikes, vaccinations, and employee rights related to positive test results and quarantine. The newsletter also covers issues related to discrimination, such as artificial intelligence and racial bias, and issues related to unions, such as organizing efforts and union successes at companies like Amazon and Starbucks. The newsletter also covers issues related to taxes, immigration, and court cases related to labor law. Stay informed and avoid legal missteps, by subscribing to email updates here.

UNION MEMBERSHIP FALLS AGAIN, TO RECORD LOW

| March 2020
The share of American workers in labor unions fell to a record low last year, according to a January 22, 2020 announcement from the U.S. Department of Labor.  The number of union members fell by 170,000 in 2019, reducing the share of the workforce in labor unions to 10.3%, the lowest portion on record since the data has been kept in the present format…
Learn More

WHY THE JOINT EMPLOYER ISSUE MATTERS

| March 2020
The various labor and employment agencies of the federal government, including the NLRB, the EEOC, and the U.S. Department of Labor, have all proposed regulations or other guidance limiting the use of the "joint employment" concept.  Currently, there is a hodgepodge of various standards on who is a joint employer, but the one commonality is that the an…
Learn More

THE PRO ACT PRO-UNION BILL PASSES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

| March 2020
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (H.R. 2474) on February 6, 2020 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 224-194.  Five Republicans voted for the bill and seven Democrats opposed it.  It has been called the most pro-union legislation since the Wagner Act was passed in 1935.   It is so pro-union, that many business i…
Learn More

EEO-1 REPORTS RACE AND GENDER PAY DATA COLLECTION OVER

| March 2020
The efforts of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to collect information on race and gender pay data are finally over.  The Trump Administration had blocked the collection of the race and gender pay data in 2017, but a federal district court judge in the District of Columbia ordered the Obama-era pay reporting requirement to continue.&n…
Learn More
Group walking out of a tunnel

Dealing with Walk-Outs at Non-Union Plants

| Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues
It seems to be a trend not only in the U.S., but around the world, for there to be a flurry of protests and walk-outs.  Strike activity in the U.S., for example, is at the highest level in several years, after many years of extremely low levels of such activities.  But now we seem to have a similar trend in often spontaneous walk-outs in even non-union plan…
Learn More

HERE'S YOUR HOLIDAY BONUS: NEW DOL RULES CLARIFY WHEN PAYMENTS MAY BE EXCLUDED FROM THE REGULAR RATE

| January 2020
In the first update to these regulations in 50 years, the Department of Labor on December 18, 2019 published a Final Rule clarifying when payments - such as year-end bonuses - must be included in an employee's "regular rate" (i.e., pay divided by hours worked) for purposes of calculating overtime.  The new rules take effect January 15, 2020.
Learn More

NLRB APPROVES McDONALD'S SETTLEMENTS THUS DISALLOWING JOINT EMPLOYER

| January 2020
The joint employment issue is high on the agenda of the main employment agencies, including the NLRB, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the EEOC.  While the joint employment issue has been litigated in a variety of forums, perhaps the most publicized forum was the NLRB case involving McDonald's, in which the Obama-era NLRB General Counsel contended tha…
Learn More

NLRB RULING PROVIDES GREATER CONFIDENTIALITY IN WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS

| January 2020
Another December ruling dealt with workplace investigations, and the issue whether an employer can have work rules requiring confidentiality during the course of such investigations.  Apogee Retail LLC d/b/a Unique Thrift Store, 368 NLRB No. 144.  The Obama-era NLRB issued a decision requiring employers to prove, on a case-by-case basis, that the…
Learn More

EMPLOYERS MAY DISCONTINUE UNION CHECK-OFF ON CONTRACT EXPIRATION

| January 2020
The NLRB also ruled in December that an employer's statutory obligation to check-off union dues ends upon the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement containing the check-off provision.  Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 139.  The decision overturned an Obama-era ruling and returned the NLRB to the rule existing for over…
Learn More

EMPLOYERS MAY AGAIN RESTRICT USE OF THEIR EMAIL SYSTEM

| January 2020
The NLRB has re-established the right of an employer to restrict employee use of its email system if it does so on a non-discriminatory basis.  Caesars Entertainment, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 143.  This case reversed an Obama-era ruling that employees given access to the employer's email system had a presumptive right to use that system, on non-working…
Learn More

NLRB CHANGES QUICKIE ELECTION PROCEDURES

| January 2020
One of the most debated, publicized, and contentious issues in employment law in recent years has been the NLRB "quickie election" rule, which only allowed 20 days or so between the filing of the union election petition and the election itself.  Unions felt that shortening the time period for an election would increase their chances of success, while e…
Learn More

Top 10 Content (All-Time)