By Nelson Cary on Posted in Employee Discipline,Employee Handbooks,Union InsigniaMany employers have policies that require employees to wear uniforms. What if an employee of such an employer, however, wants to instead wear a t-shirt expressing support for a labor union? The NLRB has long regulated an employer’s ability to restrict such a right. But, the NLRB recently signaled that a change in this rule… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Emily Papania on Posted in Employee HandbooksRecently, the NLRB held in a 2-1 decision that a California hospital’s policies barring employees from wearing unapproved pins or badge reels violated the NLRA. Interestingly, the NLRB did not cite its new Boeing test in either the majority or dissenting opinions. At issue were two hospital policies impacting the wearing of union insignia. The… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Union InsigniaTwo of my colleagues, David Campbell and Don Slezak, have authored an excellent piece on a recent NLRB decision that is a must read for employers with dress code policies. The case grew out of the “Fight for $15” campaign, which seeks to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour. The decision involved a restaurant chain that… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Employee Discipline,NLRB,Union InsigniaMore than four years ago, the NLRB gave priority to an employee’s right to wear clothing with messages critical of their employer over an employer’s interest in its reputation with customers. In a case involving AT&T employees, the NLRB ruled that an employer violated the law when it prevented its service technicians, when visiting customer… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Ashley Manfull on Posted in NLRB,Union OrganizingSince 2007, as a result of the NLRB’s Register Guard decision, an employer could lawfully limit the use of its email system by employees for certain non-business related activities, assuming that it applied the rule non-discriminatorily. On December 10, 2014, in a 3-2 decision, the NLRB reversed the old rule established in Register Guard and… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in NLRBBy Nelson Cary and James Pauley III A healthcare employer with six different locations recently found itself in hot water after banning employees from wearing stickers with the word “BUSTED” in bright red lettering; the NLRB found that the prohibition violated the NLRA. The employer banned the stickers in patient care areas in four of its… Continue Reading
