By Nelson Cary on Posted in Employee DisciplineEmployees probably just lost the ability to tell their boss to f*** off. When considering an employee’s protected activity, the NLRB recently changed its tune on how it analyzes employer discipline—and an employee engaging in abusive conduct does not have the same protections the employee once did. The NLRB announced this change of tune in… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Employee Discipline,NLRBEmployers firing employees for the content of their social media posts continue to do so at their own risk. An NLRB decision from last week provides a good reminder of this important point. An ambulance company, in two unrelated events, fired two employees for what they posted to Facebook. The first employee, in response to… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Jesse Meade on Posted in Arbitration,CourtsLast week, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision emphasizing the power of an arbitrator to amend an employer’s disciplinary decision where the CBA lacks an express provision limiting the arbitrator’s authority to do so. At issue in the case was the termination of a police officer for the violation of several police department rules,… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Jesse Meade on Posted in Supervisors,Union OrganizingA recent NLRB decision once again demonstrates that intuition and logical conclusions are no substitute for documentation of supervisory acts when it comes to classifying employees as supervisors under the NLRA. At issue this time was a registered nurse whom the employer hired to assign and supervise the work of other nurses during shifts in which no other… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Natalie McLaughlin on Posted in SupervisorsDoubling down on its ruling that a tugboat captain isn’t a supervisor, the NLRB again took on a narrow view of who qualifies as a supervisor under the NLRA. In a 2-1 ruling, the NLRB in G4S Government Solutions, Inc., 363 N.L.R.B. No. 113 (Feb. 10, 2016) held that an employer did not meet its… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in NLRB,Union OrganizingMany employers maintain a policy prohibiting solicitation and distribution. Under long-standing law, these policies, if correctly drafted, can prohibit employees from engaging in certain types of union activity at certain times of the day. A recent decision from the NLRB, however, makes it clear that these policies have their limits, and raises the question of… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Union OrganizingBy Nelson Cary and James Pauley III An important subject of debate for health care employers is whether an RN can be a “supervisor” under the NLRA. This is a significant decision because “supervisors” under the NLRA are treated differently from non-supervisors. In particular, they cannot be included in a group of employees that a union seeks… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Management,NLRBBy Nelson Cary and James Patrick In Alan Ritchey, Inc., the NLRB recently adopted a new rule that will have an immediate impact on any employer attempting to negotiate an initial contract with a newly organized bargaining unit. Specifically, after a union becomes the employees’ bargaining representative, but before the parties have agreed to their first… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in NLRBBy Nelson Cary and Ashley Manfull As readers of this blog know, in September 2011, Administrative Law Judge Arthur Amchan was the first NLRB judge to issue a ruling on a Facebook-related termination. In Hispanics United of Buffalo, Inc., ALJ Case No. 3-CA-27872, ALJ Amchan ruled that five employees of a non-profit organization were unlawfully terminated… Continue Reading
