Posted on October 24, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Labor and employment practitioners will undoubtedly recall the NLRB’s well-publicized foray last year into the ongoing public debate surrounding whether certain college athletes should be considered compensated employees—Northwestern University, 362 NLRB No. 167 (Aug. 17, 2015). Through Northwestern University, the Board punted—but left open—the substantive issue of whether private university, grant-in-aid scholarship football players meet […]
Posted on June 23, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Some may have forgotten that on April 1, 2016, Governor Walker signed a new law providing qualifying employees with the right to take up to 6 weeks of unpaid leave from work in a 12-month period, to serve as bone marrow and organ donors. The new law, 2015 Wisconsin Act 345, becomes effective on July […]
Posted on June 2, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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It is well settled that once a union exercises its weapon to engage in an economic strike, an employer is empowered to continue its business operations through hiring of permanent strike-replacement employees. Whether a strike-replacement employee is “permanent” for the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act involves a fairly technical analysis, and includes the […]
Posted on May 9, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Last week, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board concluded that Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino’s (“Rio”) employee handbook policy addressing “Use of Company Systems, Equipment, and Resources,” violated the National Labor Relations Act. The case is Ceasars Entertainment Corporation, No. 28-CA-060841. In Ceasars, the Board ALJ was called upon to review […]
Posted on March 14, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Earlier this month, the federal U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which issues opinions that are controlling with respect to Wisconsin employers, determined that an employer’s decision to fire one of its workers violated the National Labor Relations Act. The employer at issue in the case is a staffing company that provided contingent […]
Posted on February 23, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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If you follow this blog, you may recall my post from November 26, 2014 Labor Unions Have Another Reason to Be Thankful: NLRB Serves Up Holiday Season Gift about the NLRB’s controversial decision in Conagra_Foods_Inc, concerning the meaning of “solicitation” for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act. Although the Conagra Foods, Inc. decision floated […]
Posted on February 15, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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On February 3, 2016, in Crew One Productions, Inc. v. NLRB, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [which issues opinions that impact businesses in Alabama, Florida and Georgia] concluded that the NLRB misapplied the law concerning whether two separate employers may be treated as a single, joint employer for union organizing purposes. […]
Posted on February 4, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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For most companies that have experienced a union organizing campaign, the concept of “captive audience” speeches on the eve of a manual, secret-ballot election is very familiar. In this context, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has long held that employers are generally prohibited from conducting massed captive-audience speeches within the 24-hour period prior to […]
Posted on December 7, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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In the aftermath of the National Labor Relations Board’s recent, controversial Browning-Ferris Industries “joint employment” decision [362 NLRB No. 186], many within the management-side legal community [myself included] issued portentous predictions about the future –including Trojan Horse organizing tactics and the adverse impact on pervasive contingent workforce arrangements. However, one of the Board’s Regional Directors […]
Posted on June 26, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Recently, a federal appeals court determined that a cucumber farm violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it classified its migrant laborers as independent contractors instead of employees, and failed to pay them the applicable minimum wage. The case is Perez v. D. Howes, LLC, No. 14-2026, — F.3d —-, 2015 WL 3833529 (6th Cir. […]